History is more than the rote memorization of names, dates and places that some remember from their high school classes. It is a dynamic, interactive discipline that opens students’ eyes to the enormous range of accommodations that people have made in their lives and in the societies they inhabit. It reveals the high costs of making decisions without a full understanding of the lessons that history has to teach.
In the words of historian Eric Freeman, “history is a record of man’s attempt to form his conception of the past. It is man’s biography in all its departments.” As a result, each age attempts to understand the events of the past from its own point of view. This is why so many of the interpretations of historical events differ so much.
While it may be difficult to find the truth about what really happened in the past, history can provide students with a solid grounding in how to assess claims and evidence, as well as the skills necessary for critical thinking. It also helps students learn to distinguish between different viewpoints in a given argument, which is a crucial skill for all areas of life.
It promotes a broader perspective on human behavior and encourages empathy. In a world where inclusivity is embraced, it’s essential for students to understand how the past influenced the way humans have interacted with each other.
Studying history allows students to see that past cultures struggled with the same issues that we are grappling with today, including societal injustices and prejudices. It teaches that we have more in common with the people who came before us than we think. History can also show students that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to a question, and that there are countless paths to the solution.
Because it is an academic subject, history requires a certain level of maturity and rigor that may be difficult for some students to grasp. It also involves a substantial amount of reading, writing and research, which are often seen as intimidating by some students. Moreover, the nature of history’s sources mean that finding the truth about what happened in the past can be complicated.
Unlike the sciences, which tend to be relatively objective, history deals with human values in a way that leaves little room for impartiality. Even a single event can take on thousands of different meanings when interpreted by different groups of people, each with their own priorities, values and beliefs. A glance at the crucifixion of Jesus, for example, illustrates how far from neutrality can be found in any human endeavor. However, the scholarly community strives to create sources that can be as objective and unbiased as possible. It is this synthesis of work that ultimately yields the results we know as history.