Bender, Thomas, and American Historical Association. The Education of Historians  for the Twenty-First Century. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2004.

Data collected and a report consolidated on the state of the profession.  The authors looked at several factors such as defining who are historians and what do they have to say, the needed conversations, and based on their analysis they came up with recommendations on several aspects of the history profession.  Lastly, they dedicate the final chapter for a look at graduate program circumstances.  This book is most useful when concerning myself with questions regarding the direction of the historical profession.      

Booth, Alan. Teaching History at University: Enhancing Learning and Understanding. London ; New York: Psychology Press, 2003.                           

This text focuses on improving the history-teaching environment for the learning student of history in higher education.  Reminds teachers of the cognitive components of history teaching and asks historians to walk in the shoes of their students.  Booth asks us to look to the ways that we approach facilitating historical knowledge in the classroom and to consider alternative practices, which is good when considering a teaching philosophy.  Next, Booth asks us to consider the learning environment and the acronym “responsive,” which reminds us of the certain characteristics of best environments.  The final chapters provide techniques in order to promote active and independent learning and the state of the field Teaching and Learning in higher education.  This book is most useful when considering the larger questions regarding teaching and learning.       

Graff, Gerald, and Cathy Birkenstein. “They Say/I Say”: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.

This text simply “demystifies” the processes of writing in the academy.  Provides templates to the ways you would engage academic dialogue, a process that NO academic wants to share, well except some.  The authors ask their audience to empower themselves and take ownership of their writing.  The last four essays of the text are commentaries from various writers of different disciplinary backgrounds.  This book is most useful for contextualizing academic writing in a teeny tiny book that is cheap and super easy to read, which is perfect for me.    

Gurung, Regan A. R., and Beth M. Schwartz. Optimizing Teaching and Learning: Practicing Pedagogical Research. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, 2012.

This text provides context to the scholarship on Teaching and Learning in higher education.  The introduction discusses the importance in pedagogical research.  The field says that in order for academics to be or to become proficient teachers we are to self and student assess.  This text is best for those teachers or professors who wish to become scholars in the field of teaching and learning; moreover, this text gives detailed assessments or scientific methodology to approach these goals.    

Lévesque, Stéphane. Thinking Historically: Educating Students for the Twenty-first Century. Toronto ; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2008.

Lévesque is concerned with the ways in which historians think, he does not just explore the numerous philosophies behind the way we think, but outlines the major aspects of historical thinking integral to our profession.  He applies those philosophies, which results in a framework history teachers can apply when structuring to their courses.  This book is best for me and those who wish to better understand the processes that occur when we actively are writing, teaching, researching the past.   

Luey, Beth. Handbook for Academic Authors. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2002.

This text outlines the process of publishing.  She touches on the multiple ways to publish and places each process within the context of the publishing industry.  This book is a good choice for graduated student who have no idea of where to start and the revised edition incorporates the way in which to deal with the ins and outs of digital publishing. 

Svinicki, Marilla D., and Wilbert James McKeachie. McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and University Teachers. Belmont, Calif.: Cengage Learning, 2010.

This book is the “textbook” for teaching and learning in higher education.  This text touches on every issue known the scholarly community regarding teaching and learning.  For example, the text begins with the debate concerned with the balance between teaching and research.  In the following chapters the text prepares you to construct your course, introduce reading as “active learning,” negotiating the landscape of interactive learning through discussion groups, and student perceptions.  Finally, the text closes by providing approaches to build on the skills you have learned earlier in the text.