I have learned a lot about historical fiction in english novels, the seminars with the authors were excellent. I am argentinian and it has broaden my spectrum about writing and how to do it.
I'm not sure why I took this course. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed all the books and the interaction with authors. This was a way to experience literature without writting 5 papers on a book.
By Serena S
•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.
By Tere F
•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!
By Margaret L B
•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
By Darren G
•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.
By Rhonda S H
•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.
By Ana O
•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.
By Samuel T M
•All the guests were women. Imagen if all the guests had been men!!!
By Nazire C
•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!
By Michael G L
•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.
By Rachel V
•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!
By Danee v d E
•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!
By Carol G
•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
By David M Y
•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.
By Eren Y
•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!
By Anastasia K
•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!
By Kristen M
•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.
By Marianne P
•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.
By Ilaria
•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.
By Nisa R
•wonderful and interesting course, excited and engaging instructor and awesome guest speakers. would seriously recommend this course to anyone passionate about historical fiction or just mildly interested. there's something for everybody
By Nicole P
•I rate it 5 stars because I love this course, and I haven't even started yet!! I'm excited for the video with Katherine Howe and Matthew Pearl, I have both of their books (The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane) and (The Dante Club) :)
By Peter C
•This was a carefully planned course that was very well taught and thoroughly enjoyable to study. I learned a great deal about historical fiction and it inspired me to carry on studying the genre once I had completed the course.
By Nancy H
•Fantastic course with a enthusiastic, personable professor. It was fun and informative to hear the different viewpoints of the diverse authors as well as the relevant questions from the students in the seminar.
By Paulette R
•I have learned a lot about historical fiction in english novels, the seminars with the authors were excellent. I am argentinian and it has broaden my spectrum about writing and how to do it.
By June C
•I'm not sure why I took this course. I'm glad I did. I enjoyed all the books and the interaction with authors. This was a way to experience literature without writting 5 papers on a book.
By Anwesha B
•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