79-700 Theory and Method in Historical Studies

12 units, Carnegie Mellon University

This seminar will introduce firstyear graduate students to a few key historical concepts that have informed historical thinking and writing as it is practiced today. We will focus on some classic works of social theory to analyze how their authors had sought to identify and interrogate themes such as the nature of modernity the relationship between social and economic change and class the relationship between politics and culture the role of gender in the articulation of power relationships the relationship between European nations and their colonies abroad, and the significance of this colonial past for the postcolonial world. We will also read recent scholarship to identify why contemporary historians found those theories both inspirational and insufficient, and how they challenged their theoretical precursors via alternative ways of seeing and methods of historical interpretation.

Prerequisites: none listed

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