Why do we study History?

Why do we study history? Welcome to the first episode of podcasts. Conversations and Philippine History, Politics, and Society. Welcome to our program "Tuhan", this is a podcast. So welcome, welcome. Bagong lahat, bagpakilala mo na tayo. Susisi mo lang ko na. Aku si Veg Alpourha, I Teach History at the University of the Philippines Los Banyo. So I've been teaching here since 2014. I joined the UPL B-Faculty right after graduating from UP Bagyo. Where I took up bachelor of arts in social sciences, major in history, and minor in political science. I also finished my MA history from UP Deliman in 2019. All right, ako naman si Aaron. I finished my BA and MA in history from UP Deliman. Kung sa anag tutudin ako sa Department of History. Nayan, I am currently based here in Belgium pursuing global studies under an Erasmus Mundus Program. And I am Lee Candelaya. I am a PhD student here in Hiroshima University in Japan. But I finished my BA and Master's degrees in history sa UP Deliman, where I met Aaron. Actually, makasama kami sa isang organization UPLipunang pang kasaisayan. Nagturu din ako tayo pidos banyos. Kung sa anaman naging kolligo si Veg. So ngayon, nasa ibat ibang sudok tayo ng Big League, sa kanaten na isipan na goin itong podcast, no? Anong apatong podcast. Itong podcast, kung diman obvious, we joined the two words podcast and kasaisayan. We aim to contribute to the mainstreaming of Usapan, 通kol sa Philippine History. So we came up with this passion project. And at Fukasinarin, with a vision to promote critical discussions on Philippine History, politics and society, to broader audiences using new media, accessible language, and relatable content. At kahit na podcast ang main format ng project meto, you will find us also in many different platforms, so from Spotify to Facebook, YouTube, and so on. More than that later. Pago natin sa goten yung tanong for this first episode in our first series. Yung tanong natin today, ay, why do we study history? Sa goten mo na natin on a more personal level, why we decided to take up history in college and actually decide to make a career out of it. It go back. Well, actually, I didn't decide agat agat. When I first entered college in 2010, the course kutalaga, I BA Communication. Because I wanted to be a journalist of some sort. Parang gusto kung maging writer sa Jaryo or gusto kung maging news reporter, maging documentarist. But then again, when I took up history one, so that's Philippine History in UP. Sao brang na perk up yung interest ko. Parang everything that I knew about history from grade school and high school, the Basaglatchan ang denun palayon. Eto palayong history. Sa tabot memorizing details and stuff and dates and names. It's actually about stories. It's about understanding what happened and what led to what. How did we come to it? Or something? Sao brang amazing siya. So I thought, para din shang journalism, kasi, it is also about narrating past events. Pero sa history, mas malawaksha in terms of period, in terms of time, and at the same time, dahil meron kanang a certain distance, in terms of time. Mas naging malalim ng yung discussion. So I shifted. Sa yubi bagyo, I shifted to BA Social Sciences. So, majoring in history. And I actually decided to pursue a career in the Akadim. Because I was such a geek, who was a student, and I could not imagine myself doing anything else. So gusto ko mag-turo kasi, gusto ko, I loved talking. Oh, Hindi man, obvious and all. And I also like reading and writing out of it, making arguments from the things that I read. So right after graduation, talaga na kanap talaga ako na teaching position. And I decided to join the faculty. And after six years, I loved to graduate degree. Et tu na pa yung ayon. That's interesting, because even the story ko kaya ve, ako naman, I was decided, talaga na history yung kunin. I just remember when I was deciding what course to take. During that time, nursing was so popular, everybody wants to be a nurse and parents were telling me, "Oh, mag-nursing ka para mag-abroad ka, but I resisted." Kasi, ang gusto ko kong carerayong, uh, gusto kong gawin. Kung saan feeling ko, comfortable ko, na may skill ako doon. Kaya ang choices ko na na history or journalism. So first try second choice. But I chose history, kasi, I read somewhere online, na on, it's a pre-local course. So na isip ko kong gusto din ko mag-mag-low after. At least I have that option after graduating. Pero nong nag-aran ako, na gusto hanko yung history. In fact, during those undergraduate years, we published a manual for teaching Philippine history. Ala lam yung 2008. So it was an easy decision to stick to history, kasi yung skills na meron ako, sa tingin ko, sa pat para mag-mag-ing career, ito na hindi ko pag-sasawaan. Kawa ba, eron? Ako parang mix of both of your stories, yung coinc. That led me to where we are right now. Kasi, going into college, I didn't know what I wanted to do after college. So hindi ko alam ko anong career path yung gusto ko. But one thing was for sure, I was sure that I was good in the social sciences and the arts in high school. So thinking of a course to take up in college, I was really bent on going towards that crowd. So actually, hindi history, yung first choice ko, when I applied for the upcat in UP. I applied for the first choice of psychology. And then second choice ko yung history. And then, when the results came out, I was placed in history. So later, did I realize, kung gano shaka interesting, kasi going into the social sciences in college, yung thinking ko talaga din nong, gusto ko, either mag-ing lawyer or mag-ing diplomat. Yung yung narialais of my first semester and first year in college, yung gusto kong career track. Just narialais ko na ang gandang prilo or preparatory course for a diplomatic career yung history. So I pursued it. But then again, after graduation, I realized that I really enjoyed doing research so much and writing. So I decided to pursue your academic career. That's why first job I actually realized it's a publishing company, writing and editing stuff before I got into the Department of History of UP2 to teach. Yung talaga yung career track. So, Iba Iba, Iba yung acting contact with history coming from basic education to college and right afterwards. Ngayon, that we've had experience dealing with history. Yung isang bala king tanong parin palagi na ibinaba to sa'atin. De ba? Indi ko alang pung narelinig niyuto. Pag- pag tinanong kayo ng college na anong course mo, pag sinabi mo ang history. Ang laging tanong minsan history of what? Tapos. Anong gagawin mo after, de ba? So, which brings the very difficult and important question na. Why do we actually study history? What's the point of studying history? Ngayon, I hope I approached this episode's question. In such a way, I'd like to tell everyone that studying history, Hindi is a college level actually, or Hindi is a history in a degree. But rather, history in general, from the early grades to high school, cursory level, I would tell my students before and I still maintain the same views today, that we study history because history is something practical. And by practical, I mean, it is something that has value to our everyday lives. Let me expound on this, no? Anu ba yung practical skills etioturu sa atin ng kasaysayan? Para sa akin, merong dalawang very essential, practical skills. At ito yung criticali na pagbabasa at pag susulet. But, you know, in this world where new tech pervades our personal, public and professional lives, skills such as computer programming, or coding, are more valuable than the basic skills that history teaches us. But I argue that critical reading and writing are actually more important. Bahit. Kasi eto mga foundational skills na ito, transferable ito sa ebang fields. While it could be argued that these skills aren't exclusive to the study of history, I don't think there is any other field that puts such great emphasis on both skills than in history as a field of study. Now, this is not to say that everyone should get the history degree, but that the very least, everyone should understand that history allows us to develop reading and writing skills that would help us be successful in our careers. What other skills are developed when one studies history? Isang na isapko chronological thinking? The core of how a reason in history, you know, distinguishing time with their past, present, or future, allows us to understand how events take place over time. We analyze and identify patterns, continuities, and historical change. When we try to answer why events happen, we engage in chronological thinking, and this is a vital skill relevant in any profession one may engage in. Kompaga problem-solving skill din kasi sa. Another skill we develop in the study of history is comprehension. When we study history, this is a relatively imagined the lives of people in the past. We identify the intentions and motivations of why they did the things they did. And we see it through data presented to us in various forms. Be it graphs, maps, photographs, music, and other materials. These are but some of the numerous skills one can develop with a study of history. But we lose sight of these things because of the way history has been taught and viewed in Philippine society. And we have a lot of understanding and memorization that if you cannot parrot names and dates, you're not good at history. We were taught that there is only one correct answer or one correct interpretation of the past that the truth presented to us in history through textbooks and traditional methods of teaching are self-evident and unchanging. But in reality, historians aren't really that much concerned with facts. Historians are much more concerned with the credibility of the facts presented. And this leads us to another skill developed through studying history, which is questioning the status quo, thinking outside the box, or just the appreciation that the way we interpret history like all things in life are tentative. And I'd like to focus on that. Tentativity. Kasi diba. Lata manang bagay nagbobargo. Things change. The way we perceive things change. Who we are today is different from who we were in the past. And who knows what will be in the future. The point is, this tentativity should make us realize that we should never stop questioning what we know in whatever field of endeavor we choose to enter. You know, at the end of the day, it's easy to dismiss the study of history. To say that it is not relevant, just because we do not see how it impacts us every day. But I think the relevance of studying history when seen through the practicality of the skills we gain from it could very well make us realize that, yeah, this is something that could help me later in life. This could improve the way I do things, the way I think about things. Kasi, can we study history? Because it's really practical. Yeah, I agree, you know, don't say a point, nearly that studying history is very relevant and very practical. But I would like to say, don't say a point, nearly, that sometimes we fail to realize that history impacts us on a daily basis, on a more personal and a more community and a national level. Sometimes we fail to recognize that history is all over us, you know? Kasi, to me, the struggle of history aside from it being relevant and practical, it's also, of course, very important. I cannot emphasize the importance of studying and knowing history and the study of the past. Kasi, studying history, for example, on a more personal level, it gives you a sense of identity. Kasi, I remember in this particular point, the quotation from the historian Arthur Marwick, "Can you pair the history of one person in a memory of one person?" The idea is, you study history to give you a sense of identity, a community identity. Kasi, do you know? In one personal experience of one person, you own your home huboks in your house. So, how can you introduce yourself? You introduce yourself by relaying particular aspects of yourself. Actually, sometimes we fail to realize that we fail to recognize our history. This information, we know that we fail to realize that we fail to recognize our history. It's a story of our memory. So, the vital role of memory of one person it also gives a person a sense of identity, a sense of grounding. Kasi, do you know? When I was telling you about the idea of the idea of life, Kasi, do you know the character? When I was telling you about the idea of life, Kasi, do you know? Kasi, do you know? Kasi, do you know? Exactly. You feel lost when you don't have a memory. Kasi, do you know? Kasi, do you know? Kasi, do you know? I know you are a hero. How can I know? And I know you are a hero. If I don't know, I know you are a hero. So, how can I know? I want apples and pineapples. If I don't know, I know you are a hero in the past. So, the experiences we have in our lives, the information we have given to us, the information we have given to us, the things we want, the things we don't want, the things we have given to us, we don't know how God is. So, from that particular element, the history is like a memory in one day. The history is the role of one person. So, when we were told, who is in Filipino? How do we answer that big question? We were told, we were told, we were told, from a historical perspective, it was not the very basic and, you know, it was a good thing. Because what we were told was, what we were told was the identity of one person. And the best way of answering that, it was through our history, right? Very similar, at the point of British history, and as you call it, but you can call it in a specific way. If you know the history, the history is actually a quest for self-awareness, it has been called, knowing yourself means knowing what you can do. And since nobody knows what he can do until he tries, the only clue to what man can do is what man has done. The value of history then, is that it teaches us what man has done and thus what man is. Exactly. So the history is a memory of one person and the history of humanity. In particular, it is a memory of humanity. So, it means that in our context, with history and basic education, we were told that there was a memory in the civic and culture, but in reality, it's not strictly the history as it should be, because the civic culture, not because it's a word. This is what we call a civic. It means that, in order to prepare the values to take up citizenship, so if we are told that there are children, parents, children, and other responsibilities. It means that, that the spirit of false, that the history is a memory, because that's what we call the idea of a civic. That's right. I mean, I'm confused about the history of the civic. When in reality, it means that the field, and the history, we were told that, it's a different skill set, it's different. So, it's not enough to focus on some memorization. Because, if we are told that, we are told that, we will be able to track the change over time, and the chronology of events, and the importance in terms of providing a sense of identity to a person, it's a different set of skills that we have known, and it's a different class of appreciation. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. That's right. So, the history, because, it provides a sense of identity that also relates to the idea of giving us a sense of context if we are told that, that's why we are told that, we are told that, in a particular place, and place, and it's not like it's for a person, in a different place, in a different place. That's what we are told about the history, I think. And of course, because, we are told that, this sense of context, we are told that, the past, present, and future, we are told that,. that history in a sense is as much about the present and the future as it is about the past. Because the past is the past and the past is the past and the past and the past and the past and the past and the past It's because you will see that history is very important to study history very important to give us a sense of identity because we can also locate ourselves in particular contexts in time. That is what we should do with it. Of course, it's about the importance of history. It provides us with a sense of justice. It's about the truth. It's about the court room. If we read the facts of the case, it's not that it's about a fortune teller and the judge who predicts the future. It's about the evidence of the case and the picture of the picture to help judge the future. It's about the history on that particular level too to reckon what really happened. Sometimes it's important because it provides us a sense of truth that could lead to justice. That's the idea. Yes, and in that sense, the study of history is not just important. It's not just relevant. It actually makes it a moral imperative. It's about the truth because it's actually a tool into achieving justice because it's us because we, as an society and as individuals, we really cannot do away from learning our past. Last, we fall victim, so that it's dangerous of both forgetting and deceit. Because if we read it, we forget our past. Then we fail to establish proper causality. The history teaches us chronological thinking. If we don't know how to think chronologically, then how will you establish causality? If we forget, then we also fail to uphold accountability. If we don't establish causality, and if we don't uphold accountability, then I think you contribute to the proliferation of injustice and impunity. I think many years from now, COVID-19 pandemic, it will be a thing of the remote past. But with a thorough study of history, then we will be able to harness certain lessons about what caused this health crisis, how people reacted when it erupted, and what were the actions taken by governments, by health sectors, and by the people? So, if you're a vegan, you can understand it. It's history about learning how to blame. I wouldn't exactly put it that way. So, it's not just about this. I think history plays a big role on holding people accountable. It's about accountability, and accountability is a prerequisite of justice. And the acquisition of justice is just another prerequisite in ensuring that, you know, then why progress and social change should actually happen. Because it is only when we appreciate the historical character of present issues that we truly understand the causes of these problems. So, if you're going to say, "Payo, let's have a clamor," or "We often lament," "If you are able to handle the basic social service of polypinas, like education, or hospitalization, they're not free. People can slide back to poverty in one place or in another hospital." Right? So, and these high costs, you see, they're ascribed in the budget of the government. Or why do we have insufficient government funds? Because I think the politicians are corrupt, right? So, that's why historical analysis wouldn't actually stop there. Historians ask further, "What are the roots of low-government revenue? How did the kind of politics that we have right now, and social relations, and systems, enable politicians to corrupt public funds?" That's what happened in the first place. So, what's the history of this? How did we get here? And this kind of appraisal is actually necessary because the failure to ascribe proper causes to present problems lead to, I dare say, ineffective or wrong solutions. So, if poor social services, for example, are simplistically blamed to corrupt officials and low-government revenue, then we are already failing to see more important or more fundamental problems, like privatization, which can be tied back to neoliberal globalization of the 1990s. Which in turn is brought about by the neo-colonialism of the post-war period. Now, of Shuddinaman, imperialism, not early 20th century, which was caused by the relentless capitalism, which started emerging in the 19th century. And the capitalism, I even saw, colonization in the 16th century, so I can go on, but you get the picture. On point, there should be a historical understanding of these problems. And this kind of historical understanding can be applied to more specific issues, like, for example, pandemic, a pandemic which swept the globe this year in 2020. Years from now, students of history will look back to this juncture. And if we want to provide a useful analysis of this particular historical period, then we should tell them more than the fact that COVID-19, for example, came from bats, if that's a fact at all. So what caused it? I agree with you, Vec. I just want you to understand what you're saying, right? That's the reason why the history of corruption can not be blamed on corrupt politicians, because it's systemic. The idea doesn't. If you have this historical frame of mind, you also understand, you know, and position yourself with the idea that there is also no easy solution to this problem. That's the solution to this problem. That's the reason why it's rooted in what you're saying. So there's no bad aid, and there's no magic pill that can solve this problem. So if history cannot give us a panacea or an answer to this, you know, big problems, at least that's the problem. I think that's a very important contribution. So these are the things we're talking about. It's just a fancier way of stating, you know, the world cliché that those shouldn't learn from history or don't repeat it. So more or less, yes, that's why we're talking about the phrase, because it's not what you're saying. It's not what you're saying. Every historical period is actually unique. One of the things that you're saying, or what you're saying, is answerable than by other fields of study, like sociology or political science or anthropology. Well, I think that's the uniqueness of historical study. I think that when we're talking about the other episodes, we're talking about specifically the reasons why we're talking about it. And because we're studying things that happened in the past, then what we have is the benefit of hindsight. Since we've been talking about this for a long time, already distant in terms of time, then we've got a lot more room to consider multiple factors that may not be obvious and apparent at the onset. So, but aside from this, and more importantly, substantial historical knowledge is also useful in looking at situations in the present. But I think that's what I'm saying. It's imperative for us to be aware of that. The lack of historical knowledge actually makes us prone to falling victims to lies and to deceit, which take the form of historical distortion or historical negationism. So, it's also the less pertain to a historical revisionism, but it's distinguished. And because it's a historical revision, it has to do with the history and to continuously improve on current historical knowledge. It's not the distortion, right? It's not the lock-tot mode, right? So, if you're just a historian, you don't know what you're saying. It actually makes you gullible. That's just simple. So, without the proper understanding of history and historical concepts, people will easily believe that, you know, for example, there are Holocaust deniers, and they would easily believe that the Holocaust never happened. Or that the period of martial law in the Philippines was a time of good governance and of prosperity, right? So, those who don't know what they are, they don't know what they're doing. But part of this, learning history can save us from the dangerous mistakes of letting perpetrators of past crimes and misdeeds go scot-free. So, it would make people accountable. We would also prevent them from, you know, wrongfully claiming certain credits for passage shipments. And both are actually necessary if you are to make significant improvements in our national life. So, Lallunasapanahun ngayon were information flows freely through various media. I think, you know, equipping ourselves with historical knowledge and historical skills, will actually enable us to become told that Sinabinilikanina critical thinkers. I really, really like that point that you made about the importance of history in ascertaining justice and, you know, giving emphasis to accountability. Because it would be great if we would protect ourselves from false information and distortion of the past. Because, the historical knowledge in Haka Apechto, in which we would look at what we see. So, it would also enable people to learn skills that were relevant and practical about their history. So, in the context, when information is so abundant, to the point that facts can actually be twisted to suit a particular agenda, historical knowledge and skills are relevant, important, and even necessary for healthier and fruitful conversations on Philippine realities, politics, and, you know, our society. And yet, we still hope to meet you in this podcast. In this first series, which has six parts, we hope to meet you and who, what, why, when, where, and how in history. In this episode, we answered why study history. In this episode, we answered the question, what is history, and what is not. We will continue to do so online, like or follow us on our social media pages. Just check the description for more information. Thank you for joining us and have a good day! (Subscribe)