Departmental warfare: History versus So/An

commentary by AE Metz

A note was recently found in Miller 107 which had been passed between two persons. One, from the text, seems to be a So/An major, the other a History major. Since the hand-writing was legible, I thought it would be of interest not just to So/An and History majors, but to the academic community at large to present this debate in its full format. And to whoever actually wrote these arguments, I thought you both presented your points eloquently.

History Major: I HATE SO/AN MAJORS. WHY DOESN'T THAT GIRL SHUT UP?!

So/An Major: YOU BASTARD.

History: I mean, could she be anymore vague? If she has a point she should just make it, and stop with all these stupid disclaimers of her own "cultural bias." It's f*cking annoying.

So/An: Whatever! All history majors do is read. What is a conclusion if it cannot be proved? How do you test a historical theory?

History: A conclusion is a theory to be tested, a platform from which to work, something that provides some basis of agreement. Just like in math, it can never be proved, only disproved.

For example, looking at both Napoleon and Hitler, one could draw the conclusion that invading Russia in the winter is a little less-than-brilliant.

So/An: So/An is just as quantitative and theories are formed, the difference is that So/An focuses on things like the power medicine has over politics. The theory is that medical institutions train people to execute prejudice acts and increase the gap between rich and poor.

History: Lady, you are loony tunes. I have no idea what you're talking about.

So/An: It's what I'm studying. The point is, I made a conclusion.

History: Way to go. First, So and An are two different things. So I can deal with. An is just a bitch-fest: touchy-feely, "I can't come to any conclusion because of my cultural upbringing/all I can do is observe and know that my cultural biases are influencing my perceptions/I can't make a judgment to save my life."

If all they do is observe and document, how are they different from a camera? Where is the original thought, the thesis?

So/An: Well I am an anthropologist and haven't taken any So classes! But we do have our own biases. Take the Bible as a historical document. The people who wrote it had biases and thus influenced the way the text was written. Jesus may have existed, but we don't have any material from opposing view points. That is history's flaw, So/An writes its biases and doesn't deny them. History enjoys the bliss of ignorance.

History: But how sweet that bliss is! Obviously everyone has biases, but some things can not be disputed; i.e. historical fact (Jesus Herbert Christ existed). It is the interpretation, the analysis, that biases enter into. But the facts don't do us any bloody good if we don't extrapolate conclusions. And part of making a theory, any theory, is going out on a limb. You propose a thesis, and it is tested.

So/An: Exactly- but you never stop researching because of your biases, you use your biases to expand your ideas and when analyzing historical texts, it would be good to spend time studying the biases of the original writers. Our problem is that history and So/An are so similar that we each point out our faults in each other because we see them as faults within ourselves.

History: Sometimes there are more than one or no original texts at all. We determine the whys of events, the hows. We propose theories on what convinced Hitler Russia would be easier than it was (he thought they invasion would finish before winter) and why it didn't work (the Russian people and their leaders were fanatical). Was every Russian fanatical in their defense of the mother land? No. But we still make the general statement.

I'll admit our departments are somewhat similar, but the differences in areas of study, what is studied, and especially what comes from that study are enormous. My belief still stands: the world would be a better place and a lot less paper would be wasted if all the So/An majors were exiled to Siberia.

So/An: Whatever!!! You need to look towards the future!

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