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The Anatomy of a Historical Narrative
History isn’t just what happened. It’s understanding how we make sense of what happened. Every historical narrative is constructed, layered, intentional, and shaped by the questions we ask. We love learning about the past, but we want to learn in a way we can connect with. We want a crafted story with a beginning and… →
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How Historians Turn Facts into Stories
Narrative Craft Historians are storytellers; they tell the past. They take facts and turn them into meaning. Historians interpret evidence in order to explain ideas, power, and people. Investigating the past is not easy, as you know, because it was written by the victors, but Historians keep digging. That’s not enough. We start with evidence,… →
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Start Simple
OR Go Back the Basics: a review of Several Short Sentences About Writing I wanted to create a space for ideas and resources in academia. I finished my PhD in December 2025 and had so much to share! I’ve also spent the past 10+ years as a director at a university honors college. I chose… →
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How to Think About History
A review of Thinking About History This book has sat on my shelf for years and even accompanied me on a runcation once, but I never committed to reading it. I finally decided to pick it up to review it for my blog. This book is a fantastic look at how historians think about or… →
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Do you have 15 minutes?
A review of Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day During a meeting where I was struggling to write my proposal, my PhD advisor recommended that I read Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day by Joan Bolker. She’d never steered me wrong before, so I ordered the book as I walked back… →
Wendi Kavanaugh 