Gateway Seminar: What Did Your Grandparents Do? A Global Exploration of Individual Life Histories

This course will focus on the stories of individuals and their experiences of the great historical events of the 20th century. Students will read from a wide variety of oral histories, memoirs, biographies and primary source materials such as diaries and letters, with an emphasis on the lives of relatively unknown figures such as farmers, merchants and housewives. The goal will be to both understand and connect imaginatively with the life experiences of the people who lived history rather than those who made it. Students will also explore the diverse stories of their own families and related networks.