‘If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?’ Let’s imagine that I go for a walk in Switzerland— in the easternmost part of the state, near the little-known
Repatriation vs Settlement or is it something else?!
After initially looking at the project proposal and the possible range of ideas I had for my final topic, I realized my main two ideas for the extended essay were actually closely related. First, I wanted to analyse the rates
The Forgotten Fourth Horseman
While doing reading for my upcoming project on the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919, I was struck by something in particular: a glaring lack of information on the subject. One would think that there would be plenty of sources to be
An Indian Villager, An American Sailor, A Frenchwoman, an Opium Trader and an African American On A Ship
Sea of Poppies is a historical novel written by Amitav Ghosh, and is an intriguing study into opium trade, and how it affected the Indians who were involved. It also focuses on indentured servitude of Indians away from the subcontinent
Where to begin?
As I sit here contemplating my project proposal, I have come to wonder exactly what my specific 5000 word essay should be on? There are a number of avenues I would like to explore, and I have
‘I’ll put a girdle round about the earth in forty minutes’ – Doing and Practicing Transnational Theatre
I’ve been kind of running with one of the ideas that I put forward in a previous blog post, about how art is inherently transnational. And specifically, I’ve been pushing towards the idea of a project proposal rather than an
A Croatian Electrician, Two Army Officers, and a French Tennis Legend: Toward a Global Microhistory
In one of our readings last week by Tonio Andrade, one part particularly stuck out me and is worth quoting in full. ‘There are stories out there waiting to be told, traces in the archives that can provide individual perspectives
End of Year Project: The Silk Road?
In last week’s seminar, I was considering two possible project ideas. One related to the Silk Road, and the other related to the India-Pakistan partition. At this stage, I’ve done a bit of research on both these ideas, and will
Getting started
I’m starting to sink my teeth into some sources that might lead me in a sensical direction for my project, and along the way I’ve come up with several new ideas and buzzwords. These discoveries all lead me to ask
Microhistory: The Debate
Micro history gained prominence as a school of historical thought during the 1960s and 70s. It essentially seeks to attribute worldwide historical events to smaller, seemingly insignificant occurrences on a micro level. There is a great debate surrounding the effectiveness
Macro micro macro macro micro macro micro micro macro history
Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that these words are basically the same? And also like…so micro means small, right? Which means that macro means big? But then on a camera, right, there is a macro setting.
Microhistory: the irregular and the human
When reading about transnational and microhistories, two thoughts came predominantly to mind. The first was on how one could reconcile history on what is seemingly its grandest scale with its smallest (and often its most irregular). At first glance, perhaps,
Review: In search of the Chinese Common Reader. Usable Knowledge and Wondrous Ignorance in the Age of Global Science, Joan Judge (York University Toronto)
I remember doing a module on twentieth century China in year 10 at high school and noted the strong emphasis that my teacher placed on how the state strongly influenced what people read and thought. The primary sources that we
The continuous discontinuity of history’s agent-strands
History is made up of microhistories. If you stand a distance from the tapestry, it might appear that the individual threads make up sweeping stripes –grand movements; irresistible forces— but upon closer inspection, it is apparent that each ‘thread’ has
Microhistory, and [Neglected] Histories?
The following blogpost will consider two aspects of our readings for Tuesday. First, I’ll be talking about utilising microhistory, and its many benefits in historical analysis. Second, I’ll consider the reading regarding the Singapore Mutiny of 1915, and will consider