writing history lectures

Graduate Students Forum

A Recipe for a Successful Lecture

Peter Filene | Oct 1, 2004

Close your eyes and picture the best history lecturer you recall from college. Perhaps she is striding back and forth across the stage, never looking at her notes, her voice ringing out, each sentence flowing eloquently into the next and the next. She delivers a complex, passionate argument, spiced with vivid details and wit. She reaches her last sentence as the bell sounds.

Are you feeling inspired? Or are you discouraged, thinking: "How in the world can I emulate that?"

Like other aspects of teaching, lecturing is less mysterious than it seems. Let me begin to demystify it by providing a three-part recipe for designing and delivering effective lectures. I wish someone had given me these suggestions when I was starting out or even when I was 15 years into my career.

1. Don’t Be Brilliant

First, don’t emulate that lecturer whom you just now imagined; don’t try to write and deliver a brilliant lecture. Altough you were inspired, you were not a typical undergraduate. You are a lifelong academic. After too many years in graduate school, it’s hard to remember college students’ mentality. Recently I overheard a TA remark: "Can you imagine! One of my students asked ‘what is a monograph?’" Few of your students will be history majors and fewer still will be looking toward an academic career. They arrive in your classroom for a myriad of reasons: maybe they enjoy watching the History Channel, or they are fulfilling a college requirement, or they needed a class at noon.

Moreover, the questions that interest you as a professional historian are probably not ones that will interest them. As scholars we’re interested in certain questions because we were once interested in earlier questions, which intrigued us because of even earlier questions. Don’t forget that our students have not yet taken that intellectual journey. While we are digging deep underground at rich intellectual ore, they are standing on the surface wondering why anyone in his right mind would be engaged in that subterranean expedition. 1 So, brilliance will likely be counterproductive. It may dazzle you but leave your students with drooping eyelids.

And then there is this very practical consideration: you won’t have time to write trailblazing lectures for every class. Let’s suppose that you’re teaching three different courses three times a week, while also grading papers, holding office hours, shopping for groceries, and (one hopes) spending time with family or friends.

Under such circumstances, how can one write nine even semi -brilliant lectures every week? The answer—gather three or four textbooks or general sources, subject them to a critical reading, and synthesize a coherent narrative lecture from them. Give the students a bibliography of the sources you used. You can then use the opportunity to introduce the students to the important notion that although the information in different books may be the same, interpretations can (and do) differ. After all, a lecture is a live communication—an interaction with an audience. Imagine sitting at a café with someone who spreads his notes on the table and reads aloud nonstop for 50 minutes!

As you gain experience and self-confidence, you can transform these rough lectures along more original lines.

2. Communicate

How do the best teachers engage their students’ interest and understanding? Enthusiasm is one ingredient that undergraduates almost unanimously cite. 2 Clarity and organization form the second ingredient and, intellectually, the more important one. 3 Undergraduates typically can absorb no more than two new ideas in a single session. So you will do well to divide your lecture into two parts—two main ideas, themes, or issues.

Moreover, audience attention sags halfway through the hour. 4 So, before launching into Idea Number Two, do something different. Create an intermission—like a bench beside the mountain trail, allowing the hikers to appreciate what they have accomplished thus far.

• You may pull out that lame expedient, "Are there any questions?" But I recommend several more effective ways to elicit critical reflection.
• Tell students to write a one-minute synopsis of what they’ve heard. Then ask for questions or confusions.
• Better yet, add two steps: Think (pose a question, about which they briefly write); Pair (compare answers with a classmate for three minutes); Share (ask a pair to report their answers, then ask whether other pairs have different answers).
• Pose a question and divide students into five-minute "breakout groups" to devise answers.
• Show a slide or a video excerpt.
• Walk away from the lectern and say nothing for 30 seconds, allowing time for mental digestion. Silence also teaches.

3. Hook Them at the Start

I’ve used up my quota of two main ideas. But since this is an essay, not a lecture, let me cheat and add a third recommendation.

The most effective lecturers open the hour with a question—a problem—a grabber. Something is at stake today, so stick around and see how I solve it . You can dramatize this "so what?" with a vignette.

• Perhaps a quotation.
• Or an anecdote that dramatizes the day’s topic.
• Or a cartoon.
• Or a device like the one with which I began this essay.

All of this may sound dauntingly complicated, but it soon becomes second nature. After a few weeks you’ll structure your lectures automatically.

As you become familiar with your 60 or 100 students (and they with you), you will develop a rapport. They will laugh at your jokes. You will learn at what level to pitch your ideas and vocabulary. They will trust you and their classmates enough to answer your questions or even ask their own. Your lectures will not be "an essay standing on its hind legs." 5 Rather, they will form one half of a dialogic relationship in which you teach and your students learn.

Peter Filene is professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. This essay is adapted from the author’s forthcoming book, The Joy of Teaching: A Guide for New College Instructors (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2005).

1. Ken Bain, What the Best College Teachers Do (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2004), 37.

2. For tips on how to display enthusiasm, see Joseph Lowman, Mastering the Techniques of Teaching 2nd

3. Thomas M. Sherman et al., "The Quest for Excellence in Higher Education," Journal of Higher Education , 58 (January/February 1987), 66; Peter Seldin, The Teaching Portfolio: A Practical Guide to Improved Performance and Promotion/Tenure Decisions (Boston: Anker, 1991), 1.

4. Lowman, Mastering the Techniques of Teaching , 136; J.R. Davis, Teaching Strategies for the College Classroom (Boulder: Westview Press, 1976), cited in "Improving Lectures by Understanding Students’ Information Processing" Wilbert J. McKeachie ed., Learning, Cognition, and College Teaching: New Directions for Teaching and Learning 2 (San Francisco: Josey-Bass, 1980), chapter 4.

5. James Winans and H.H. Hudson, A First Course in Public Speaking (New York: D. Appleton-Century, 1931), 17, quoted in Elisa Carbone, Teaching Large Classes: Tools and Strategies (Thousand Oaks: Sage, 1998), 21.

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History of Writing Lecture

Introductory lectures: history of writing.

This lecture traces the development of writing, from its origins in the 4th century BC, in Sumeria, though Crete and Egypt, and then at how it evolved in other parts of the world. The lecturer looks at how writing can be defined, and shows how it first developed in response to an economic need for accountancy. She looks at the different ways in which symbols are represented in varied scripts, and finally shows how writing is related to both political and economic power.

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IHR 'Historical Research' Lecture (2020)- Writing histories of 2020: responses and perspectives

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On 29 July 2020 over 150 participants joined the IHR online at its annual Historical Research Lecture:  Writing histories of 2020: responses and perspectives

The annual  Historical Research  Lecture—which explores questions of historical practice and approach—is sponsored by the journal’s publisher,  Oxford University Press .

How might future historians seek to write the history of 2020, when will 2020 become a subject for historical analysis, and how are—and how should—today's historians and record keepers prepare the ground for this task? The 2020 Historical Research lecture, looked at current events from the perspective of three leading historians.

• Professor Claire Langhamer  (Professor of Modern British History and Trustee of the Mass Observation Archive, Sussex University)
• Professor Kevin Siena  (Trent University, Ontario, and a historian of early modern disease and contagion) 
• Professor Richard Vinen  (Professor of History, King’s College London, and a specialist in contemporary history)
• With  Professor Jo Fox  (Director, Institute of Historical Research, chair)

The panel approached ‘2020’ from the perspectives of a contemporary historian, specialist in historical and contemporary record-keeping; and a historian of earlier, comparable episodes for which histories have now been written.

After the event, Jo also spoke to Claire Langhamer and Richard Vinen about historians' approaches to 2020, from the perspective of record keeping and contemporary history. Both conversations are part of the IHR's History in Conversation podcast

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Taking lecture notes.

Accurate notes will be helpful when you need to review material for an exam or assignment. In addition to helping you merely remember the contents of a lecture, your note taking strategy can help you grapple with the material and more fully understand a historical topic, event, or question. Thus, you should consider note taking as an interactive process rather than just a secretarial skill.  It is more than simply an aid to memory.  Note taking and review is part of the process of analyzing the material.

Current research supports these ideas and also shows that final results on exams and papers can be improved if certain methods for taking notes are employed. This guide will suggest:

• Methods and practices of taking notes.
• Read the text before class. This allows you to develop an overview of the main ideas, secondary points, and definitions for important concepts.
• Identify familiar and unfamiliar terms. Look up terms before class. Be prepared to listen for explanations during the lecture. Ask the professor to explain unclear ideas.
• Note portions of the reading that are unclear. Before class, develop questions to ask.  (Listen for an explanation during the lecture.)
• Sit near the front. There are fewer distractions and it is easier to hear, see and understand the material.
• Date and number every page, assignment and handout. This will help when you begin studying for an exam or preparing notes for an essay.
• Do not try to write everything down. Make notes brief. The more time you devote to writing, the less attention you can give to understanding the main points and identifying the outline and argument of the lecture. Never use a sentence when you can use a phrase or a phrase when you can use a word. Use abbreviations and symbols whenever possible.
• Be aware of the outline of the lecture. Most lectures are based on a simple outline. Listen for key phrases and words that identify what that structure is and recognize where you are in the outline at any given time.
• Begin notes for each lecture on a new page. This allows for more freedom in organization, for instance, so that you can put the notes on a subject from the lecture with the notes on the same subject from the reading.
• Generally, use your own words , rather than simply quoting the words of the lecturer. Formulas, definitions, rules and specific facts should be copied exactly.
• Develop a code system of note-taking to indicate questions, comments, important points, due dates of assignments, etc. This helps separate extraneous material from the body of notes (for instance ‘!’ for important ideas, a ‘?’ for questions, or [bracket personal comments]). You might even develop your own symbols for commonly used words or ideas (for instance, ‘∆’ for change, or ‘C’ for century).
• Watch for clues from the instructor . If the instructor writes something on the board or overhead, it is likely important. If the instructor repeats a point during the lecture, make sure to note it. Dramatic voice changes and long, intentional pauses usually indicate emphasis as well.
• Review your notes as soon as possible after the lecture. This dramatically improves retention.
• Merge notes from the lecture and readings. Keep notes from the lecture with notes from the readings on the same topic. Look for gaps in your understanding in each and identify where they complement or contradict each other. Ask your instructor if you still do not understand a point.
• Highlight key words, phrases, or concepts. This helps you reduce the amount of reading you have to do when studying. Use margins for questions, comments, notes to yourself on unclear material, etc. Color coding is often helpful for organizing material.
• Recite by covering over the main body of notes and use only the key words in the margin to recall everything you can about the lecture. State the facts and ideas of the lecture as much as you can in your own words.
• Reflect on the content of your notes. Consider especially how these notes relate to other things you have learned.

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Winter 2022 lecture series: capitalism in action - culture, power, history.

Winter 2021 Lecture Series: Technology and its Discontents

Winter 2020 Lecture Series:  Life, Death, and the Gods

Winter 2019 Lecture Series: Challenging Gender

Winter 2018 Lecture Series: Speaking Truth To Power - Protest and Dissent in Modern History

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Fall 2013 Lecture Series: Slavery and Freedom in the Making of America

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Thinking Back: The Perils of Writing History (Walter Lynwood Fleming Lectures in Southern History) Paperback – February 1, 1987

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In a career that has spanned more than half a century, C Vann Woodward has come to be regarded as one of the foremost historians of the United States. His writings on the South -- particularly on the period of the New South -- have inspired the admiration and awe of more than a generation of colleagues and students. Thinking Back is Woodward's retrospective view of his experience as a historian. Neither a personal nor an intellectual autobiography, it is a book in which Woodward describes -- through a consideration of his own books and the critical dialogue they have engendered -- how the history of the South was viewed and written during the early years fo the century, how those views hve changed over the decades, and the turbulent forces that have influenced revisions in interpretation, subject matter, and comprehension. Thinking Back is without precedent, a book thta could have been written by no one but Woodward himself.Woodward recalls the South of the 1930s, the formative period when the young man from rural Arkansas determined the course his life would take. He describes his university years at Emory and Chapel Hill (where he finished his first book, a biography of Georgia Populist Tom Watson), his early mentors, and the early misgivings he had about a career as a historian. He remembers the honor he felt on being asked, at the tender age of thirty, to write one of the volumes in the prestigious series A History of the South. That book, Origins of the New South -- more than twelve years in the making -- would become one of his most important contributions to southern historiography. Woodward describes his astonishment at the unexpected success of his seventh book, The Strange Career of Jim Crow, which was written in the summer months of 1954, just after the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. He also relates the circumstances that, in the late 1950s, compelled him to write another of his more influential works, The Burden of Southern History.In each instance Woodward reflects on what he was trying to do in his books, what forces he was reacting against, what people events, and ideas influenced him, and how he now assesses his work. With candor and cordiality, he addresses his critics as colleagues rather than as adversaries, agreeing with some, debating with others, and venturing criticisms of his own work that they may have overlooked. He considers the perils of the historian as presentist, as ironist, as moralist, and as ideologue, and the risks of writing with conviction and passion on controversial subjects.Thinking Back is vintage Woodward. It is expertly crafted, admirably modulated, witty, and a delight to read. For readers of history interested in how the historian works, the risks he takes, the doubts that plague him, and the forces that move him, this book will have unique appeal. There is nothing else quite like it.

• Print length 158 pages
• Language English
• Publisher LSU Press
• Publication date February 1, 1987
• Dimensions 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• ISBN-10 0807113778
• ISBN-13 978-0807113776
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C. Vann Woodward (1908-1999) was Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University. He was a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He won the Bancroft Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and many other awards.

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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ LSU Press (February 1, 1987)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 158 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0807113778
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0807113776
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.7 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 0.4 x 8.5 inches
• #57,968 in U.S. State & Local History

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Beginnings of World Civilizations - Essay Example

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The EW Cole Lecture: Who Gets to Write History?

For the second annual EW Cole Lecture, historian and author Santilla Chingaipe asks, ‘who gets to write history?’

Drawing on her work exploring settler colonialism, slavery and post-colonial migration in Australia, Chingaipe scrutinises the process of writing history, questioning what is considered historical truth and whose histories may be erased as a result.

Following a thought-provoking address, Chingaipe will be joined by Zoe Laidlaw, Professor of History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at University of Melbourne. Together they will interrogate the process of recording the past and ask what needs to change to stop history from repeating itself.

Supported by The E W Cole Foundation as part of Spring Fling.

Wheeler Centre 176 Little Lonsdale St Melbourne 3000

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