This is a note to anyone who might just be interested in pursuing a history degree.

The survey courses are easy. You have a textbook that aggregates several stories that particular editor thought of as important, you blow through complex topics like the settlement of North America (not about freedom of religion), the American Revolution (which wasn't that revolutionary), and the American Civil War in roughly two to three weeks each, and you escape the class with a decent grade and enough knowledge to do well on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

That's stuff you can pick up from the History Channel... it's for hobbyists. Being a history hobbyist is fun, you can appear to know a lot... without, um, knowing a lot.

No, a history degree is a stepping stone to becoming a historian. While a historian may possess a lot of the general knowledge of history like the hobbyist above, it makes sense to specialize.

After all, no one can know everything.

So, historians-in-training move on to the upper division courses. The subjects become refined: Religion in the United States, the English Civil War, a study of modern China.

The textbooks become samples of primary sources... some disappear altogether. So do the tests for "memorization" and "regurgitation" of facts.

This is where I am now. I'm currently enrolled in two classes. One is solely based on research for my capstone project. Naturally, a lot of reading is involved, and note-taking, and writing. Revising and editing are also a big part of this course. However, since this project will encompass more than just one semester, it is important to pick something that fascinates me... which I believe I have done, although the focus has undergone a few shifts since the project started in September.

Some were necessary, others resulted in shifts in interest, still others slid to accommodate the sources I have at my disposal.

This is where I include the note to say that the KU library is awesome. Never have I been in the presence of so many books! Truly and awesome experience to a country boy like myself!

However, since this is actually a top-level upper division course, it's actually pretty simple. I decide the topic, pick the readings, and move at my own pace toward completion.

The killer this semester is taking this course in conjunction with one that focuses on the British and their Grand Tour through Europe in the eighteenth century. Oh, you didn't think that would provide enough material for a semester-long course? Silly you, because it does... and then some.

This class has a research project of its own, where the students research five sources on a topic and kick out a ten page paper on the topic that they will present to the class.

Additionally (and this is where I'm seriously lagging), there are weekly assigned readings, ranging from 50 pages of poetry to 300 pages of journals, to which we must generate two page response papers on.

To be honest, the reading is fun... and I'm really developing a passion for research, but I'm a slow reader. I figured it out over the weekend after contemplating why I seem to be slipping further behind in my classes. I average thirty to forty pages per hour.

Now consider that universities recommend that a student spends two hours outside of class for every hour spent in class dedicated to that class. So, a three hour class should require six additional hours of work. Can I do that and still work full-time? Absolutely!

However, take a 200-page reading assignment. At thirty pages per hour, it will take almost seven hours to complete the reading... and expect to spend an hour or two on the writing assignment. We'll call it eight hours, for simplicity sake. I'm already two hours over the six I'd set aside... and that doesn't include research for the project.

So, last night I asked the professor for advise. Apparently the trick is to... not read everything. He explained that he reads the first sentence of every paragraph, which should be sufficient to understand everything if the writing is well done.

Surprisingly, I can understand that. However, I enjoy reading... taking in the words. I've always been afraid I'll miss something, which probably explains why my reading speed decreases as I age instead of increasing.

However, in doing research, I believe this will enable me to find what I need to find much more quickly... when a first sentence hits exactly what I need, then I can read the entire passage.

But, am I alone in thinking that by continously reading in this fashion... that so much is missing? Or is that just details?

Is reading like math in that respect? After all, for most applications in the real world, it doesn't matter so much if you round 3.141592654 to 3.14... or even 3 in most respects.

Do we get bogged down in the details? Is that what's happening to me now?

Quite probably... so we'll see what happens next! I'm possibly the only student who was unaware of this method of speed reading until now...

So, future history majors... be prepared!

What i'm listening to:

Say You're Wrong
Julian Lennon
Valotte