The undergrad majors at Yale University typically follow lukeprog’s suggestion—there will be 20 classes on stuff that is thought to constitute cutting-edge, useful “political science” or “history” or “biology,” and then 1 or 2 classes per major on “history of political science” or “history of history” or “history of biology.” I think that’s a good system. It’s very important not to confuse a catalog of previous mistakes with a recipe for future progress, but for the same reasons that general history is interesting and worthwhile for the general public to know something about, the history of a given discipline is interesting and worthwhile for students of that discipline to look into.
The undergrad majors at Yale University typically follow lukeprog’s suggestion—there will be 20 classes on stuff that is thought to constitute cutting-edge, useful “political science” or “history” or “biology,” and then 1 or 2 classes per major on “history of political science” or “history of history” or “history of biology.” I think that’s a good system. It’s very important not to confuse a catalog of previous mistakes with a recipe for future progress, but for the same reasons that general history is interesting and worthwhile for the general public to know something about, the history of a given discipline is interesting and worthwhile for students of that discipline to look into.