Is there something “wrong” with history?

When considering this question, I first thought about my friends and family and their feelings toward the subject. Most people that I know don’t really care about studying history. It was usually their least favorite subject in school because it is really “boring” and full of too many facts, dates, and people. I, on the other hand, have always loved history – it is my favorite subject in school (hence why I’m a history major). However, I can understand why people have a hard time studying or liking history. There is a ton of material that is often presented in large, wordy scholarly history books that people have a hard time getting through.

Next, I considered this question while reading Alan Brinkley’s article, “Historians and Their Publics” (The Journal of American History) and part 1 of Ian Tyrrell’s book, Historians in Public (2005). Both authors discuss specialization as one of the problems of history. I agree with this idea because I think that specialization only focuses on one aspect of history, when it should make connections and look at history as a whole. History is made up of many different viewpoints and studies and all of them should be considered when studying the past.

However, I can see the need for specialization. It is almost impossible to study every aspect of history (this is why my friends don’t care for it - there is so much material out there) so many people choose to focus on one part that they are interested in. I think the problem occurs when historians only focus on their interest and fail to relate their subject to the study of history as a whole. Historians should communicate across specializations to make the study of history more complete.

Another problem with history, also discussed in the readings, is the lack of connection to the public. History should not just be written for academic scholars, it is important that history be written for everyone. As a history major, I have read many books that I have found long, wordy, and hard to understand which makes studying history more difficult. Because of this, I usually try and use a different source that is fast, concise, and easy to understand when trying to find information about history. As a soon-to-be history teacher, I don’t expect that all my students are going to love history. Instead, I think that it is my job to make history accessible to all my students in a way that everyone can understand.