Methods and Techniques for Historical Research
Code: 100373 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| 2500501 History | OB | 2 |
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OT | 3 |
| 2504216 Contemporary History, Politics and Economics | OT | 4 |
Contact
- Name:
- Enric Pujol Casademont
- Email:
- enric.pujol@uab.cat
Teachers
- Jordi Font Agullo
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
Reading and understanding Catalan and Spanish correctly. It is desirable to have basic competency in English.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The main objective of this module is to introduce students to the methods and techniques they will require to conduct historical research in an autonomous and rigorous way. It combines theoretical and applied classes to acquantain students with historical research, what resources are available for them and how should a project be designed. They will also have the chance to work with a wide variety of sources and analyse them critically to generate new knowledge.
Competences
- History
- Applying specific methods and techniques from other social sciences.
- Applying the main methods, techniques and instruments of the historical analysis.
- Developing critical thinking and reasoning and communicating them effectively both in your own and other languages.
- Identifying the main historiographical tendencies and critically analysing their development.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
Learning Outcomes
- Applying the necessary abilities in order to assess and spread historical knowledge.
- Communicating in your mother tongue or other language both in oral and written form by using specific terminology and techniques of Historiography.
- Identifying the main and secondary ideas and expressing them with linguistic correctness.
- Mastering the main techniques of historical research.
- Organising and planning the search of historical information.
- Properly using the specific vocabulary of History.
- Solving problems autonomously.
- Using the characteristic computing resources of the field of History.
- Using the methods and techniques of demography in the historical analysis.
- Using the methods and techniques of economy in the historical analysis.
- Using the methods and techniques of sociology in the historical analysis.
- Utilising the information collection tools such as bibliographical catalogues, archive inventories and electronic references.
Content
1. History and its uses.
1.1 Brief history of History.
1.2 Narrative, science, truth, fiction.
1.3 Historiographic approaches and concepts and their evolution.
2. The material and immaterial sources, and the profession of the historian.
2.1 Archival documentary sources and their origins: administrative, legislative, judicial, political, trade union, associations, companies ...
2.2 Other written sources: newspapers, letters, autobiographies, memoirs, novels, etc.
2.3 Oral sources and working with witnesses.
2.4 A new challenge: the sources of the audiovisual and digital universe.
2.5 The approach of a research project.
3. Archaeological sources
3.2 Specificity of the archaeological record.
3.3 Landscape archeology / agricultural archeology.
3.4 Ethnoarchaeology.
4. Auxiliary sciences: paleography, diplomacy, codicology, numismatics, vexillography, genealogy, geographic information systems.
5. The irruption of memory and heritage. Challenges and opportunities of History.
6. “Public history”: instruments and mechanisms for the transmission of historical knowledge.
6.1 The archives and documentation centers.
6.2 Museums: typologies and social / community functions.
6.3 Didactics and pedagogy of history and memory.
6.4 Cultural tourism and memory tourism.
6.5 The media, audiovisual products and digital technologies.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Theoretical classes and practices at classroom | 54 | 2.16 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials | 15 | 0.6 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Individual activities | 75 | 3 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
This module has a theoretical part, which will be taught through lectures, and an applied part, which will include in-class training and individual projects. Students need to have good language skills to present the results obtained through group and individual projects to their peers and the teacher.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery of a paper | 30 % | 2 | 0.08 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 6, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| Exams | 60 % (30% + 30%) | 3 | 0.12 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 6, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
| Oral presentations, activity at classroom | 10 % | 1 | 0.04 | 1, 2, 4, 3, 5, 7, 6, 12, 8, 10, 9, 11 |
1. First written assessment (30%).
2. Second written assessment (30%)
3. Module project (30%).
4. Active involvement in in-class source analysis (10%).
Attendance to classes and other activities is important.
The teacher will duly inform students (Moodle, SIA) about the assessing procedures and how they can review corrections. Individual cases will be taken into consideration. Students have the right to revise their results and the teacher will establishe the necessary mechanisms to do so.
Second-chance examinations will follow the general regulation of UAB and it will consist on a single test that will take place on the date established by the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. The highest mark that can be achieved through this exam is a Pass (5/10) and it cannot be used to improve grades that are higher than 5/10.
Those students who do not submit at least 2/3 of the assessments will be considered "non-assessable".
If students commit any irregularity that may lead to a significant variation of the assessment of an exercise, they will be awarded a 0/10 mark in that exercise. If this behaviour continues, the final mark of the module will also be a 0/10.
If students are unable to physically attend assessment, the process of evaluation will be adapted (without modifying the weigh of the exercise) according to the possibilities offered by the digital tools of UAB. Homework, activities and class participation will take place through forums, wikis and/or discussions through Moodle, Teams, etc.
Single Assessment. It will consist of 3 assessment activities that represent 25%, 25% and 50% of the final grade. The first two must be submitted on the day of the synthesis test, which will consist of a final exam on the day fixed in the calendar of the Faculty. The grade will correspond to the sum of the three activities.
Bibliography
Alberch, R.; Cruz Mundet, J.R., ¿Archívese! Los documentos del poder. El poder de los documentos. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2008.
Arrieta, I., Lugares de memoria traumáticos. Representaciones museográficas de conflictos políticos y armados. Bilbao: Universidad del País Vasco, 2016.
Augé, M., Las formas del olvido. Barcelona: Gedisa, 1998.
Ballart, J., El patrimonio histórico y arqueológico: valor y uso. Barcelona: Ariel, 1997.
Bloch, M., Apología para la historia o el oficio de historiador, Mèxic D. F.: FCE, 1996.
Campillo, X.; López-Monné, R., El llibre dels camins. Tarragona: Arola Editors, 2010.
Carr, E. H., Qué es la historia (amb introducció de Richard J. Evans). Barcelona: Ariel, 2017.
DD.AA., Memòries controvertides i patrimoni. Usos i abusos del passat immediat. Barcelona: Memorial Democràtic, 2022.
Dosse, F., Història. Entre la ciència i el relat. València: PUV, 2001.
Fentress, J.; Wickham, Ch., Memoria social. Madrid : Cátedra, 2003.
Fontana, J., L’ofici d’historiador. Girona: Documenta Universitària, 2010.
Francovich, R., La arqueología medieval: entre la historia y la gestión del patrimonio. Granada: Universidad de Granada, 2008.
Gruzinski, S., ¿Para qué sirve la historia? Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2018.
Hochadel, O., El mito de Atapuerca. Orígenes, ciencia, divulgación. Cerdanyola: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 2013.
Hunt, L., Historia. ¿Por qué importa? Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 2019.
Jelin, E.; Vinyes, R., ¿Cómo será el pasado? Una conversación sobre el giro memorial. Barcelona: Ned Ediciones, 2021.
Kirchner, H. (ed.). Por una arqueología agraria de las sociedades medievales hispánicas. Propuesta de un protocolo de investigación. Oxford: Archeopress, 2018.
Lowenthal, D., el pasado es un país extraño. Madrid: Akal Ediciones, 1998.
Matozzi, I., “Enseñar a escribir sobre la historia”. Enseñanza de las ciencias sociales: revista de investigación, [en línia], 2004, Núm. 3, p. 39-48, https://raco.cat/index.php/EnsenanzaCS/article/view/126182
Moradiellos, E., El oficio de historiador. Estudiar, enseñar, investigar. Madrid: Akal Ediciones, 2013.
Mudrovcic, M.I., Historia, narración y memoria. Los Debates Actuales en Filosofía de la Historia. Madrid: Akal Ediciones, 2005.
Pons, A., El desorden digital. Guía para historiadores y humanistas. Madrid: Siglo XXI Editores, 2013.
Portelli, A., Històries orals. Relat, imaginació, diàleg. Barcelona: Memorial Democràtic, 2009.
Puig, P. Els pergamins documentals: naturalesa, tractament arxivístic i contingut diplomàtic. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya, 1995.
Quirós, J.A., La materialidad de la historia. La arqueología en los inicios del siglo XXI. Madrid: Akal Ediciones, 2013.
Sáez-Rosenkranz, I.; Prats Cuevas, J. Memoria histórica y enseñanza de la Historia. Gijón: Ediciones Trea, 2020.
Santacana J.; Hernàndez Cardona, F. X., Museos de historia. Entre la taxidermia y el nomadismo. Gijón: Ediciones Trea, 2011.
Santacana, J.; Llonch, Museo local. La cenicienta de la cultura. Gijón: Ediciones Trea, 2008.
Sayer, F., Public History. A Practical Guide. Londres: Bloomsbury Academic, 2019.
Silva Catela, Ludmila Da; Jelin, E., Los archivos de la represión: documentos, memoria y verdad. Buenos Aires, Siglo XXI Editores, 2002.
Todorov, T., Los abusos de la memoria, Barcelona: Paidós, 2000.
Tortella, G. Introducción a la economía para historiadores, Madrid: Tecnos, 1987.
Traverso, E., Els usos del passat. Història, memoria, política. València: PUV, 2006.
Software
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Language list
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 2 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 2 | Catalan | first semester | morning-mixed |