AHA Texas Conference on Introductory History Courses

Suggested Readings on Intro Courses

• Kenneth Pomeranz and Anne Hyde, “Historical Thinking for Everyone,” in Designing Introductory History Courses for Student Success (American Historical Association, 2024) [See video presentation linked on left for additional information]
• AHA Tuning project, History Discipline Core Statement (revised December 2016)
• Social Science Research Council, History Essential Concepts and Competencies (pdf) (2016)

Daniel Immerwahr, "History Isn't Just for Patriots," Washington Post, December 23, 2020, [See box below for PDF]

Laura Westhoff and Robert Johnston, "Democracy and the Teaching of History in Our Perilous Moment," 

Johann Neem, "A Usable Past for a Post-American Nation," [See box below for PDF]

Paulina L. Alberto and Farina Mir, “History 101: What It Is and Why We Need It Now,” Perspectives on History, April 2018

Calder, Lendol, and Robert Williams. “Must History Students Write History Essays?,” Journal of American History (JAH) 107:4 (March 2021), 926-41.

Jones, Norm. "Core of the Matter: The Complex Roles of History Courses in General Education," Perspectives on History, December 21, 2020.

Andrew Koch, “Many Thousands Failed: A Wakeup Call to History Educators,” Perspectives on History, May 2017. 

Mintz, Steven. “7 Innovative Approaches to Course Design,” Higher Ed Gamma blog, Inside Higher Ed, February 8, 2021.

 [See box below for PDF]

Steven Mintz, “Reimagining the History Survey Course,” AHA Today, April 23, 2018.

Richardson, Caleb Wood, "Turning Inquiry into Action: Using Communities of Practice to Build Better Introductory History Courses," Perspectives on History, December 2020.

Joel Sipress and David Voelker, “The End of the History Survey Course: The Rise and Fall of the Coverage Model,” Journal of American History, March 2011.

Westhoff, Laura, and Robert Johnston. “Thinking Beyond the Essay: Varieties of Student Historical Writing,” Journal of American History (JAH) 107:4 (March 2021), 922-925.

Sam Wineburg, Joel Breakstone, and Mark Smith, “Do We Know What History Students Learn?”, Inside Higher Ed,  April 3, 2018

[See box below for PDF]

Brenna Miller and Jesse Spohnholz, "Collaboratively Reforming General Education History Teaching and Learning: A Roadmap for the Twenty-First Century," Proceedings of the H-Net Teaching Conference, 1(1), 77–87.