Editor's note: This is part of an occasional series in which
reporters drop in on interesting classes
throughout the university's nine academic divisions. Suggestions
are welcome at
[email protected].
The course: A writing-intensive, discussion-driven seminar
offered by the Department
of History in
the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences. Nineteen students meet
in the library of the Smokler
Center for Jewish Life, Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Building. 3
credits.
Meeting time: Mondays and Wednesdays, 2 to 3:30 p.m., fall
2007.
The instructor: Professor Richard Kagan joined the
Department of History faculty in 1972. In 1999,
he added a joint appointment in what is now the Department of
German and Romance Languages and
Literatures. Kagan's specialty is the history of early modern
Europe, with emphasis on Habsburg Spain
and its overseas empire, which has led him to various
international appointments over the years,
including visiting professorships at Universidad Autonoma de
Madrid; Ecole de Hautes Etudes en
Sciences Sociales, Paris; Universidad Complutense de Madrid; and
Centre Nationale de la Recherche
Scientifique, Paris. Kagan's books include Students and Society
in Early Modern Spain (1974), Lawsuits
and Litigants in Castile, 1500-1700 (1981), Lucrecia's Dreams:
Politics and Prophecy in Sixteenth-Century Spain (1990) and
Urban Images of the Hispanic World,
1493-1793 (2000). His current
research focuses on the written chronicles and history of early
modern Spain and colonial Spanish
America. Kagan's departmental bio notes that he has
"long-standing interests in art history, cultural
history, history of cartography, urban history, etc.," and that
he is a firm believer in integrating
literature into the study of history, a tenet that is the
backbone of Visions of the Self.
Syllabus and course work: While Kagan cautions his
students to hold off on penning their own
autobiographies until they are at least 40, he's eager for them
to delve into the confessions, memoirs
and survival stories of others. The idea behind Visions of the
Self: Autobiography as History is to
examine a variety of texts — male and female, Western and
non-Western, from the Middle Ages to the
present — using them as windows into the society in which
they were written. As Kagan recently
suggested in class, autobiographies are a great way to get the
inside scoop on what life was really like
in another era because "the people who are writing about
themselves are the ones who are moving
around out there in the world."
The autobiographies covered run the gamut from the
confessional and involuntary (as in forced
confessions) to tales of regret and the search for the inner
self. Because classroom discussion is
integral to the course, attendance and participation are key to
earning top marks. Also required are
written reports on five of the autobiographies read, a take-home
midterm and either a take-home
final or a 10- to 15-page paper on an autobiography not covered
in the class.
Richard Kagan says: "I first started teaching [this
course] in the late 1980s. It is not required for any
department, and it invariably fills up [the student limit is set
at 20 to 25] every time I have offered
it, about one year in three. Though the reading is extensive, the
subject — autobiographies from the
Middle Ages to the present — is engaging, as students are
asked not only to explore such questions as
different modes of autobiographical writing, changing definitions
of the self across time, how
different authors, male and female, represent the self, and then
just how these texts offer insights
into the practices of everyday life during different periods. The
texts students are reading this
semester include a female visionary from the Middle Ages, Margery
Kempe; a Renaissance artist,
Benvenuto Cellini; "involuntary" autobiographies that the Spanish
Inquisition dragged out of individuals
it put up for trial; and the life of a Jewish female merchant in
17th-century Germany, Gluckel of
Hameln. Among the more modern autobiographies we are reading
include those by Rousseau; Franklin;
Frederick Douglass; Mary Antin, a Russian immigrant to the United
States in the early 20th century;
and an anonymous German woman who was in Berlin at the close of
WWII when Russian troops entered
the city. I tinker with the readings every time I teach the
course, which is organized in seminar
format, but the students from many different disciplines never
cease to appear."
Students say: "I, personally, greatly enjoy the lectures
on Mondays and Wednesdays. Professor Kagan
is wonderfully witty, cheerful and funny, and his enthusiasm for
the subject matter is nothing short of
infectious. It's simply a joy to come to the bright, airy
second-floor library of the Smokler Center to
discuss some fascinating autobiographies with good classmates
under a good teacher's wing.
"So far, most of the biographies we've read have been
medieval or Renaissance. One thing I've
learned was how truly important religious faith was during
Europe's Middle Ages and Renaissance. I
always had a conception of it from my European history classes,
of course, but it was fascinating to
see how religion informed not only the politics of the day but
also the personal and daily lives of
people. Benvenuto Cellini, for instance, besides being quite a
philanderer, seemed to genuinely seek
forgiveness from God for his missteps and ask the Almighty for
aid in hard times. That's a very
different view of religion than the one I got from my other
European history classes.
"All in all, if Visions of the Self is any indication of how
Professor Kagan usually teaches, I would
recommend his classes with no reservations whatsoever. He's a
delightful man who can make course
material that's already interesting even more engaging. The
workload is quite reasonable and is neither
excessive nor lacking. A great course all around."
— Pierre Islam, 20, junior, history major, Buffalo,
N.Y.
"When studying history, I love to see the everyday people in
it, not just to learn about the
political situation of the time. This course is a window into how
people perceived themselves from the
medieval period to the modern period. I really like the seminar
format of the class, how the students
teach each other and the Prof is a monitor to clarify things when
needed. I also love the
autobiographies that Professor Kagan has selected; they are truly
unique. I have learned, so far, about
how the 'self' was developed and viewed by people throughout
history because how we think of
ourselves today is not how people perceived themselves in the
past.
"Professor Kagan is amazing and such a great professor. He
knows so much and relates to
students in a way that is entertaining, to say the least. He is
also a very personable professor who
listens to what you have to say. I absolutely love this class.
The reading is a lot, but it doesn't stop me
from reaping the full benefits of this course. In this class, we
learn to teach ourselves lessons from
history, which is a valuable tool to apply in real life, not just
in academia. This class is great."
— Frank Long, 19, sophomore, international studies
major, Perry Hall, Md.
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