The Southern Historical Association invites submissions for the C. Vann Woodward Dissertation Prize for 2013 to be presented for the best dissertation in southern history completed and defended in 2012. The prize consists of a $3,000 stipend, and is funded by the Woodward Fund, based on a very generous bequest left to the SHA by C. Vann…
Essay #2 Notes – Jonathan Eng As I finished up grading Essay #2 frantically over the Thanksgiving holiday in an effort to have it ready for my students by Friday morning in between spending it with friends and my Black Friday shopping, I spent the weekend reflecting on the quality of the essays while I…
The California American Studies Association annual conference is coming to sunny San Diego. It will be incredible; we will eat street tacos, over-analyze everything, and ride the famous trolley. Hope to hear from you (and please share with your students, graduate students, and colleagues): CALL FOR PAPERS California American Studies Association 2013 Annual Meeting San…
You may remember that (given my luxury of small classes and this term just one section) I have my survey course students vote in the first week on topics to explore in greater depth. Most of them have never been asked this question by a professor: what do YOU want to learn about in this…
I recently wrote about the “SkillBuilder” assignment I use in the survey class – which is a recurring, low-stakes 2-page primary source analysis exercise. Each time one is graded, I return it to the students with all their previous comments plus the new ones, so they can track progress throughout the semester. I have found…
Being a teacher in Chicago (at a public school no less!) is an interesting task these days. I sit in my office at the University of Illinois at Chicago and look down (literally, not figuratively) at all the teachers on the street, dressed in red, demanding a new contract. I’m struck by their perseverance, the…
For the vast majority of us, this week or next week will include the first day of school (Ed’s already been there AND blogged about it). Already my Facebook feed and email inbox include adorable groupings of nieces, nephews and children of my friends in their first-day best, grinning (or weeping, as the case may…
A couple of semesters ago, I reinvented my survey course syllabus. I had been churning out a predictable-looking, text-heavy syllabus every semester. You know the type: The redesign involved formatting into a magazine-like layout which makes an attractive PDF: …but I also rethought my survey from the inside out since just presenting the same-old course…
In honor of my summer anthem…
Last week I talked about a nifty little assignment that builds basic skills of historical thinking and sourcing. Next week I’ll share more about syllabus design and organization, but this week I wanted to highlight another important tool in my history survey kit: the course website. Our campus uses Blackboard as its course management system…
