Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Course Outlines

Spring 2026 - HIST 300 D100

Historiography (4)

Class Number: 6855

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 5 – Apr 10, 2026: Fri, 2:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    45 units, including six units of lower division history.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

Examines the conceptual problems involved in the historian's attempt to apprehend the past. Focuses on the nature of historical knowledge and explanation, and to the broad systems and patterns in which history has been conceived.

COURSE DETAILS:

What is history and how does the practice of historical scholarship today draw from history’s own past?  How do historians’ arguments about the past intervene in and get shaped by a wider world of social and political struggle?  What has that story been in the university discipline of History?  What forces beyond the discipline have pushed it in new directions?  Those are some of the questions we will contemplate in this course.  We will answer them by reading historians who have written about the history of historical study.  With several assignments, including a final paper, we will practice working with the conventions and methods of historiographical research and writing: in other words, how to follow the conversation and debate among historians on a topic and how to speak to historians’ insights and arguments.

Grading

  • Attendance and Participation (includes in-class writing) 20%
  • Thinking about History essay (5-6 pages) 20%
  • Time’s Monster discussion post 10%
  • Final Historiography Essay (12-15 pages, plus writing/revision process – topic selection & bibliography, draft, final paper) 50%

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Sarah Maza, Thinking about History (Univ. of Chicago Press, 2017).

Priya Satia, Time’s Monster: How History Makes History (Belknap Press, 2023)

All other required readings will be available on the Canvas course page.


REQUIRED READING NOTES:

Your personalized Course Material list, including digital and physical textbooks, are available through the SFU Bookstore website by simply entering your Computing ID at: shop.sfu.ca/course-materials/my-personalized-course-materials.

Department Undergraduate Notes:

Learn more about studing History at SFU:

History areas of study


Why study History?

Registrar Notes:

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS

At SFU, you are expected to act honestly and responsibly in all your academic work. Cheating, plagiarism, or any other form of academic dishonesty harms your own learning, undermines the efforts of your classmates who pursue their studies honestly, and goes against the core values of the university.

To learn more about the academic disciplinary process and relevant academic supports, visit: 


RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION

Students with a faith background who may need accommodations during the term are encouraged to assess their needs as soon as possible and review the Multifaith religious accommodations website. The page outlines ways they begin working toward an accommodation and ensure solutions can be reached in a timely fashion.