How Not to Write History: Teaching Methodology through Aliens, Conspiracies, and the Chinese Discovery of America

Talk Description: The speaker will share her experience teaching what she calls pseudohistory—sensational arguments about the past that have been widely discredited by professional historians. This introductory undergraduate course is premised on the belief that each member of society can and should develop the skills needed to distinguish between reliable and unreliable accounts of the past. The talk will present examples of case studies, assignments, and discussion strategies adopted in the course, illustrating how the study of negative examples can help us define and analyze the basic elements of historical writing that make an argument trustworthy.