Historical Claims and Evidence Dossiers: Faculty Source Packet
A faculty-reviewed reader for ASHA-203 introducing historical claims and evidence dossiers through transparent methods and evidence boundaries.
Orientation
A historical dossier begins with a precise claim and a list of evidence that could support or weaken it.
Core concept
Primary evidence should be separated from modern synthesis. Absence of evidence may matter, but it is not automatically evidence of absence.
Evidence and method
Competing explanations should be stated in strong form, and the preferred conclusion should explain evidence with few unsupported assumptions.
Application and limits
The judgment should state confidence, unresolved questions, and what new evidence would change the conclusion.
What the evidence establishes
Primary evidence should be separated from modern synthesis. Absence of evidence may matter, but it is not automatically evidence of absence.
What remains interpretive
The course requires students to distinguish disciplinary evidence from theological or philosophical interpretation and to state uncertainty where evidence is incomplete.
Seminar questions
- Which claim is most strongly established?
- What alternative explanation deserves consideration?
- How would stronger evidence change the conclusion?