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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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All Writing is Writing
It may not look the same, but it’s words to paper! Most of my weekly writing never ends up in essays, conference papers, or chapters. Half the time, it isn’t even academic; it consists of journal entries, long texts to friends, emails, teaching notes, and postcards or letters sent each Sunday as part of the… →
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Writing with AI
Without Losing Your Voice AI is a hot topic at universities and colleges everywhere. In the past six months, I’ve heard a history professor say, “AI is evil,” while a sociology professor said she loved that her students could use it. Both are right. AI can take over your voice, and it’s very obvious when… →
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How to Organize Your Essay Writing
An Undergraduate Guide. Writing is challenging. It does not matter who you are or what you do. Skilled writers can feel overwhelmed! As an undergraduate, you can’t always be perfect, but you can set yourself up for success. Writing can be hard. Frustration can stem from multiple classes, unclear instructions, procrastination, or perfectionism. And that’s… →
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Build a Sustainable Writing Routine
Routines are hard to establish, so creating a writing routine isn’t something you can decide to do one day and expect it to work instantly. Academic life is demanding and pulls you in different directions every day. Your writing routine needs to fit within that push-and-pull. For example, if today is Wednesday and you decide… →
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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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Conference Reflections
A Personal Update from SECOLAS In Fall 2018, I took a course called World War II: Germans/Lat Amer in Texas. In that small seminar, we built a series of interconnected papers and eventually submitted them to SECOLAS, where we presented them the following March in Oaxaca, Mexico. I’ve attended SECOLAS every year since—except for… →
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How to Read a Scholarly Article
without drowning in it At first glance, reading scholarly articles might seem simple, but it can actually feel confusing. Dense writing, new terms, and lots of citations can make it hard to get started. Often, the real challenge is your mindset, not just understanding the content. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed. Try to develop a… →
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From Raw Sources to Real Insights
How I Turn Archival Material Into Usable Notes You have your archival materials and sources ready, and now you’re prepared to write. To simplify the writing process, step back and review your archival materials with your main research question in mind: turning your primary sources and notes into a coherent narrative or argument is essential.… →
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Inside the Archive
How I Approach Research Entering an archive always feels like crossing into another world that is part sanctuary, part maze. There’s a quiet thrill of possibility, the sense that something extraordinary might be hidden in the next box. The familiar overwhelm of fluorescent lights, strict rules, and the sheer volume of materials all remind me… →
Wendi Kavanaugh 