HI-408 Writing History: Historiography, Fields of Research, Approaches

The course is connected to the following study programs

• Advanced Teacher Education level 8-13, 5-year Master's Programme
• Master's Programme in History

Teaching language

English and Norwegian

Course contents

The course has three dimensions:

• creating an advanced understanding of the discipline’s history (historiography)

• fostering an informed and critical discussion of central topics and approaches in contemporary historical debate, including with a view to how they can benefit participants’ master theses

• providing an opportunity for individual work with research literature on a field that may be relevant for the participant’s master's thesis

Learning outcomes

Upon completion of the course, participants will have acquired the following:

Knowledge

• advanced knowledge of history as an academic discipline, of its historical development, including its historically variable topics, approaches, and concepts

• the ability to differentiate between and critically discuss historiographic genres as well as the discipline’s most important dissemination forms and channels

• deep insight into a thematically delimited research field that can be pertinent to the participant’s master’s thesis, i.e., familiarity with the field’s development over time, its basic concepts, and the most relevant literature

Skills

• the ability to identify and discuss historical works from various periods and research fields in light of overall historiographical developments

• the ability to reflect critically on central problems of historical research

• the ability to independently analyse various approaches, theories, and methods in the relevant research literature

• the ability to formulate and discuss research questions and arguments based on relevant research literature

General Competency

• the ability to present historical problems orally and to discuss them critically with faculty and fellow students

• the ability to connect critical discussions of historical topics to a body of relevant scholarly literature

Examination requirements

The following requirements for each student must be approved by the course instructor:

• one oral presentation (“group work”)

• one individual written assignment (“literature review”)

• two rounds of “peer feedback” (orally) on the “literature reviews” of two other students

Please refer to Canvas for more information.

Teaching methods

The class comprises both lectures and seminars. Students are required to participate regularly and actively in both. Learning methods: Active reading; discussion of assigned readings; writing assignment (“literature review”); different types of group work and oral presentations; peer feedback; active participation in discussions with faculty and fellow students. The workload is estimated to be 400 hours.

During the semester, in the seminars, each student will

- deliver one oral presentation (“group work”, 10-15 minutes, as part of a group of 2-3 students) based on the assigned readings.

- write one indivdual assignment (“literature review”; 2.200–2.700 words, Times New Roman, 12 pt., 1,5-spaced), giving their critical assessment of a selection of literature that can be relevant for a master’s thesis. The readings chosen for the literature review correspond to about one third of the total amount of readings assigned for the class (“pensum”) and must be chosen in cooperation with the main course instructor.

- actively read, and provide constructive comments on, the literature review by other students (“peer feedback”).

Evaluation

The instructor responsible for the course, in consultation with the student representative, decides on the method of evaluation, and whether the courses will have a midterm- or end of term evaluation, see also the Quality System, section 4.1. Information about the evaluation method chosen will be posted on Canvas.

Assessment methods and criteria

Three days individual take-home exam (Length: 3000 words). Graded assessment.

Reduction of Credits

This course’s contents overlap with the following courses. A reduction of credits will occur if one of these courses is taken in addition:

Course	Reduction of Credits
HI-400 – Introduction to Historiography and Hirstor Research	10