Teaching

Course code: AHK8201

Stage: first

Classroom: 2 G (Hall no.)

No. of Students: 57

Course code: HAB8210

Stage: second

Classroom: 2 G

No. of Students: 90

My Phiosophy in Teaching

I am a proponent of active learning and use a variety of methods to encourage discussion and interaction on the issues the course presents. One method that I frequently use in small classes is to assign students to come to class in the role of particular historical characters (a female slaveholder who favors secession, a southern unionist residing in the hills of western Virginia, a northern businessman whose business is based on access to cheap cotton, an escaped slave active in the abolition and women's rights movements, etc.) in order to debate the issue of secession, for example, as that character. As part of this process, I ask each person to base their "character's" point of view on specific historical documents to demonstrate that those experiencing the same events often believed, and acted upon, different "truths." I also organize debates in which the student is asked to support or oppose specific arguments advocated by various historians in order to demonstrate that historical analysis is a creative process, one in which the historian must marshal factual evidence in order to present a persuasive reconstruction of past events. Students are also empowered to take responsibility for their own learning by preparing their own questions designed to promote class discussion as well as help other students learn by preparing and presenting short analyses of specific readings to begin class discussions or working together on research projects.