First-Year Writing Seminar - European History (101-8-20)

Topic

People Lost in History

Instructors

Edward Wallace Muir Jr
847/491-3653
Harris Hall - Room 244

Meeting Info

University Hall 318: Mon, Wed 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

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 non-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

Write strong argumentative essays based on evidence from the trials

Evaluation Method

Essays and class participation

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar