WHAT IS HISTORY?
Events that happen in the PRESENT(or NOW) are “Current Events.”
Once the event is over, it becomes HISTORY.
HISTORY is a record of what has happened in our past.
What is the PAST?
WHY STUDY HISTORY???
“History is to your country (and the other countries of the world) what past memories are to the individual”
Imagine as an adult you didn't know of or have memories of your childhood, you don't know who your parents were, or what country you grew up in, or the circumstances of your young life. That's what it would be like if you didn't know your country's, or your people's, or Earth's history.
• History is the only thing that is real.
• History is the analysis and interpretation of the human past that enables us to study continuity and change over time.
• It is an act of both investigation and imagination that seeks to explain how people have changed over time
Is History Useful? It doesn’t help build schools,
fight fires, perform operations, help sell merchandise, or launch a space shuttle.
So…why do we study history? in order to ensure that great deeds are
not forgotten in order to understand the present and
prepare for the future in order to provide a moral lesson in order to encourage civic participation
and citizenship in order to prevent prejudice in order to appreciate arts and literature
in order to foster personal growth - study history because everything you learn makes you smarter!
to understand people, how they act and why they acted.
To develop a sense of belonging to our country. We are proud of our motherland
So you do not sound like an idiot because you do not know who Mahatma Gandhi is
history is the only thing that is real
History Helps Us Understand OUR WORLD
You cannot understand people if you do not understand their pastYou cannot understand our community if you do not know how it came to beYou cannot understand our nation without historyYou cannot understand our world if you do not understand history
History Give Us Identity
Studying history gives people a sense of nationalism
It gives groups such as ethnic, organization, even schools a sense of identity
It gives family and personal identity as well
History Helps Us Understand People
People make up society and it is very hard to test how that kind of group behaves when it is made up of 4 billion people
History acts as a “social laboratory”, one of the few way we can help predict the future behavior of such a large group
Those That Study and Understand History Become
Good Citizens It provides national identity Provides examples of success, morality and
of course the examples of the opposite Helps us understand current world affairs
and conflicts by understanding the root of the problems
Provides support for making decisions and encourages, “responsible public behavior, whether as a national or community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or a simple observer. ”
How do you take the first steps to become a historian?
Jobs of the Historian: Historians have at least four different
jobs Each of these jobs is important to
understand the past so we are able to understand ourselves, our society and our world
The Detective Investigates the past Determines what happened Separates truth from falsehoods or
misinterpretations Separates out bias in historical writing to
find the truth (or as close as possible)
The Storyteller• Tells the story of history to others• Imparts lessons, morals, and other
learning of history • Entertains and fascinates with the epic
story of our history
The Judge Judges history and makes moral
decisions. Example: was someone evil or just misunderstood?
Ever heard the saying, “We will see how history judges me?”
Sorts what should be emulated and what should be discarded
The Philosopher Is a reflector and may also be speculating
on what was right or wrong Ponders important questions and
attempts to pull out meaning from history Not only speculates on the lessons of the
past but also may attempt to predict the future
History related jobs....
Museum/gallery worker
Archaeologist
Teacher
Journalist/reporter
Politician
Banking
Librarian
Archivist
Historian
Lawyer/
barrister
TV/media
Tourist indust
ry
The End Is Just the Beginning
Are you willing to put on the four hats of historian and attempt to understand the past…in order to ensure a brighter future for yourself, for your family, for your community, for your nation, and for your world?
The value of history … is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is and can do. – R. G. Collingwood Do YOU have a story?
THEN you have a HISTORY
Home work
List four reasons why you would like to study history.
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