History 691W - S-Writing History

In this class, students will experiment with the tools for writing history for a general audience. We will cover the structure of various types of historical writing, the sorts of research that support a convincing argument, the audiences writing must attract, and the common writing errors that weaken prose.

Open to Doctoral and Masters History students only. Several guest speakers will talk about their own approaches to the craft, including the 2017 writer in residence, Allyson Hobbs. During the semester, students will hone their writing and editing skills as they develop their own projects and comment on those of their classmates. The course is designed to meet the requirements of a 600-level seminar, but some students, with consent of the instructor, will be able to enroll in the course at the 700 level, depending on the nature of their proposed semester-long project.