History is often seen as something that’s learned in the classroom, a collection of dates and names in thick textbooks. But it’s much more than that. For many people, history is the source of a sense of identity, connecting them with their country, family or culture’s past and its journey to present day. It can also teach them about how to cope with adversity, such as by studying the stories of great individuals who remained true to their morals in difficult situations. And it can encourage them to engage in activism, to take a stand for the good of humanity and for nature.
History, in fact, is a living dialogue between the present and the past.
Historians study what past actors have left behind, from the traces of war to the written records of their ideas and actions, and they create historical narratives from these sources. These narratives, in turn, can help us understand how humans have evolved and what we might be able to learn from the past so we don’t repeat mistakes. Historians are tasked with being critical of their own interpretations of the evidence they study, avoiding bias and attempting to find a variety of voices in order to get the best picture possible of what happened. Historians use what are called primary sources, which run the gamut from oral histories to government documents to Hollywood films to material culture. Historians also keep in mind the writings of other historians, which are known as secondary sources.
This means that studying history is challenging. It’s important to have a strong understanding of the concept of perspective, and it’s equally crucial to be able to recognize that even though Tacitus might have seemed like an objective writer — and he was certainly a prolific one — every historian has his or her vantage point that shapes what is written about the past.
It’s also important to be able to read the evidence with an eye towards what historians call significance. Significance is a broader category than causation or consequence; it’s about how important an event or person was at the time and in retrospect. It’s about what that event or person meant to those who lived through it and how they saw their world and themselves change because of it.
It’s not easy to master this, and many people avoid history because of the challenges. But the reward is well worth it. It can give students a sense of identity and allow them to better engage with their own lives and the world around them. It can inspire activism, and it can help them see the value of humanity — especially when it’s threatened by a future that seems as bleak as some of the historical scenarios they’ve studied. For example, they can learn from the experiences of people like SNHU student John Roos ’18 who used his passion for history to transform his life and become an activist for environmental protection and social justice.