Reflecting on the discipline of History - Part 4

Another example of teachers helping students unlock the major mystery is a group project on the college level analyzing the witch trial of Temple Anneke. Each group will uncover six folios and analyze them as their primary sources of the trial. This is an opportunity for the students to conduct the lesson themselves and the professor can act as a “choreographer, arranging learning experiences” lead students in a direction that allows them to properly analyze the evidence to understand the causes and motives that led to the verdict of this witch trial. The professor will act as a mediator and interject when needed if the students need clarity in their assessment of the evidence. In the student’s presentation during the group project, they made a statement concerning testimony from Temple Anneke after she had been tortured, saying that she was lying admitting to things that she didn’t do because she was being tortured.


The professor then interjects by making a comparison to a contemporary instance in the present time, making mention to the case of Whitey Bulger and how he was not found guilty for all the murders he was accused of, even though he had involvement.

The teacher wants the students to analyze the evidence by “speculative and philosophical theories” on what it would take to be found guilty in Temple Anneke’s case. The students must also take into consideration the social mindset during the Middle Ages in terms of their use of torture.

They considered it to be a credible method of interrogation. Torture unveiled that Temple Anneke admitted to consorting with the devil and having sexual relations with him. These were all grounds to be found guilty, but the professor wanted the students to psychologically analyze this to draw their own conclusion.

Studying history is a very interesting for all aspects of society. History not only was essential in higher education but also on a contemporary level as well. History is an ever-expanding narrative that can tell us a lot about the various cultures around the world to better engage in diplomatic and social relations. History also allows us a window into the past to see the motives of people from the past and how they endure the struggles of human experience. These challenges faced by people of various societies throughout the past can give us perspective on how to effectively cope with present day issues as we endure the human experience, and try to carve out a better future for the species. Since its inception, history has been an ever evolving discipline in terms of its standards of professionalism, while at the same time adhering to its principle mantra of trying to obtain the objective truth, which is a noble feat, but never the obtainable task.

Source: Wineburg, Sam. Historical thinking. 2001. P. 160.
Gerwin, David, and Jack Zevin. Teaching US history as mystery. Routledge, 2010. P 24.

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