History also requires that an individual develop skills that enable the person to synthesize tremendous amounts of material through a methodology. History provides for the acquisition of self-knowledge through the study of a historical consciousness. The point was to transcend the past through knowledge. Given that history is not an exact science, the process of studying history allows for divergent conceptions of truth as the significance of history changes for each generation. History enables a society to chart the course of human affairs, to satisfy its psychological curiosity, to measure order and predictability, to examine cause and effect, to study and create the identity of a people, to calculate the anticipated consequences of our own acts, to understand what and why, and most important, to understand the significance of society.
History can liberate or it can oppress.
The student should be able to appreciate and understand the complex societal forces that shaped American and Mexican society during the war between nations. The student will be able to understand what and why, and most important, to understand the significance of society. History can liberate or it can oppress. A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations . University ofChicago Press, 1987.