First-Year Writing Seminar (101-8-24)

Topic

Historians, Judges, and Spies

Instructors

Edward Muir
847/491-3653
Harris Hall - Room 244
Ed Muir was one of the pioneers of microhistory, the methods of which were first worked out by his colleagues in Italy. He recently served as the President of the American Historical Association. Prof. Muir is the President-Elect of the American Historical Association, the largest society of professional historians in the world. Ed Muir first travelled to Italy as an undergraduate study aboard student aboard one of the last passenger voyages of the Italian Ship Lines. So transformed by his student sojourn in italy, he became is a specialist in Italian history and has lived there for many years. At Northwestern he has been honored with the Charles Deering McCormick Professorship for Teaching Excellence. He still finds the tragedies and glories of Italian history utterly fascinating.

Meeting Info

Harris Hall L04: Tues, Thurs 9:30AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

Historians, Judges, and Spies
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, criminals, spies, and con-conformists of all sorts. These were people whose histories remained hidden to traditional research. Microhistory relies on policing and judicial methods but also on those of spies, especially as developed by former professors recruited to serve in intelligence for the US and Britain during World War II.

Registration Requirements

First-years Only.

Learning Objectives

Argumentation techniques, building a case based on the evidentiary rules common to History, criminology, and spycraft.

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Europe
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe

Class Attributes

WCAS Writing Seminar

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Weinberg First Year Seminars are only available to first-year students.
Add Consent: Department Consent Required