HIS 427, History Seminar
Dr. Sarris
|
Intellectual Biography Assignment, 2009
*What is an intellectual biography and how
should I think about writing one?
• Intellectual
biographies offer insights into 1) the person’s
life; 2) the intellectual and creative work of
the person; 3) the relationship between life and
work; and 4) the significance of the life and
work historically. Ask yourself the following
questions: Why am I interested in this subject?
Why does this subject matter?
• Identify the
larger context that makes your subject and her/his
work meaningful, whatever it is. Was he/she a
pioneer in a particular field? Was she/he part
of an intellectual school or cultural movement?
Was her/his work important because it represents
something bigger, because it was utterly unique,
because she/he made a contribution at a crucial
moment in time, or for some other reason?
• In addition
to profiling your subject, placing him/her in
context, and assessing his/her intellectual
legacy, your reader also wants to know what
conclusions you have drawn from subject-specific questions. In this sense, an intellectual
biography is just like any other historical
essay or exercise in critical analysis; you
should formulate an argument and present
evidence to support it. |
Where to find biographical information
Academic Library
Using the Pearsall Library Online
Catalog:
How to get there: (1) Library Homepage
(2) Click on Find Books
- Search "Historian" as a Subject
Search to see some of the library's materials.
Use the
online catalog to find subject-specific dictionaries and
encyclopedias. These are an excellent starting point for
looking up words, phrases, and concepts in particular
subjects.
Using Pearsall Library's Article
Research Databases
How to get there: (1) Library Homepage
(2) Click on Find Articles (3) Select databases by subject
Use databases to find articles that have
been published in popular magazines & scholarly (academic)
journals. The articles found in these databases contain
information that is more current, but less in-depth, than
information found in books.
- NCWC students can access the
Databases from any computer with Web-access, 24/7.
- Researchers and college students use
articles to discover recent work that other scientists
have published in scholarly journals.
World Wide Web
Google, Yahoo, Ask.com, Wikipedia, Dogpile,
etc...you know the drill. Lots of information is out there,
but it's up to you to find and use only the highest-quality
information that you can find. Here's a list that should
help you to evaluate what you find on the WWW.
Citing Sources
- Use the citation "Quicksheets" to cite your sources.
Other Tools:
Sometimes a subject guide is the best
place to start. Pearsall Library provides subject guides
across the disciplines -
Biography Subject Guide
*I found info about Intellectual
Biographies on a webpage for a History 460 course at
Oregon State University:
http://www.uoregon.edu/~eherman/teaching/460/S04%20Intellectual%20Biography%20Guidelines.htm |
