[Priscilla Yu, 2017]

Biographical Sketch

This project asks you to prepare a brief biographical sketch of the thinkers we will read in a single class session. You will present your biographical sketch at the beginning of our discussion, and it should answer the following questions about the thinkers we are reading that day:
1) Who was / is this person? When did they live? In what contexts?
2) What biographic information is important to know about this thinker?
3) What would help us understand their ideas better?

Please prepare a one-page handout with particularly important information on all the thinkers included on your day. You are welcome to refer to this handout during your presentation. That presentation cannot be more than ten minutes - include just the highlights, or the details you think are especially helpful for us.

On the back of the handout, you must include a narrative describing what you did to figure out the information you presented. What did you read? What did you search? What leads did you follow? With whom did you consult? Please note that a stronger presentation will do more than simple googling, and certainly more than merely looking at Wikipedia (which is often quite limited or wrong). To give you a rough estimate, I imagine that doing the research for this sketch should take at least two hours, plus the time it takes to build your handout. In our second session, I’ll present the first biographic sketch, which will also give you an example of what a sketch might look like. You’re always welcome to create yours as you see fit.

Please note: You are NOT responsible for printing the handouts. If you email me your handout by 9:30am on the day of your presentation, I will print out enough for everyone. The printer I use is color, so you can include color images (or something else) if you would like. Please do keep it to a single page, front and back.

For this project, as for all of them, please consider reaching out to our wonderful Women’s Studies librarian, Meredith Kahn. She can help you brainstorm resources from which to get biographic information. Please note: if you want to talk with her, please plan ahead so you can find a time that works for both of your schedules, and still leaves you enough time to create the sketch. As always, I’m happy to talk with you in office hours.