Learner Reviews & Feedback for Plagues, Witches, and War: The Worlds of Historical Fiction by University of Virginia

Sadly, unless I purchase a certificate, I can't get even through first quiz and beyond to the rest of the materials. I'm retired and have no need to spend my pension on a course certificate. This should be made clear in the course description - unless you want to pay for a certificate, all you will have is a bunch of definitions from an initial series of talking head lectures - wasted time and not the reason I signed up for this. I feel very misled.

This course has a lot of extras in it and a lot of food for future thought. The teacher is fun to learn from and I enjoyed his enthusiasm and the joy he expressed in the subject.

Loved learning the material but sucks that none of the quizes are available without the upgrade, many other courses I took had free quizes so that at east your course would be 100% complete, this one shows I'm not even done even though I did all the readings and watched the videos. If the quizes are only available for the upgraded accounts, then they shouldn't be on the free portion and hold you back from showing a completed course.

This course was unique in presentation as well as content. Professor Holsinger's videos were rich and focused. The author videos provided valuable insight into research and character development. I expected there to be writing assignments (having completed the Creative Writing specialization), but I now know that was not the purpose of the course. From a research standpoint, this course was outstanding. Thank you, Professor Holsinger. -Margaret (Peggy) Barnes, Mentor, Creative Writing, The Craft of Style

Exceptional experience. I enjoyed the entire course. This was my first real sojourn into the genre and now I'm hooked. Thank you, very much, for sharing this quality education. Be Well.

Although I did not read the course description as well as I should have, this course was actually better for me than I expected. I wish to be a writer, so I take every course I can on writing. This one was exactly what is needed for someone who wants to write historical fiction. I'm not sure that I do, yet, however I am surely prepared if that is the way I want to go in the future.

The videos were incredibly informative. I do plan to go back and take the rest of the weeks that are not necessary for the certificate. In fact, I'm headed there now. If you take this course, you will enjoy it very much!

Too good! The instructor was way too awesome. I am not from Arts or Literature background yet understood everything easily. The author interactions were a really good learning experience

Super wonderful class. Very educational and enjoyable. I collected more books after this class and re-read many of them. Recommend The Love Artist featured in one of the sessions.

This course was just what I was looking for, being a budding historical fiction writer myself. It made me authenticate that I was doing mostly everything right so far. I have three complete novels in my treasure trove and three as work in progress. Bringing in authentic authors of historical fiction gave me first hand tips, and precious insight into the experiences of real life writers just like me, who take true pleasure in what they do, and do best. I would indeed appreciate a sequel to this well put together course; the sooner the better! Congratulations, Professor Holsinger! Thank you, University of Virginia! P.S. I could do with a complimentary Certificate of Accomplishment, though.

A very interesting course with a fascinating subject I've been intrigued by for a while. It gave me many skills and techniques to think about as I attempt to eventually become a historical fiction writer myself someday. My only negative critique is that I wish it dealt with the witches and medieval aspects of the course in the beginning rather than towards the end.

I really enjoyed this course. It was my first one in Coursera and it was very helpful to do it at my own pace. I found very useful advice regarding sources and research strategies. The seminars were very good and also the conversations. The sound could be improved but having subtitles helps to overcome the technical issues. Thank you.

Great interviews with authors. Basic info is of big value.

However, as I'm only auditing the course , would be great to be able to take tests, just to see where Im am on the learning scale. No certificates for auditing students is fair enough.

Regards.

Lovely course for historical fiction enthusiast. There's a wonderful reading list required to read as well as multiple guest speakers besides the professor to help explain more about the genre.

All the guests were women. Imagen if all the guests had been men!!!

This course was great. It is obvious that it was carefully planned and laid out. The visiting scholars were a great opportunity to not only learn about historical fiction and what kind of research is done, it's also was a great way to learn the process of writing. The necessary text that ought to have been taught was given carefully, without suffocating the student. It was fun and knowledgeable class. I would recommend this class highly to anyone who is really interested in literature and fiction!

Excellent and well constructed course. As a librarian, I appreciated the content and I will be using one of the books covered for a library reading group. This is Anna Katharine Greene’s The Forsaken Inn.

I would not have found this without the course. I also appreciate the fact that this course DOES NOT make use of peer-reviewed assignments. Those are annoying, are poorly graded, and often get stuck when a course has few enrollments. The assessments are strictly quizzes.

Professor Holsinger is fantastic and all the guests he brings on are charismatic and insightful. I've learnt a lot in just a few days and the lectures are well timed and crafted, not too heavy. Truly, kudos to Professor for having put together a riveting and informative syllabus. I have a new appreciation for historical fiction and it's critique and I hope to read any future historical fiction with improved criticism and knowledge. Thank you!

I absolutely loved this course, as it introduced me to a side of literature that I would otherwise not be taught about during my classes. It combines two of the things I love most: history and books, and does this in an incredibly interesting manner. I would recommend this course to anyone that is interested in history, books and writing, and hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did!

This course is brilliant. Prof Bruce is a terrific teacher and guide through a mountain of fascinating resources.

The visiting writers are charismatic and so willing to answer questions about their writing, the students are engaged in discussion and ask excellent questions

Terrific links to as much core and supplementary reading as you would want,

Thank you so much

This class was really well done, well organized and thoughtfully presented. I wish all my Lit classes had been this interesting. The course materials come with many recommendations for further reading and I will definitely be checking them out over the coming months. Overall I am very happy to have taken this course and give it my highest recommendation.

Although it might sound a bit fast if you're not a native English speaker, I think this course is a great source material, if you're into literature or historical fiction. It taught me a great deal about the development of historical ficiton and some nice reading materials. For me, this course was both an online book club and an educational source!

Amazing course! I haven't expected it to be so fascinating and interesting! I've learned not only about the genre itself, but also about so many books I can't wait to read! The ability to hear the authors and to learn their perspective on both on their own work and on the historical fiction itself is priceless!

Thank you for this opportunity!

This was a fantastic class. I learned a lot about writing historical fiction, and I was able to add several books to my already teetering TBR pile. Dr. Holsinger was an interesting professor and obviously loves the material. I would recommend this course to anyone who has an interest in history or historical fiction.

Great class! I particularly enjoyed the author's talks. Hearing about the writing process was fascinating. I learned so much about the evolution of the historical fiction genre, which is my personal favorite. More books have been added to my lengthy list of books that Must Be Read.

I am about the end of the course and it was an amazing journey, I will slowly finish the rest of the lessons in the future as I wanted to watch the conversations and dialogues with the authors after having read the books, to better appreciate them.