Historiography
Choosing (Historical) Sides
Recently a friend of mine texted me from Culloden in Scotland*–the battlefield where the Duke of Cumberland routed Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Jacobite forces and effectively ended the Jacobite cause. (Charles was later involved in a half-hearted French plan to invade England in 1759, but it came to naught.) She wanted to know if I wanted…
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Social Science or Humanities? It’s a Conundrum.
Several weeks ago, this question appeared in my email: The history department at MSU is part of the College of Social Science with Social Work. Yesterday a colleague said she thought it should be in Humanities. I’m curious what you think. As it turns out, this is something I’ve spent some time thinking about over…
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From the Archives: Big History and Big Buts
Several years ago, when I was working on a Big Project, I stumbled across the concept of Big History.* It’s basically the opposite of the academic mantra “not my field.” Proponents of Big History integrate many scholarly disciplines in order to look at human history as a tiny part of the history of the cosmos.…
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