Historical Research in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

Historical Research in the Twenty-First Century articulates how digital technology, interdisciplinarity, and a more inclusive set of perspectives and sources are altering the craft of history in our time. It places these emergent concerns in conversation with the field’s traditions to guide readers through historians’ fundamental practices and latest innovations. Framing history within the “research life cycle” model, it critically analyzes how each stage in historical research is empowered (and sometimes imperiled) by technological, methodological, and social changes. It presents guidance for and examples of historians developing research questions, designing projects, contextualizing their research, gathering primary sources, analyzing that evidence, presenting their work, and sharing and preserving their research products. To illustrate the essential practices of each stage of the research lifecycle, the book employs a globe- and era-spanning set of twenty-seven case studies. Placing these cases in conversation with wider trends and innovations, the book contributes novel methodological combinations that bring together the sciences and humanities in ways that hold promise for the future of researching the past. In its holistic consideration of the array of approaches that inform history today, Historical Research in the Twenty-First Century stands apart from volumes that more narrowly consider the influence of technology alone. By centering techniques rather than technologies, it presents historical research practices that have worked well in this century’s first decades to guide readers how to produce new knowledge about the past in its remainder.