“If you write about the same historical subject at two different times in your life, you will write two different histories. And yet some call this a social “science.”
David Morton is a historian of modern Africa, and he specializes in histories of cities and of decolonization. His focus is on Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony that won its independence in 1975. He says, “Like many historians of modern Africa, I do a lot of oral history work: my principal archives are the people I talk to about their past.”
I spoke to David Morton about his upcoming course, HIST 399A: Theory and Practice of History. Why is it valuable for students to learn about history in this way?
What is your course about?
There are many different approaches to writing history. We’re going to give some a test drive.
What will students take away from this course (skills, useful knowledge for other work, a new appreciation for this subject, etc)?
You will be introduced to different ways that people record their past. You will engage with theories of what history is and what it can do. You will see history as a craft, an imaginative enterprise, and a calling.
David Morton
How is the workload distributed? What should students expect in terms of assignments and reading?
There will be a workshop feel to the course. You’ll read exemplars of various modes of historical writing – such as biography, material history, oral history – and then you’ll research and write your own short papers in each mode.
What aspect of the course- a specific lecture, an assignment, a guest lecturer, a film, a certain topic, etc- are you most excited for your students to experience?
Your first assignment will be a (short) intellectual autobiography, something every historian ought to do, and something you’ve probably never done before. You will be changed.
Give us a cool or weird fact about this historical topic.
If you write about the same historical subject at two different times in your life, you will write two different histories. And yet some call this a social “science.”
What’s something interesting about you that your students might not expect?
Just ask me about the bridges of Cleveland, Ohio.
Register for HIST 399A here.
Find out more about David Morton’s work here.
