ACTIVE HISTORICAL THINKING The primary goal of this course is to further development active historical thinking.  This course aims to demonstrate that much of what we can learn about history is interpretation, and much like history professionals, students themselves should develop an interpretation based on available perspectives and evidence, and this requires active historical thinking.  The primary outcome, if accomplished, will be to validate history's utility for you and thus make you more-so a history fan!  Sam Wineburg: "historical thought is not a natural process: it goes against the grain of how we ordinarily think, [which is] one of the reasons why it is much easier to learn names, dates, and stories than it is to [understand] the past.”    Check out these links below: History tools | Inquiry mode What is History Historical Thinking Perspective & History Work habits that work Responsible Judgment Analyze the Logic of a Text Course Paths History Matters Reading like a historian Avoiding Logical Fallacies Analyzing/Using Evidence Truth & Conspiracy Theories "Doing your own math" Habits of Mind Bauer: Historiography A Student's Guide to History historicalthinkingmatters.org Holden: what are your ethics? MISC. LINKS: Maps Taking Notes Memory Book Global Village 100 "Pursuit of Happiness" Education: How to be on top Global diet/cost comparison "Assume the Position" video Don't let this happen to you. Know your history! What it takes to be a "History Thinking Machine" __ I must think historically. __ I must not read the textbook as a bunch of disconnected stuff to remember but as the thinking of the historian. __ I must think like a historian. __ I must be clear about historical purposes (What are historians trying to accomplish?) __ I must ask historical questions and recognize the historical questions being asked in the lectures and textbook. __ I must begin to sift through historical information, drawing some historical conclusions. __ I must question where historical information comes from. __ I must notice the historical interpretations that the historian forms to give meaning to historical information. __ I must question those interpretations (at least sufficiently to understand them). __ I must question the implications of various historical interpretations and begin to see how historians reason to their conclusions. __ I must begin to look at the world as historians do, to develop a historical viewpoint. __ I will read each chapter in the textbook looking explicitly for the elements of thought in that chapter. __ I will actively ask (historical) questions in class from the critical thinking perspective. __ I will begin to pay attention to my own historical thinking in my everyday life. __ I will try, in short, to make historical thinking a more explicit and prominent part of my thinking.