654F Winter 2026 Genealogy is More Than Names and Dates

This introductory class in genealogy will begin with exploring your roots. Where your family name came from, why your family lives where it does, and what your parents and grandparents did for work or fun can be fascinating. Discovering your ancestors—your parents, grandparents, and so on back through history is what genealogy is all about. Genealogy is sometimes described as “family history”. It is also described as “your family in history”. Doing genealogical research is like being a private investigator. Start with what you know and then follow the clues. Then what? How do you find information beyond your immediate family? What is available online and what is not? How do you record and organize the information that you have gathered? What do you do when you hit a “brick wall”? What about DNA testing? How do you publish what you have found? This course will address these and other questions relating to genealogy.

Roy De Lauder has a BA in History from Clemson and an MS in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He is a retired U.S. Naval officer and was a contractor as a government equipment manager. Roy has been involved in genealogy as a hobby for more than 40 years.