Teaching and Learning with WWO

The Women Writers Online (WWO) collection is valuable simply for the access it offers to early women’s texts: many faculty tell us that they could not teach their courses without it. But we also offer other tools and materials to help teachers use the uniquely digital dimensions of WWO more effectively in their teaching. Below you’ll find a searchable database of syllabi on early women’s writing, suggested assignments to help students use some of the advanced features of WWO, and a set of quick how-tos to help get you started.

Suggested Assignments

We collect innovative ideas for assignments and lesson plans using WWO and other digital research collections. These assignments emphasize creative uses of searching, an awareness of history and context, and attention to the details of the texts. Have an idea for a great assignment? Email it to us! We’re happy to include it here, with or without your name. We also include here suggestions for teaching humanities students about building and using digital resources.

Orientations and How-tos

Our orientations and how-tos provide tips on basic functions as well as questions we hear from readers. Email us your questions and suggestions and we’ll add them to the list.

Syllabi

The WWP has collected a set of syllabi from WWO readers, focusing on courses in early women’s writing, Renaissance and early modern literature, women’s studies, and related subjects. This collection is fully searchable by topic, author, and title.

Citation

For a guide to citing the various kinds of documents published by the Women Writers Project, see our citation resources page.

Teaching Partners Program

The WWP initiated the Teaching Partners Program for teachers interested in partnering with us to create and teaching materials that use our Women Writers Online and Women Writers in Review collections. We are sharing the results of these collaborations—including assignments as well as discussions about classroom implementation—in this space and on our blog.