070233 KU Methods of Historical Research and Writing (2021W)

The aim of the course is to acquire basic knowledge of the nature, theories, working techniques and topics of historical research. The aim is to get to know selected issues and to develop methodical ability to analyze aspect-specific dimensions of historical structures and processes. Students acquire knowledge for formulating historical questions and practice research techniques, scientific writing and correct quoting. You will learn to deal critically with literature, sources and methods that are suitable for answering certain historical-scientific questions as well as to identify the current state of research on selected topics. This includes becoming familiar with working in libraries, archives and collections. Excursions to the Austrian State Archives and to the Eastern European Library, the University Library and the National Library are planned. The ability to develop independent questions and work theses is conveyed. A scientific coursework with a length of approx. 25,000 characters (with spaces, approx. 9 manuscript pages, 1½ lines, 12 points, including footnotes, title page, table of contents, bibliography, without graphics) should be independently written and presented in the course, taking historical requirements into account become. The topic and question are to be agreed with the course instructor.
The special topic, the example of which will be worked on during the course, is: “Migration of the population”.
Method: presentations (oral presentation), discussion, group work
The ongoing units include lectures by the course leader, discussions and presentations of results or hypotheses, practical exercises as well as the introduction of concrete reading on the topic, feedback on first drafts for the written work, etc. As part of the course, the offers of external support (Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Vienna) or writing mentoring or literature processing (Zotero).
Teaching and learning content will be uploaded to Moodle.