This course will discuss the techniques and sources used by historians in their studies of subject peoples when the bulk of written evidence consists of reports, observations, and commentary by foreign conquerors or ruling elites. Topics include the contributions of archaeological and anthropological studies, the importance of myth and oral tradition, the various types of available documents, and the nature and reliability of the written evidence. Our goal is to develop the expertise that will allow us to recover the stories of people who have been written out of official histories and national narratives. |