Genealogy: Learn to Climb the Branches of Your Family Tree
What you'll learn
- Accurately trace ancestors and chart family trees
- Gather family history information through interviews
- Find and learn from an array of fascinating documents
- Understand how to use important online resources
- Begin conducting your own genealogical research
Requirements
- You should begin with some basic information related to the individuals you hope to begin researching first. This can include names, dates and places of birth, and names of parents and siblings.
Description
Have you ever wondered what fascinating stories hang from the branches of your family tree? This course can teach you how to start climbing. Through a mixture of engaging lectures, intriguing primary source documents, and a wide variety of anecdotes from my own path of discovery, you can expect to quickly learn the basics of genealogical research and to begin tracing your roots.
In Section 1, we will discuss how to set goals for your project, how to take stock of what you know, and how to conduct interviews. Section 2 will provide resources to help you maintain accurate and detailed records of your findings. Through Section 3, you will learn to locate and examine some of the most common sources of genealogical information, and how to begin using these to construct your own family history. In Section 4, we will discuss how to overcome some of the most common challenges that researchers may face in exploring their ancestry. And in Section 5, we conclude with advice for sharing your findings, and for passing on your work to future generations.
Researching your family history can be a life-changing experience, and one that I know you will not regret. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself on a journey that is never quite finished; you may very well end up encouraging others to do the same!
Who this course is for:
- This course is meant for anyone interested in the increasingly popular field of family history research. No experience is needed, other than a basic familiarity with computers and with Internet searches. This course is not intended for professional genealogists, but for amateurs, hobbyists, and students of history.
Instructor
![Daniel Isaac](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 64 64"%3E%3C/svg%3E){kind=avatar}
- 4.2 Instructor Rating
- 45 Reviews
- 302 Students
- 1 Course
Daniel Isaac is a practicing New York State certified history teacher who has been doing genealogical research for over a decade. He holds a bachelor's degree from Cornell University and a master's degree from Bard College, as well as certification in Educational Leadership. He studied overseas at the Institute for American Universities in Aix-en-Provence, France, where he received the Jeane and Evron Kirkpatrick Prize for Excellence in Political Science. Daniel has also been a recipient of Cornell University's Harrop and Ruth Freeman Peace Studies Fellowship, and has been a summer fellow of both the Gilder Lehrman American History Institute and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Daniel's primary area of genealogical expertise is the New York metropolitan area. He has done extensive work with domestic records from over a dozen states as well as having worked with international records ranging from countries throughout Europe, including Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Russia, Slovakia, and several others. He continues to expand his own skill and knowledge base.