This week we will consider the wise words of Lord Acton from his Inaugural Lecture on
the Study of History---Are his words "wise"? How does his view compare with the views of
the articles you read for Friday's Class.
B. Choosing your topics:
Ten Reaction Papers and Oral Presentations
We will be "accumulating material" as Acton indicates, and will now need to "sift"
through it to determine fact from fiction.
Click on the icon to the right, which will take you to the article on moral judgements in history by Lord Acton, and Download and print it. Acton represents an older view than those presented by Schlabach, Trachtenberg, and Banner. As you read these pieces, think yourselves about whether historians should make moral judgements and whether the study and reading of history should have a moral affect upon the citizens of a culture.
For Wednesday, January 30
Read, in Davidson and Lytle,
"Prologue: Silas Deane," pp. xv-xxxi.
Scandal, Murder, and Mayhem:
Journal Entry #1- Choose an unsolved mystery and report on significant events
Our first task is to read and begin to discuss the chapter on Silas Deane. Professor Swanson will continue discussing the chapter in depth in the Wednesday lab, so I want to look outside the actual case to other such cases in history where questions arise. By this class you will have chosen a "mystery" to investigate from the list presented in my introduction. We'll go around the room to find out what everyone is sleuthing.
Silas Dean: an engraved likeness.
For Friday, February 1
Continue our Discussion of Davidson and Lytle's, Prologue
Presentation of Journal Entry #1
We'll begin by trying to determine who's telling the truth, who's lying, and what each individual might be hiding. Let's put some of our subjects under a historical microscope.
A.
