Using ChatGPT in the U.S. History survey

Like many of my colleagues, I responded to the rise of ChatGPT with panic. But my blood pressure recovered after reading a few articles (especially this one but I’ll also point out this excellent later piece). I began to wonder if there was an alternative to my peer’s abstinence-only approach. The following is my experiment with…

Teach My Book: Françoise N. Hamlin on Crossroads at Clarksdale: The Black Freedom Struggle in the Mississippi Delta After World War II

Teaching United States History is excited to present Teach My Book, a series of posts where distinguished authors reflect on their work and how instructors might integrate their insights into the classroom. Our thoughts today come from Françoise N. Hamlin, Associate Professor in History and Africana Studies at Brown University. Dr. Hamlin is discussing her…

Teach My Book: Cherisse Jones-Branch on Crossing the Line: Women’s Interracial Activism in South Carolina during and after World War II

Teaching United States History is excited to present Teach My Book, a series of posts where distinguished authors reflect on their work and how instructors might integrate their insights into the classroom. Our thoughts today come from Cherisse Jones-Branch, Dean of the Graduate School & James and Wanda Lee Vaughn Endowed Professor of History at…

Teach My Book: Aston Gonzalez on Visualizing Equality: African American Rights and Visual Culture in the Nineteenth Century

Teaching United States History is excited to present Teach My Book, a series of posts where distinguished authors reflect on their work and how instructors might integrate their insights into the classroom. Our thoughts today come from Aston Gonzalez, Associate Professor of History at Salisbury University. Dr. Gonzalez is discussing his book Visualizing Equality: African American…

Guest Post: Kevin Mason, “Choose Your Own Adventure: Creating Assignment Autonomy with Self-Determination Theory in the US History Survey”

Today’s guest post comes from Kevin Mason, Chair of the Department of History at Waldorf University.    College students crave structured autonomy. As students enter the classroom they often find themselves disappointed by a curriculum that exposes them to a broad variety of content, often in areas outside of their intended majors.  Engaging these students serves…

Teach My Book: Lindsay M. Chervinsky, The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution

Teaching United States History is excited to present Teach My Book, a series of posts where distinguished authors reflect on their work and how instructors might integrate their insights into the classroom. Our thoughts today come from Lindsay Chervinsky, Historian at the White House Historical Association. Dr. Chervinsky is discussing her new book The Cabinet: George…

Designing distance learning opportunities for the overachievers

Based on feedback from my students, and guidance from my university, I have decided to make the rest of my survey course entirely asynchronous. I will hold optional collaborative discussions, but everything that is graded or otherwise required can be completed independently and with limited technological requirements. I am erring on the side of accessibility…