Some Ideas for Your Major Work

[owidjaja]

So I was scrolling through the History Extension board and there is this common question as to what topics you could do for your Major Work. This post is probably a bit late but here are some ideas you could do for your Major Work.

People:
Biblical figures
Douglas Haig
Genghis Khan
Attila the Hun
Richard III
Joan of Arc
Vikings
Ned Kelly

Most of these people are controversial. A lot of students usually approach this by looking at the conflicting views historians have on these figures. If you decide to do a historical figure, remember DO NOT WRITE A BIOGRAPHY.

Events:
Battles (there's always a lot of controversy surrounding battles, though I would be amused if someone did the Emu Wars for lols)
Morality of bombing civilians e.g. Dresden

If you choose an event, MAKE SURE IT'S NOT FROM YOUR SYLLABUS. Also, try and avoid the bombing of Hiroshima. A lot of people love to talk about it- unless you have an original take on the event.

Historiographical Issues:
Popular Culture (maybe choose a historical film/TV show?)
Museums (taking what's not theirs and earning money from it; underlying political ideas in museums)
History Wars
Psychohistory- is it just pseudoscience?
Popularising/Commercialising History
What's the point of Counter-factual history?
Why is history studied?
Hagiographical issues surrounding Martin Luther King Jr./ Hamilton (don't do Winston Churchill because that's in the syllabus)
Who started WW1?
How has history portrayed the Suffragettes?
Historical negationism/denialism

These are just some ideas that I've compiled from my teacher's suggestions along with some ideas that I brainstormed. Remember, always refer back to the main questions from the syllabus:
Who are historians?
What are the purposes of history?
How has history been constructed and recorded over time?
Why have the approaches to the construction of history changed over time?

Hope this gives you a few ideas and gets the ball rolling

[acab]

just some more ideas that i would like to add:

* histories and problamatism around Confederate Monuments (which i think has some historical waves of focus around them)
* pretty much any history of a colonised area that has decolonial histories written about it, extending to explorations of inequalities in historical production and the effects of colonial histories in the production of national histories (haiti in my case, but places like india, algeria, sri lanka, etc etc would have equal options for new exploration)

also because the essays are internally marked, you don't have to really worry to much about doing things that might be popular or common.

[kensie08]

Just thought I'd jump in and expand on one of the ideas - historical figures.
I completely agree with the idea that looking at a historical figure, particularly one with a controversial image/interpretations over time, can be both interesting and effective for maximising marks. For example, in my major work I looked at Agrippina the Younger, and how her interpretation has changed since the rise of feminist historiography. This allowed me to look at not only the historiography around her image and the different versions, but also the historigraphical concept of feminist historiography (and this balance between concept and content was very beneficial).

However, as mentioned above, it is crucial not to just chronologically go through the images of a figure over time from historian 1,2, and 3. It is far better to go into depth with a few historians, and analyse the reasons for the differences from a conceptual standpoint (e.g. how Tacitus' negative view of Agrippina was an inidcation of the perception of women during his time, vs how Barrett's positive interpretation is indicative of the changing perception of women in history). Focusing on the reasons behind the different images of any historical figure, rather than just the differences themselves, is the key to getting the higher ranges of marks.

So, my top tips if you are looking into a historical figure;
1. Look for differences in their image over time
2. Find the historiographical concept behind these differences - and research this as well as the figure
3. Analyse the figure from the conceptual viewpoint - stops the essay being chronological