History 791W - S-Writing History
Spring
2023
01
4.00
Stephen Platt
W 2:30PM 5:00PM
UMass Amherst
70203
Herter Hall room 102
platt@history.umass.edu
66500
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. Several guest speakers will talk about their own approaches to the craft. 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.
Open to Masters and Doctoral students.