First-Year Seminar--European History (101-6-20)
Topic
Finding People Lost to History
Instructors
Edward Wallace Muir Jr
847/491-3653
Harris Hall - Room 244
Edward Muir grew up in the foothills of the Wasatch mountains in Utah, close-by the Emigration Trail along which wagon trains of Mormon pioneers and California-bound settlers made their way westward. Besides the material remains of the past he grew up with stories of his Mormon pioneer ancestors and an appreciation for how the past continued to influence the present. F Later as a graduate student he worked in a team to re-identify flood-damaged Renaissance manuscripts in the Uffizi archives. Besides his frequent travels to Italy, his twin passions are skiing in the Rocky Mountains and rooting for the Chicago Cubs, who manage every summer to demonstrate that winning isn’t everything.
Prof. Muir is the President-Elect of the American Historical Association, the largest society of professional historians in the world.
Meeting Info
University Library 3670: Tues, Thurs 11:00AM - 12:20PM
Overview of class
Topic: Finding People Lost in History
In recent years historians have developed a new technique called microhistory for capturing the lives of the people who have been lost to history—peasants, religious heretics, poor women, gays, ethnic minorities, and con-conformists of all sorts. These were the people who because of their low social status, rural origins, illiteracy, or unpopular beliefs were ignored, despised, or persecuted by the dominant society. Microhistory is a method of investigation that usually relies on the evidence from judicial trials of otherwise obscure people who found themselves in trouble with the authorities. The method gives a voice to those who otherwise left no written record of their lives. The result of the studies has been a remarkable re-evaluation of the experiences and beliefs of the common people of the past.
Learning Objectives
Learning to make a convincing argument on the basis of evidence derived from critical readings of texts.
Evaluation Method
Oral presentations, participation in discussions, 3 short papers (3-5 pages each) and a final paper (7-10 pages). Credit given for improvement over time.
Class Materials (Required)
9781442604773 Poisoned Past: The Life and Times of Margarida de Portu, a Fourteenth-Century Accused Poisoner by Bednarski, Steven Paperback
9780801843877 Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller by Ginzburg, Carlo Paperback
9780674766914 Return of Martin Guerre by Davis, Natalie Z. Paperback
9781501188534 Stranger in the Shogun's City: A Japanese Woman and Her World by Stanley, Amy Paperback
9780679736134 Dead Certainties : Unwarranted Speculations by Schama, Simon Paperback
9781501188541 Stranger In The Shogun's City by Stanley eBook
9781442604797 Poisoned Past by Bednarski, Steven eBook
Class Notes
History Area(s) of Concentration: Americas, European, Asia/Middle East, Africa/Middle East, GLOBAL
Class Attributes
WCAS First-Year Seminar
Enrollment Requirements
Enrollment Requirements: Reserved for First Year & Sophomore only
Add Consent: Department Consent Required
Drop Consent: Department Consent Required