World History and Its Purpose

Running Head : History

Why Study History

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[Institution 's Name]

While many would be quick to dismiss the importance of history , varying between token affirmation at best - as evidenced by von Ranke 's observation that historical records are merely the trace remnants of the past - to an outright dismissal - as suggested by Napoleon 's remark that history is nothing but a consensus view of yesteryears . However , I believe that despite the lack of direct relevance accorded to it , the study of history is important . As Sam Wineburg (2001

) remarks history holds the potential [ .] of humanizing us in ways offered by few other areas ' within education itself . As a psychologist Wineburg 's thesis is premised on a point that is difficult to articulate : that the tension between the familiar and the strange results from every encounter with the past

From my understanding , it is from navigating these tensions that one yields the rewards of historical study . The study of history , involves immersing one 's self with unfamiliar circumstances - for example , our tech-savvy media-soaked world does not understand the concept of waging war without twenty four hour coverage and our rapidly accelerating technological culture does not understand the meaning of a technologically static epoch - yet recognizing the familiar components families and governments , ideological causes and individual concerns . As Stearns (2008 ) notes , history is essentially a repository of individual and societal behavior , one that relies on recorded events rather than the theoreticals of sociology and psychology

Encounters with history...