As you think about preparing a syllabus, you may want to start by reviewing the guides and tips below and then checkout syllabi that others have used in the same or similar (area of study, course level, etc.) courses. Most the syllabi posted on this site are in PDF form but below you will find several sample syllabi in Word format that you can download and use as templates for your own.

Feel free to borrow as much or as little as you need to build a syllabi that reflects your teaching style and the expectations and requirements you want from your students.

Syllabi are organized according to historical fields—Ancient and Medieval History (HSTAM), History (HIST), History of Asia (HSTAS), History of the Americas (HSTAA), Modern European History (HSTEU). There are links to each of these at right.

Section Syllabus Advice—TA Orientation, Autumn 2005
Source/Contributor: Michael Quinn, Lead TA
Course: None
Date: Fall 2005
Format: PDF

A very good place to start when you are looking for a quick and concise description of how to put together and effective section syllabus. One page.

Preparing a Course Syllabus
Source/Contributor: Unknown
Course: Unknown
Date: Unknown
Format: PDF

Another concise guide to preparing course and section syllabus, it is a distilled version of the next handout. It provides a little more discussion about the logic behind developing a syllabus. One page.

Preparing a Course Syllabus—University of Illinois
Source/Contributor: Unknown
Course: Unknown
Date: Unknown
Format: PDF

A three-page handout from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, it runs through "What is the rationale for having a syllabus?" "How do you get started?" What to include in your syllabus?" and "Ho do you best use your new syllabus?"

Reminders about Preparing Syllabi and specifying Grading Policies
Source/Contributor: Bob Stacey, former department chair
Course: None
Date: Fall 1999
Format: PDF

A memo to history faculty discussing some of the potential legal ramifications of course syllabi and offering suggestions of how to avoid problems.

Discussion section syllabus template No. 1
Source/Contributor: Tim Wright, TA
Course: Various
Date: Spring 2008
Format: Word document

This is a two-page, basic, non course-specific section syllabus that can easily be edited and amended for your needs. Headings include: "Goals and Roles," "How to succeed in sections," "Absences," "Section grading," "Grading questions," "Academic honesty," "Students with disabilities," and "Housekeeping."