Teaching Maritime History: Interdisciplinary Approaches

March 29, 2007Maritime history constitutes a distinct subfield of historical inquiry. In its most succinct definition, ???maritime history is a humanistic study of the many dimensions in man???s relationship with the sea??? (Hattendorf, 1995, p. 5). From the ancient world to the modern one, oceans and inland waterways have provided humans with both enormous challenges and resources. Maritime enterprise touches a wide variety of disciplines including economics, science and technology, literature, art, military affairs, international relations, and the environment. To do justice to the maritime past historians must incorporate as many of those disciplines as possible. This paper will briefly examine the methods and programs used to teach maritime history in the twentieth century and make some observations about teaching maritime history in the twenty-first century. These suggestions are drawn from teaching experience at The Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport (Williams-Mystic) and The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Despite the difficulties and challenges, it is the author???s opinion that teaching maritime history in the new millennium is crucial to understanding world history and should attempt as much as possible to incorporate inter-disciplinary approaches.The Citadel : Military College of South Carolin