Whether in the classroom, symposium, or casual conversation, the key
is documentation.
Not for the last--at least, it tends to become a focus for tiresome
"prove yourself to me" games. There is a difference between a doctoral
dissertation and a conversation.
If I can't cite the source at the time, and I can't find it, then I
have to accept that the information will not back up my opinion. It
doesn't matter if my memory is seeing the item in a museum, with
accurate provenance, or if it's a movie that's 95% fantasy.
OK, but there is a difference between research (finding data) and
intepretation (of the data). One of the first things I learned in
upper-division history seminars is there are often serveral, equally
believable ways of interpreting the same data. After a certain point,
all you can give there is your logical argument.
In other words, you're not always following someone else's ideas.
Fran
Lavolta Press
http://www.lavoltapress.com
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