History Project Ideas?

Question

I have a majoy history project, worth a great deal of my final mark. Its a 3000 word essay. The project itself could be about anything. I really need to do well in this... and so, am looking for something which is different and not over-done.

So please; if you have any interesting ideas. It needs to be controversial.. with two or more historians, having opposing views which i can adress and asses.

I would just like to eliminate any modern wars... not my thing. Im interested in anything from the ancient to victorian history.

e.g- To what extent did ......

Thank you, in advance.

Aleksandra.

Answer 1

Concentrate ob British history. Check on the internet, there are enough barbaric accounts of the monarchistic monsters and their cronie nobles together with their outrageous deeds such as the tower of london and the invasion and exploitation of just about every place on the planet including their uk neighbours  to write a manuscript.!

Answer 2

Wayyyy broad.........  You need to concentrate on your area(s) of interest.  Otherwise, you're going to trap yourself into writing about a subject that you really don't have a passion for.  

What have you studied?  Military history?  Ancient Greece, Hellenic Greece, Rome (Republic vs Empire)??

How about Rome's evolution from a Republic into an Empire -- Was that a forgone conclusion??  

Personally, I'd go for something very specific.  For my colloquium, I wrote about how Alexander's military tactics & siege machinary allowed him to defeat the City of Tyre which had been famously impregnable to that point in history.  (See - 20 freakin' years on - I still remember and loved every minute of research and writing it.)

Go for something small and specific is my best recommendation.  Best of luck to you!

Answer 3

There was a pretty interesting debate about the nature of French Enlightenment salons in the 90s. Dena Goodman thought they were an important centre of female power and authority. She went a bit overly feminist on the issue, to the point of over-exaggeration (I believe) of their importance in French society. Some other historians disagreed with her-- namely, Antoine Lilti; however, I'm not sure if his work has been translated from French yet.

If you're looking for controversy in the Enlightenment era though, the question first raised by Kant,  "What is Enlightenment?" would be a fairly decent place to start. Many a scholarly debate has sprung from the issue of how we should and have presented the Enlightenment.

Another interesting book to look at if you're interested in African history would be Black Athena by Martin Bernal. If you have access to academic journals you'll find a wide range of different receptions, from the positive to the absolutely hostile.

If history of science is more your taste, check out Shapin and s******r's Leviathan and the Air-Pump. It has to do with the debate between Robert Boyle and Thomas Hobbes in the 17th century about whether experimentation is a valid form of science. Basically no one else has really taken on the debate with a better understanding of where Hobbes was coming from. They include a short historiography in the introduction that may get you started on opposing views, I believe.

Answer 4

To what extent were the Roman baths used for bathing?

You can use lots of sources to show how they changed over time, what they were used for etc.. compare Scipio Africanus to The letters of Pliny the Younger, tome stones often have information regarding how drowning may have occured or the corrupting effects of the baths. Here are some historians and some primary sources:

Primary sources: Martials Epigrams; 1.23, 1.59, 2.42, 2.48, 2.70, 3.25, 3.36, 3.44, 3.51, 6.42, 6.81, 7.76, 9.75, 11.75, 12.19, 12.70, 12.82.

Petronius, The Satyricon; dinner with Trimalchio, book XV,

Seneca, Letters from a Stoic; letter 56 and 86.

Ovid: The Art of Love, book3.

Suetonius: The Twelve Caesars, Titus (8.2).

Horace, satire 1.6.

Statius, Silvae 1.5 the baths of Claudius Etruscus.

Lucian, Hippias or the Bath 5-8.

Vitruvius, on baths 5.10.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History 36.121-23

Celsus, On Medicine 1.4

Secondary sources (historians)

Inge Nielsen, Thermae et Balnea, The Architecture and cultural History of Roman Public Baths, vol.1. p.144-48.

Garret G. Fagan, 'Interpreting the Evidence: did Slaves bathe at the baths?

Natascha Zajac, 'The Thermae: a policy of public health or personal legitimation?

Garret G. Fagan, 'A visit to the Baths with Martial'

Quite fascinating when you dig deeper

Answer 5

You could try something to do with the Crusades on the baltic (between about 1200 and 1400)  - accusations of ethnic cleansing by the Teutonic Order and Christian settlers versus the  more modern view of it as more a matter of conquest.

William Urban is the best authority on the latter. It's a pretty out of the way topic, so not all *that* controversial...