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<channel>
	<title>Love of History &#187; history</title>
	<atom:link href="http://loveofhistory.com/tag/history/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://loveofhistory.com</link>
	<description>A historical perspective of current events</description>
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		<title>Entrepreneurial Skills for Students in the Humanities</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/entrepreneurial-skills-for-students-in-the-humanities/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/entrepreneurial-skills-for-students-in-the-humanities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Jun 2016 17:05:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[employability]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurial]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entrepreneurship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[university courses]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://loveofhistory.com/?p=3653</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When you move across academic circles, you notice a general discontent about the state of Higher Education. The complaints are shot from all quarters. The professors are lamenting the good old age when they had time for research. The lecturers are complaining about the burden of becoming jacks of all trades. The administrators feel like they are second class citizens in a university that still nurtures medieval hierarchies. And they all complain about the students who exhibit a newly acquired customer mentality. Of course, the students are the university’s customers. They pay for its infrastructure, professorial salaries, lecture halls and marketing campaigns. In return, they receive proof that they were trained in a specific sector. The proof is stamped by a university that may have a long standing reputation in national and international communities (or not). In effect, the university becomes the guarantee of the student’s knowledge. Despite the university’s attention to student experience, high quality knowledge and advanced learning systems, students remain unconvinced of its value. And with good reason! When they finish their studies, they expect to find a full time job that could pay for their basic expenses as well as the exorbitant loans they already acquired. Reality, though, does not meet their expectations. In most cases, they end up in unpaid internships or dead end part time jobs. They stay in this predicament until they gain enough work experience to start moving up the ladder or across different sectors. Why do universities fail to cater to the needs of their students and future employers? It is evident that they have the resources and the human potential to provide for what their customers want. And yet, they seem to react spasmodically and without a clear plan for the future. Surely, some of the brightest people I know (who are incidentally in academia) could come up with a path to change. In this case, I believe that the problem is emotional rather than intellectual. Change is the key word in this equation. The fear of change permeates large organisations and its institutionalised people. However, the fear of the unknown could cause unprecedented failures in moving ahead with the times. And this is exactly what academics and university administrators need to do. They have to recognise that we no longer live in the Industrial era. Instead, we are moving into a very disruptive phase of the Digital Revolution. Changes happen fast and alter radically the world as we know it. The revolution affects all aspects of our lives, both professionally and personally. In the business world some inspiring influencers already identified the need for change and they are taking steps to a different direction. One of the first measures they took, and should be noted by universities, is that they no longer hire graduates for their skills. Instead, they hire them for their attitude. In a fast changing world skills need to be updated continuously. As a matter of fact, slow paced research, in some disciplines, cannot keep up with developments in the real world. By the time journals and university presses go through the external readership, editing, and copy editing process, ‘innovative’ ideas are already obsolete. Similarly, the skills some students are taught no longer reflect what society needs by the time they leave university. The only solution to this problem is to focus on the student’s attitude, personality, the so called ‘soft’ skills (that are neither soft, nor insignificant). In the 21st century what we need is problem solving abilities, communication skills, creativity, team working, inspiring leadership and analytical tools. Of course, all of these can be found as separate elements in individual disciplines. However, no curriculum brought them together in a coherent lot. Even worse, neither students nor teachers fully understand how these can be identified and applied in real situations. As I was wondering along the paths of my ‘history oriented’ mind and the very real business world, I became aware of the power of entrepreneurship, not as a money making opportunity but as an attitude forming one. For the past three years I mentored hundreds of entrepreneurs. While I ‘supervised’ their projects, I noted how their cognitive and emotional skills developed. And I became truly and utterly surprised! I never expected that a simple business development exercise could bring about such life altering results. I became especially astonished when PhD students started describing my programs as ‘a life altering experience’ or ‘a crash course on real life survival skills’. So, I decided to dig a little bit deeper into the process I was following. This is when I realised that they showed their appreciation not for the knowledge I was disseminating but for the experience I allowed them to have. I obviously touched them at an emotional level and I helped them develop as people, not just as learning machines. This is, of course, one of the reasons I abandoned Economic History for the sake of Applied Entrepreneurship. I do not value theoretical models any less. I just value the application of knowledge a lot more than I used to. And so do my startup/ students. Based on my recent experiences, I took a massive leap. I created a series of virtual programs on entrepreneurship that can be used as part of University courses. The idea was that the students of individual departments or across a College can create their own products or services, so that they build around them a viable business. This does not mean that every one of them would become a business owner. Most probably they would just get the right entrepreneurial skills they need to find the job that they deserve. Such skills (to my mind) would certainly make them more employable. But then, I experienced the shock of my life. I expected that humanities departments, especially in history and philosophy, would be the first to take up the challenge. After all, their students end up in managerial positions and they are the most skilled to run their own business (due to the high quality of their analytical thinking). I was wrong. It was Computer Science, Maths, and Physics departments that showed the most interest. I requested advice on the reasons behind such a low interest in entrepreneurship exercises. I received a combination of answers but none of them seemed to be entirely convincing. Most of them cited the students’ indifference. Others commented on the conservative structure of their curriculum. To tell you the truth, they all sounded more like excuses rather than actual reasons. Is it possible that the Humanities devotees are less forward thinking that their Science counterparts? And yet, I can see clearly the need for a change in direction in the Humanities. Analysing the theoretical frameworks of Tacitus, or synthesising economic data in a coherent lot may be a good exercise in analytical thinking. However, it still does not bear a clear connection with the real world. The invaluable skills that humanities education provides can be highlighted only through the prism of relevant life experiences. And I will continue fighting across these lines. For those of you who are curious about what I am doing with my life after academia, check out my site http://startdoms.com . At this point in time, I am dedicated to entrepreneurship and its infinite potential for changing our world.]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://loveofhistory.com/entrepreneurial-skills-for-students-in-the-humanities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Arabic Invasion of Europe</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/the-arabic-invasion-of-europe/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/the-arabic-invasion-of-europe/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 13 Jul 2013 08:53:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Medieval]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[arabs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[byzantium]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civilisation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[constantinople]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europe]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[medieval]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://loveofhistory.com/?p=2661</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Arab influence on European culture was undoubtedly important and long lasting. The Byzantines were the first people that came in direct contact with the Arabic civilisation. On 14 September 628 the byzantine emperor Heraclius returned to Constantinople victorious after his military clashes with the Persian neighbours. He brought with him the True Cross of Christ that, until then, remained in Jerusalem. The Cross had a powerful meaning for the people of Constantinople. It signified the fact that Persia would never threaten the byzantine empire again! The Persians may have stayed in the shadows for the subsequent centuries but another force made its presence known in the area. The Arabs, an islamic civilisation, moved out of Arabia in 633 AD and headed north, towards the southern provinces of the byzantine empire. The move lasted several decades during which time, they conquered Damascus, Jerusalem, Syria, Egypt, Armenia, the Persian empire, Afghanistan and Punjab. When they reached the limits they could afford in the east, they turned west. By 711 AD they conquered north Africa and they invaded Spain. By 732 AD they have crossed the Pyrenees and reached France. The Byzantines were certainly aware of the Arabic threat and the imminent annihilation of their world. The Arabic army camped outside their capital, Constantinople, for almost four years (674-677 AD)! The city was saved through the stubborn resistance of its inhabitants and the employment of a new ‘chemical’ weapon, the Greek Fire. The Arabs may not have conquered the byzantine empire but it certainly influenced it in other ways. The building of mosques across the byzantine empire became a common feature after some time. After all, the byzantines were not oblivious to the (mostly commercial) advantages that the Arabs could offer them. The Orthodox patriarch Nikolaos I Mysticos who lived during the 10th century said to the muslim Emir of the island of Crete: “The two Great Powers of the Universe, Byzantium and Islam, shine like the all shiny stars in the sky. So, despite our differences in religion and customs, we should always be in friendly terms, like brothers, and cooperate harmoniously’.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Economic Reality and Greek Culture</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/economic-reality-and-greek-culture/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/economic-reality-and-greek-culture/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Jun 2013 17:12:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[greek]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tourism]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://loveofhistory.com/?p=2582</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You all know how modern Greece became bankrupt, how its population lives under extreme economic conditions, how the government is trying to pay off the debts (though, not that successfully). The IMF process demanded that the entire economy deflated, that the salaries and the prices were reduced, so that Greece became competitive again. Competitive in what, though? Since the euro entered our lives, most Greeks have been living on borrowed money and time. They neither created products nor offered services. Now they have to go back to their roots and find new entrepreneurial ways of survival. One of the avenues they have chosen was to go back to the land and cultivate specialised crops. The other one was tourism. Tourism has a long history in Greece that actually predates the birth of Jesus Christ. In modern post-bankruptchy Greece it has taken a new meaning. Several local and international organisations are trying to profit from Greece&#8217;s long tradition and history. The worst of them put up a banner close to archaeological sites and sell souvenirs. The best of them are devising elaborate schemes. Among them, archaeological theme parks are probably the most promising ones. Recreating antiquity will probably be the best way to attract people like you and me, lovers of history. The feasibility of these parks will not rely entirely on the entrepreneurial spirit of the businessman, though. The state should also give its permission and define the regulations for organising such ventures. In these cases, I sincerely hope that Greek administrative officials will leave behind them old practices and that they will embrace the new and the unknown. If anything, I expect the Greek state to enhance its touristic infrastructure and provide some funds to starving museums (and archaeologists). People in my profession may be idealistic but they still need to eat!]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://loveofhistory.com/economic-reality-and-greek-culture/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Sade&#8217;s Queer Theory</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/sades-queer-theory/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/sades-queer-theory/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 11 Apr 2013 10:39:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Modern]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[modern]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[queer theory]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sade]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://loveofhistory.com/?p=2458</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I have always been a fan of Sade, as I thought he was way too advanced for his time. Consequently, he paid the price! So, when I saw on H-Net list the advertisement of a new book on him, I thought I should share the news with you. It may be a little bit expensive to buy but I will be there when the library gets it. William F. Edmiston, Sade: Queer Theorist, Voltaire Foundation, SVEC 2013:03, ISBN 978-0-7294-1064-9, x+244 pages, £60 / €80 / $105. &#8220;Following an overview of queer theory, William F. Edmiston examines the categories of sex, gender and sexuality as treated in some of Sade’s best- and lesser-known works. He demonstrates the extent to which Sade erodes the boundaries of sexual opposition through discourses justifying rather than illegitimizing ‘unlawful’ sex. Edmiston reveals the coexistence of two competing discourses on sexuality: a proclivity that cannot be eradicated, and a habit that one can choose to adopt. This pioneering re-reading culminates with an examination of how recent biographies attempt to force Sade into a normal/abnormal dichotomy, manipulating police reports, personal correspondence or narratorial interventions to establish (or not) the author’s homosexuality.&#8221; As seen in H-Net]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8216;I Hate (Love) Wikipedia&#8217;</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/i-hate-love-wikipedia/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/i-hate-love-wikipedia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Apr 2013 07:59:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crowd]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[knowledge economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wikipedia]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://loveofhistory.com/?p=2412</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most academics I know are quick to condemn the value of wikipedia as a concept as well as content. When a new batch of undergraduates arrive at the university for the first time, professors are eager to warn them against the evils of the online encyclopaedia. They usually mention how unreliable are the entries, how impossible it is to identify the writer behind them, how the text does not engage in current debates. How justified are such comments? I will not present you here with statistics or the research on the wikipedia phenomenon. Instead, I would like to share my personal experience. I have been editing wikipedia entries for the past few years. As you probably know, I am an expert in Roman history with a specialisation in imperial social and economic history. So, whenever I considered that an entry was not up to my standards or up to the latest research, I would &#8216;edit&#8217; it. Are these entries less valuable to the educated public or the students or, indeed, other professors, because I wrote them anonymously? Furthermore, a couple of years ago one of my students decided to run an impromptu experiment. He edited one of the entries and included a number of wrong information. Then he waited to see what happened. A few hours later the entry has been re-edited and the wrong information was removed. The crowd has spoken once more and the status quo was restored. I do not claim that wikipedia could replace valid research. However, it is probably the best encyclopedia that ever existed and a living proof of the power of crowd-knowledge. I would strongly recommend it as a starting point for every student research project, since it includes the most basic information on most subjects. I would also recommend using it during my lectures, so that the students may be able to find more information on dates, events, places and people. Wikipedia is a great tool for interactive teaching. What do you think?]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Realencyclopaedie online</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/realencyclopaedie-online/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/realencyclopaedie-online/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Dec 2012 16:28:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ancient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Encyclopeadia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=1790</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Since 2007, a handful of volunteers is working on the task of reproducing the Pauly-Wissowa&#8217;s &#8216;Realencyclopaedie&#8217; in the internet [2]. This project is hosted on Wikisource, a sister project of Wikipedia. Of course, Wikisource only features RE articles that are out of copyright, which means (in Europe) the author must be dead for more than 70 years. Now this project has reached a milestone: 10,000 articles, nearly all of them proof-read and interlinked. Also, the volunteers are creating a biographical (and bibliographical) index of the RE authors [3]. Check out the original press release [1] and the project page [2] (both in German) for more information. [1] http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Kurier&#38;oldid=111079207 [2] http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/RE [3] http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/RE/A&#8221; Classics list]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://loveofhistory.com/realencyclopaedie-online/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Redundancies at the Foundation of the Hellenic World</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/redundancies-at-the-foundation-of-the-hellenic-world/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/redundancies-at-the-foundation-of-the-hellenic-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:40:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Opinions]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[classics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[foundation of the Hellenic World]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Greek crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[redundancies]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">https://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=1401</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Something is rotten in the State of Greece. This time the stench comes from the Foundation of the Hellenic World, which used to promote research on Greek civilisation outside the strict borders of the modern Greek state. This private Foundation (though heavily subsidised by the government) reached its peak a decade ago, when I received my postdoctoral fellowship from them. They funded my research on the Economy of Roman Asia Minor under the guidance of Prof. Stephen Mitchell at the University of Exeter. Today the tables have turned. I have just found out from a reliable source that they have already fired two archaeologists/ historians, a philologist and a sociologist, while they reduced a numismatist&#8217;s post to one day per week. And bad news keep coming. The administration decided to cut 18 % of the staff&#8217;s salaries. Salaries that have not been paid for the past two months anyway. Of course, more redundancies will soon follow. How many researchers will be jobless by the end of 2012 is only a matter of conjecture. It all depends on the finances of the foundation, the financial state of Greece (which we all know is not rosy), the TROIKA. By now we are well aware that historians and archaeologists are not highly valued in Europe, where economics has become the new religion. And I am wondering, has any of the powerful European politicians considered how the world would look like without historical knowledge?]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>23</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ancient History Competition 48</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/ancient-history-competition-48/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/ancient-history-competition-48/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 14 Jul 2011 10:13:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ancient History Competition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[quiz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=1064</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Which Byzantine emperor became a widower three times in a span of three and a half years?]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Syrian closed currency system in the Roman empire</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/the-syrian-closed-currency-system-in-the-roman-empire/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/the-syrian-closed-currency-system-in-the-roman-empire/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 22 Jun 2011 10:09:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Ancient]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Coins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ancient history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[closed currency system]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[monetary economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[money]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[numismatics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Roman Syria]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tetradrachms]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=1035</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;Most researchers believe that Egypt was the only closed currency system in the Roman world, e.g. a system in which the fluctuation of currency is restricted due to strict governmental control. In actual fact, there is another well developed closed currency system in the east, the provinces of wider Syria. The local silver coinage, the tetradrachm, was used exclusively in the markets of the Syrian cities. Their complete absence from excavations in neighbouring Asia Minor and Cyprus is prominent. We could assume that merchants either traded solely in that area without crossing the provincial borders. However, this assumption is not very probable, since denarii minted in the Syrian capital, Antioch, circulated throughout the empire. Most likely traders exchanged their silver tetradrachms for other currencies when they left Syria. During the second century AD the use of tetradrachms complemented but never replaced the denarius system. The production of denarii at Antioch under the Flavians marked the period of the denarius introduction to Syria. A second period of intense production took place during the reigns of Pescennius Niger and Septimius ever us, probably in order to cover for their respective military expenses. These imperial silver coins (denarii), which were minted in Antioch, circulated in Syria, though in smaller numbers than tetradrachms. In that respect the Syrian closed currency system was not as restrictive as the Egyptian one.&#8221; For more information you could consult my book C. Katsari, The Roman Monetary System, CAmbridge University Press 2011.]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Institute of Historical Research Postgraduate Courses</title>
		<link>http://loveofhistory.com/institute-of-historical-research-postgraduate-courses/</link>
		<comments>http://loveofhistory.com/institute-of-historical-research-postgraduate-courses/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:12:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[constantinakatsari]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[history]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[institute of historical research]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[university college london]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://constantinakatsari.wordpress.com/?p=754</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Each year the IHR, University of London runs a wide-ranging and extensive programme of training in skills for historical researchers from universities throughout the UK. Using a range of teaching approaches (workshops, seminars, lectures, hands-on practicals and visits), important and specialised skills are explained and explored by expert practitioners. Courses are short (from one day to one term), cover the whole range of necessary skills &#8211; from archival use and languages to databases and the internet &#8211; and are priced to be within the means of students. I have found these courses very useful when I was a PhD student and I am certain that if I lived in London I would have attended a couple of these, too. &#8220;Archival Research Skills Methods and Sources for Historical Research (22-26 November 2010/ 11 &#8211; 15 April 2011 / 4-8 July 2011) This long-standing course is an introduction to finding and using primary sources for research in modern British, Irish and colonial history. The course will include visits to the British Library, the National Archives, the Wellcome Institute and the House of Lords Record Office, amongst others. Fee £200. Visual Sources for Historians (Tuesdays, 8 February &#8211; 8 March 2011) An introduction to the use of art, photography, film and other visual sources by historians (post-1500). Through lectures, discussion and visits the course will explore films, paintings, photographs, architecture and design as historical sources, as well as provide an introduction to particular items both in situ and held in archives and libraries. Fee £200 General Historical Skills An Introduction to Oral History (Mondays, 17 January – 28 March 2011) This course addresses theoretical and practical issues in oral history through workshop sessions and participants’ own interviewing work. It deals with the historiographical emergence and uses of oral history, with particular reference to the investigation of voices and stories not always accessible to other historical approaches. It will examine theoretical and methodological issues, for instance concerning memory, the interviewing relationship, ethics and the uses to which recordings may be put. And it will help students to develop practical skills in interviewing, recording, the preservation of cassettes and the organization and preservation of oral material. The course fee is £200. Interviewing for Researchers (9 May 2011) For those who wish to investigate the recent past, collecting the testimony of relevant individuals is a vital resource. This course offers practical information and training on how to interview and how to use interviews for the purposes of research. The course will examine: (1) how to interview public officials (politicians and civil servants), security and intelligence personnel, scientists and technicians, and medical professionals; (2) what are the best practices for recording, preserving and transcription of interviews; (3) how to ensure interviewing techniques are ethical; (4) copyright and data protection issues; (5) alternative techniques such as group interviewing; and (6) the advantages and limitations of interviews. The fee is £70. Freedom of Information: a Practical Guide for Historians (18 April 2011) A practical guide to using the Freedom of Information Act to find and obtain historical source material. The fee is £70. Dealing With the Media (3 December 2010) Historians are increasingly called upon by print and broadcast media for expert comment and opinion. This course throws open the enormous range of opportunities offered by the mass media’s interest in history and teaches the skills and techniques academics need to make the most of it. Offered in association with the History and Policy Unit, through whom all applications must be directed. Contact the IHR for details. Fee: £300 Explanatory Paradigms: An Introduction to Historical Theory (Thursdays, 28 April &#8211; 30 June 2011) A critical introduction to current approaches to historical explanation, taught by Prof John Tosh, Dr John Seed and Prof Sally Alexander. The contrasting explanatory frameworks offered by Marxism, psychoanalysis, gender analysis and Paul Ricoeur’s work on narrative form the central discussion points of the course, equipping students to form their own judgements on the schools of thought most influential in the modern discipline. Fee £200. Languages and Palaeography An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Latin I (Tuesdays, 12 October – 7 December 2010) This ten-week course will provide an introduction to Latin grammar and vocabulary, together with practical experience in translating typical post-classical Latin documents. It is intended for absolute beginners, or for those with a smattering of the language but who wish to acquire more confidence. Students will emerge at the end with not just a strong grounding in the mechanics of Latin, but also an understanding of the changes that it underwent, and the new ways in which it was used in medieval and early modern Europe. The course is open to all who are interested in using Latin for their research. The fee for the course is £185. Further Medieval and Renaissance Latin (Tuesdays, 11 January 2011 – 8 March 2011) This course builds upon the basis of Medieval and Renaissance Latin I, deepening and extending understanding of the language. By the end of the course, students should feel confident to tackle most basic Latin historical sources. Fee £185. Palaeography and Diplomatic (Tuesdays, 5 October 2010 – 18 May 2011) This course provides an introduction to the history of script from the Roman Empire to the Early Modern period together with practical instruction in reading manuscripts and understanding the context in which they were written. The course concentrates on Latin and English palaeography in the British Isles, but scripts of other national traditions may be included if there is demand. This course is run by QMUL and taught by Dr Jenny Stratford: please email at jenny.stratford@rhul.ac.uk for further information and to apply for a place. Information Technology Courses Databases for Historians (14-17 December 2010 &#38; 14 &#8211; 17 June 2011) This four-day course introduces the theory and practice of constructing and using databases. Through a mixture of lectures and practical, hands-on, sessions, students will be taught both how to use and adapt existing databases, and how to design and build their own. No previous specialist knowledge apart from an understanding of historical analysis is needed. The software used is MS Access, but the techniques demonstrated can easily be adapted to any package. This course is open to postgraduate students, lecturers and all who are interested in using databases in their historical research. The course fee is £185. Databases for Historians II: Practical Database Tools (13-15 July 2011) The aim of this course is to develop the practical skills necessary for constructing and fully exploiting a database for use in historical research. Assuming a basic understanding of the conceptual issues in digitally managing information from historical sources, the course aims to introduce the specific tools and techniques required for improving the utility of the database from the data entry stage, through to the generation and presentation of analysis. The course consists of &#8216;hands-on&#8217; practical sessions in which students are provided with practical guidance on employing these techniques through the use of Microsoft Access. Familiarity with the basic concepts of database use is required: participants should be confident working with Microsoft Access, and should have some knowledge of working with data tables and simple queries. The course fee is £160. Internet Sources for Historical Research (7 December 2010 / 7 March 2011 / 7 June 2011) This course provides an intensive introduction to use of the internet as a tool for serious historical research. It includes sessions on academic mailing lists, usage of gateways, search engines and other finding aids, and on effective searching using Boolean operators and compound search terms, together with advice on winnowing the useful matter from the vast mass of unsorted data available, and on the proper caution to be applied in making use of online information. The fee for the course is £70. Qualitative Data Analysis Workshop (24 January 2011) Researchers in the social sciences and humanities are increasingly using computers to manage, organise and analyse non-numerical data from textual sources. This one-day workshop introduces historians to this rapidly growing field and will furnish participants with a good working grasp of the NVivo 8 software package and its uses for all historical research projects. Fee £120. For further information and application forms see http://www.history.ac.uk/research-training or contact Dr Simon Trafford at Institute of Historical Research, University of London, Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU or by email at ihr.training@sas.ac.uk&#8221; Classics list]]></description>
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