Theatre History II instils in students the knowledge that to understand the present and prepare for the future, they must first come to terms with the past by engaging in methodical research of archival documents and artifacts of the modern and contemporary eras. In training students to grasp the intimate relation between past events, present circumstances, and future possibilities, this mode of inquiry equips them to apply that past to theatre practice and to become engaged, socially responsible citizens. It also teaches students that all accounts of past events are shaped by the interpretive practices of the historian, enabling them to detect and interrogate the ideological dimension of historiography.