I honestly found this week's reading a little over my head. Until this WAC group, I had never heard of many of the concepts we've discussed, including genre studies. I attempted to incorporate some of these ideas in my class last term, such as encouraging creativity in writing a first peer-reviewed draft of a film analysis paper by incorporating a different genre: a film review. However, after reading my evals, the students found the assignment confusing, as they had to switch genres from a more informal film review in the first draft to a more formal analytical paper for the final. It was a learning experience for me in that I need to be much more clear on my objectives and expectations. While the concept of genre is intriguing, I would have to be more explicit in how the students should connect the assignments together into a final product. In my training, I've only written as a historian and never questioned what that meant, and we never discussed rhetorical strategies, etc. in grad seminars, so incorporating these ideas is a learning experience for me as well.

In my classes, we do discuss the differences between primary and secondary sources, and we spent an entire class on what sources are reliable, how to find peer-reviewed sources, etc. But in the future, I could incorporate more interrogation of historical methods and genres by asking students to analyze different historical sources and identify the pros and cons of using each. (I also like the idea of a syllabus critique.) I'm teaching an upper-level history class this term, and the major assignment will include the option to write a longer paper, or a shorter paper and digital humanities project. It will be interesting to see how the students respond!