Call for Submissions

The deadline for submitting to the Assignment Charrette at AHA22 has passed.

Want to get your course assignments peer-reviewed by fellow history educators? Join us for a special workshop at this year's AHA Annual Meeting. We welcome assignments for all levels of history education. Anyone with a valued teaching assignment (to include traditional assignments, educational activities, or assessments) or a brand new one that would benefit from in-depth review and discussion with faculty from other institutions should consider applying. Assignments in which students engage with primary sources are particularly welcome. 

Date and Time 

Sunday, January 9, 2022, 9-12 pm
Nottoway Room, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel

Workshop Description

The 3-hour workshop will begin with a short orientation; the bulk of the time will be reserved for participants to work in small breakout groups with a facilitator and offer in-depth feedback on each other's assignments. Each participant will have a few minutes to introduce their submitted assignment(s) and request particular help with problems or aspects of designing or implementing it and/or with assessing students' work. The expectation is that participants will use feedback to revise their assignments for the future. Participants will reconvene at the end of the period to discuss the lessons from all groups.

Submission Process

If you wish to participate, identify the assignment you would like to submit and fill out the online submission form. Submissions must include one assignment, activity, or assessment that you have used in the classroom (including online courses), or one you have developed but have not yet used. The assignment should be linked to at least one learning outcome or proficiency that is important to your curriculum and/or history (or social studies) department. Assignments covering a range of innovative and creative activities are welcomed. Assignments of research papers or other individual writing assignments are also acceptable. To apply, complete the online application form, and at the bottom attach 1) a copy of the assignment - in the form that you present it to your students - that you propose to work on, along with 2) any rubric or set of criteria used to evaluate it.

Applications must be received by Sunday, November 7, 2021. Notifications will be made in late November. If you have trouble with the online form, which is run through Airtable, please let Claire Vanderwood (cvanderwood@historians.org) know as soon as possible.

Participant Responsibility 

Participants will be expected to read thoroughly and review around 4 other assignments, and to offer constructive feedback, including a written feedback form, during the workshop. 

Criteria for Selection 

Accepted participants may be limited based on room capacity. We seek participants who teach at a variety of institutions that serve different missions and student populations at different educational levels. In the event we are over-subscribed, program staff will evaluate applications based on the clarity of the assignment and instructions, the fit between the stated proficiencies and the assignment, and its appropriateness in the context of the course and its students. Selected participants will show a genuine interest in student learning.

Related Information 

This event is in person. We plan to organize a virtual assignment charrette sometime in Spring 2022.

For details on the AHA's Tuning project, which provides a context for faculty development of core competencies/proficiencies associated with undergraduate history teaching, go to historians.org/tuning.

Please address all questions to Claire Vanderwood, Program Assistant for Academic and Professional Affairs, at cvanderwood@historians.org.