Perspectives

Six classroom-tested debates are featured in this innovative sourcebook. Built on primary documents, each debate asks students to step into the shoes of historical characters and argue for a position. As author Joseph T. Stuart says in the Introduction, "Debates have proven to be among the most successful tools in my experience as an instructor to encourage students to work with primary sources." The book includes 3 debates from the pre-1500 period and 3 from the post-1500 period, plus a debate rubric, and post-debate questions and activities. Also included are the full texts of 40 primary sources utilized during the debate process.

This sourcebook is suitable for high school and college courses in World Civilization/History and Western Civilization.

Joseph T. Stuart (PhD, University of Edinburgh, 2010) is Associate Professor of History at the University of Mary. His research examines the relation between religion in culture during the Enlightenment and around the time of World War I. Stuart won the 2017-2018 Regents' Award for Teaching Faculty at the University of Mary. He teaches surveys of world history and Western civilization as well as advanced courses in his research areas: historiography, political religion, and the history of science and medicine. He recently co-produced the original theatrical production North Dakota Voices from the Great War and served on the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Social Studies Content Standards Development Committee.