This is a question that came up in my last knit night (shout out to Jessica and Rebecca!). It started when Rebecca asked me why I didn’t recommend Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast. After all, isn’t history just storytelling? Do you need a Ph.D. in history to tell a story?
This is something of a controversial topic. Look in any bookstore and you will see plenty of books in the history section that are not written by historians, but by journalists, politicians, etc… In fact, one of the most well-known history authors, Jared Diamond, is a biologist. But are these works good history? Is there a difference between work produced by historical enthusiasts and professional historians?
Historians seem to something of an unofficial motto: Death to Trees! Obviously most historians don’t actually have a death wish for trees, but many don’t see how it’s possible to avoid using so much paper. Thankfully, there is a solution: going paperless. The benefits to going paperless are endless, but while there is a great deal of advice on how to do this when it comes to research materials or in elementary and high schools, there just isn’t a lot of material on how to go paperless in a university classroom. In this first post in a series on going paperless in the classroom, I will be addressing one of the biggest paper producers: student assignments. With some preparation and good organization, every professor can make the switch to electronic assignment submissions. Here are some of my suggestions on making this work.
If there is one question that I have been asked over and over again as a professor, it’s “What’s on the exam?” Exams, and particularly essays in exams, have struck fear into the hearts of students for generations. While most professors will trot out the old adage about journeys and destinations, this does little to assuage the very real fears of students who want concrete answers and not philosophical musings. But with the right approach and tools, every student can succeed in writing essays in exams. So here are my eleven top tips on writing amazing exam essays.
Welcome! This blog will focus on the unwritten rules to history, as both a discipline, a field of study, and as a career. The information that appears in this blog is the result of thirteen years of doing history at the undergraduate and graduate level as well as six years working as a sessional instructor.