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Tag: Department of History

Teaching Graduate Students: The Public Value of Their Work

kids sitting on a ledge

by John Giggie, Department of History In this faculty blog on graduate teaching, I would like to share a few observations on possible ways to help graduate students in American history think about the public value of their work. My hope is that as students broaden their identities as public intellectuals they will deepen their commitment to their craft and discipline. My ideas are based most recently on my experience working with graduate students to co-design and co-teach a new […]

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Why Workshops Matter for Professionalization, Productivity, and Life!

table with people's hands, pens and paper

by Jenny Shaw, Department of History One of the most important skills graduate students learn is how to receive, assimilate, and act on feedback from peers and mentors. Often, as with peer review, feedback comes anonymously, and in written form, so responses can be contemplated and thought through. But at conferences, seminars, and public talks, scholars have to respond in person and in real time. Similarly, giving feedback in written or oral form is another essential skill and one that […]

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A New Twist on the Multiple Choice Quiz

a multiple choice test

by James Mixson, Department of History Ah, the multiple-choice quiz. An old stand-by for some instructors who love them not least because it can make grading so easy. For others, especially those in more narrative-intense disciplines like mine (history), they are problematic: names and dates and other “data” are only the beginning. What matters is what it all means, and that is best assessed through long-form writing. Students love multiple choice quizzes and hate them, too. Some like that they […]

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“Bebop to Hip Hop: Young America and Music,” Sharony Green

Instructor: Sharony Green Course: Bebop to Hip Hop: Young America and Music (HY 300) “Bebop to Hip Hop” is a 300-level course that explores social developments, like the beatnik, Civil Rights, and counterculture periods, through the lens of postwar music. The course includes active and collaborative components and a new creative mixtape project, which is sure to be a hit. What are your course goals? I am very interested in students seeing how life is cyclical, even if there is often […]

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History Students Test Their Spear-Throwing Chops

Students throwing the atlatls, a Native American spear-throwing device

by Juan Ponce-Vázquez, Department of History As someone who teaches courses on colonial Latin American history in Alabama, and previously in the rural northeast, I have not had many chances to bring history to life for my students. In the past, I have taken students to museums when a temporary exhibit came to a nearby city. For the most part, however, teaching within my discipline involves the classic things you have come to expect from a history class: lectures, active […]

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