Historical criticism [LHISB001]

Learning outcomes

- Develop critical thinking and scientific reasoning.

- Develop specialised knowledge in the fields of history and understand the issues at stake in the discipline.

- Learn how to tackle a research question in history and master the tools and working methods specific to the discipline.

- Acquire techniques for analysing and interpreting historical sources, as well as a reflective and critical awareness of the historical approach.

- Acquire a strong ability to analyse information, summarise and write.

Objectives

By the end of this course, students should have mastered the steps involved in historical criticism and the technical vocabulary specific to the discipline.

Content

The course is divided into three main parts:

- 1° Sources, i.e. the diverse set of "traces", "documents", that the past has left us (the emphasis is on written sources: archives and works).

- 2° External criticism, i.e. all the critical approaches that aim to develop or verify the identity card of a document.

- 3° Internal criticism, i.e. all the critical approaches aimed at evaluating the quality of the information provided by a document.