History and Biography

3 Credits · Level: Graduate, Undergraduate

Biography is the most ancient form of history writing (at least writing using words). Why are we so fascinated with the stories of individual human lives? What elements make up a biography? What are the advantages and disadvantages of biography as an approach to learning about the past? This class will explore all of these questions first by reading and discussing biographies in an array of styles about a broad range of subjects. Then in the second half of class, students will dive even deeper into the genre of biography by writing an original biographical study on a subject of the student’s choice based on primary sources. In short, members of this class will become a community of readers and writers together considering what we can learn from the study of a human life.