HPS4300H: The Historian's Craft: Sources, Methods,and Approaches

This graduate seminar offers an introduction to the principles of research in the history of science, medicine, and technology (HSMT). Through a close examination of classic texts and recent publications in the field, it focuses on sources, methods, and approaches in the practice of HSMT. We will explore the major genres — history of ideas, individuals, institutions, disciplines, and networks — as well as the main modes of analysis — intellectual, social, and cultural — employed in the field. The seminar will emphasize the development of skills essential to the profession — good writing, attentive reading, analytical thinking, concise presentation, academic debate, and historiographic and methodological knowledge. Each week, we will examine in depth a particular genre or level of analysis based on assigned readings and book presentations, focusing on the "Whats," "Whys," and "Hows" of historical research and writing.

0.50
St. George