Elena's Monday, two ways
8 lessons · 28 prompts
A day in the life of a Historian: what changes with these prompts.
Track progress as a memberElena, a research historian at a university archive.
It is Monday morning. Elena has a stack of 17th-century letters from a merchant family. She opens Claude and uses the Read and Summarize prompt. She pastes one letter, asks for a plain summary and key names. In two minutes she has a clear outline. She notes the date and the main complaint about a ship.
Next, she uses the Analyze Sources and Bias prompt in ChatGPT. She asks it to compare the merchant's letter with a tax record that tells a different story. The AI lists possible biases: the merchant wants sympathy, the tax record wants revenue. Elena marks two points to check.
After lunch, she uses the Verify Facts and Dates prompt in Gemini. She asks it to cross-check the ship's name and the port. It finds a mismatch in one date. She checks the original and corrects her draft. Then she uses the Write Historical Narratives prompt to tighten a paragraph for a journal article. She rewrites the opening to be clearer for public readers.
By 4 p.m., Elena has done a day's work that used to take two. She uses the time won back to walk through the archive's new exhibit with a colleague. She also calls a student who is stuck on a thesis chapter. The AI did not write her history. It gave her room to think and to teach.
Before
- Dense letters take hours to read.
- Conflicting accounts slow every chapter.
- Fact-checking feels like a second job.
- Writing for the public takes too long.
After this course
- Sources become clear in minutes.
- Bias checks are quick and structured.
- Dates and names are verified fast.
- More time for students and exhibits.
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.
How this course works
- 8 lessonsOne task of your job each, from read and summarize sources to present and fund your work.
- Ready-to-paste promptsCopy, fill in the parts in {{brackets}}, paste into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
- Tick and completeTick the prompts you tried and mark each lesson complete.
- Get certifiedFinish and keep the prompts as your own library.