JINS 394 - Biography: (template course)

An interdisciplinary examination of a single historical or contemporary figure (or in special cases, of groups of people whose stories provide a subset of the biographical genre; see Slave Narratives below). While any human life is amenable to such an examination, the lives of historically significant figures bring a variety of methodologies into the class. Students will use two (or more) disciplinary lenses or practices to come to grips with the life of an individual and the context in which she or he lived it. In addition to the various interdisciplinary topics that may naturally be associated with any person’s life, biography itself will be a topic self-consciously considered by each iteration of this template. These interdisciplinary practices will be brought to bear in composing a major written project, in any of a number of genres of writing, on the scale of a term paper, related to the course’s specific subject. Thus, while traditional academic research will be engaged in, so too–depending upon the skills and interests of the instructors–might creative nonfiction and/or biography as such. Possible topics include: Leonardo, Rev. DeLaine

Prerequisite: JINS eligibility (55-95 credits applied).
Credit(s): 3
Course Attribute(s):

This course fulfills the Junior Interdisciplinary Writing-Enhanced Seminar Interconnecting Perspective of the Dialogues.
This course is writing-enhanced course.