Complementing the answer expressed here, I note that history, using the terms of geometry, is a ray, i.e. it has a beginning (a point) but no end yet (another point). We live today and, in any case, we cannot predict the end of this story. Thus, history is a developing process, and we look at it not from the outside, as a certain subject, but as its direct participants, i.e. like an object. All this I mean is that it is very naive to believe that we, guided by the knowledge of the past, can predict the future. Any historical event unique, as it was due to a whole host of reasons and conditions of the historical reality that existed at that time. Repeat some historical process, as a laboratory experiment, i.e. recreating all the conditions over and over again is impossible. You cannot, for example, force Caesar to cross the Rubicon again the way he crossed it in 49 BC. – otherwise we will have to recreate the Roman Republic with all its social, economic and spiritual contradictions of that time. Thus, knowing what Caesar did (Justinian, Saint Louis, Napoleon, or someone else) does not give us any concrete experience that would help us in predicting current or previous events. The hope that such a forecast is possible is very dangerous because we will be too sure of our foresight. In this we will always be consoled by Cicero, who once called history the teacher of life. However, it is always useful to remember that Cicero himself fell for this bait: an experienced politician, he was too confident in his foresight and supported Octavian, believing him to be only a pawn in his hands, but who Octavian became and what became of Cicero is known too well .
The second problem the historian faces is sources. We do not know the past, simply because it does not exist. What happened yesterday has passed, and we have only sources: material, written, oral, or some other. Try to restore in memory your yesterday in its entirety, will it work? Surely a huge number of details will slip away. But what about the day before yesterday or the one that was a thousand years ago? The picture has to be reconstructed by source by comparing the data in order to strengthen the belief that the event took place. Thus, a picture is obtained that is close to objectivity, isn't it? But we still missed one factor with you: subjectivity. The author of the source (if it is a written or oral story about an event) is also a person, he writes under the influence of his own worldview. Imagine if he writes from other people's words? And if not from one? Herodotus, for example, wrote down the stories of many people, i.e. received subjective information, which he also presented subjectively. Finally, you, as a researcher-historian, are also subjective. Although Tacitus urged historians to work without anger and passion, was it not Tacitus who violated this rule?
Thus, do not rely on forecasts based on history, this is a shaky base. The obvious advantage of a historian is the ability to work with large amounts of information and extract from this stream information that is likely to be true. In addition, the historian, as a rule, speaks languages (modern, ancient), as well as special private disciplines (numismatics, epigraphy, papyrology), which helps him to approach the analysis of information in a non-standard way. From my own experience I will say that the historian also has high quality memory (since you need to remember and keep in mind a lot of details at the same time), and also owns the technique of fast reading (since sometimes you need to read quickly and at the same time carefully). Personally, as a historian, I also learned the skill to easily express my point of view, and to do it in the conditions of the course of thought, since sometimes the process of presentation goes in parallel with the thought process: for example, when analyzing some source. All these are skills that can be applied in the most different areas.
37.3
For friends!
Reference
Vasily Tatishchev, Nikolai Karamzin, Sergei Solovyov, Vasily Klyuchevsky, Lev Gumilyov… What can unite these people, known to us, but who lived at different times? Each of them contributed to the study of history and is called a historian. A historian is a specialist who studies documents, objects, places related to the past of mankind.
Herodotus is considered one of the first historians. He independently collected materials, checked their accuracy and compiled well-ordered stories from them. famous roman statesman and the orator Cicero called Herodotus "the father of history".
In our time, the task of historians is still to collect information, analyze it and compile competent retellings of past events. It is thanks to them that we know what happened many years ago.
Description of activity
The historian is involved in the search for information for research. He has to look for such material not only in archives, repositories, museums, but also during archaeological sites, ethnographic expeditions, foreign business trips. Exploring the sources, he determines their authors, dates of creation, analyzes the content. This observant specialist establishes links between already known data and information obtained by him.
As a rule, historians are engaged in the study of certain areas: the history of the ancient world, the Middle Ages, modern times, etc.
Wage
average for Russia:average in Moscow:average for St. Petersburg:
Job responsibilities
The main task of the historian is the study of the past. In this regard, he is a frequent visitor to libraries, archives, museums, archaeological sites. Specialists involved in the history of specific peoples go on ethnographic expeditions. Those who have devoted themselves to studying the history of other countries go on special business trips. However, most of the historian's work is not so dynamic: he must spend a lot of time studying various historical sources. The result of his work is articles or books written by him. Some experts not only focus on the experience of their predecessors, but also offer new ways of research. Teachers and lecturers among historians, except for classes scientific activity, conduct training sessions, respectively, in schools, colleges and universities.
Features of career growth
Historians can work in a variety of fields: educational, scientific, state, and cultural institutions. The level of demand for them in the labor market will largely depend on how significant their achievements will be for science.
What is the essence of the profession of a historian?
Historians are concerned with the transmission and presentation of human history in order to document, transmit, and accept an acceptable past. They work, for example, in the editorial field, in exhibition management, in the field of public relations or in the field of science and education.
From exhibition activities and cultural management to public relations
In exhibition, cultural and arts management, historians develop concepts for exhibitions and tours, organize and buy, for example, historical collectibles. If they are mainly involved in memorial education, historians develop, for example, excursions to objects dedicated to certain events, including tragic ones (for example, memorials to the victims of National Socialism).
In publishing houses, historians look for authors, correct and edit manuscripts. As journalists, they research historical and cultural-historical topics and write, for example, technical commentaries or reports. To work in journalism, in addition to completed higher education, an internship or practical journalistic qualification is usually required.
If historians work in the field of education for an adult audience, then they organize and conduct lectures or seminars on historical and cultural-historical topics.
In documentation centres, libraries and archives, historians care for and support the Historical Departments and create media and information collections.
In the field of public relations, historians, for example, prepare press interviews and press conferences and write press releases.
Management positions often require a master's degree.
Historians in science and education
Research, documentation, and preservation are terms used to summarize most of the activities of historians. Typically, they specialize in a topic such as economic and social history, legal and constitutional history, a specific region such as Eastern European or municipal history, a specific era such as antiquity, the Middle Ages, modern times, or recent history. Historians collect, research and analyze chronicles, letters, newspapers, excavations or historical clothing, and interview eyewitnesses from, for example, the National Socialist period. Historians do not receive any instructions for the present from the past, but they can provide guidance and thus contribute to a more differentiated understanding of history and the present. Last but not least, their work protects and preserves cultural property of all kinds.
Historians record research results in journals or books, making them available to other scientists and students. At conferences and congresses, they talk about their findings. In lectures, they convey knowledge to students, control scientific work and take exams.
For independent scientific research a master's degree or doctoral degree is required.
- Historian of the Ages
- Historian of personalities
- Modern Historian
- History teacher
- Historian-reenactor
Wage
- from 20 000 ₽ Novice specialist
- up to 40 000 ₽ Leading specialist
Working hours and nature of work
- moving chart
- Distant work
Office work
What does a historian do
- Study of events in the history of mankind
- study of individual facts and events and their influence on the course of history
- Forecasting future events
- Publication of research results in scientific and journalistic literature, press
- Search historical facts for personal requests (history of the family, person, buildings, urban spaces)
What qualities should a historian have?
- Love for old things and books
- Ability to search for information and compare facts
- Good memory for dates, facts, names and events
- Perseverance, readiness for routine work
Books for self-development
James George Fraser "Golden Bough"
Devoting his life to the study of folklore and the history of religion, J. Fraser collected a huge amount of factual material, which allowed him, using the comparative historical method, to show the connection between modern religions and primitive beliefs, to reveal the earthly origins of the religious worldview. This book will open the world of mysterious antiquity to the beginning historian.
Dominique Barthelemy "Knighthood. From ancient Germany to France of the XII century"
Dominique Barthélemy's book on chivalry bears little resemblance to traditional studies of this phenomenon. medieval Europe and covers the period. The French historian considers chivalry not only as a specific military caste that appeared in the context of political changes in X-XI centuries, but as a cultural phenomenon that had a decisive impact on the formation of the civilization of the Western European Middle Ages.
Carlo Ginzburg "Cheese and worms. A picture of the world of a miller who lived in the 16th century."
Famous Italian historian, one of the founders of "microhistory"; reconstructs the biography and spiritual world of the "dissident"; XVI century - the Friulian miller, who dared in the era of tough ideological dictate to speak with his opinion on all the cardinal issues of life.
History studies the development of the world since its inception, and today's activities of historians practically do not differ from those in ancient times. Except, perhaps, that information has become more accessible due to global Internetization. However, the Internet has played a cruel joke on the historical community at the same time: after all, now everyone who has read at least a little of historical works imagines himself at least an assistant professor in the history department.
The 20th century, already problematic, was overgrown with conjectures and hypotheses, sometimes completely beyond common sense. Blame it on those who write history under the guise of feigned patriotism, satisfying the needs of the top government. These people, without a twinge of conscience, distort events and manipulate facts in such a way as to create an aura of invincibility and pride for the past state. At the same time, very gloomy events are carefully hidden in the archives, the fault of which was all the same invincible "tops". For "it is useless to stir up the past."
Who is a historian
Depending on the chosen specialization, a person with a background in history may be:
- archaeologist or anthropologist;
- heraldry;
- ethnographer;
- an employee of a museum or gallery;
- history teacher at a university or school.
In addition, in labor obligations historians may include:
- writing scientific or journalistic articles based on the analysis of a particular source;
- participation in ethnographic expeditions or archaeological excavations;
- development of new research methods and improvement of current ones, to increase the reliability of available information;
- forecasting future events, based on the study and analysis of historical sources.
How to become a historian
What should be a real historian - an expert in his field and a brave enough person not to be led by the state? And where can you learn it?
The main qualities of a modern connoisseur of history are:
- good memory. This is the most important, since you will have to work with large amounts of data in the form of dates, titles, geographical locations, names, titles, positions;
- Analytical mind. It is important not only to remember the dates, but also to analyze the events, understand what caused them, and
- how they relate to things that are happening to us in the present;
- readiness for monotonous work. Most of The work of a historian, with the exception of business trips, is to study a huge number of historical works. Perseverance and the ability to concentrate are important here;
- preferably knowledge of one or more foreign languages. This will help both in the study of world history, and will help to look at the past of your state from a different angle, studying foreign sources.
You can study history at any university that has a history department. The list of specialties is quite large - this is archeology, ethnography, cultural studies, archival practice, and art history. Everyone can find a profession of their choice.
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