What and how to teach in the K-16 classroom history has been a perennial and, at times, heated debate. Beginning as early as 1892, the question of what knowledge is of the most worth and what should be the central function of the history curriculum became a focus of many interested in education. It was felt that the teachers needed to move away…

This paper argues that the standard approach to teaching the history of political thought does not serve the ultimate goals of political theory education, and that alternative approaches are needed to make the history of thought appropriate for undergraduates. A history of political thought for life ought to enhance a person's capacity to act as a…

Social studies classroom teachers can enliven high school history courses and motivate students to learn about history by using dramatic or heroic biographies in teaching history. The biographical approach centers on study of the lives, beliefs, and surroundings of historical actors. This approach differs from the "great man" theory of history in…

Reflects on the role of New Historicism in teaching literature and remarks on the lack of historical awareness in students today. Offers suggestions for connecting history, as well as other disciplines, to literature to combat currently fragmented college educations. (JC)

Explores the nature of historical thinking, asserting that no intrinsic differences characterize how people understand ideas. Suggests history's role in the social studies is to inspire creative inquiry into past cultures and into oneself. Examines mythology's power to teach what is timeless and quintessentially human. Highlights Joseph Campbell's…

Contends that recent historiographic scholarship underscores the need for new approaches to the history of psychology. Introduces the content of an advanced undergraduate seminar based on materials in social constructionism and contextual history. Illustrates its application to the history of psychology through a contextual look at the place of…

The History of Great Ideas is an interdisciplinary seminar course for sophomore honor students at North Arkansas Community Technical College that teaches the intellectual history of western civilization. Each semester, students study 14 ideas from science, philosophy, history, religion, sociology, and economics to discover how philosophical…

Helping students to understand how and why people in the present interpret the past differently is a challenge. It is also vital if we are to develop an understanding of why the meanings we ascribe to the past are not fixed, but rather are subject to our own prejudices or goals. A number of articles in previous editions have explored how students…

Reviews the use of the collaborative learning process in a seventeenth-century intellectual history seminar. Utilizing reader response, peer critiques, small writing groups, and peer tutoring, students became active participants in the learning process and assumed more responsibility for the course material. Includes a complete syllabus and…

An alternative to the traditional history survey course, which is becoming less and less popular, is described. The goal of this project is to shift the emphasis from coverage of content to the development of skills necessary to understand that content. This particular project focused on colonial America, which covers a portion of the first of…

This syllabus outlines a one semester course intended to provide a comprehensive study of the Soviet Union today, and the relationship that Russian has with the United States and the rest of the world. Content covers Russia's history beginning with the fall of the Romanovs with emphasis on the revolutionary movement in Russia. The guide presents a…