Biography as History (HIS 311)

Term: 2018-2019 Academic Year Fall

Faculty

Dr. Craig Bruce SmithShow MyInfo popup for Dr. Craig Bruce Smith

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Schedule

Tue-Thu, 10:50 AM - 12:05 PM (8/20/2018 - 12/7/2018) Location: MAIN BUR 204

Description

History is a collection of stories of the lives of many people, but is the life of a single person history? But who tells our story? Who determines our history? Today, journalists, rather than historians, write most of the popular biographies. So is biography also history? Or is it something else? This course will follow the intersection of the individual story with that of society, asking several fundamental questions: Does history change if we view it from the perspective of one person? Is the individual representative of society? Why do people make certain choices? What is gained through using a narrow lens to view wider events? Focusing on rotating individuals, this course will explore a historical period though the eyes of a single person. Students will read multiple accounts of the life of one person, and write their own narrative on a selected person during a limited timeframe.