Analyzing the Purpose of the History Discourse Community

“The Importance of Studying Change”

I am using three different article to display what the purpose of the discourse community of history is. The three articles I am using are coming from online sources. I am using the “Why Study History?” link of the American Historical Associations site, the “Why Study History?” link on the Hanover College history departments site, and the mission statement of Hanover College.

The “Why Study History?” part of the American Historical Associations site was written by Peter Stearns and the purpose of the article is to inform prospective history scholars what the purpose of studying history is.

The “Why Study History?” part of the Hanover College site was written by Frank Luttmer to inform prospective students of the history department what the department is trying to accomplish with the history major.

The Hanover mission statement was developed by the education department of the university and its purpose is to inform the current, as well as the prospective students, of the university as to what the purpose of the university is.

All of these websites have similar goals that they are trying to accomplish. The websites represent the discourse of history in general as well. The main purpose of the history discourse community is the study how and why things changed in the past in order to understand the future.

Hanover College’s history department plays a part in contributing to the bigger discourse community of history in general. As Hanover promotes on their website; “any historical phenomenon–an event, an idea, a law, or a dogma for example–must first be understood in its context, as part of a web of interrelated institutions, values, and beliefs that define a particular culture and era.” The quote is saying that enable to use history and previous events to help understand the future. You must first look at the past even and try to understand it in its own context before you try to apply it to another context. This same is mentioned on the American Historical Associations website; “Between the inescapable minimum and the pleasure of deep commitment comes the history that, through cumulative skill in interpreting the unfolding human record, provides a real grasp of how the world works.” Basically again saying that studying history has the ability to give you a deeper understanding on why things happen and maybe even help you determined what will happen if a certain thing happens. Both of these contribute to the discourse community of history. Swales says; “discoursal expectations are created by the genres that articulate the operation of the discourse communities.” Both of these articles, specifically the two sections I picked out, are articulating what the discourse community expects out of their scholars. In that sense, they are contributing to the discourse as a whole.

Hanover College history department also is similar to the Hanover College as a whole, you can see the similarities through the school’s mission statement and the “Why Study History?” section of the history departments site. Hanover Colleges mission statement is; “Hanover College is dedicated to being a challenging and supportive community engaging in transformative scholarly inquiry that establishes a foundation for lifelong service and learning.” What is similar from this statement and the history department at Hanover is that both are promoting learning about something that creates something for you that can be applicable to your own life. Frank Luttmer says; “It is commonly acknowledged that an understanding of the past is fundamental to an understanding of the present.” That is additional evidence that history is essential in understanding what is currently happening and how that will affect the future. Essentially you are learning history to help you make better decisions based on the past.

The mission statement of Hanover College and the “Why Study History?” part of the American Historical Association have qualities that also bridge together the History discourse with the College. The American Historical Association says; “When we study it reasonably well, and so acquire some usable habits of mind, as well as some basic data about the forces that affect our own lives, we emerge with relevant skills and an enhanced capacity for informed citizenship, critical thinking, and simple awareness.” This quote is explaining that when you understand history that you become more aware of life around you and become more of a critical thinker. Those two things are life skills that will help you become a contributing citizen to society. Those things are also what Hanover College wants its students to have; “a foundation for lifelong service and learning.” The college wants its students to learn how to be contribution people to society through service as well as to continue to advance their knowledge. This is similar to what the AHA is saying because both are talking about molding life skills into its members in order to become contribution members of society.

The American Historical Association website as well as the Hanover College history departments site both in addition to articulating ideas about the bigger discourse communities of history very well also describe the overall discourse well. On the American Historical Associations site one of the quotes on the said bar from William H. McNeill says; “Historical knowledge is no more and no less than carefully and critically constructed collective memory. As such it can both make us wiser in our public choices and more richly human in our private lives.” This quote sums up history very well as a whole. History is very simple. It is just memories put down on a piece of paper that other people look at and think about critically. That sets themselves up for success because if they have already thought critically about a current even and that event crosses them in the future or a similar one, they will have a deeper understanding of the consequences of the different decisions that are available at the time. The Hanover College makes a good point about history as well. The site says; “There is another reason to study history: it’s fun. History combines the excitement of exploration and discovery with the sense of reward born of successfully confronting and making sense of complex and challenging problems.” The quote is basically saying that history should be something you enjoy because you get to learn things every day and it is not just for the sake of learning. The things in history that you learn, such as critical thinking and awareness, are all things that can be applicable to your own life. That is why history is the longest living discourse community, it was around even before the language discourse.

All of these websites are trying to promote and inform their audience of the history discourse community. The American Historical Association as well as the Hanover college website both articulated very well the goals of the overall history discourse through explaining why and how history is prevalent to everyday life. As I alluded to, the main purpose of history’s discourse community is to study how and why things changed in the past in order to understand the future. In closing, I would like to end with this quote from a website on why history is important;” understanding the linkages between past and present is absolutely basic for a good understanding of the condition of being human. That, in a nutshell, is why History matters. It is not just ‘useful’, it is essential.”