First-Year Research Seminar: Microhistory and the Uniqueness of the Individual Instance

Catalog description

In this course, students will learn the basics of college level humanities research through the lens of European microhistory, a genre of historical writing that seeks to tell the stories of the very small or unique. Much like the case study, microhistory focuses on individual objects, events, persons, families, or communities. Yet while a case study examines the singular in order to demonstrate broader patterns or theses, microhistory seeks to illuminate the uniqueness of the individual instance – the anomalies and disruptions that resist overly simplistic explanations and stereotypical definitions. During the course of the semester, students will analyze the construction of classic microhistories: a sixteenth century imposter who managed for three years to integrate himself into the life of another man, a troop of ordinary men who somehow became able to commit horrific acts of genocide, an eighteenth century clockmaker who revolutionized mapmaking and the future of world travel. Then students will devise and execute microhistory projects of their own about any era or geographic region that they wish to study. Along the way, students will ultimately develop a keener eye – an eye for the unusual, for the unfamiliar, and for the infinite improvisations and innovations that human beings can perform, even within the most limiting and oppressive structures of society and culture.