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That's very strange to hear. I'm not sure where you studied but when I studied history at university papers were assessed in terms of argument construction, and

That's very strange to hear. I'm not sure where you studied but when I studied history at university papers were assessed in terms of argument construction, and how you assessed other historians work, and all you said had to be referenced in some way. Whether the lecturer agreed with your conclusion or not was not the basis of your mark.

jeffdavis 8y ago
UCSD. If it was about argument construction, then why would my rushed papers get better grades than the ones I put thought into? To be fair, not all classes were quite so bad. I took a small class in ancient ME history and it was much more detached and apolitical, while still being interesting and surprisingly relevant.
mmsimanga 8y ago
I think parent post might be alluding to the saying, history is written by the victor. Here in Africa we have freedom fighters who started out as brave and selfless people fighting against colonialism. Once they became elected officials unfortunately a significant number fell into the money trap or were naive when it came to structuring deals with foreign bodies, resulting in messed up corrupt economies. How you view these leaders largely depends on your outlook in life (and probably age). Some see them as villains who have take us even further back than we were and others see them as the heroes they were 40 years ago. If I wanted to pass in my home country I would stick to the hero theme.
BeetleB 8y ago
While I didn't perceive a leftist bias, I will mirror what the person said: You just need to figure out what they want you to say. In the first history class I took, the professor was harsh on perspectives that he didn't agree with. I realized it about halfway into the course, and just started trying to figure out what he wanted me to say. Grades improved. In the second history class, the professor didn't have a particular perspective, but would highly reward positions that required well constructed arguments. If you wrote an essay that had "easy" arguments, you would do poorly. So I focused on "which position would require the most convoluted argument (within the limits of reason)" and would go with it.
burfog 8y ago
You can't see the bias if it is your own. If you can't see the bias, then naturally you will assume that argument construction actually matters.

jeffdavis 8y ago

UCSD. If it was about argument construction, then why would my rushed papers get better grades than the ones I put thought into? To be fair, not all classes were quite so bad. I took a small class in ancient ME history and it was much more detached and apolitical, while still being interesting and surprisingly relevant.

mmsimanga 8y ago

I think parent post might be alluding to the saying, history is written by the victor. Here in Africa we have freedom fighters who started out as brave and selfless people fighting against colonialism. Once they became elected officials unfortunately a significant number fell into the money trap or were naive when it came to structuring deals with foreign bodies, resulting in messed up corrupt economies. How you view these leaders largely depends on your outlook in life (and probably age). Some see them as villains who have take us even further back than we were and others see them as the heroes they were 40 years ago. If I wanted to pass in my home country I would stick to the hero theme.

BeetleB 8y ago

While I didn't perceive a leftist bias, I will mirror what the person said: You just need to figure out what they want you to say. In the first history class I took, the professor was harsh on perspectives that he didn't agree with. I realized it about halfway into the course, and just started trying to figure out what he wanted me to say. Grades improved. In the second history class, the professor didn't have a particular perspective, but would highly reward positions that required well constructed arguments. If you wrote an essay that had "easy" arguments, you would do poorly. So I focused on "which position would require the most convoluted argument (within the limits of reason)" and would go with it.

burfog 8y ago

You can't see the bias if it is your own. If you can't see the bias, then naturally you will assume that argument construction actually matters.