HIST7320 · History
Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
Microhistory is a form of historical writing that takes a specific event, object, or person as an occasion to explore broader historical questions or problems. Invented by Italian historians in the 1970s and 1980s as a way of illuminating the lives of ordinary people, microhistory has taken multiple different turns in European, North American, and global history. In this course you will write a microhistory on a topic of your choice, using archival, manuscript, or printed primary sources. It might turn into a chapter in a larger future project like an MA thesis or PhD dissertation, or it might be a publishable stand alone essay. Everyone will do primary source research; create a bibliography, work schedule, and outline; write a first version of their paper; and rewrite the paper into a polished final version. Peer review will be an important part of the seminar's work. You will be encouraged to work in the period c. 1400-1800 in the European or Atlantic worlds, but I am open to other times and places if your field lies elsewhere.
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