It is important to remember that in an IB History Course you will be DOING history as opposed to just LEARNING history. In this way, you are a historian and are participating in the discipline of history itself. You will look at evidence and make claims about what it means to you. In IB we call the discipline of history an Area of Knowledge. Most simply put, this means that historians work to create knowledge in history. We will speak about the idea of "history as interpretation" at length. If Historians "create" knowledge in history, it makes discussing "knowledge" in history an interesting topic. History is a fascinating area of knowledge because it raises questions such as how far we can speak with certainty about anything in the past, and whether historians’ accounts are necessarily subjective.
What is the role of the historian?
What methods do historians use to gain knowledge?
Is it possible to describe historical events in an unbiased way?
Do we learn from history?
What is the difference between bias and selection?
Who decides which events are historically significant?
To what extent does studying history help us to better understand ourselves in the present?
What is the role of individuals in history?
How does the context within which historians live affect historical knowledge?