Myself as a Historian
Discuss the methodologies or theories you are likely to use in your research? Put another way, how do you position yourself as a historian? Where along the fault lines of historical methods do you see yourself as an author? Why is this methodology the one suited to your research question? How does this methodology/theory shape the question you want to address in your research?
I see myself perhaps first as a cultural historian because I am studying civilian morale during the First World War. I also believe myself to be an animal historian, as I am tracing the use of animals during World War I. I also view myself as situated at the intersections of animal history and discussions of agency, the niche that I am attempting to fill, at least to a limited extent with my research project. My primary focus on cultural history, allows for my central question and thesis to also focus on cultural aspects instead of say, social aspects or military aspects, for example.
March 14, 2015 @ 7:33 am
I’m interested in what you see as the essence of a cultural historian? As you distinguish yourself from a social historian, why is agency something that you address? Could you study civilian morale from another perspective? And how might that view change the questions you ask? Just pushing a little deeper– because as you said in the methodology post, we use it but often don’t think much about it.
March 15, 2015 @ 9:47 am
Hi Dr. Jones,
I suppose I see cultural historians as those that specifically focus on aspects of culture: for example, popular media, cultural trends, etc. I think social history is related but different though it is difficult sometimes to tell. I suppose I could be seen as a social historian as well due to my interest in agency, it is honestly something I had not previously thought about. I do think civilian morale could perhaps be studied from another perspective, perhaps with a social rather than cultural lens (though I am not entirely sure how that would be accomplished). This would certainly change the questions I am asking though again, I am not entirely sure how because I think I myself am a bit confused in understanding the differences between social and cultural history! This may be something I need to flush out a bit more for my research project…Thanks for pushing me to think about these questions!
March 15, 2015 @ 11:04 am
Your post also pushes me — it’s probably a topic we should plan to talk about in class!
March 15, 2015 @ 3:55 pm
I think that’s a great idea!