Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This course is a thematic survey of United States history from European conquest through the Civil War. Through lectures, discussions, and readings, students will examine the nation's colonial origin, the impact of European conquest on the native peoples, the struggle for national independence, and the formation of a national government. The second half of the course will focus on the making of a modern democratic nation. Topics will include the expansion of the market economy, chattel slavery, and the factory system. The course will also examine early urbanization, the rise of egalitarianism, westward expansion, the Second Great Awakening, the first women's movements, and the abolition of slavery. The course concludes with an account of the Civil War and the Lincoln administration. No prerequisites. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirement.) This course is the same as AMST 101D, listed in the American Studies Concentration.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This course is a thematic survey of the United States from the end of the Civil War to the present. Students will examine the transformation of the United States from a rural, largely Protestant society into a powerful and culturally diverse, urban/industrial nation. Topics will include constitutional developments, the formation of a national economy, urbanization, and immigration. The course will also discuss political changes, the secularization of the public culture, the formation of the welfare state, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War as well as suburbanization, the civil rights movement, women's and gay rights, and the late twentieth-century conservative-politics movement and religious revival. No prerequisites. (Fulfills portion of the history major foundation survey requirement.) This course is the same as AMST 102D, in the American Studies Concentration.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course is an introduction to the history of Latin America's colonial period. The course begins with an overview of the century before the first encounters between European and indigenous peoples in the New World, and traces major political and economic developments in the Americas and the Atlantic world that contributed to the shaping of specific social formations in South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean Basin from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. The course will consider not only the establishment and evolution of dominant institutions such as the colonial state and church, but also racial and gender relations that characterized the colonial societies of Brazil and Spanish America. (Fulfills history premodern requirement.)
Credit: 0.5-4
This course, through lectures and discussions, will begin by examining the long process of the breakdown of Iberian colonial authority (contrasting Brazil's evolution to that of the Spanish-American republics). It will then shift to studying Latin America's further economic integration into the Atlantic world economy in the late nineteenth century, and the ensuing political, cultural, and social changes that occurred throughout the twentieth century, as regional economies continued to evolve. Social and economic inequality, political authoritarianism, and revolutionary and cultural change will be discussed from a historical perspective.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course surveys the history of the early Middle Ages. Relying mainly on a wide range of primary sources, it traces the broad contours of 800 years of European and Mediterranean history. The course covers the gradual merging of Roman and Germanic cultures, the persistence of Roman ideas during the Middle Ages, the slow Christianization of Europe, monasticism, the rise of Islam, and Norse society. Readings include Augustine's Confessions, a scandalous account of the reign of the Emperor Justinian, the Rule of St. Benedict, a translation of the Koran, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirements.)
Credit: 0.5-4
This course surveys the history of the later Middle Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean. Relying mainly on primary sources, the course covers the renaissance of the twelfth century, mendicant and monastic spiritualities, scholasticism, the rise of universities, and the devastation of the Black Death. Readings include Christian, Jewish, and Muslim accounts of several crusades; a saga about a hard-drinking, poetry-loving Norseman; and letters written by two ill-fated twelfth-century lovers. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirements.)
Credit: 0.5-4
Through lectures and discussions, this course will introduce the student to early modern Europe, with special attention to Austria, Britain, France, Prussia, and Russia. It will treat such topics as the Reformation, the emergence of the French challenge to the European equilibrium, Britain's eccentric constitutional course, the pattern of European contacts with the non-European world, the character of daily life in premodern Europe, the Enlightenment, the appearance of Russia on the European scene, and the origins of German dualism, as well as the impact of the French Revolution on Europe. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirements.)
Credit: 0.5-4
The European continent is incredibly diverse: geographically, culturally, economically, ethnically, and politically (to name only the most obvious factors). Throughout the semester we will explore this diversity of experiences since the end of the eighteenth century. We will look at issues of race, class, and gender, as well as violence, poverty, faith, nationalism, technology, and art. We will read novels and memoirs, watch films, and listen to music as we hone our historical knowledge and sensibilities regarding modern Europe, its peoples, and its governments. We will examine the fates of a variety of nations, using examples from across the continent. (Fulfills portion of the history major foundation survey requirement.)
Credit: 0.5-4
We will explore the history of Africa up to 1800, focusing primarily on events that took place after 800. Using books, articles, primary sources, and videos, we will learn about kingdoms that arose in different parts of Africa, the spread of Islam, smaller-scale societies, the arrival of European traders, and the impact of the transatlantic slave trade. Ongoing themes in the course will include state formation, religion, geographic diversity, cultural exchange, and the role of archaeology and oral histories in the reconstruction of Africa's early history. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirements.)
Credit: 0.5-4
This course examines the history of Africa from 1800 to the present. We will be using books, articles, novels, and videos to explore nineteenth-century transformations in Africa, European conquest of the continent, the impact of colonialism, the coming of independence, and recent challenges and achievements in Africa. Throughout, we will consider issues of resistance, identity, and cultural change, paying particular attention to the recent roots of current situations in Africa, such as the democratization of some nations and endemic violence in others. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey requirement.)
Credit: 0.5-4
India is the world's largest democracy. It has a middle-class population larger than the population of France, and a third to a half of the world's computer software is developed and produced there. Not only does India defy simple categorization, but the stereotypes and cliches readily placed on it are grossly misleading. This course is an introduction to both the study of India and the study of history using India as a rich example. The readings and class discussions follow some of the following themes: Muslim rule in India, women in the medieval period, the diversity of cultures in South Asia, religious reform movements, European participation in trade in the Indian Ocean, the British empire, social movements, nationalism, the partition of India and Pakistan, and modern nation states. The course will examine India through a range of sources, particularly sources from South Asia. There are no prerequisites, and the course assumes no prior knowledge about India. (Fulfills a portion of history major foundation surveys requirement.)
Credit: 0.5-4
In the early nineteenth century, the expanding presence of European traders and travelers in the waters off the coast of China and Japan interacted with local developments to transform the history of East Asia, itself key to the ongoing transformation of the rest of the world. This course will focus on the histories of Japan, Korea, and China (with passing reference to Vietnam) from the early nineteenth century to the present. The course looks comparatively at the struggles of these societies to preserve or regain their independence, refashion their national identities, and articulate their needs in a rapidly changing world. Discussion of readings and of films shown in and out of class comprise an important component of the weekly classroom experience. (Fulfills Asia/Africa distribution requirement for the history major).
Credit: 0.5-4
This course examines the East Asian world before the rise of European maritime dominance, focusing on China, Korea, and Japan. East Asia emerges as a coherent cultural unit in the first millennia CE. These centuries saw the introduction and spread of Buddhism throughout the region, a religion whose faith and associated practices dominated people's world view and profoundly shaped the physical and human landscape. Significant shifts in the twelfth to eighteenth centuries, in particular in the practices of the mature "family-state" (family, gender, politics, and kingship), highlights the Confucianization of East Asia during these later centuries. The Mongol and Manchu conquests of the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries mark key transition points in this process. Readings include memoirs, philosophical and ethical texts, documents, fiction, and interpretative articles.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
In August 1619, "twenty and odd negars" were traded for food by the crew of a Dutch sailing vessel. That commercial transaction represented the first recorded incident of a permanent African presence in America. Over the next 146 years, this population of Africans would grow to create an African-American population of over four million. The overwhelming majority of this population was enslaved. This course will be an examination of those enslaved millions and their free black fellows, who they were, how they lived, and how the nation was transformed by their presence and experience. Particular attention will be paid to the varieties of African-American experience and how slavery and the presence of peoples of African descent shaped American social, political, intellectual, and economic systems. Students will be presented with a variety of primary and secondary source materials; timely and careful reading of these sources will prepare students for class discussions. Students will be confronted with conflicting bodies of evidence and challenged to analyze these issues and arrive at conclusions for themselves.
Credit: 0.5-4
This is an introductory lecture and discussion course in the history of African Americans in the United States. Beginning with Emancipation, the course traces the evolution of black culture and identity and the continuing struggle for freedom and equality. Topics will include the tragedies and triumphs of Reconstruction, interracial violence, black political and institutional responses to racism and violence, the Harlem Renaissance, jazz, blues, and the civil rights and black power movements.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Hoover, F.D.R., farmers, city people, agrarian conservatives, labor, the unemployed, politicians, demagogues, the silver screen, free market vs. national planning, and much more. Among other themes, this course will analyze the development of modern liberalism, the modern party system, and the modern presidency. Additionally, it will assess social, cultural, and intellectual currents of the Great Depression era. Course materials will include biographies, novels, film, and historical studies. Prerequisite: at least sophomore standing and two semesters of American history or political science, or permission of instructor. Can be taken for either political science (PSCI 309) or history credit.
Credit: 0.5-4
The course will analyze the diverse experiences and social roles of women from settlement in the seventeenth century to the present day. We will examine the broad themes that have shaped the lives of women, paying close attention to specific experiences. The course will analyze the ways in which notions of gender have changed over time and how a wide variety of women have created and responded to changing cultural, political and economic environments.
Credit: 0.5-4
This class analyzes themes of change and continuity in post-contact North American indigenous history through classics in Native autobiography, literature, and film. Those classics reveal individual life stories while simultaneously connecting to major themes in the development of the Native experience that reveal both similarities and differences in the tribal and national experience. Among the themes assessed are the impact of colonization and settlement; acculturation and resistance to the dominant culture; the impact and tensions of the missionary experience; the world of traditional values and the complexities of change Native peoples make in their own lives through religious conversion; the pivotal significance of family; the intrusion of modernity and notions of progress; and autobiography as a genre.
Credit: 0.5-4
The course will examine the American South from Jamestown to the present. Lectures and discussions will focus on the South's distinctive development within the American nation, the region's bi-racial character, and the formation of a shared African/European culture. Students will look at the political events that shaped the region, its economy, the regional differences within the South, and changes that have taken place over the course of the last four centuries.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
In this introductory seminar we shall address the formation of Mexico from its Pre-Columbian origins, noting aspects of its history as a Spanish colony and an independent repub?lic. The seminar will consider issues associated with Mexico?s evolving, complex identity and study how the inhabitants of the region have expressed different sentiments and perceptions about their communi?ties, state, and nation. We shall thus explore questions raised by relations between indigenous peoples and various, predominantly Hispanic, ruling groups, as well as questions about class and gender. It will also be possible in the seminar to compare the evolution of Mexico with that of other Latin American regions.
Credit: 0.5-4
During the 1970s and 1980s, dictatorship, civil war, guerrilla uprisings, and repression ravaged most countries in Latin America. In those dark days, violation of human rights was customary, and the legacy of such crimes still haunts Latin American societies to this day. However, amid state-sponsored torture and killing, Latin-American citizens stood up for their rights, nurturing a strong human-rights movement, which, in the long run, became the most solid foundation for present day democracies. This course studies the evolution of the human-rights movement in Latin America focusing on selected countries. It also analyzes the role of the United States' government in promoting both human-rights violations and the respect for human rights. The course provides background in the concepts and theory needed to understand such issues. Finally, the course explores different forms of group rights, such as children's, women's, and indigenous rights; the importance of transnational networks of solidarity; and how those rights apply in Latin America today.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Painting in broad strokes on a massive canvas, this course will examine the history of the British Empire from its inception in the sixteenth century through its dissolution in the twentieth. The British Empire, whose beginnings were modest, would by the close of the nineteenth century encompass almost thirteen million square miles and a population of nearly four hundred million. Well before the end of the twentieth century, this empire, the largest the world had ever seen, virtually ceased to exist. Its story, from inception to extinction, is a remarkable one. Internal imperatives, global imperial rivalries, and developments on the periphery impelled the empire forward and ultimately brought about its demise. This course will investigate the evolving characteristics of the British imperial experience and the dynamics responsible for the rise and fall of the British Empire.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course will survey British history from the accession of the Tudors until the present day. Topics to be considered include the Reformation, the unification of Britain, the civil wars, the rise of parliament, the origins of empire, the industrial revolution, the political response to urbanization, Britain as a great power, the secularization of Britain, and the end of empire.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
As a political entity, the aggregation of central European lands ruled from Vienna for almost four centuries constitutes the strangest major power on the European scene in the past five hundred years. Alone among the great states of Europe, the Habsburg realm accepted cultural heterogeneity and actively sought to avoid war. This course will assess the Habsburg experiment in political and cultural multiculturalism, seeking finally to account for the empire's inability to survive the tensions of the twentieth century. Among the subjects to be considered are: Vienna as the cultural capital of Europe, the role of language in politics, the creative rivalry between Prague and Vienna, the emergence and character of nationalism, the postwar successor states, and the concept of Central Europe. The course will involve lectures and discussions. No knowledge of German is required.
Credit: 0.5-4
In lectures and discussions, we will cover European women's history from the Reformation and Enlightenment up through the late twentieth century and the questions raised by the end of the Soviet system. We will look at women's participation in the work force and in revolutionary movements, their fight for political emancipation and equality, and their relationship to war and racism, as well as study the changing ideas of womanhood, gender, and family throughout modern European history.
Credit: 0.5-4
This survey of the history of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union in the modern era will introduce students to the region, familiarize them with the major periods of modern Russian history, and help them to understand some of the important historical issues and debates. Students should develop an appreciation for the ethnic, social, and cultural diversity of both the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union as well as for the ways in which political events shaped the personal lives of the country's population. Though focusing on twentieth-century history, this course will begin with an introduction to the social structures, ethnic composition, and political problems of the late Russian Empire. We will cover the Russian Revolution and early Soviet history, then turn our attention to Stalinism, collectivization, terror, and the Second World War. In the postwar era, we will examine the failure of the Khrushchev reforms and the period of stagnation under Brezhnev, before turning to Gorbachev and the reforms of perestroika. At the end of the semester, we will approach the end of the Soviet Union and its legacy for the many successor states (not only Russia). Although organized along the lines of political periodization, the class will emphasize the perspectives of social and ethnic diversity as well as culture and gender. We will look at art, literature, and music, and we will attend film screenings outside of class. Historical background in modern European history is recommended. Russian and other regional language skills are welcomed.
Credit: 0.5-4
Clovis, Charlemagne, St. Louis, and Richard III: all were medieval kings, but being a king meant very different things to each man, just as queenship was different for Bertha of Kent, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Isabella of Castile. In this course, we will examine the changing roles, images, and theories of kingship in the Middle Ages, from the first post-Roman to the emergent absolutist monarchies of late medieval Europe. How did kings justify their power, and what happened if they went too far? How did kings relate to those they ruled, and in what ways did the body politic take a role in medieval politics? How and why did institutions such as Parliament develop and evolve? In addition, we will examine the role of queens, both as direct rulers and as consorts: in what ways did these powerful women influence politics, and how did they contribute to cultural and social interchanges within Europe? Although the class will be primarily a lecture course in format, we will devote time to discussion of primary source material in translation. Prerequisite: HIST 126 or 127.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course will present a survey of French history from the eighteenth century to the present. Emphasis will be placed upon the political/cultural life of France, particularly, attempts to secure an elusive stability within a long trajectory of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary tumult. The French Revolution, the cultural ferment of the fin de siècle, and the French experience of the crisis years 1914-1945 will receive special attention. The course will also explore the various ways (manifest through art, politics, and social life) in which France conceived of itself as an exemplary nation, or as a practitioner of an exemplary modernity to the rest of the world. No prerequisites.
Credit: 0.5-4
Modern German history is often seen as a tension between the land of the "poets and thinkers" (Dichter und Denker) and the "land of the murderers and executioners" (Mörder und Henker). In this class, we will use the perspectives of gender, race, and class to explore and illuminate the main themes and topics in modern German history, beginning with the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, up to Reunification and European Union membership in the present. German language is welcome but not required. No prerequisite, but 1 unit in history, English, or modern languages is recommended.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Founded in the late thirteenth century and lasting until the 1920s, the Ottoman Empire was one of the longest-lasting and most successful polities in history. Although founded and ruled by Muslim Turks, the Ottoman Empire was in reality a multi-ethnic, multi-religious entity, which at its height contained territories in the Balkans, the ?Middle East,? and North Africa. It has left a significant political and cultural legacy, which continues up to our own time. In this course we will examine the entire span of Ottoman history from the establishment of the empire until its dissolution in the aftermath of World War I. Topics to be covered will include: the role of Islam in the Ottoman state, the problems of governing a religiously and ethnically pluralistic empire, the changing nature of Ottoman politics and administration, Ottoman relations with Europe, Ottoman responses to modernity, the rise of nationalisms, and the events leading up to the eventual creation of the modern Turkish Republic in the Ottoman heartland.
Credit: 0.5-4
In 1344, when Ibn Battuta left his native Tunis and traveled across notions of national identity in Latin America. The period covered will be approximately 1820 to 1950, and we will compare many different regions of Latin America. The course will use secondary and primary texts, and will be a mixture of discussion formats with some lecture.
Credit: 0.5-4
The Turko-Mongol conquests of the thirteenth century profoundly shaped the subsequent history of Eurasia and the world. Why and how did Mongolian and Turkic nomads join together to conquer much of the known world in the early thirteenth century? What impact did their conquests have on the civilizations they encountered and ruled, from southern Russia to Persia, central Asia, and China? This course looks first at what it meant to be a nomad and how nomadic societies organized states and interacted with sedentary, agrarian civilizations. Taking up the career of Chinggis Khan and the new empires founded by his descendants, the course then explores the role of religion, commerce, and cultural exchange in setting new paradigms of political and cultural expression in the areas conquered by the Mongols and their Turkic allies. Students will read and analyze arguments made by modern scholars and some of the vast primary source materials that such scholars draw upon, textual and visual: chronicles, folklore, travelers' accounts, art and artifacts, and so on. No prerequisites; sophomore standing or above is required. Fulfills Asia and premodern requirements for history majors.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course traces the important institutional (socio-economic and political) and cultural developments that culminated in the Tokugawa unification of Japan in the seventeenth century under a samurai government. The vibrant culture and booming economy that blossomed in the eighteenth century laid the foundations for Japan's modern transformation. Students will examine and discuss a variety of sources (documentary, literary, and visual), watch some films, and become familiar with early Japanese views of their society and with modern scholars' interpretations of Japan's cultural and historical development. No prerequisites. (Fulfills portion of history major foundation survey and premodern requirements.)
Credit: 0.5-4
This course surveys the development of society and state in China from the origins of empire at the turn of the first millennium to the eighteenth century, focusing on the later centuries. It explores (1) the Confucianization of Chinese society from eleventh century onward, and the tensions between ethical ideals and social realities;( 2) economic, technological, and demographic expansion which brought China increasingly into global exchange networks, and efforts to channel or contain that growth as the state and society defined visions of the proper world order; and (3) how these changes shaped relationships between individuals, the state, and society. Along with core institutions such as the imperial state (throne and bureaucracy), the agrarian economy (farmer, artisan, merchant), and the family-ancestral lineage, we examine other social forms and cultural activity that emerged, often as adaptations to and survival strategies in a changing political and ecological environment. Fulfills premodern and Asia/Africa distribution requirement for the history major.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This course will examine the circumstances and factors leading to World War II and to the U.S. entry into the war. The course will focus on the disruption of the world order through the rise of German, Japanese, and Italian imperialism. The course will analyze the effect of the worldwide economic depression of the 1930s. Other topics include the military strategies and conduct of the war, its impact on the home front, and its long-term effects on U.S. foreign policy.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
The Civil War is perhaps the defining moment in the history of the United States. When the war ended, slavery had been abolished, four million African Americans had been freed, the South had been laid waste, and the power of the federal government had been significantly expanded. The war set in motion forces that would change the nature of citizenship and alter the nature of American society, politics, and culture forever. This course will focus on the causes of the war, its military campaigns, and its social, political, and cultural consequences for black and white Northerners and Southerners. The course concludes with an examination of the war's continuing hold on the national imagination. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
We will examine how successive waves of immigrants, from the eve of the Civil War to the present, have shaped cities, markets, suburbs, and rural areas, while altering education, labor, politics, and foreign policy. The course will address such questions as: Why do people leave their homelands? Where do they settle in America and why? What kinds of economic activities do they engage in? How do the children adapt? How does assimilation work? What are the effects of immigration on those born in America? Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
One historian has described the years between 1880 and 1920 as the "nadir of black life." During this period, African Americans were politically disfranchised, forced into debt peonage, excluded from social life through Jim Crow segregation, and subjected to historically unprecedented levels of extralegal violence. This course will examine how African America was affected by these efforts at racial subjugation and how the community responded socially, politically, economically, intellectually, and culturally. Topics will include the rise of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois as political leaders, the founding of the NAACP, the birth of jazz and the blues, the impact of the Great Migration, racial ideologies, lynching, and class, gender, and political relations within the African-American community. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar examines the roles sport has played in American society and culture from the early 19th century to the present. Topics will include the development of "modern" sport from "pre-modern" athletic practices; the emergence of baseball, boxing, and intercollegiate athletics as major American cultural forces; the use of organized athletics as a means of instilling social values in American youth; the ways in which sport has been both a reflection and a constituent of American views about race and gender; the growth of commercialized, professionalized athletics as a major entertainment industry; the use of sport as a symbolic battleground for larger American social issues; and the impact of sport on the American culture of celebrity. Assigned readings will examine these themes through both primary and secondary sources; in addition, students will prepare a primary-source research project on a topic of their choice.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will acquaint students with the intersections between Latin American history and gender studies. The concept of "family" is explored as an important site for the construction of social power in terms of gender, class, and race. These themes will be traced from the pre-colonial period through the present, as women and men from various social segments struggled over the nature of Latin American societies.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar introduces students to the subject of the Mexican Revolution. It is a period in the early twentieth century (1910-1920) that defies easy description. The course will examine the major social and political struggles of the revolution, their origins, and their implications as the country emerged from civil war in the 1920s and then underwent substantial reform in the 1930s. Further, the seminar will consider the meaning(s) of the revolution, and how it has been conceived and re-imagined in cultural and ideological terms. The seminar will examine primary sources in class, but the assignments and reading will focus on the historiography concerning the revolution and on the interpretation of its political, social and cultural significance. There are no specific prerequisites for this course. However, students should have some historical knowledge of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and be prepared to gain quickly an overview of the main events of modern Mexican history. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will examine how human rights have been articulated in distinct historical contexts in Latin America. We shall first review early notions of human rights and natural law as expressed during the Spanish conquest of the Caribbean and the Americas. Second, the seminar will identify the main tenets of human-rights law and discourse, as comprehended in general terms since the establishment of the United Nations. Then we shall study how major concepts of human rights have been asserted in recent years in different countries across Latin America. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
In the late eleventh century, Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade by calling on European knights to reconquer the city of Jerusalem. The objectives of the first crusaders may have been fairly circumscribed, but for the next four centuries the crusading movement had complex and varied consequences for the inhabitants of Europe, north Africa, and the Middle East. In this course, we will examine (1) the confluence of religious, political, and economic motivations that inspired crusaders, (2) the extension of the notion of crusade to Islamic Spain and parts of northern Europe, and (3) the manifold interreligious and cross-cultural exchanges (peaceful and violent) that resulted from the crusades. Fulfills history major advanced seminar and premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
This upper level seminar course examines gender roles in various Mediterranean cultures. We look at how the Mediterranean itself colored politics and culture, and how this impacted on society. We will compare and contrast gender roles in both the Eastern and Western Mediterranean, looking at the cross-fertilization of customs. By looking at the Iberian peninsula, Italy & Ragusa as well as the Turkish Empire, we will look at the various challenges faced by men and women from different cultures. Students will examine primary documents and secondary sources to investigate topics from the eunuchs of the sultan's court to the castrati of Italian opera, and the seclude women of Seville and Venice to the occupants of the seraglio.
Credit: 0.5-4
In 1325, twenty-one-year-old Ibn Battuta left Tangiers for a pilgrimage to Mecca. This pilgrimage became twenty-eight years of ceaseless travel through sub-Saharan Africa, China, and India. A careful observer, Battuta left a valuable record of his travels, his disappointments, his enthusiasms, and his perplexity at the things he witnessed. This course looks at medieval people who, like Ibn Battuta, undertook ambitious journeys and recorded their experiences. It asks about the motivations (religious, military, economic, scholarly) for such costly and dangerous travel and pays particular attention to how medieval travelers perceived the cultures they encountered. Understanding their experiences is not a simple task, since their reports, like those of all travelers,
are admixtures of astute observation, fallible memory, and fantastic embellishment. In addition to Ibn Battuta?s travels, we will read the letters of spice merchants in India; the observations of a cultivated twelfth-century Jew as he traveled from Spain throughout the Mediterranean; Marco Polo?s descriptions of the courts of China, India, and Japan; and the report of a tenth-century ambassador to Constantinople, where he met the Byzantine emperor: ?a monstrosity of a man, a dwarf, fatheaded and with tiny mole?s eyes.? Fulfills portion of history major premodern and advanced seminar requirements .
Credit: 0.5-4
This course covers the major political, social, and cultural developments in Europe during the period of the two world wars. This time period saw the collapse of empires and the creation of new national states and witnessed the first socialist revolutions and the creation of a new state organized on Marxist principles in the Soviet Union. During this era, liberal democracy and capitalism failed, authoritarian and totalitarian dictatorships proliferated, and, ultimately, political violence and warfare overtook the European continent. At the same time, the first half of the twentieth century saw an explosion of creativity, technological expansion, and utopian social and cultural projects. Interpretations of "inter-war" Europe have ranged from nostalgia for a golden age before the horrors of the Second World War to focus on the constant political and military conflict of a "second Thirty Years War." In order to analyze these varying interpretations of the era, we will focus on themes such as political ideology, class conflict, racism, gender, the persecution of "internal enemies" and social outsiders, violence, and the general crisis of modernity. No prerequisites, but students without Modern Europe (HIST 132) should talk to the instructor about their preparedness. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This upper level seminar introduces or reintroduces students to some key topics, events, and personalities in the Renaissance by showing films made in the modern era, which we then compare with historical texts. Inevitably, various biases influence the vision of the various filmmakers. In this course we investigate how accurately screenwriters and directors portray historical characters and events, and how successfully they recreate the atmosphere of the period. Our discussions will cover issues such as sex and gender; religion and religious persecutions; class and racial tensions; political rivalry and intrigue. We will be watching films from the 1930's through 2000 -- ranging from "Prince of Foxes" with Orsen Wells and Tyrone Power to "Dangerous Beauty" about the courtesan Veronica Franco.
Credit: 0.5-4
This upper-level seminar will examine the explosion of creativity and radicalism in late Hapsburg society, focusing on the capital city Vienna. In the years before and after 1900, Vienna was a vibrant city, home to many of the most important creators of early twentieth-century modern culture, among them not only Freud but also such figures as: Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Otto Wagner, Karl Kraus, Arthur Schnitzler, Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Robert Musil, Theodore Herzl, Otto Bauer, Karl Lueger, Gustav Maher, and Arnold Schoenberg, to name only a few. Taking the multi-lingual/-religious/-ethnic Habsburg monarchy as our base, we will follow developments in the fields of psychology, medicine, literature, architecture, art, and music, putting them into the context of important political and social movements like socialism, nationalism, anti-Semitism, and liberalism. This seminar is designed for junior and senior history majors with a background in European history. However, non-majors with knowledge of or interest in music, art history, or German literature are strongly encouraged to join. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
How do we remember, and whose memories become history? This course will look at the relationship among history, memory, and remembering during the turbulent twentieth century in Eastern Europe. We will examine the experiences of people in Eastern Europe through empire, revolution, world wars, Holocaust, state socialism, and the transition of post-1989. We will examine literature, memoirs, film, and oral history, and will pay particular attention to minorities and women, groups whose memories often differ from the standard historical narrative. Students will be expected to write a research paper on a topic of their choosing and participate in an ongoing discussion of the theories and problems of memory and history. History 132 (Modern Europe) or similar courses is highly recommended. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will examine the origin of the German Empire in the nineteenth century, the adjustment of Germany to democracy after World War I, the rise of Hitler and the Nazi defeat, the postwar division of Germany, and the difficult process of reunification after 1989 90. (Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.)
Credit: 0.5-4
This class will look at the history of the Soviet Union and the post-1945 German and East European socialist states with a concentration on films made in these countries, as well as films made elsewhere or later about life under state socialism. We will focus on a few key eras and topics, such as World War II films, Stalinism/socialist realism, the Thaw, the position of women in socialist society, and generational conflict. Students will be required to attend a weekly film screening as well as participate in class discussion. During the semester, each student may pick a topic for an in-depth research project. Previous coursework in European history preferred. See instructor for questions about prerequisites. Russian, German, or eastern European language skills are welcomed.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar offers an interpretive survey of the history of the Middle East from the Ottoman Empire until the present.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will examine the tumultuous age of the Tudors and Stuarts. It will investigate the Henrician Reformation, the remarkable reign of Elizabeth I, the struggles between Court and Country associated with the early Stuarts, and the events leading to the so-called "Glorious Revolution." Although political developments will be prominently featured, attention will also be paid to social, economic, and cultural continuity and change. Fulfills history major advanced seminar and premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
In this seminar, we will explore social changes that have taken place in Africa during the past century as portrayed in novels and films by and about African women. A variety of works from throughout the continent will be considered, but the general focus will be on the impact of colonization, urbanization, and other recent social changes. Among the topics addressed will be polygyny, motherhood, education, religion, employment, political activism, and the recent AIDS epidemic. In each case, the emphasis will not be on victimization or cultural decline, but rather, as expressed in their works of art, the resilience and adaptability of African women. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Long before Columbus crossed the Atlantic Ocean, peoples residing along the shores of the Indian Ocean had already established an extensive maritime network that linked the civilizations of India, China, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa. For centuries, the volume and wealth of the trade that crossed the Indian Ocean exceeded that of any other region, and it was in hopes of gaining access to that commercial zone that Europeans embarked on their voyages of "discovery." This seminar explores the historical development of the Indian Ocean as a scene of wide-ranging cultural and economic exchange, passing through stages of regional, Muslim, and European dominance that led to its decline in the nineteenth century. In focusing more on long-distance trade and interaction than on land-based states, the class will venture beyond the scope of many historical studies and investigate issues such as the nature of premodern globalization and the difficulty of studying people and places that are regarded as between, on the edge of, or alone on the high seas. The seminar will culminate with students writing a research paper on a topic of their choosing. Fulfills history major advanced seminar and premodern requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Novels and films are a powerful tool of historical projection in modern societies, and Africa is no exception. The sub-Saharan African novel is a recent phenomenon, dating back, for the most part, to the early twentieth century. The African film is of even more recent vintage and to a large extent remains a marginal form of expression for most of sub-Saharan Africa. However small a group they remain, sub-Saharan novelists and filmmakers have had a considerable impact on the societies that produced them. We will examine the influence of African novelists and filmmakers on the political and social realms of their societies and attempt to determine the relationship between novels, films, and the historical reality of sub-Saharan Africa from the 1940s to the present. We shall also focus on how novels and films have in turn been shaped by the historical forces they have attempted to transcend. Finally, we will analyze the vision Africans have of their past and their judgment of that vision. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will explore major social and political changes that have taken place in South Africa since 1900 up to the present and examine different ways that those changes have been experienced and studied. From the time of European colonial conquest, through the rise and fall of the apartheid state, a variety of competing groups emerged that eventually combined to form the nation of South Africa. That process was accompanied by recurring conflict, but with the end of enforced racial segregation in the 1990s and the introduction of democracy, South Africans have been re-examining their past in search of new narratives that might transcend the legacy of historic divisions. Through study of scholarly works, primary documents, literature, and film, this seminar will explore the roots of modern South African society and the variable perceptions of that history.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Vietnam is a region, a country, a nation, a society, and a war, or a series of wars. This seminar explores the place and its people during the twentieth century, focusing on the era 1945-1975. The French and American wars will be situated in the context of Vietnamese and world history, and our sources include a sampling of voices from various foreigners in Vietnam as well as from a cross-section of Vietnamese society. Through memoirs, biographies, reportage, essays, and films we will consider the issues of memory, visuality, and race in the construction of history. Class assignments may include short written exercises to develop critical reading and writing skills, and independent research projects to introduce basic research strategies. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
People make sense of their past by telling stories about it. This course focuses on the rich and exciting traditions of literature in India as a way of studying its past, and as a way of studying history itself. Some Indian writers, such as Salman Rushdie, Arundati Roy, and Anita Desai, have, in fact, brought India's history to the world through their fiction. But what different visions of India do they choose to portray? This course will examine their work, but also the work of lesser-known Indian writers and filmmakers, as a way of seeing how Indian intellectuals themselves have defined and described India, on the one hand, and "history," on the other. How have these images changed over time? Among the recent films we may see are Earth, Train to Pakistan, East is East, and Hyderabad Blues. Each challenges viewers' notions of the past as its characters confront it. This course requires some previous knowledge of South Asia or permission of instructor. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Both film and fiction have played significant roles in the "Modern Middle East" as means of interpreting the past and also as means of constructing present realities and issues. This seminar will examine aspects of the history of the modern "Middle East" as they are depicted in film and fiction. We will examine works created by artists from a number of different countries including Turkey, Iran, Egypt and Palestine, Afghanistan, Algeria as well as examples of Western imaginings of the region. Themes to be explored will include "Orientalism" and representations of the "Middle East," colonialism, nationalism and resistance, responses to development and globalization, understandings of ethnicity and identity, images of gender relations, and the changing roles of religion. Prerequisite: Sophomore standing. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will examine women's history and the historical dimensions of gendered societies in the modern "Middle East". Challenging popular stereotypes and images of "Muslim women", this course will explore the diversity in women's roles and experiences in a variety of cultural contexts and historical periods. Using historical, literary, ethnographic, and religious sources, this course addresses a variety of topics including the role of religion in the construction of gender, the impact of colonialism and nationalism on gender politics, the impact of globalization, social change, and other processes on women's status in different cultural settings. This course will also discuss the rise and impact of transnational feminism, particularly in the context of current conflicts and armed struggle in the Muslim world. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
As a field of study the Atlantic World transcends national borders. The Atlantic World is a very large geographical area that encompasses four continents, North and South America, Western Europe and Western Africa. Atlantic World Studies compares how these regions developed intricate and closely linked economic, cultural, and political systems on the eve of the 16th century. This course will examine the history of the Atlantic World from its beginnings to the present by emphasizing economic, cultural and intellectual exchanges between these four geographical regions and their peoples. Particular attention will be paid to European colonization in the Americas and in Western Africa, on the rise of slavery and of the plantation economy, on religious exchanges, and on migrations throughout the Atlantic littoral.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Novels and movies have had a powerful effect on history, both as media for the transmission of historical information to modern audiences and as reflections of the values and concerns of their creators and audiences over time. This seminar will examine a variety of films and novels created in the twentieth century in order to understand African-American history from the antebellum period to the present. The goal of this examination will be to discern how writers and filmmakers have understood and presented the history and images of African Americans to contemporary audiences, and how these representations have reflected and changed understandings of African-American history and notions of race. Open to sophomores.
Credit: 0.5-4
This course, open to history majors of sophomore and junior standing, focuses on the conceptual frameworks used by historians and on debates within the profession about the nature of the past and the best way to write about it. The seminar prepares students of history to be productive researchers, insightful readers, and effective writers. The seminar is required for history majors and should be completed before the senior year. Fulfills history major practice and theory requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Seminar will look at the formation of the American Republic. It will look at the pre-Revolutionary causes of the conflict, the Revolution itself, the establishment of a new nation, and the writing and ratification of the Federal Constitution. Course will focus on Political and Constitutional Issues, but will also address Social Change, Native Americans, Women, and Slavery. Fulfills history major advanced seminar and premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
The years between 1954 and 1975 have been variously described by historians as a Second Reconstruction and the "fulfillment of the promise of the American Revolution." These years, which constitute the civil rights era, witnessed African Americans and their allies transforming the nation by overturning Jim Crow segregation, challenging racism, and expanding the idea and reality of freedom in America. While this period was one in which most African Americans fought for greater inclusion in American society, it was also one which saw the rise of militant nationalist organizations like the Nation of Islam and the Black Panther Party that sought to separate themselves from an America they saw as hopelessly depraved and racist. This seminar will be an intense exploration of this revolutionary period and its personalities through close examination of a variety of primary and secondary sources, documentaries, and motion pictures. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will examine interactions among the three cultural groups that inhabited Atlantic North America from the days of Columbus's first voyage at the end of the fifteenth century until the British conquest of the region in the middle of the eighteenth century. The three groups were Native Americans, French and British settlers, and Africans. We will look at the power differentials among the three groups, the patterns of cooperation or non-cooperation they adopted, the sources of various cultural misunderstandings, and the strategies for coping that they adopted. Fulfills history major advanced seminar and premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar will introduce students to the history of Ireland since 1600. Through readings, reports, and discussions, the seminar will examine major topics and themes in modern Irish history. Fulfills history major advanced seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4
This seminar explores the history of the Iberian peninsula during the Middle Ages. The history of medieval Spain differed dramatically from the rest of Europe. For over 700 years, the peninsula was divided between Muslim and Christian rule. During different periods, many Christians lived under Islamic rule, and many Muslims under Christian rule. Most major cities also had long-established Jewish communities. As a result of multiple superimposed migrations and invasions, Spain was the most ethnically and religiously diverse part of Europe. The interactions among these different groups ranged from fruitful cooperation and tolerance, on the one hand, to virulent persecution, on the other. This course explores the rich, but volatile, relations between different ethnic and religious groups while placing Spain's history in the context of its relations with other regions. To understand the dynamic, and sometimes, violent societies of medieval Spain, one must appreciate the shifting patterns of economic, political, and cultural ties which linked the peninsula to Europe, north Africa, the eastern Mediterranean, and the Americas. Fulfills history major and minor premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
Throughout Africa's history, religion and government have been inseparably linked as fundamental elements of society. Authority and achievement, in all spheres of life, are generally based on certain assumptions about the operation of unseen forces and the submission of individuals to a higher power, whether human or divine. This seminar examines leading cases of religiously-inspired politics--or politically-motivated religion--from different places and times in Africa, studying key aspects of the relationship between faith and power and seeking greater understanding of regional variation and historical change in that relationship. A recurring theme is the role of indigenous African beliefs and their interaction with Islamic, Christian, and modern understandings of power. Among the cases considered will be Kongo's eighteenth-century "Joan of Arc," spirit mediums in African wars for independence, revolutionary Pentecostal preachers, and recent Islamist politics. The seminar will culminate with individual research papers by students on topics of particular interest to them. Prerequisite: HIST 145 or HIST 146, or permission of the instructor. This course will be offered every other year.
Credit: 0.5-4
There are so many Tibetans in Dharamsala, India, that people call it Little Lhasa. Ramayana celebrations based on the Hindu epic in Southeast Asia reflect more ancient migrations of Indians, who carried their languages and cultures with them as they migrated. Chinese communities thrive throughout Asia, where Chinese traders once settled in the course of commercial enterprise. This course will examine old and new patterns of Asian migration and the diaspora of various Asian ethnic communities. We will use a lot of cultural artifacts and products of popular culture that reflect the transit of people from one part of Asia to another. There are also, however, some important theoretical questions we have to tackle. What is the relationship between diaspora and assimilation? What does it mean for a community to settle in a place and make it home? The converse of this question is: Who is indigenous? What effect does colonialism have on the changing meanings of migration and diaspora? The transmission of cultures and religions across Asia raises other complicated questions. For example, the "spread of Buddhism" from India eastward is usually seen through the transmission of texts and ideas. What about people? We are more apt to consider the importance of people in the spread of Islam. But surely in India, if not Malaysia, too, most Muslims within a few centuries were converts, not immigrants. So how do we separate the diaspora of people from the diaspora of ideas? This course is the senior seminar for the Asian Studies Concentration (ASIA 490). It is also a history course. (Fulfill history major advance seminar and premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
Credit: 0.5-4
The course explores the cultural, economic, and ecological significance of food in premodern societies. Food serves as a shuttle between the concrete (what do you need to grow an olive?) and the symbolic (what does the Eucharist mean?). Caroline Bynum's work on the religious significance of food to medieval women is one example of the sort of reading that will be included. We will also explore the ways in which the great famine of the fourteenth century altered European social and political structures, how the increased cultivation of legumes fueled economic and demographic expansions (European crusaders were quite literally full of beans), and how leaders used feasting as a political tool. Dietary practices were also markers of religious and ethnic identity. The earliest Christians were, for example, unsure of whether they were still bound by Jewish dietary laws. When Romans disparaged their northern neighbors, one of the most effective ways to express their contempt was to describe how barbarians used animal fat (rather than olive oil) and drank ale (rather than wine). Fulfills history major advanced seminar premodern requirements.
Credit: 0.5-4
The goal of this course is to give each history major the experience of a sustained, independent research project, including: formulating a historical question, considering methods, devising a research strategy, locating and critically evaluating primary and secondary sources, placing evidence in context, shaping an interpretation, and presenting documented results. Research topics will be selected by students in consultation with the instructor. Classes will involve student presentations on various stages of their work and mutual critiques, as well as discussions of issues of common interest, such as methods and bibliography. This seminar is open only to senior history majors. Pre-requisite: HIST 387. Fulfills history major senior research seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.25-4
This is a special study course, generally given as a tutorial, for a student majoring in history who desires to study some topic in depth. The choice of subject will be made by the student with the approval of the instructor who is to direct his or her work. Prerequisites: permission of instructor and department chair.
Credit: 0.5-4
The honors candidates enrolled in this course will devote their time to the research and writing of their honors theses under the direct supervision of a history faculty member. Prerequisite: HIST 387 or 397 and permission of instructor. Fulfills history major senior research seminar requirement.
Credit: 0.5-4