A historian is someone who studies and analyzes history and past events. According to the Discussing History lecture, historians do three main things, study the past, interpret the past, and provide an understanding or explanation of the past. When they study the past they may be looking at a specific event, time, …show more content…
It is having the ability to step back and understand another culture’s beliefs and how they view the world. The past might hinder this objective of intercultural awareness, a general acceptance, and appreciation of other cultures, because people might not be able to comprehend why different cultures have different values or ways of life. When learning history, all components are taught, not just the good things that happened in the past but also the negative and dark areas of the past, as if the skeletons of countries were falling out of the closet. According to the reading number two discussion, it was concluded that Kissinger believes that history is cyclical and humans are fated for conflict. If this is true, then it can lead to the idea that the negative events that happened in the past are fated to repeat themselves and happen again. Looking at the past proves that humans strive for power and domination which leads to a constant state of war amongst each other. Whether it is an actual physical war between countries or an intellectual war between societies, the struggle is inevitable. History shows the lengths people are willing to go to in order to get what they want. With this knowledge, when learning about these lengths, the intercultural awareness of other nations may be obscured behind the negative …show more content…
Democracy started hundreds of years ago with the Ancient Greece and has evolved over time to the representative democracy that society uses today. National history is important to democracy because it explains how the United States grew and became a democracy. The past is an overview of how democracy integrated itself into the system, and is still what helps run the country even today. Before the United States was a democracy it was a few colonies under the rule of Great Britain, then the Declaration of Independence, then The Articles of Confederation, which eventually lead to the creation of the Constitution. Democracy brings less violence within the country because the people have a say in who is charge or what policies they should have to follow. It also brings peace because information is more readily available to citizens, and allows more freedoms and rights. People should know where democracy came from in order to keep it part of society for the