Lectures should strive to be a dialogue that includes fair representation and equal access for everyone. A good teacher uses vignettes to engage and interest students, but prefaces them with a general overview in order to benefit different kinds of learners. They also take care to address their own biases and include perspectives from marginalized groups. The lecture is not a one-way street, but a busy street with many different lanes. If drivers get bored or lose focus, they crash. By making an effort to engage and interact with students of different learning types and backgrounds, we can keep our lectures flowing smoothly.

In The Joy of Teaching: A Practical Guide for New College Instructors, Peter Filene’s insights into vignettes in lectures are particularly apt. Vignettes are a useful way to put historical events in context, such as talking about the experiences of African American members of Benny Goodman’s band during his Cold War world tour as a way of understanding race relations at the time. Stories can help make history seem more “real” or “alive” to students. However, Filene acknowledges that some students have trouble with specific examples and do better with general ideas or concepts. His suggestion that vignettes should be framed by the instructor is a great way to help bridge that gap.

I also liked Filene’s points about comparing and contrasting different points of view and providing evidence to support your own answer. In my opinion, this is a useful way to encourage critical thinking and make the lecture more interesting. It helps avoid the trap of regurgitating information and has the added benefit of opening up discussion among students who may agree or disagree with your answer. It also helps illustrate the fact that all historical writing is put through the lens of the author, reminding students to consider the biases present in texts.

Barbara Gross Davis makes suggestions as to how to encourage diversity in the classroom as well. A good lecturer should seek to identify and understand their own biases or ignorance in order to ensure that their class is equally approachable to all students regardless of background. They should also encourage other students to do the same and quash any offensive statements or feelings that come up. However, they must also be careful to avoid singling out people of certain groups as “representatives,” which is a racist concept itself. Diversity and inclusion also ensure that a multitude of perspectives are given in class.