Workshop for K-12 Educators

"Writing History"
With John Demos, Yale University

Monday, August 19, 2013 - 9:00am to 3:00pm

Led by John Demos, Bancroft Prize winner and author of such popular and influential historical works as The Unredeemed Captive, this program will examine the process of creating and writing historical narratives, as well as ways in which this process can be used to enrich both History and English classrooms. Throughout the day we will explore the nature of historical writing, discussing topics such as choosing a subject, forming a cohesive structure, putting a story in a larger historical context, developing a voice, finding the significance of a narrative, and the role of emotion in writing and reading history.

This program will examine these topics through a lecture/discussion with John Demos and a series of interactive workshops in which participants will be able to practice writing strategies and examine first-hand a variety of historic texts and images from the American Antiquarian Society’s rich collections of pre-1876 imprints. These hands-on workshops will discuss writing techniques, tactics for culling evidence from primary sources, and strategies for teaching writing in the classroom, including connections to the English Language Arts and History Common Core standards. Participants will receive materials for use in their classrooms and professional development points for attending the session.