In this article, the author reviews his unsuccessful and successful strategies for teaching research and analytical skills, which illustrate changes in his assumptions about and attitude toward teaching. Older and perhaps wiser as well, the author no longer assumes that students already know how to do what teachers expect them to be able to do by…

The views of the author's students about history caused her to reflect on her teaching, specifically, what she was lacking in her attempts to teach civic competence through history. This process led her to research historical thinking and design a study in which she exposed her students to the rigors of history. Grant's (2001) study of 9th grade…

Outlines revisionist interpretations of the French Revolution that challenged the dominant historiographical tradition during the 1950s and 1960s. Distinguishes four central characteristics of revisionist works. Identifies a key split in current French Revolution historiography between reflection on nineteenth-century…

At the top of the list of historians who practiced social criticism stands the best-selling author Christopher Lasch. Lasch observed that "historians tend to become social critics almost in spite of themselves, in the ordinary business of going about their work." By taking the past seriously as an object of study, historical research opens a…

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the relevance of transnationalism to understanding historical European international migrations to the United States. The author attempts to do this in two ways. First, through analysis and critique of the historical literature, including his own past work, this essay demonstrates the ways in which a…

Questions assumptions of the New Historicism, a recent development in literary criticism. Suggests some problems that such an essentially political approach engenders. Includes lack of a common bond between author and reader, a universal model of historical change based upon the ideas of Marx and others, and contextualism. Argues that historians…

The author frequently teaches introductory courses in what was once generally called "Western Civilization" and has often been called upon to referee all or parts of the manuscripts of new editions of "Western Civ" textbooks. Through his own reading, he has become aware that much current scholarship on ancient Israel and Judah…

Reviews works of cultural historians of the French Revolution. Analyzes interpretations of what constituted "the people" in three late eighteenth-century sources: Diderot's "Encyclopedie," contemporary political pamphlets, and Louis-Sebastien Mercier's vignettes of Parisian street life. Contends representation of "the…

Describes the problem of absence of evidence in historiography. Discusses the limits this lack of evidence poses for comparative studies by sociologists. Identifies steps in which events or evidence may be missed or passed over. Includes nonoccurrence, no surviving evidence, unlocated evidence, failure to note evidence, inaccurate criticism of…

Describes the University of California (Irvine) one-year humanities core course as hermeneutically and contextually oriented. Explains course development, structure, and organization and provides the reading list. Students assignments include essays and a dialectical notebook. Provides a three-day fall seminar for the teaching staff. Finds course…