After completing the course, you are able to
- formulate a relevant, well-defined explanatory research question on the topic of the course
- critically review literature and scholarly debates on this topic
- search, select and interpret archival sources, using tools such as research guides and archival inventories
- identify and explain relevant research methods
- apply source criticism, relevant concepts and research methods in their own source analysis
- present and discuss their research, both orally and in writing, in a historical essay with a clear argumentation structure and adequate annotation
- peer-review other students’ written and presented research, and apply feedback on your own work
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As the title of the course already suggests, historical sources and research methods used by historians to study, understand and interpret past events are central in the course Research Lab. Examining both literature and primary sources, you follow all the steps of the research cycle: from mapping scholarly debates on a specific topic and formulating a research question to analysis and interpretation of sources and literature to answer this question in a well-written scientific essay.
In the first weeks of the course, you get acquainted with various primary sources and tools, techniques and methods for historical research. You critically review literature and scholarly debates on a certain topic. In the second part of the course, you conduct archival research. You delve into an archive of their choice, studying the archive along and against the archival grain to discover the mysteries, surprises and treasures that archives contain. At the end of the course, you present your results both orally and in writing. The essay is part of your essay portfolio (in Dutch: schrijfdossier).
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