User:GCooper316/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/2020-21/Seminar group 8/History

Geo-graphing: History of Modern Geography

--Granosyenite (discuss • contribs) 05:17, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

Kant, Humboldt and Ritter

In line with his philosophies of space, Immanuel Kant was a key figure in providing a theoretical base for geography. From 1757 to 1797, he lectured in physical geography at Konigsberg University. The course was popular among students, but Kant did not have a professorship in geography - the first chair of geography was given to Carl Ritter in 1820.

It was the works of Carl Ritter and Alexander von Humboldt that marked the birth of modern geography. In Ritter's book Die Erdkunde, he used a regional approach to depict the earth as the home of humans. Humboldt established the methodologies of geographical measurement and observation in his numerous explorations around the world, most notably in South America, recorded in the thirty volumes of his Voyage aux Regions Equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent.A more comprehensive view of the discipline was evident in his Kosmos: a sketch of a physical description of the Universe. The works of Humboldt and Ritter were seen as evidence for geography's 'ever-increasing factual base' in the nineteenth century.

Disciplinary societies were also founded during the nineteenth century, such as the Geographical Society of Paris (1821) and the American Geographical Society (1851). Chairs of geography were being created in universities in Paris and Berlin. In 1874, the first departments of geography were established in Prussian universities, followed by other European universities, and in the United States from 1903 onwards.

Environmental Determinism

Jared Diamond and Neo-determinism

--Granosyenite (discuss • contribs) 02:03, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

The History of History as a Discipline - Amanda

--AmandaZCX (discuss • contribs) 02:03, 14 October 2020 (UTC)

Emergence of History as a Discipline

The starting point of which a subject emerges can be defined by different kinds of possible criteria: when the discipline leads to a very specific kind of job, when there is a formalisation of teacher-student relationship, or when there is publications regarding in the field. History as an area of study can be dated back to as early as human beings had written language.

China

The alleged person who had invented the earliest characters Cang Jie, was also believed by many modern ancient historians as the “official historian” for the first emperor in China, Huang Di which dates back to 2698–2598 BCE. The post of being the “official historian” existed in China in every dynasty and for every emperor. Their job was the organise the history documents and write the history for previous dynasties, as well as document the events happening in their time that can later be used to write the history of their dynasty. Later, the writings such as “Shang Shu”, Zuo Qiuming’s “Zuo Zhuan”, Confucious’ “Chun Qiu”, or Sima Qian’s “Shi Ji” base heavily on primary sources from earlier time which shows that there were properly documented history long before the writing of these major works. These writings in ancient China or not only show that history already had been formally existed as an area of study for quite a period, they also opened the traditions of the first kind of historical writing, chronicles, which could be considered as the first kind of publication that demonstrate the formalisation of the discipline.

Greece

On the other hand, in ancient Greece, the start of history as a formal discipline was clearly marked by Herodotus’ “The Histories”. The work consisted of an elaborately written history based of the Greco-Persian war which Herodotus travelled throughout the country to collect oral documentation relating to the event. Because of the loss of the primary works accompanied with Herodotus’ writing of “The Histories”, currently it is not able to determine how much Herodotus based his historical research on previously existing writings. What is known is that this piece of work was the first literature on the topic of history, and therefore it marks the beginning of history being regarded as a formal discipline in the West.

How History of History Shaped History? —— Exploring Key Changes in the Discipline

Historiography is the study of how historians write history and the methods they use to study history. Looking at the changes in historiography reflects the changes in history as an academic discipline. The “history” of the study of history can shape this discipline because the changing political and social context often propel a change in the historian’s method and the lens of studying history. Therefore, the turning points in the discipline of history are influential historical events or period that changed the predominant way of thinking of the people.

Into the Enlightenment Period: The Shifting Methods of Studying History

The enlightenment period sparked the beginning of a new method in studying history emphasising on logic and scrupulous methods.

19th Century: Emerging New Branches Within History

The French Revolution inspired many new branches within history. For example, historians started to examine the history of the psychology of the people participating in the revolutions and thus contributed to the emergence of psychohistory.

20th Century: The Modern Ways of Studying History

The two world wars were a turning point in the study of history. The world wars led to a dramatic advancement of technology and modernisation of society and education. Researches, including in the discipline of history, in different areas in the 20th century were characterised by the heavy focus on universities. Most researchers and leading scholars in the field have completed formal university degrees from undergraduate, postgraduate, to even PhD studies at universities. Therefore, their method of interpretation of history is rather very systematically trained. The criticisms of history in the twentieth century shifted into the focus on historiography in which historians recognises the underlying ideas of how people have perceived history. Besides, the criticisms of history shifts into evaluating the strengths of weaknesses of the historian’s argument based on corroboration of evidence and critically evaluating their interpretation.

Besides shifting focus on methodology, study of history in the 20th century is strongly influenced by the rapidly changing political and social context. For example, during the Cold War era, the political context led historians in the USSR and the US to have opposing historiographical lenses. Along with the political changes in the Cold War context, the historiography in both countries evolved. Take the US as an example. When Cold War tensions just started to build up, there was the traditional interpretation. US historians during this era would see that it was the aggressive and expansionist actions of Stalin and the Soviet Union that caused the breakup of the Grand Alliance, and that US foreign policy in the 1940s and early 1950s was passive to the Soviet actions¹. After the Vietnam War, it was clear that the event have contributed to the rise of revisionist historiography in Cold War America. Historians started to think that the Soviet Union and Stalin was not solely responsible for the Cold War and the US had its own economic and political agenda. The Vietnam war also led US scholars to think that the policies of Roosevelt and Truman were not as advocated as to have an “disinterested power intent” and solely meant to preserve international justice². Socially, after the two world wars, there were increasing number of women rights movements. Therefore, the 20th century historical studies also sees a new historiographical lens, the feminist perspective. For example, historians started to view the history of the Second World War from a feminist perspective and started to evaluate their contributions and the impact of the wars on women³. The historiographical changes demonstrate that the discipline of history is constantly influenced by the evolving political and social changes.

Exception? Chinese historiography, a continuous trend

However, Chinese historiography is rather an exception. Some scholars in history also believed that Chinese historiography lies independently of transient social changes. This could be interpreted as the result of the penetrating Confucius thinking. Some argues that once China adopted Confucianism as its fundamental orthodox philosophy, Chinese people were not able to be truly removed from such perspective. Therefore, the study of history remained as being esteemed to be “the guiding principles”⁴ and thus history studies in China has the long tradition of having an explicit moral purposes.

Bibliography

note: my display is different to the one in the tutorial, so I cited manually :(

【1】Crapol E. Some Reflections on the Historiography of the Cold War. Society for History Education [Internet]. 1987;20(2):251. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/493031

【2】Crapol E. Some Reflections on the Historiography of the Cold War. Society for History Education [Internet]. 1987;20(2):251. Available from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/493031

【3】Goldin C. The Role of World War II in the Rise of Women's Employment. American Economic Association. 1991;81(4):741-756.

【4】Chang K. Archaeology and Chinese historiography. World Archaeology. 1981;13(2):156-169.

The History of Redology: conflicting between literary criticism and natural history

Redology is the academic study of Cao Xueqin's Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the Four Great Classical Novels of China. There is Hongloumeng Institute in Chinese National Academy of Arts, established in 1979.

There are numerous researchers in this field; most can be divided into four general groups, namely the commentators, the index group, the textual critics, the literary critics. The commentators and the index group are the two most prestige groups of Redology researchers.

The History of Commentators and Methods of literary criticism

The commentators adhere to the literary principle, interpret the original works from the perspectives of art, thought, encyclopedic culture, social life, philosophical understanding, emotional experience, etc., and study the ideological themes, artistic features, characters, cultural values, writing methods of "Dream of Red Mansions" and so on. In the times of old-Redology, the Redology before May 4th Movement，In the 19th century, the critics were very active, and the booksellers published 120 times "Dream of the Red Mansions" after criticism, approval and new reviews. Lu Xun put forward many incisive opinions on "Dream of Red Mansions" in "The History of Chinese Novels" (1924), "The Change of the History of Chinese Novels" and other articles. Li Chendong's "Dream Study of Red Mansions" (1934, French text) holds that Cao Xueqin's attitudes towards life is philosophical and predestine and his book aims to express the feeling that "life is no more than a dream".

The History of the Index Group and Methods of Natural History

The index group is the first major group of Redology, adhere to the historical principle, the use of Dewey's empirical methods, committed to the examination of Cao Yuqin’s family affairs, "Dream of the Red Mansions" version and into the book. Hu Shi's "Dream Test of Red Mansions" (1921) opened up a new world for the study of "Dream of Red Mansions" and brought fresh air. According to the novel itself and the Qing people's notes, biographies, poems and other materials, Hu Shi confirmed that the author of "Dream of Red Mansions" is Cao Xueqin, and Cao Xueqin is the grandson of Cao Qi, "Dream of Red Mansions" is Cao Xueqin's "autobiography", the last forty times is Gao E to make up. Since then, Cao Xueqin by the vast majority of redology researchers recognized as the "Dream of Red Mansions" author.

History of Disciplines: Forensic Linguistics, Conflicts and Incorporation of Law and Linguistics. - Kiseki101

Forensic Linguistics is an interdisciplinary discipline that utilised the scientific method of linguistics in a legal context. In present times, forensic linguists are often called on to provide evidence to the authorship of written evidence within cyber-attacks, homicide, and other legal cases.

History of Disciplines: Biology as a discipline --[User:GianaVBlake]

Biology is the science of life and of living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution and distribution (Biology, 2020). Biological sciences emerged from traditions of medicine and the works of Aristotle and Galen in the ancient Greco - Roman world. The 19th century was a notably important turning point for the individualisation of biology as a sub discipline of 'Science' as a whole. Prior to this period, the focus in biology was mostly of zoology and botany. The two decades either side of 1960 brought a world-wide interest in curriculum renewal that led to attempts at reform in both the developed and the developing world (Jenkins EW,2016). In 1967, the 'Journal of Biology' was first published. In the UK in particular, this encouraged the institutionalisation/ expansion of biology education as a field of teaching within higher education. From here, Biology began to include more than just botany and zoology - it included genetics, living organisms, evolution etc. As the subject expanded, so did the opportunity for study and interest.

Bibliography:

ScienceDaily. 2020. Biology. [online] Available at: <https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/biology.htm> [Accessed 16 October 2020]

2016, Taylor & Francis. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Biological Education on 8 July 2016 available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/00219266.2016.1202484==