07 september, 2016: what is history? my first impression
History is ever-evolving. History is happening all around us, and we are a part of it simply by living our daily lives in society. As I see it, we, as humans, are history. Among other species and environments around us, we shape the world – and universe – and make it what it is today [through our actions].
31 october, 2016: what is history? mid-semester views
After having studied Pre-Confederation history in Canada for two months, I feel much more enlightened about what history is and how it is made. My understanding of history is the actions made by people, that forever change how the world works – those mostly affected by it are those that are influenced by those people somewhere down the line. History is made by making choices and taking actions that are out of “the norm.” It is stepping out of the box and no longer conforming to what is standard, but making a change – whether it be for the better or worse.
02 december, 2013: final reflection – what have I learned about history and historical thinking this term?
Historical thinking seems to be a very complex way of thinking. In history, there will always be biases. Throughout this course, I have learned to make note of these preconceived notions and try to avoid following them, as well as avoid looking at a historic event with my own specific opinion on the topic. Historic thinking is about looking at history with an open mind, and acknowledging every side to the story. As new parts to history (documents, artifacts) are often discovered, stories are always changing – thus forming new perspectives to take into consideration. Reading logs for articles relating to the current class lesson helped to think deeper, rather than just remembering the facts. Class discussions presented others’ opinions on the same article and getting a feel for other perspectives that were formed from that article. Historic thinking is examining information about a historic event to create your own interpretation of the topic, and connecting the past to the present. This may be in terms of social, political, or economic standards and their differences between then and now, or even the changes in the way historians view historic events that have happened over time. There is much more sensitivity and empathy given to a topic now than there was 30 years ago. Lastly, historical thinking is creating an argument, and using evidence from documents and artifacts from that time to back up your argument. Our final papers allowed us to find articles that would be useful to proving our arguments, and create our own interpretations and understandings of our chosen topic, which allowed us to develop and improve our ability to think historically and critically. Overall, this class was a perfect introduction to thinking historically and the foundations of learning history.
07 december, 2016: changes in perspectives
Throughout this course, my take on history and how it is perceived has changed drastically. At the beginning of this course, I really had no idea what the answer to this question is; I pretty much made my answer up on the spot just to have something to say. But now, I understand that history and historical thinking are very crucial to knowing where we come from as Canadians. I believed that history always changes because there is always history being made. I guess in a sense that is true, but now I know that history and historic events change because of new information being uncovered, uncovering a new perspective on the event. History is also always changing because people commonly have different interpretations and perspectives on a story. This can cause the story to be altered with every person’s view on it – thus “changing” history.