This course will help you to become a better historian and a better analyst of historical writing.  It examines the principles, strategies and assumptions underlying different forms of history.  It also introduces current debates about the discipline.  The course will consider key developments in historical thought and method, from the classical period to the present day.  It will invite you to consider the social functions of historical writing, as well as to critically assess the methods and models employed by different schools and traditions of historical thought.  

The course will help students to analyse key issues central to the study of history in any form and important to other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences.

It will develop student's intellectual resources by encouraging critical assessment of the methods which have been employed by historians in their efforts to understand and write about the past. 

Beyond specific knowledge, students can expect to enhance their skills in the following areas:

• critical thinking
• argument formation
• document analysis
• narrative and analytical writing
• oral presentation

1st Essay 1500 words (35%), 2nd Essay 3000 words (55%) and tutorial participation (10%).

One lecture (1.5 hours) and one tutorial (1 hour) per week for thirteen weeks.  Lectures will be recorded.

At least twelve units at first year level in History (Faculty of Arts) or Asian History (Faculty of Asian Studies). Students entering History IV must have successfully completed this course.

Curthoys, A and Docker, J. Is History Fiction?, UNSW Press, 2005.