The interdisciplinary survey inherits from more traditional survey courses the weaknesses embodied in the survey textbook. The standard textbook presentation gives students the impression that each figure's music, art, or literature is the product of the "spirit of the age." Well-chosen biographies temper that presentation by drawing attention to actual acquaintances and collaborations. In addition, biographies help overcome aliteracy, encourage critical thinking, and, perhaps surprisingly, show the traditional textbook in its best light: as a resource to be consulted rather than literature to be pored over.