Guide to the Study of Early Modern European History For Students ...

III. SCOPE OF THE EXAM
In principle, I expect you to demonstrate three things: first, that you have traveled
the length and breadth of early modern Europe far enough to be able to teach an upper-level
undergraduate course on early modern European history that meets the standards of the best
liberal arts colleges in the country; second, that you are familiar with the state of the
scholarship; and third, that you would be able to undertake original research in the field even
if you have not done so and will never do so. That is perhaps the simplest way to explain
what it means to have a professional grasp of early modern European history.
In order to develop such a grasp you need to have five different kinds of knowledge:
1. Broad knowledge of early modern European history as a whole (general
knowledge)
2. Knowledge of the current state of scholarship in at least a few specific areas
(special knowledge)
3. Knowledge of the sources for the period in question (primary sources)
4. Knowledge of the historiographical context in which historians were writing in the
past and are writing today (historiography and theory of history)
5. Knowledge of the main historical dictionaries, guides, handbooks, journals,
bibliographies, catalogs and other tools of research with which to deepen
your grasp of the literature (tools of research)
General knowledge is the kind that can be found in textbooks, surveys, and other
standard historical accounts with a broad scope. It can be assimilated without much
preparation beyond a good general education. Special knowledge is the kind that can be
found in professional monographs, essays, and articles published in books, edited volumes,
conference proceedings, and historical journals. They usually presuppose some
understanding of the debates in which the scholars in the relevant fields are currently
engaged. The primary sources constitute the foundation for all historical research. They
consist of all sorts of pieces of evidence that may shed light on the period in question
because they were produced at that time—not just written sources, but also paintings,
buildings, landscapes, coins, clothes, tools, and so on. They can be found in archives,
libraries, and museums, either in their original form or in reproductions such as facsimiles,
copies, critical editions, and translations. Usually they cannot be understood without some
kind of technical knowledge, such as knowledge of the language in which they were written
or mastery of skills like diplomatics, paleography, numismatics, and so on. Knowledge of the
historiographical context can be found in books and articles about the work that
historians have done in the past, especially in the reviews of historical scholarship that are
constantly appearing in professional journals. It is something that I stress because I do not
believe that historians can understand the significance of their work unless they understand
the relationship in which it stands to the work that other historians have done before them
and the reasons why they have done that work. The tools of research consist of a
tremendous variety of dictionaries, guides, encyclopedias, compendia, handbooks, journals,
current bibliographies, restrospective bibliographies, catalogs, and so on (now constantly
being increased by material that is accessible online) intended to make it easier for scholars
to find the information they are looking for.
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