Biographical Data
Academic Areas of Special Interest
There are those historians, identified as Positivists, who believe that history, defined as the record of past human events, is determined by impersonal, universal laws just as is chemistry or biology. History, thus, is a science, a "social science" since its focus is mankind's social development. This mechanistic view of history is not mine. My philosophy of history is derived primarily from another group of historians, the Idealists, who perceive history, like music or literature, to be a human creation. History, therefore, belongs with the humanities and not with the sciences.
To Idealists, history is the complete record of mankind's thoughts, actions, and accomplishments as realized and documented by the men and women involved and interpreted by the men and women of succeeding generations. It is a compelling account but incomplete, full of human error and inconsistencies, and always open to new interpretations, re-evaluations, and conscious revision.
The purpose of studying history is, as with all of the humanities, to
better understand and appreciate all human endeavor and achievement and
to better understand and appreciate ourselves and our society. For all
its imperfections, history is our only memory of the human past. Buried
within its pages are the only answers to all questions of what and how
and why we, as a people, are what we are today.
The way to earn an "A" in all of my classes is, of course, to effectively demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the subject material; in other words, do well on the tests.
In order to do well on the tests,
1. Master the study sheet material which is the basis for all test questions. Be able to recall at will not just the who or what but the where and why of every item listed. All of this information is provided in lecture, supplementary handouts, and/or in the assigned text readings.2. Develop critical thinking skills: be able to analyse, compare, contrast, and/or synthesize what you have learned. Critical thinking skills are invaluable tools that every Merced College student is expected to acquire and every Merced College instructor is expected to stress.
3. Schedule ample study time. Remember the maxim that in order to master the material, all college-level courses require a minimum of two hours of concentrated study for every one hour of class time. If you know that you don't have this time, be realistic: study when and what you can and lower your grade expectations accordingly.
It is my responsibility as an instructor to teach so that my students may
learn: to explain and clarify; to share knowledge and experience: and, perhaps
most important, to make history meaningful and valuable.
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Last updated 8/2002 by Mabel Jones
