Biography and History

Biography is many things. It is the study of significant and ordinary individuals; it is the study of families and groups; it can shed light on specific historical periods and problems; it can provide a way of accessing individual and collective experience; it can illuminate the whole process of social and historical change. This course challenges students to think critically and creatively about the writing of biography in all its forms. What is the relationship between biography and history, biography and theory, biography and fiction? How do biographical studies incorporate theory? Should historians use different approaches to biography depending on the culture and/or gender of their subjects? How important is the relationship between biographers and their subjects? What special problems face the biographer of living subjects, or subjects in living memory? Through exploring questions such as these, students will develop a critical understanding of the complex issues surrounding the writing of biography.