The Practice of History (CH9853C)

Postgraduate, 48.0 points

Content

This seminar-based unit is designed to enable students to develop advanced skills in historical research and writing. The unit will include sessions on methods of historical research, writing history and narrative style, the use of oral sources, publishing, electronic sources and databases and contemporary issues in historiography.

Unit code: CH9853C

Unit status: Approved (Major revision)

Points: 48.0

Unit level: Postgraduate Elective

Unit discipline: Church History

Delivery Mode: Face to Face

Proposing College: Catholic Theological College

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Learning outcomes

1.

Undertake historical research with the appropriate understanding of historical methodology and demonstrate understanding of a range of approaches to the study of historical texts.
2.

Demonstrate skilled use of electronic databases, journals and other scholarly literature
3.

Engage in scholarly exchange with people engaged in other areas of historical research.
4.

Critically evaluate the work of selected historians
5.

Undertake research in Church History, using primary and secondary sources, in a critically rigorous, sustained and self-directed manner
6.

Reflect theologically upon historical texts and integrate their study with other theological disciplines.

Unit sequence

CH1001C and CH1002C or equivalent

Pedagogy

Face-to-face monthly seminar discussion.

Indicative Bibliography

  • Bebbington, David W., Patterns in History: Christian Perspectives on Historical Thought. Leicester, UK: InterVarsity, 1979.
  • Bradley, James E. Church History An Introduction to Research Methods and Resources. 2nd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2016.
  • Burke, Peter ed. New Perspectives on Historical Writing. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003.
  • Caine, Barbara. Biography and History. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010.
  • Carr, Edward H. What is History? Rev. ed., with new introduction by Richard J. Evans. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2002.
  • Curthoys, Ann & Ann McGrath. How to Write History that People Want to Read. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
  • Curthoys, Ann, and John Docker. Is History Fiction? 2nd ed. Sydney: University of NSW Press, 2010.
  • Elton, Geoffrey. The Practice of History. Oxford: Blackwell, 2002.
  • Evans, Richard J. In Defence of History. New York: Norton, 2000.
  • McIntyre, C.T. God, History and Historians: An Introduction to Modern Christian Views of History. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
  • Munslow, Alun, ed. The Routledge Companion to Historical Studies. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2006.
  • Salvatore, Nick, ed. Faith and the Historian: Catholic Perspectives. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
  • Walker, Garthine, ed. Writing Early Modern History. London: Hodder Arnold Press, 2005.

Assessment

Type Description Word count Weight (%)
Essay

16,000-word essay or equivalent project

To undertake these seminars in conjunction with a 16,000-word Minor Thesis, a student should audit this unit and enrol in the Minor Thesis unit.

 16000 100.0
Approvals

Unit approved for the University of Divinity by Maggie Kappelhoff on 19 Jul, 2021

Unit record last updated: 2021-07-19 13:34:57 +1000