300-400 level courses are on special topics and are more advanced. They often presuppose some basic knowledge in the field and should be more difficult courses than courses at the 1-199 levels. The department is trying to insure that some 400 level courses, although substantially more difficult, are also small in size; they thus may be suitable for graduate students.
HIST 207 Oral History
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
R | SEM
In the past twenty years, oral history has expanded the historical profession dramatically. Seminar participants will read reading a variety of works, both scholarly and popular, and we'll debate the methodological problems and possibilities of doing this sort of research. A central question will be that of subjectivity; as scholars across various disciplines are doing, we'll ask not only whether the subjective is "good" or "bad," but also how one might make subjectivity itself an "object" of intellectual inquiry. Each participant will do interviews and write a paper that engages the methodological and interpretative questions raised in class. Other assignments include two 3-page papers and regular list-serve submissions. The short papers will be reflections on your experience of being interviewed and of interviewing, respectively. The list-serve will provide a forum talking about all the practical problems that inevitably arise when actually 'doing' an oral history project.
