The study of history relies on the written and oral record of human experience. The use to which words have been put has varied over time ranging from the ancient world's innocent acceptance of recorded inventories and boastful heroic conquests, to the postmodern era where the text is not a bearer of truth but an instrument of power. This course traces the place of the text in the human effort to know and remember the past. Although the written text has been foundational for the study of the past, people have left other signs of their presence and we interact with other realities than the text. This course brings in additional disciplines including philosophy, literary criticism, biology, psychology, physics, and biblical studies.