HIST506

This paper is a critical consideration of major theories of historical knowledge and how these inform, implicitly or explicitly, accounts of the past constructed by historians. Theoretical positions examined in the paper include empiricism, gender, psychohistory, poststructuralism, and postmodernism, and important approaches such as 'history from below', the work of the Annales school, history of mentalities, and postcolonial perspectives. Students will have the opportunity to read and report upon classic or influential modern works of history which incorporate in a significant and exemplary fashion these theories and approaches.