Most survey teachers want the same things for their courses. They want students to learn essential knowledge about a subject or period. They want students to understand something of what it means to think historically. In the end, they want to inspire a greater appreciation for historical study, a discipline helpful for navigating one’s way through a difficult world.

But when history gets “covered,” the first goal of the survey—learning basic knowledge—tends to shade out the other important goals of the course. Can a balance be created between the three goals of the survey? Can an instructor make historical facts meaningful for beginning students by teaching them to work with evidence in the manner of historians? Is it possible to make the survey exciting for learning without indulging in cheap theatrical tricks that have little value for developing historical mindedness? In a survey course, is it possible to “uncover” history as historians know it?

I believe the answer to these questions is yes. Not that it’s easy. And there is certainly more than one good way to accomplish these intentions. But in the interest of contributing to conversations about how to replace what most survey teachers have now—a generic pedagogy shared with other College 101-type courses—with a “signature” pedagogy unique to the discipline of history, I offer an example here of what “uncoverage” might look like in practice: HI 132—The United States: WWII to the Present.