WHY DO WE STUDY

HISTORY?

Are you smart than a Fifth grader?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cey35bBWXls

History allows you to dream and wonder

• History leads us to a place where we better understand each other and the world we live in. This understanding can help us then imagine a better way to live and give us the ability to pursue our dreams while grounded in reality.

Building basic skills

• You will always need to be able to read, write and think. No matter what you choose to do in life, these skills are important for your success.

To help better understand the society in which you live

• We live in a diverse and complex society; one of the best ways to understand it is to study its history. This is important to your personal health and the health of society.

History helps you better understand human beings;

when you understand others, you better understand

yourself.• You study human nature when

you study history. You can learn to identify human failures and successes.

• We must live with humans in all of their vulgarity and nobility. We should understand that studying people from the past is one of the best ways to prepare ourselves to live with other human beings; at their best and their worst.

It helps you understand people who are different

• We must learn to study the past by minimizing the biases of the present. to understand people from the 18th century you must be able to put yourself in that time period, knowing only what the people of that time period knew. If you develop this skill successfully you will then be able to understand people from 200 years ago to people from 2000 years ago. You will also be able to understand people in modern times who live on the other side of town or the other side of the world.

It helps you understand perspective and to see a

bigger picture

• History allows you to leave the boundaries of your environment and see yourselves as a product of thousands of years of history.

History can inspire

• Most people, at one time or another, need a little inspiration, and what better place to look for inspiration than to dig into the past. History is full of heroic individuals who found something within themselves that allowed them to overcome tremendous obstacles. Lets learn about these people and their triumphs. Use history to inspire yourself and help find within yourself the strength and wisdom to deal with life’s hardships.

It can give meaning to your life

• All of us need a reason for living, a higher purpose to our lives. Are we here to help others or explore new frontiers? Are we here to create and bring beauty into the world? To what extent should we define our lives by our emotional and spiritual development? Look to history. All these questions have been dealt with by people who came before us and will help us in modern times find our own answers.

History helps us to feel a sense of connection

• We should be aware of how close we are in time to the events that we study in our history classes. Considering that an average life span is seventy-five years, it was only two lifetimes ago that it was 1858, and Abraham Lincoln had not yet been elected president of the United States. Only three lifetimes ago it was 1783 and George Washington had not yet been elected president. In fact, only three lifetimes ago the U.S. Constitution had not yet been written. We should be taught to recognize our close connection to the past. You might know someone who survived the Great Depression and World War II.

History is entertaining and fun

• History is full of drama, suspense, romance, tragedy, and comedy. You cannot help but find entertainment in stories from the past.