Description:

Family history is rarely as simple as the traditional pedigree chart suggests. Families are shaped by adoption, illegitimacy, divorce and remarriage, migration, race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, poverty, changing laws, social expectations, and countless other circumstances that affect both how people lived and how their lives were recorded.

Inclusive Genealogy: Navigating Complex Family Trees explores the research challenges that arise when our ancestors and their families do not fit neatly into conventional genealogical frameworks. Through practical methodology, historical context, and case studies, students will examine how identity, family structure, social status, and historical circumstances can shape the records we find, the records that are missing, and the conclusions we draw from them.

Sessions will address complex parentage and family relationships, conflicting and absent records, marginalized and underdocumented populations, difficult or sensitive family histories, and the assumptions researchers may unknowingly bring to their work. Students will learn strategies for recognizing gaps and biases in the historical record, evaluating evidence in complicated cases, expanding research beyond familiar sources, and documenting family relationships accurately and thoughtfully.

Objectives:

Identify assumptions about family structure, identity, and relationships that can influence genealogical research and interpretation; (2) Evaluate conflicting, incomplete, or absent evidence involving complex family relationships and historically underdocumented individuals; (3) Apply research strategies for investigating families and individuals whose experiences may not be adequately represented in traditional genealogical sources; (4) Analyze historical, legal, cultural, and social contexts that affected how family relationships and identities were created, recorded, and understood; (5) Develop well-supported genealogical conclusions that accurately and sensitively represent complex families and individual life experiences.

Student Prerequisites: 

None

Recordings:

Sessions will be recorded and available through July 9, 2027.

NOTE: All times are listed in Eastern Time.
Live Sessions may be subject to schedule adjustments by your course coordinator.