Humanities and Fine Arts 191HFA58 - FYS- Everyday Storytelling

What things, such as notes, photographs, fabrics, gadgets, and art, become part of a family story, and why? What stories do we save by telling them out loud, on film, or on the page? In this seminar, we will explore archiving (processes of documenting and preserving) and its relationship to the family, defined as any community or kinship network you are a part of. Each week we will respond to a creative prompt about family objects and stories, and will discuss contemporary artists who work from an archive (for example, poet Natasha Trethewey, filmmaker Alexandra Hidalgo, and musician Bruce Springsteen). Topics will include the risks, ethics, and rewards of archival storytelling, and consideration of the personal as always historically, socially, and culturally situated. By the end of the course, you will create your own multimedia archive through photography, audio recording, and writing.

Open to first-year Humanities and Fine Arts Exploratory Track students and first-year HFA Majors.