Originally published on July 19, 2021 (Episode 214 — Historical Thinking Series)
Introduction
This is our fourth episode in a series on the skills of historical thinking, and it’s about that terrifying moment which leads to actually writing about history: the question, and the thesis.
When we ask historical questions, we’re first asking a bigger one that precedes all of the more specific questions: What questions make historical sense of these documents? Then, in the thesis, we try to answer it—hopefully with a claim that’s worth making.
What good questions are, and what claims are worth making, are some of the things we talk about with Bill Caferro.
About the Guest
William Caferro is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of History at Vanderbilt University, where he is also Director and Professor of Classical and Mediterranean Studies, and Director of the Economics and History Program in the Department of History.
He was last on the podcast in Episode 103 discussing his book Petrarch’s War: Florence and the Black Death in Context. His most recent publication is Teaching History.
For Further Investigation
William Caferro, Teaching History (Routledge, 2020)
Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts (Temple, 2001)
Lendol Calder, “Uncoverage: Toward a Signature Pedagogy for the History Survey”, The Journal of American History, Vol. 92, No. 4 (Mar., 2006),
John Lewis Gaddis, The Landscape of History (OUP, 2004)
SHEG (Stanford History Education Group), Reading Like a Historian curriculum
💬 Listen & Discuss
How do you decide what questions are worth asking about the past? Share your thoughts in the comments — and consider forwarding this episode to a colleague, student, or friend who wrestles with questions and theses in their own work.
