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Prompt course · 8 lessons · 28 prompts · 1 hour · Beginner

AI for Historians

A practical prompt course for historians. Learn to summarize sources, analyze bias, verify facts, plan research, write narratives, teach, curate exhibits, and fund your work with AI.

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What you'll learn

  • Read and Summarize: Turn dense, archaic, or foreign sources into clear summaries and key facts you can use.
  • Analyze Sources and Bias: Probe a source's perspective, compare conflicting accounts, and build a structured critique.
  • Verify Facts and Dates: Cross-check dates, names, and claims to catch errors before your work goes out.
  • Plan Research and Archives: Shape research questions, plan archive visits, and map the literature before you dig in.
  • Write Historical Narratives: Draft, tighten, and reshape historical writing for academic or public readers.
  • Teach History Courses: Build lectures, discussion questions, and rubrics that fit your course.
  • Curate Exhibits and Public History: Write exhibit labels, public posts, and gallery scripts that are accurate and readable.
  • Present and Fund Your Work: Prepare conference abstracts, talk Q&A, and grant or fellowship applications.

What's inside

8 lessons · 28 prompts
  1. Before you start · framework course Self-Critique: Self-Refine, Chain of Verification and Pre-MortemsHistorians need self-critique, source verification, and pre-mortems because accuracy matters more than speed, like checking a diary against census records before publishing.
  2. Start here Elena's Monday, two waysA day in the life of a Historian, before and after these prompts.
  3. 01 Lesson 1 · 3 prompts Read and Summarize Sources
  4. 02 Lesson 2 · 3 prompts Analyze Sources and Bias
  5. 03 Lesson 3 · 3 prompts Verify Facts and Dates
  6. 04 Lesson 4 · 5 prompts Plan Research and Archives
  7. 05 Lesson 5 · 3 prompts Write Historical Narratives
  8. 06 Lesson 6 · 5 prompts Teach History Courses
  9. 07 Lesson 7 · 3 prompts Curate Exhibits and Public History
  10. 08 Lesson 8 · 3 prompts Present and Fund Your Work

About this course

7 topics

Prompts for Historians: Research, Write, Teach, and Share

This course gives you eight lessons that match the real work of historians. You will use AI to read sources, check facts, plan archives, write, teach, and present your work.

Each lesson comes with prompts you can copy and adapt. You will practice with ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and learn how to keep your sources safe and your writing accurate.

  1. The lessons
    1. Read and Summarize Sources: Use AI to turn dense, archaic, or foreign primary sources into clear summaries, key facts, and modernized text you can work with.
    2. Analyze Sources and Bias: Use AI to probe a source's perspective, compare conflicting accounts, and build a structured critique.
    3. Verify Facts and Dates: Use AI to cross-check dates, names, and claims, and to catch errors before your work goes out.
    4. Plan Research and Archives: Use AI to shape research questions, plan archive visits, and map the literature before you dig in.
    5. Write Historical Narratives: Use AI to draft, tighten, and reshape historical writing for academic or public readers.
    6. Teach History Courses: Use AI to build lectures, discussion questions, and rubrics that fit your course.
    7. Curate Exhibits and Public History: Use AI to write exhibit labels, public posts, and gallery scripts that are accurate and readable.
    8. Present and Fund Your Work: Use AI to prepare conference abstracts, talk Q&A, and grant or fellowship applications.
  2. What the Course Covers

    The course covers eight lessons that follow a historian's workflow. You start with reading and summarizing sources, then move to analyzing bias, verifying facts, and planning research.

    Later lessons help you write narratives, teach courses, curate exhibits, and present or fund your work. Each lesson gives you prompts you can use right away.

  3. How the Lessons Connect

    The lessons build on each other. Summarizing a source leads naturally to analyzing its bias. Verifying facts makes your writing stronger. Planning research sets up your archive visits.

    By the end, you have a full set of skills that support each other, from first source to final presentation.

  4. How to Use the Prompts Well

    Treat the prompts as starting points, not scripts. Add your own details, like the time period, the source type, or the audience. Ask follow-up questions when the first answer is too general.

    Always review what AI gives you. Check names, dates, and quotes against the original source. Your judgment is what makes the final work reliable.

  5. Who This Course Is For

    This course is for historians in museums, archives, universities, and independent research. It is also for graduate students and public historians who want to work faster without losing rigor.

    You do not need any technical background. If you can write an email, you can use these prompts.

  6. Safety and Privacy for Historians

    Historical work often involves unpublished archives, personal letters, and sensitive records. The course teaches you what to share with AI and what to keep offline.

    You will learn to use privacy settings, avoid pasting confidential material, and protect the people and stories you study.

  7. Your Next Step

    Start with the first lesson, Read and Summarize Sources. Pick one document you are working on and try the prompt. Then move through the lessons at your own pace.

    When you finish, you will have a repeatable way to bring AI into your research, writing, and teaching.