In this workshop style course we explore family history through a powerful and often overlooked lens: emotion. Rather than focusing only on names, dates, and records, we examine how love, hate, loyalty, resentment, affection, and conflict shaped family decisions, relationships, and legacies. 

Using real genealogical sources – letters, census records, court documents, migration stories, and oral histories—we uncover the emotional lives behind the paper trail. This course helps family historians move beyond “what happened” to explore why people behaved the way they did.