Two Wednesdays: June 21 and June 28 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET Online
Lecture and Discussion. This live class will be recorded and available for later viewing.
In this course, which will feature informal introductory reflections followed by discussion, noted historian James Banner opens the door to the subject of the nature of revisionist history. In an era permeated by bitter debates over evidence, facts, and truth, understanding the origins, significance, and relevance of ardent, often inescapable disagreements about the past has particular urgency.
The course’s sessions will focus on the disputes that have animated historical thought since the clashing approaches of Herodotus and Thucydides in ancient Greece. We’ll examine why historians keep changing their interpretations of what happened long ago, learn why it’s difficult to announce “case closed” on most historical disputes, and explore the age-old “objectivity question.” In doing so, we’ll confront the paradox of the always existing presence of the past—the reality that makes historical issues and arguments confuse and unsettle people, affect politics, and, as they’ve recently done in public disputes over monuments and commemorations, divide communities.
Two Wednesdays: June 21 and June 28 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. ET Online
Required book:
James M. Banner, Jr., The Ever-Changing Past: Why All History Is Revisionist History (9780300238457)
Chapters relevant to the first session: Introduction, chaps. 2, 3, 4, and 6
Chapters relevant to the second session: chaps. 1, 5
James M. Banner, Jr., has long been both an academic and public historian. A student of Richard Hofstadter, Guggenheim fellow, and former member of the Princeton history department, he has been, in addition to an often published scholar, an influential professional activist, has written widely for the public, and has involved himself in public affairs. His two most recent works are Presidential Misconduct, a timely 2019 up-dating, which he edited, of a report, to which he contributed, to the 1974 Impeachment Inquiry of the House Committee on the Judiciary, and his 2021 book The Ever-Changing Past: Why All History Is Revisionist History. He’s now writing a book about historians—who they are, what they do, and why they do it.
REFUND POLICY: Please note that we can issue class refunds up until seven (7) days before the first class session.
