HIST 5670 Teaching American History Through Biography

This course will focus on ways biography can be used in the classroom, across disciplines and grades. The course is reading-intensive, but after an initial organizational meeting, students will only meet 3-4 times as small groups during the summer (meeting times will be selected based on availability posted to a Google Calendar), with two additional individual or small-group meetings with the instructor as they work on final projects (these may take place in Omaha). To begin the course, students will read several articles and examples to ground their thinking in what biography is and how it has been/can be used in the classroom. Students will critically read and discuss several examples from biographies/ autobiographies to hone their skills on the material. To conclude the course students will create a biography-based final project, which must include accurate biographical data, historical context, primary sources, a bibliography, and suggestions for use across the curriculum and for multiple grades.