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About Me

Lauren McArthur Harris is an associate professor of history education with a joint appointment in the the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies and Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. Her work focuses on how teachers teach and students learn history in schools. In particular, Harris investigates the complexities involved in the creation of larger historical narratives, teachers’ sense of historical pedagogical content knowledge and the role of personal background on the historical reasoning of students. She has published in journals such as Cognition and Instruction, Theory and Research in Social Education, and the Journal of Curriculum Studies. She is co-editor of the “Wiley International Handbook of History Teaching and Learning“ (2018) and is currently working on an edited book on teaching difficult histories.

Recent Publications

(selected and recent publications)

Book:

Metzger, S. A. & Harris, L. M. (Eds.). (2018). Wiley international handbook of history teaching and learning. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Website

Book chapters and articles:

Halvorsen, A., Harris, L. M., Doornbos, L., & Missias, M.T. (2021). Lesson study in historical inquiry: Teachers working across rural communities. Teaching and Teacher Education, 97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2020.103206

Girard, B., Harris, L. M., Mayger, L., Kessner, T., & Reid, S. F  (2021). “There’s no way we can teach all of this”: Factors that influence secondary history teachers’ content choices. Theory & Research in Social Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2020.1855280

Reid, S. F., Kessner, T., Harris, L. M., Benkert, V., & Bruner, J. (2021). Comparative genocide pedagogy and survivor testimony: Lessons from a unit on the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide. The History Teacher, 54(2), 297-235. http://societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/F21_Reid_et_al.pdf

Shelton, C., Archambault, L., & Harris, L. M. (2020, August 7). Lesson plan platforms for teachers have a racism problem. Slate. https://slate.com/technology/2020/08/teachers-paying-teachers-racist-materials.html

Lee, M. & Harris, L. M. (2020). Teachers’ organization of world history in South Korea: Challenges and opportunities for curriculum and practice. Journal of Social Studies Research, 44, 339-354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2020.05.002

Harris, L. M., & Girard, B. (2020). Evaluating the support of teacher choice in state history standards. The History Teacher, 43(4), 613-633. http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/A20_Harris_and_Girard.pdf

Harris, L. M., *Reid, S. F. Benkert, V., Bruner, J. (2019). Investigating comparative genocide teaching in two high school classrooms. Theory & Research in Social Education, 47(4), 497-525. https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2019.1635058

Halvorsen, A., Harris, L. M., & *Doornbos, L., *Missias, M.T. (2019). Community in context: Professional development for teaching historical inquiry. Teacher Education Quarterly, 42(2), 81-113.

Girard, B. & Harris, L.M. (2018). Global and world history education. In Metzger, S.A. & Harris, L.M. (Eds.), Wiley international handbook of history teaching and learning. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Harris, L. M. (2017). Six degrees of the Mongol Empire: Using thought experiments to prepare world history teachers. The History Teacher, 50(3). 381-401. http://www.societyforhistoryeducation.org/pdfs/M17_Harris.pdf

Harris, L. M., Shreiner, T. L., & Hoelting, M. (2017). Examining an ambitious world history teacher’s knowledge for planning. Journal of Social Studies Research, 41(2). 117-130. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2016.08.003

Harris, L. M., Hutchinson, M., Benkert, V., Bruner, J., Lundin, A. E. (2017). Teaching, learning, and researching genocide comparatively. World History Connected, 14(2). Available: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/14.2/forum_bruner.html

Bruner, J., Benkert, V., Harris, L. M., Hutchinson, M., & Lundin, A. E. (2017). Developing a critical comparative genocide method. World History Connected, 14(2). Available: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/14.2/forum_harris.html

Harris, L. M., Halvorsen, A., & Aponte-Martinez, G. J. (2016). “[My] family has gone through that”: How high school students determine the trustworthiness of historical documents. Journal of Social Studies Research, 40(2), 109-121. http://dx.doi:10.1016/j.jssr.2015.06.007

Halvorsen, A., Harris, L. M., Aponte-Martinez, G. J., & Frasier, A. (2016). Does students’ heritage matter in their performance on and perceptions of historical reasoning tasks? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 48(4), 457-478. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2015.1092585

Harris, L. M. (2014). Making connections for themselves and their students: Examining teachers’ organization of world history. Theory and Research in Social Education, 42(3), 336-374. DOI: 10.1080/00933104.2014.937547. http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/WYAwubfyrC5pWEjy9MBg/fu

Harris, L. M. and Girard, B. (2014). Instructional significance for teaching history: A preliminary framework. Journal of Social Studies Research, 38(4), 215-225.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jssr.2014.02.003

Harris, L. M. (2012).  Conceptual devices in the work of world historians. Cognition and Instruction, 30(4), 312-358. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2012.716884

Media Coverage

Social Media

Country Focus

Expertise by Geography

Expertise by Chronology

Expertise by Topic

Pedagogy