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Syllabus and assignments for students enrolled in Dr. Isbell’s Seminar in Academic Inquiry and Writing

Syllabus and assignments for students enrolled in Dr. Isbell’s Seminar in Academic Inquiry and Writing

The purpose of this course will be to help students think historically. When historians study the past, they are invariably affected by their current moment. In turn, the study of the past enables us to see the present in a new light. The present affects the questions we pose to our historical evidence, while study of the past raises new questions about our own historical moment. To help you learn how to think in this way, we will study the current Covid pandemic in light of research into past pandemics. Students will share the fruits of their new historical awareness by collaboratively creating a website that will place the Covid pandemic into historical context.

The purpose of this course will be to help students think historically. When historians study the past, they are invariably affected by their current moment. In turn, the study of the past enables us to see the present in a new light. The present affects the questions we pose to our historical evidence, while study of the past raises new questions about our own historical moment. To help you learn how to think in this way, we will study the current Covid pandemic in light of research into past pandemics. Students will share the fruits of their new historical awareness by collaboratively creating a website that will place the Covid pandemic into historical context.