What Is History?
It is the knowledge of and study of the past. It is a form of collective memory. History is the story of who we are, where we come from, and can potentially reveal where we are headed. History provides a larger context for living. We are lodged firmly in the present, and the problems that we face can seem unprecedented, and sometimes even insurmountable, but people in the past have faced situations not too dissimilar from what we face today. History is a crucial subject to any society.
The Importance of studying history.
Studying history in a college level course will help you develop informational literacy and research skills and a greater sense of personal and social responsibility in a variety of contexts. You will read and respond to secondary texts written by professional historians as well as explore primary sources created in the historical eras you are studying. Historians utilize many primary sources of potential information and insight into the past, including written documents such as letters, memoirs, and official documents, but also oral interviews and non-written sources such as photographs, political cartoons, art, and even some physical artifacts. Studying history will help you develop lifelong practices such as critical thinking, historical empathy, and historical thinking, and these will in turn, help you in more ways than you can imagine.
Instructors
Dr. David A. Sicko (view full bio), Assistant Professor of History
David.sicko@sfcc.edu
Steve Martinez (view full bio), Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History
505-428-1516
steve.martinez4@sfcc.edu
