Historians' Epistemic Practices: Interviewing Academic Experts

• In Event: 43.077 - MTCC Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: 43.077-5 - Innovative Approaches

Abstract

Many current approaches to history education draw conceptual and practical implications from expert historiography. In order not to be based on an idealized understanding of historiography, these approaches require research on the processes through which historians produce their work. Twenty-six academic historians were interviewed about their work practices. Preliminary results significantly extend previous findings about historians’ epistemic processes. Our findings also contribute to discussions of how historical research is mediated by various means, such as languages, digital tools, and publication structures. By detailing historians’ epistemic practices systematically these results contribute significantly to future work on historical theory and education.

Authors

• Mikko Kainulainen, University of Turku

• Marjaana Puurtinen

• Clark A. Chinn, Rutgers University