Lyon G. Tyler Department of History Undergraduate Program

Writing in History Courses

History majors who wish to improve their writing skills have a number of options to pursue. They can consult their professors for assistance or for clarification of standards expected on a paper. They can take a greater number of writing-intensive classes, such as multiple freshman seminars or colloquia; by exploring history syllabi posted on the web, they can find history courses that simultaneously appeal to their interests and challenge their writing.

Finally, and especially important, majors in history can take advantage of a unique opportunity on campus, namely the chance to receive individual tutorial help from advanced graduate students in the History Writing Resources Center (HWRC). The HWRC is designed to assist history majors and students in history courses with research and writing. It is open five days a week and is staffed by doctoral candidates in the History Department. The HWRC staff helps undergraduates with such things as thesis construction, general questions about organization, primary source interpretation, the rules of documentation (including documentation of Internet sources), and issues of style and grammar. The HWRC can be reached through email at Write1@wm.edu, or through the Web at http://web.wm.edu/hwrc, where students can also download many useful handouts on writing.

For additional helpful information about writing, please consult the article "Writing History" by Professor James Axtell in the addendum to this handbook.