Encountering Facts in the Archive: Historical method, Theory, and Archival Work

4 ECTS course offered in the Fall term

Instructors: Iona Macrea-Toma, András Mink

Can one use the same facts to support opposed narratives? Then how does a historian propose truthful narratives without endorsing relativism (“everyone has their own facts”)? And how does someone account for silenced narratives without resorting to the problematic “alternative facts”? And what are then the facts, in a time when they are more-than-ever needed to produce acceptable narratives yet are questioned as intentional artifacts of knowledge? This seminar is an investigation into the history and methodologies of dealing with “facts” from the combined perspectives of historiography, history of science, journalism, and theories of the archive.