Course: Methods of Histgorian´s Work

« Back
Course title Methods of Histgorian´s Work
Course code UHV/MMHIP
Organizational form of instruction Lecture + Seminar
Level of course Master
Year of study 1
Semester Summer
Number of ECTS credits 9
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course Compulsory
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Kubeš Jiří, doc. Mgr. Ph.D.
  • Hanulík Vladan, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
Introductory class: Does history have a method or methods? 1) Direct and indirect methods; inductive and deductive methods 2) Diachronic and synchronic approaches to development (progressive and retrospective methods) 3) Quantitative methods and historical statistics 4) Modelling and probe method 5) Comparative method 6) Biographical method: biography, collective biography and prosopography 7) Philological methods 8) Oral history 9) Historical climatology 10) Iconographic method 11) Geographical method, aerial archaeology and experimental archaeology

Learning activities and teaching methods
Monologic (reading, lecture, briefing), Dialogic (discussion, interview, brainstorming), Work with text (with textbook, with book), Methods of individual activities
  • Contact teaching - 52 hours per semester
  • Home preparation for classes - 78 hours per semester
  • Preparation for a credit (assessment) - 16 hours per semester
  • Preparation for an exam - 42 hours per semester
  • Preparation of a presentation (report) - 22 hours per semester
  • Independent critical reading - 44 hours per semester
  • Data/material collection - 15 hours per semester
Learning outcomes
The aim of the course is to introduce the tools and methods that help historians today to explore history and to extract the required information from the sources. There are more and more of these methods nowadays, thanks to the collaboration of history with other sciences, and therefore we will focus not only on the standard research tools (such as direct and indirect methods, quantitative methods, comparisons, probes and biographical methods), but also on some new and sometimes fashionable research methods. These include, for example, oral history, historical climatology or aerial archaeology. The course will always first explain the workings of a particular method and then the students themselves will explain its application in a specific work or on their own research project.

Prerequisites
unspecified
UHV/MSTRB

Assessment methods and criteria
Oral examination, Presentation

1) During the semester, each student will present in a short class input (about 5-10 minutes) a website useful to historians (with digitized sources or literature, reviews, old prints, dictionaries, maps, various databases, or interesting research projects); the topic will be arranged by the student by email by March 8; 2) each student will present a short presentation to the instructor at the beginning of the exam at the end of the semester, demonstrating the use of an interesting method in the work of contemporary historians; the selection of the paper will be consulted by email with the instructor and the paper must be selected by the end of April; 3) Each student will read a minimum of ten monographs during the semester, and will choose them to be works in which the authors have used inspiring methods and approaches to the topic (i.e., no traditional or descriptive works); 4) at the end of the semester, there will be an individual oral examination: the student will first present the chosen topic, then answer one of 10 questions (corresponding to the topics of the lectures), followed by a discussion of the literature, a list of which the student will send to the examiner at least one day before the examination at Jiri.Kubes@upce.cz.
Recommended literature
  • BARTOŠ, Josef. Úvod do metodiky historického bádání a nauky o pramenech. Olomouc, 1999.
  • BŮŽEK, Václav a kol. Úvod do studia historie. České Budějovice, 1994.
  • STORCHOVÁ, Lucie - HORSKÝ, Jan a kol. Paralely, průsečíky, mimoběžky. Teorie, koncepty a pojmy v české a světové historiografii 20. století. Praha, 2009.
  • STORCHOVÁ, Lucie a kol. Koncepty a dějiny. Proměny pojmů v současné historické vědě. Praha, 2014.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester