What do you think of learning history?

[AgentofGaming]

Did/do any of you like taking history in school or looking it up as a hobby?

Which eras do you like/dislike?
Prehistoric
Ancient
Roman
Dark
Medieval
Renaissance
Age of Enlightenment
Industrial
Modern

Which geographic locations did you find interesting?
Africa
Mesopotamia
Europe
East Asian
American

[Nyiah]

History doesn't feel like a class to me. It feels like story time, as long as the story teller is good, I could listen for hours. No specific eras or locations, I like it all.

[Jgib5328]

I don't think learning history has too much use to the average person, but it is really interesting. I love learning history and I think everyone should have a basic grasp on it. I'm not really sure why it's important for everyone to know though.

[coffeeloverfreak]

I never liked history class in school. It was always a long, boring litany of meaningless names, dates and places to memorize and regurgitate on an exam. I never had a decent history teacher, and I tended to view it as one of the "memorization subjects" that I eschewed for more interesting "understanding subjects" like math.

But as I got older, I became a history buff more and more. I think that as I grew to understand its significance, it became more and more important to me. Now I'm a firm believer in understanding where you come from and learning from history in order to better advance society. For me, the revelation was realizing that, once you get past memorizing dates, history is actually fascinating. Now I read just about anything I can get my hands on.

[bubbles]

I, too, never liked history class in school. I'm taking a history of earth class and I find it incredibly boring, but it's a general education requirement. However, I do like to read about history (especially wars since I can actually learn something useful from them) sometimes. I just hate memorizing dates and details because they are incredibly boring and meaningless. I like learning about strategies and mistakes made in the past and their outcomes.

[pavman]

Did/do any of you like taking history in school or looking it up as a hobby?

Which eras do you like/dislike?
Prehistoric
Ancient X (assuming pre-Roman/Greecian here)
Roman X
Dark
Medieval ... although, I must say there were some periods during the dark and middle-ages that were fascinating; however, like most of us, I was educated to think the time between Rome and the Renaissance was a waste.... even if I know it wasn't, that's still the "feeling" I get about it. Ironically, these were the time-periods of the greatest advancement in Philosophy and Science prior to the modern era. Flame on!
Renaissance X
Industrial
Modern

Which geographic locations did you find interesting?
Africa
Mesopotamia X
Europe X
East Asian
American X

pavman added to this post, 3 minutes and 2 seconds later...

...I just hate memorizing dates and details because they are incredibly boring and meaningless. I like learning about strategies and mistakes made in the past and their outcomes.

Agreed. I was never a big date person. I never understood why it mattered so much to memorize a date when you could just look it up... I find that I have a decent handle, but not a perfect handle, on historical date-frames.

And definitely more about strategy and a holistic view of history. Where were we, what happened, where are we going. What can we learn from our past. Stuff like that.

It amazes me how fragile history felt to me. Like...we're lucky to have a society and to still exist in a civil manner...since we're so easily snuffed out.

[AgentofGaming]

I enjoy history because it allows me to see why the things today are the way they are.
I think it is important because today when I look at news no one really explains the, the so-called "why did happen? "
History explains why.

History shouldn't be about exact dates, remembering numbers isn't exactly history.
What the teachers I've had focus on are: what happened in the events? what came out of it? how did it change the world? why is this important? how does it affect me?

History allows you to appreciate the past and learn from the past. From understanding of different cultural heritages comes respect and understanding.

I tend to like the eras from Ancient to Industrial. Prehistoric seems a bit too similar simple while modern is a bit too diverse and complex.
Places I liked the most by chronological order include:
Feudal China (Warring States, Three Kingdoms)
Athenian Greece (The Golden Age of Science)
Rome (The Rising Republic)
Medieval Europe (England, France, Family Trees, Crusades)
Japan (Sengoku, Meiji)
Colonial America (New France, The Seven Years War, Exploration)
Industrial Europe (The Clash of Ideologies, Surge in Technological Innovation, Secularism)

I'm probably biased, since I play a lot of computer games about those eras.

[Santana28]

LOVED history. it was the only class that i looked forward to going to, and it felt more like a break than a task. i would bring my history text book with me to all of my other classes, and read it for fun. i lucked out when our school system decided to get new textbooks, so they gave us the old ones for free... i still have it, funny illustrations i added included ;)

favorite eras/subjects:
roman/greek history
babylonian history
mongolian history
feudal japan
medieval europe and the black plague
and my #1 favorite topic of study that continues to this day... 20th century warfare and nazi germany

least favorite:
colonial america and/or the revolutionary war
the civil war (though i enjoy learning about the major figures involved)
WWI
napolean
feudal china
communist russia
post-war europe
the space age

i'm also very interested in the history of aviation.. but thats easy enough for me considering i grew up in Dayton, Ohio ;) "the birthplace of aviation" (eat that north carolina)

[HarleyQuinn]

Like others, I never liked history much in school but that's largely because the teachers were either boring/dry or they just wrote on the board and talked with their backs to us, basically regurgitating the text book.

I have found that I enjoy history a bit more when I'm reading/studying it myself.

Favorite periods to learn about...
Ancient Greece (6th Century: 600 B.C. - 501 B.C.)
England (1340 - 1700)
Witch Trials around the world (1500 - 1700)
America: Northeast (1700 - 1780)
America: Gothic Literature Era (1810 - 1900)
America: Wild West (1860 - 1890)
Nazi Germany (1933 - 1945)

[Zilal]

History's my least favorite subject. I find I'm almost totally uninterested in particular people and events... but I am interested in overall social trends. Very interested to know how people lived at any time. But that's the sort of thing that's often only mentioned in passing.

[ssfanatic]

I like Roman and Industrial, you didnt mention Enlightenment which is my favorite. Locations are Europe and America.

[Octavianus Caesar]

I had a good college history professor, the high school and middle school were sub-par.

But my favorite eras are: Ancient (Egyptian, Persian, Babylonian, Assyrian) Classical (Roman and Greek, Byzantine) Medieval (byzantine, Ottoman, European).
European and Middle eastern (pre WWI).

I am interested in present day history of America, Middle east and Europe.

[Quite Robert]

Just rapped up a bachelor's in general history. I think my favorite periods are Ancient Mediteranian and the Modern West (Europe and N. America), but a little bit everything is good.

[amei]

I always enjoyed history in junior high and high school. I studied politics in university and gained a new appreciation of history. You cannot separate modern political decisions/movements from historical context. Everything that happens in politics happens for a particular reason that is relevant to what is happening in the world at that moment.
For that reason, I think history should be taught as more than just names and dates, but as the why for how our world is the way it is today. It becomes much more interesting and relevant when presented in that manner.

[ginandsour]

I liked it all, having just finished my B.S. in history.

About the "rote" tendency in history class/pedagogy: there is a genuine movement to teach history of people (social history) in schools, so you should see less "flashcard" education when it comes to names/dates/details and more about trends.

[karen]

I am pretty off and on with history. I have never activly studied it but I love classic literature and classic philosophy which lends itself to a vague knowledge of history. My husband, a history buff gives me crap for not knowing any more about american history than the history of any other nation (where I occasionally exceed his knowledge). I am more interested though in prehistory and evolutionary history. I do not however, prescribe to the idea that a knowledge of history prevents the repeat of disasters. It seems that history's "atrocities" are driven by the ignorant masses and the informed minority.

[Scooby]

History sucked in school. College was ok, because of two great professors, but all the others sucked ass. I guess that is why I became a high school history teacher. My primary interests are WWII and the American Civil War. I generally like nearly all-military history and the study of strategy. Nazi Germany was a passion for many years. Lately, I have been getting into Native American histories.

[pavman]

...there is a genuine movement to teach history of people (social history) in schools, so you should see less "flashcard" education when it comes to names/dates/details and more about trends.

Wouldn't this tend to lean towards an agenda more than the old way? Ie. To bring personal politics and ideologies into the classroom? :suspicious:

[Gabrielle]

Did/do any of you like taking history in school or looking it up as a hobby?

Which eras do you like/dislike?
Prehistoric
Ancient
Roman
Dark
Medieval
Renaissance
Age of Enlightenment
Industrial
Modern

Which geographic locations did you find interesting?
Africa
Mesopotamia
Europe
East Asian
American

I only liked Ancient Greek, Roman, Renassiance, and Age of Enlightenment. You can see how Eurocentric I am :(

Historically speaking I found Europe the most interesting. East Asian turned me off in Ancient Chinese when everything looked the same to me (Huang, Huing, Huong? Come on, same person). Africa - couldn't pronounce the names so I had hell of a time learning the spelling. American history barely exists for me, since South America never interested me and North American history has been around for less than half a millennia. Mesopotamia was interesting but only in theological sense.

[lordrrr]

History doesn't feel like a class to me. It feels like story time, as long as the story teller is good, I could listen for hours. No specific eras or locations, I like it all.

I totally know what you mean there. I love visualizing how it all went down (if I can pay attention well enough).

[ginandsour]

Wouldn't this tend to lean towards an agenda more than the old way? Ie. To bring personal politics and ideologies into the classroom?


Not if it's done right, though strictly speaking it's impossible to teach history from an unbiased standpoint. As an instructor, your worldview, experiences, etc do shape the curriculum no matter how hard you try.

To answer your question more specifically: in Renaissance classes, teaching a story like Giovanni and Luciana. Nazi Germany is well taught using a combination of primary sources and modern films.

History teachers are the custodians of memory, not truth. Yes, we do have a timeline and a series of facts we can pin on it, but those "facts" change constantly as we discover more texts or examine old ones through new viewpoints.

[AgentofGaming]

I only liked Ancient Greek, Roman, Renassiance, and Age of Enlightenment. You can see how Eurocentric I am :(

Historically speaking I found Europe the most interesting. East Asian turned me off in Ancient Chinese when everything looked the same to me (Huang, Huing, Huong? Come on, same person). Africa - couldn't pronounce the names so I had hell of a time learning the spelling. American history barely exists for me, since South America never interested me and North American history has been around for less than half a millennia. Mesopotamia was interesting but only in theological sense.

It's not exactly Eurocentric since a larger portion of history recorded is about Europe, also consider the translations from Chinese to English are harder than Latin to English. So it's not too far off that most of the exciting history happens there.

China is pretty Conservative after the Qin dynasty. It seems legalism wins out and every other dynasty is based on the systems established Qin dynasty so not much changes (just a large centralized monarchy). Also the main history is what the Imperial court said it was known as "official history". So it's more of a one major source history.

For Africa, Timbuktu isn't that hard to spell is it? :p
Note: I'm also encompassing Egypt as part of it.

There is American history more than a half millenia old, but its different from the colonial nature as it was about the native Americans.

We studied Mesopotamia with a focus as it being a birthplace of civilization. Theology is there though, my textbook said it's a force of conservatism to keep the rich in power and to explain the unknown

[Lei Yang]

I love the Greeks and Romans, some Renaissance and quite a lot of Enlightenment. But the thing is, I think my love of history has over-rated itself due to all these computer games I've played. It started with Age of Empires 2 when I was but a child, and it evolved into Total War and all that. So when I'm procrastinating, I find myself researching the lacedaemonians and stuff. I also took a Latin course first high school year, but all I can remember is that we watched some episodes of Rome (the television series).
I also read Three Kingdoms as a kid, so I like some of Ancient Chinese history.

The thing is, I'm more concerned with the individual aspect of history. So I find myself drawn to stuff like Plutarch, and not so much the culture stuff.

[denaria]

I love history, and find almost all times and places of interest.

My second step-daughter read history at uni, and I was a bit taken aback to find her studying the Cold War. Surely that's Current Affairs?

[ginandsour]

Yes and no. It really depends on the professor. Anything much later than the beginning of the Cold War belongs in a political science class--there's a great deal of overlap between disciplines.

Arguably all of American history is political science, so if she was in an American history class, there was likely discussion of the Cold War.

[MNRon]

I taught it for 17 years at a small college, plus a couple years as a TA while getting my doctorate in 20th Cent US Social History. I converted many a history hater into a history lover.

History is poorly served in many states because it is taught in high school by social studies majors whose prime interest in college was sports/coaching, and a social studies degree is one of the easier education degrees to acqure, since it requires a variety of introductory courses in a wide range of subjects, rather than a sequence of courses with some capstone classes that are actually demanding, like math or chem majors endure.

[denaria]

Yes and no. It really depends on the professor. Anything much later than the beginning of the Cold War belongs in a political science class--there's a great deal of overlap between disciplines.

Arguably all of American history is political science, so if she was in an American history class, there was likely discussion of the Cold War.

Err, I was just making fun of my advanced age.....

[ginandsour]

Sorry, I missread. :) Joke meter broken and whatnot.

Also contributing to the problem of the sterotypical social science teacher is the cross listing at public school positions, especially in the South. I saw a ton of History/Coach jobs. :irked:

Better learn to throw that pigskin, if you want to teach in Texas (or anywhere else that was Confederate).

[Iago]

History...love it.....English Medieval history 5th to 14th century......simply wonderful.

Shame I had to get past school to get into it

[E148]

I used to like American Indian history in my teens, but even that was short-lived. While I do agree that we need to know the past I feel that memorizing dates and particularly people is boring. For the most part I do not care said what, just that it was said , if it is worth quoting. But I do like Ben Franklin as probably one of my favorite founding fathers.

What I do not like is anniversaries of this or that event. Like the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor or D-Day -- not to pick on war events. I do not celebrate even my own birthday. I do not like glorification of war either, which celebrating those events does. WWI was supposed to be the war to end all war. Our country, the US, has been involved in at least 5 wars since then. I am too lazy to look them all up. But we have not learned anything.

History is somewhat important for us to know. But for all that we know we still do not learn anything from it. We keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again.

[cruftie]

I loved history as long as I could see the action happening in my mind's eye, which wasn't hard. I've retained quite a bit of it, so I feel I basically know "what happened up to now."

I'm really struck by how little history the people around me know. I can't imagine being so a-historical. Their educators failed them, in my opinion.

[ArchonAlarion]

I like all history, particularily western, but I favor history before the English civil war.

[SeaCzar]

History is by far my favourite subject. We are still dealing with the consequences of the First World War (the Balkans, Iraq, post-communist Russia) nearly 100 years later. I would suggest that the one of the most abject failures in human history was the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

European history is particularly fascinating. What the European Union is doing, in terms of mobility (capital, labour and trade) has not been seen since the Roman Empire.

[ceg6]

History has always been a favorite subject of mine in school and just to enjoy. If I had to list the ones I like...

Ancient
Roman
Renaissance


Dark and Medieval were always kind of a downer and/or made me think of Monty Python and I was just off quiting the movie. Either way I try not to disregard any of it because there is always something to learn.