On “An Assignment from Our Students”

To the editor:

Thank you, Dr. Ayers, for this illuminating and refreshing piece (Perspectives on History, Sept. 2013). It’s wonderful that you took up the challenge to question “what undergraduate students think of historians” and to show your students how they can contribute to current historical discourse. As a student, I know that when a professor is committed to learning about student perspectives, it is much easier to become engaged in the material. I have come to find that it is also helpful for professors to understand what their students are thinking and how they view the context of the course. On a final note, I hope other historians take the opportunity to offer a similar course and/or activity. Again, thank you.