Narrative in a United States survey course is hard to avoid. The question that the author has confronted in his classes is simple: do narratives still work in the surveys now that students understand their subjectivity, in many cases, as much as their teachers? Students, like most humans, tend to like stories. As the humanities at large and…

This article describes a book review assignment that is an application of enlightenment practices to a modern learning environment. This paper encourages both student learning in the content of enlightenment ideas and the methods of critical, accessible writing. Students engage in metacognition by using the critical reasoning capacities of their…

In recent years, historical events, issues, and characters have been portrayed in an increasing number of non-fiction graphic texts. Similar to comics and graphic novels, graphic texts are defined as fully developed, non-fiction narratives told through panels of sequential art. Such non-fiction graphic texts are being used to teach history in…

Internet users worldwide turn to Wikipedia, the web-based, open-content encyclopedia, for basic information on all subjects. There is much to concern an academic audience in the encyclopedia's prominence: bases for evidence are different from those used by scholars; no expertise is required to edit an article; the site is a target for…

Narratives encompass ways of thinking historically and several skills of the historian, and Tom Holt believes it is imperative that educators teach--and their students learn--how to construct historical narratives. Understanding and constructing history as narratives opens up the historical project for students. Moreover, demonstrating how…

Assessing students' historical understanding has been a long-standing challenge in history education. One of the widely used tools for accomplishing this task is the large-scale standardized test, the results of which are used as an indicator of student knowledge and skills in the social sciences/history. At the national level, the National…

W. E. B. Du Bois (1868-1963) is widely known as a champion for the political rights of African Americans, founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), aggressive advocate of Pan-Africanism, staunch supporter of female suffrage, and one of the creative forces behind the Harlem Renaissance. Further still, Du…

For educators, the anti-globalization movement has created a literature of opposition which offers enhanced opportunities for teaching critical analysis of neo-liberal political economy. The movement also aids those who wish to teach how First World wealth and privilege is functionally related to Third World poverty and underdevelopment. The…

At the top of the list of historians who practiced social criticism stands the best-selling author Christopher Lasch. Lasch observed that "historians tend to become social critics almost in spite of themselves, in the ordinary business of going about their work." By taking the past seriously as an object of study, historical research opens a…

Outlines the working assumptions of the Cadre filmmaking group, including their demand for active viewing, and close attention to imagery, editing, and the relationship between sound and image. Shows how these ideas were utilized in their latest film, "Storm of Fire." (CK)

"Greater Expectations": A New Vision for Learning as a Nation Goes to College", a recently published national report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities, calls for a radical restructuring of liberal arts education in American colleges and universities. Rather than defining liberal arts education in terms of…

Questions assumptions of the New Historicism, a recent development in literary criticism. Suggests some problems that such an essentially political approach engenders. Includes lack of a common bond between author and reader, a universal model of historical change based upon the ideas of Marx and others, and contextualism. Argues that historians…

Describes and evaluates specific audiovisual materials which can be used to teach Soviet history. Includes films, videotape cassettes, filmstrips, slides, photograph collections, records, and cassettes. Recommends use as aids only and emphasizes need for explanatory background. (CK)

States that because historical novelists who wish to create lifelike characters and situations must base their work on accurate and thorough research, historical fiction can and should be used as another way of interpreting the past. Urges the critical analysis of historical fiction to make authors accountable for their work. (LS)

Describes the problem of absence of evidence in historiography. Discusses the limits this lack of evidence poses for comparative studies by sociologists. Identifies steps in which events or evidence may be missed or passed over. Includes nonoccurrence, no surviving evidence, unlocated evidence, failure to note evidence, inaccurate criticism of…