The Art of Historical Detection

“It has shown me that everything is illuminated in the light of the past. "

Jonathan Safran Foer

Periodization

• What are the key turning points in a time period?– Excludes non-essential events– Political, social, and economic contexts

Cultural or Spatial Diffusion• The spread of ideas, artifacts, or cultural

criteria from one society to others– Spread of televisions and computers around the

world– Baseball’s popularity in Japan and Mexico, Cuba,

and the Dominican Republic?

SyncretismMixing of elements from two or more cultures

that result in a new thing or civilization– Rastafarianism: mixing elements from the Bible

(King James Version), Marcus Garvey’s Back-to-Africa movement, Caribbean history, and culture

– Mahayana and Zen Buddhism (including mixtures of Daoism and Confucianism)

Comparison• The pointing out and explanation of similarities

and differences between two or more civilizations– In terms of their histories– Institutions– Accomplishments

• Focuses on specific elements OVER TIME, religions, gender differences, labor systems….

Common Phenomena• Natural or historical events and developments shared by

two or more societies or civilizations:• Comparison, but more focused! – Climate– Disease– Natural Disasters– Invasions– Shared technologies

• What is shared and how did it impact societies?

What are the Tools Historians Use?

• Primary Sources– Diaries– Oral Accounts– Photographs– Maps, Art, Drawings– Autobiographies

• Secondary Sources– Textbooks– Library books– Biographies