This class will examine recent and formative scholarship and research in the fields of African American biographies and autobiographies. Specifically, we will survey the genre of biography and autobiography as a tool for (re)telling the stories of Black women and men. Through the examination of history and literature we seek to understand research both within and across disciplinary and other conventional boundaries. We will focus on major concepts such as gender, race, class and sexuality. These intersecting areas of analysis have informed much of the scholarship in African American Studies. Over the course of the academic term faculty members will also visit our class to discuss how their own research overlaps with the topics we are investigating. Students in the Honors program will have the foundation of their Honor’s thesis by the end of the academic term. Other students will have an essay they can submit for graduate school applications or for internal or external fellowships.