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This seminar will explore how individuals in hard times asked for help in public venues. We will pay particular attention to how tales of desperation found a home in print culture and the inevitable scams and schemes that followed. From sensational 19th century stories of those captured by pirates, wounded in the war, or kidnapped by the Shakers to 21st century stories of homelessness printed on cardboard signs, this seminar will explore the intersection of desperation, print media, and the limits of public credulity.