Course description
In this course, we will read excerpts from biographies and autobiographies dating from the early 3rd century all the way up to 2013. Readings will include female saints’ lives (textual and visual) and autobiographical writings by Hildegard of Bingen, Margery Kempe, Harriet Jacobs, Maya Angelou, Marjane Satrapi, Mindy Kaling, and Allie Brosh. We will consider the function of different media in life writing by reading not only texts but also graphic novels and visual biographies. Students will compose in a variety of media with assignments such as weekly blog posts, a social media biography, a visual rhetorical analysis, a visual memoir essay, and a researched rhetorical analysis. We will consider the relationship between auto/biography and other genres, and we will explore strategies female writers use to construct their authority.

Note: Background image by WKU’s Women & Gender Studies Program.