This paper is about History and it gives us the opportunity to talk about our past and mostly about a number of main events, people in general as well as perceptions in the eras before. It will also help us understand why it is studied and what studying history entails.
History obviously, is in the most open minded sense, the study about the past. However, this study is in all probability, not as you assume it to be. History touches on virtually all eras and the events that were recorded that occurred in areas. Precedent occurrences that include a vast array of immense migrations, battles/ wars, listings of great kings of the past as well as presidents, the list is endless, formulates the focus and theme of history.
Like so many other topics for example mathematics which is just not about a series of numbers, but more about associating numbers and maneuvering them with a certain intention, history is also not just the ancient times rather the interpretation of the past. The three main hurdles the historian encounters are:
- Discovering what took place in the past.
- Construing the happenings from the past, so as to understand them and be able to give details as to why they occurred.
- What we can learn in the present day from the past. This is basically what the past has taught us.
We may actually never be able to tell everything what happened in the past because the variety is too wide to cover. Therefore, history can be classified as the study of variety.
As for the aspect of interpreting the past to be able to fathom it, wide as it is, a general framework has been crafted for our study of the past by many generations of academics over a long period of time.
The past has several lessons which we can learn from in future with the application of methods developed long before our time. From the field of politics whereby Plato had ideas of an ideal state which reflects upon present day politics, to religion whose teachings revolve around the Holy Bible and the Koran which were drawn up in ancient times down to success stories told over the years, history has a huge role in the present as well as the future by shaping ideals formed long ago to suit the changing times.
At the same time, historians hope that history teaches people a little about what it really is and to respect its power and complexity and to understand that it is far more than what a simple textbook offers. (36)
Being considered one of the contemporary American Universities that requires undergraduate scholars to comprehensively complete a common- general education core curriculum, irrespective of the undergraduate’s main area of specialization or rather their major, Ohio considers the General Education Curriculum an articulate general education prerequisite that is highly consistent with their objectives.
These goals are intended to make certain span of understanding as well as promoting academic thinking. This forms a basis for the reason as to why Ohio considers history a General Education Curriculum.
Conversely, the common view among scholars at Ohio is that the term “general” is considered least enlightening. The term is considered as not being specific in a particular study area and lacks intentionality. Ohio holds history in high esteem and views it a key field of learning. History is held in the same regard as mathematics and other subjects which are considered complicated by other institutions. That is why Ohio considers history a GEC.
References
Gregory, Timothy. Exploring Europe Past: Texts and Images, 2nd ed., History 111.
Connecticut. Cengage Learning. 2010. Print.