Week 9: Historical Method

Socratic SeminarTOK Research Abstract

• Readings:– Dissertation

research– Exam 1 Review

Where We are Going• 5 minute prep for SS

– Get your notes in order– Discuss main points of article,

your question.– Decide who is speaking, what

in general you will say, how you will make it interesting.

• Socratic Seminar (30 min. -?)– 6 minute rounds– 3 min. outside questioning– 3 min. debrief and notes

• Discussion of writing dissertation 1 (3/24)

• Notes on Unit Exam review (3/20)

Socratic Seminar• Have your article ready, both to

quote, and to summarize, the main idea presented.

• Attempt to analyze the following:– What is the scope of the article? Is

it a description of an event, a critique of competing views, or something else?

– What is the argument of the article? What propositions or truth statements does it make?

– Evaluate the argument made in the article. Are there any counter-factuals considered? Is the article too limited?

– What are future areas of research concerning your question, the articles content, and/or its application for your Extended Essay?

Identity, Change over Time, and Borders

• Answering Question 1 from last week, I discussed some of the different approaches to the idea that history is written from particular perspectives

• I focused on three areas, discussed the revised symbols, and offered diverse ways of thinking about the similar issues (borders, statistics, genetic variance, pre-modern accounts)

Identity, Change over Time, and Borders

• To what extent does the subjective approach of history reveal changing perspectives over time regarding humanity, identity, and border disputes?– This is NOT the original

question, but a dissertation question that acts to clarify towards my thesis statement.

– I must take a position as a result of this new “research question”

Thesis:

History is the fabric of the past woven together by the styles and capabilities of both contemporaneous and future histiographers. The concept of historical identity as it relates to border disputes over time often reveal a pragmatic theory of truth due to the continuing effects of the dispute. When disputes are resolved, or recede in time, coherence theory of truth seems predominant in histiography; particularly as it relates to the fields of ancient scientific and historical knowing.

TOK Dissertation 1 (3/24)

• You will complete the following:– Outline hand-out (condensed version of

the EE due 4/17)–Write a 3 page abstract based on a POK

question combined with your EE topic.– Loosely reference all 5 chapter topics

studied the last 8 weeks (Truth, Logic, Argument, Ethics, History)

– Cite 3 peer-reviewed sources (MLA)

TOK Research Sharing

• Go to ebscohost, create a folder with this format: “EE.lastname.firstname.workingtitle”

• Share the folder with me (use my email)

TOK Unit Exam 1 (3/20)• 20 short answer

questions from the 5 areas previously discussed.

• Focus on studying the following:– Be able to use 10 specific

vocabulary terms, people, or theories in each area.

– Previous week’s notes focusing on an understanding of the general topic and the POK presented in each chapter

– Forming Socratic Seminar question worksheets