This course will focus on the stories of individuals and their experiences of the great historical events of the 20th century. Students will read from a wide variety of oral histories, memoirs, biographies and primary source materials such as diaries and letters, with an emphasis on the lives of relatively unknown figures such as farmers, merchants and housewives. The goal will be to both understand and connect imaginatively with the life experiences of the people who lived history rather than those who made it.
In addition to the stories themselves, students will also engage in the critical analysis of life histories: how does a historian construct the narrative of a life? What gives a life meaning? What are the pitfalls of reconstructed experience – e.g. selective memory, ideological bias, and narrative over-simplification? And how do we get around those pitfalls to construct historically responsible life histories? Materials will draw on available English-language (or translated) resources from around the world, and students will engage in the comparative analysis of life experiences in different societies, under different political systems, and at different stages of economic development.
Goals of the class:
Teaching method
There will be weekly assigned readings (about 30 pages per week), which students are expected to read and discuss.
During the course of the semester, each student will prepare a research project that includes investigation of a life-story based on either oral history interviews or documentary sources. The project will include certain graded milestones, including:
Evaluation
Grades will be based on the following:
Syllabus
Week 1: Week of February 26
Class 1
Introductions
Discussion and exercises
Class 2
Reading: Shopes, “What is Oral History?” (16 pages)
Week 2: Week of March 5
Class 3
Reading: Alice Evitt Interview (63 pages, widely spaced)
Students must submit project topics
Class 4
Workshop: Developing historical context
Week 3: Week of March 12
Class 5
Reading: Lepore, “Historians who Love Too Much” (16 pages)
Class 6
Workshop: Telling stories
Week 4: Week of March 19
Class 7
Reading: Extract from Partner, Toshié (part of Chapter 2, p.80-102, 22 pages)
Reading: Szijarto, “Four Arguments for Microhistory” (4 pages)
Class 8
Workshop: Storytelling exercises
Week 5: Week of March 26
Class 9
Extract from Ulrich, A Midwife’s Tale (p.72-93, 21 pages)
Reading: Extract from Spence The Question of Hu (p.44-69, 25 pages)
Class 10
Workshop: Storytelling exercises
Week 6: Week of April 2
SPRING BREAK
Week 7: Week of April 9
Class 11
Reading: Extract from Neihardt, Black Elk Speaks (p.146-176, 30 pages)
Reading: Saikia, “Dr. Syed Nurjahan”, extract from Women, War, and the Making of Bangladesh (p.167-176, 10 pages)
Class 12
Workshop: Storytelling exercises
Week 8: Week of April 16
Class 13
Reading: Extract from Golden, Memoirs of a Geisha (p.277-287, 11 pages); Extract from Iwasaki, Geisha, A Life (p.205-209, 5 pages); Extract from Autobiography of a Geisha
Reading: Extract from Partner and Johnson, Bull City Survivor (Chapter 3, p.95-119, 24 pages)
Class 14
Workshop: Student readings
Week 9: Week of April 23
Class 15
Reading, Extract from De Waal, The Hare with Amber Eyes (p.2-38 with image pages, 36 pages)
Reading: “To Brave a Storm: A year in the life of Ann Pointer, 1934-1935”
Class 16
Workshop: Student readings
Week 10: Week of April 30
Class 17
Reading: Extract from Rosengarten, All God’s Dangers (Preface, p.xiii-xxv, and p.97-118, 33 pages)
Reading: “Miami Beach and the Traveling Salesman”
Class 18
Workshop: Student readings
Week 11: Week of May 7
Class 19
Reading: Extract from Wild Swans (p.62-93, 32 pages)
Reading: “The Remarkable Life of William E. Leuchtenburg
Class 20
Workshop: Student readings
Week 12: Week of May 14
Class 21:
Reading: “The Voice of a Tenant: Ned Cobb and the History of Alabama Sharecropping”
Reading: “Worlds Collide: Global and Local Effects on the 20th Century Female Experience”
Class 22
Workshop: Student readings
Week 13: Week of May 21
Class 23
Student Presentations
Class 24
Student Presentations
Week 14: Week of May 28
Exam week
Reading
All assigned readings will be on the course web platform (Moodle).