Popular discourse often collapses “the past” with “knowledge about the past,” or equates “interest in history” with the scholarly practice of doing history. Such elisions obscure the expertise, rigor, creativity, and methodological care involved in historical work. At the same time, they underscore the importance of articulating our methods in ways that are transparent and accessible to students, public audiences, administrators, policymakers, and one another.

This series of three interconnected conversations responds to that challenge by examining the core practices through which historians produce knowledge: research, analysis, and writing. Building on existing scholarship in history pedagogy and methodology, as well as education research and the scholarship on teaching and learning, participants will collectively assess current resources, identify shared practices and vocabulary, and draft language that communicates the distinctive intellectual work of historians.

Each session builds on each other, combining discussion of existing scholarship with collaborative analysis of examples drawn from participants’ own teaching and research. Together, these workshops aim to lay the groundwork for a comprehensive, community-generated, evidence-based History Methods resource that clarifies the processes, values, and expertise at the heart of historical thinking and practice. Workshop participants who sign up in advance will have access to a shared Google drive with readings and resources.

What do historians do after gathering evidence? This session examines the interpretive and analytical methods historians use to transform sources into historical arguments and explanations. Participants will explore how historians identify patterns, evaluate causation, contextualize events, compare perspectives, and grapple with contingency, change over time, and historical significance. Attention will also be given to the theoretical frameworks, methodological traditions, and interdisciplinary approaches that shape historical interpretation across fields and subdisciplines. By focusing on analysis as a distinct form of scholarly expertise, the workshop seeks to clarify how historians move beyond description to produce evidence-based interpretations of the past. Participants will evaluate examples from existing scholarship, discuss analytical practices in their own work, and collaboratively develop language that communicates these methods clearly to students, colleagues, administrators, and public audiences. The session aims to synthesize shared approaches while recognizing the diversity of historical practice, helping build a common vocabulary that highlights the rigor, creativity, and intellectual value of historical analysis.