Biographical writing is highly imaginative writing and always has been. The task of the biographer is to weave a riveting story from the fabric of the subject's life. For example, a single pivotal incident in the lives of Percy Bysshe Shelley, the English poet, and Mary Godwin, author of "Frankenstein", at the grave of Mary's mother,…

Describes a practical freshman composition writing assignment in which students composed career profiles of notable alumni, which were subsequently used by the college career planning and placement office. A sample letter and profile are included. (HTH)

Describes a freshman composition assignment in which students create fictional figures and approach a final biography about the figure through a series of shorter essays. (HTH)

A conceptual framework and teaching guidelines for biographical history, i.e., centering the study of history in individual lives, are presented. Both the framework and guidelines were derived from a group of philosopher-historians representing a full monistic-pluralistic spectrum of theories: Marx, Weber, Toynbee, Ortega y Gasset, and Dilthey.…

Prosopography is the investigation of the common background characteristics of a group of people in history by means of a collective study of lives. How the discipline of prosopography can be used to help secondary and college level students understand the nuances of power is examined. (RM)

An excellent way to teach history is by focusing on the lives of individual historical figures. History is the story of living persons, who for good or ill have made history as it is. To understand history, students must learn about the men and women who shaped events. (RM)

A method is described for incorporating student papers based on published biographies or autobiographies into an upper-division undergraduate personality theory course. Students are required to submit a term paper analyzing their selected target person, using concepts from a variety of theories presented in the course. (Author/RM)

A classroom exercise that involves college students in portraying individuals studied in a history of psychology course is described. Working in teams, students develop a presentation allowing figures from different time periods to discuss and debate psychological issues. Students also prepare a bibliography and position summary of the individual…

Arnold Bank, emeritus professor of design at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been one of the most inspiring teachers of calligraphy, paleography, and typography in the United States. His life and work are discussed. (RM)

Describes the use of biographical stories to promote student interest in plant biology. Discusses plant hunters of various time periods, including ancient, middle ages, renaissance, colonial Americas, and 18th and 19th centuries; women plant hunters of the 1800s and early 1900s; and modern plant hunters. Discusses classroom strategies for the…

This special issue on "Teaching Jewish-Christian Relations in the University Classroom" is meant to be a resource for those involved in Jewish studies and who teach about Jewish-Christian relations. It offers an introduction to the topics of the Jewish-Christian encounter, Israel, anti-Semitism, Christian Scriptures, the works of Elie…

Comparative biography can be used as a means of enlivening the teaching of college level interdisciplinary world civilization courses. By providing (and writing) well-written "human interest" material drawn from biographical essays, instructors can illustrate problems or issues in human life by showing how major political or cultural…

Describes an exercise in which journalism students were given living journalists to research and write about. (FL)

Intended as a starting point rather than a definitive compilation, this bibliography's subject is women and sport. The items are grouped under the following headings: (1) bibliographies (including teaching guides, sources to find more sources); (2) biographies (individual, collected, or edited first-person narratives); (3) books (single-author…

Discusses the impact that public history activities of the U.S. armed forces has had on military historiography since World War II. Contends that military history was preempted by official histories commissioned by government agencies or the military. Argues that this led to the legitimization of military history at the college level. (CFR)