A general survey of the political, constitutional, economic, and social history of Britain, Ireland, and the British Empire from the Revolution of 1688 to the present.
A study of nation building and strongman government in the nineteenth century, the Mexican Revolution 1910-20, Argentina under Peron, and twentieth-century Brazil. Special emphasis on the roles of women and blacks.
A survey of the history of African-Americans from their arrival in the English colonies to the end of the Civil War. African-Americans' struggle with slavery and oppression provide the central theme, but the course will address the various political, economic, social, and cultural conditions which contributed to the development of a unique African-American community. Particular attention will be given to the development of such institutions within this community as family, religion, and education.
A survey of the major topics and issues in African-American history from 1865 to the present: the era of emancipation, the turn-of-the-century nadir of race relations, black participation in both world wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and various dimensions of contemporary black life. The course will also explore some of the historiographical themes that have catalyzed current scholarship and will analyze diverse theories about the black experience in America.
This course surveys European women's gendered experiences of war, revolution, and terrorism from the French Revolution to the present. Adopting gender analysis as its methodological framework, it focuses on the changing constructions of femininity and masculinity in relation to major global upheavals and theories of violence in the modern world The course examines the impact of such developments on the lives of European women of different socioeconomic, regional, and racial backgrounds. Topics covered include the Russian Revolutions, World Wars I and II, global terrorism of the 1970s, and contemporary European feminist politics of immigration and the veil.
An introduction to the field of environmental history, which asks how the natural world has shaped the course of human civilization, and how humans, in turn, have shaped the natural world, over time.
This course introduces students to the experience of thinking historically and doing historical work. Students will learn about historiographical debates, lenses or approaches to history, how to locate and to interpret primary sources such as letters, journals, images, and maps. They will also have opportunities to engage with historical sites, monuments, special collections materials and to work with digital tools. Students examine how historians formulate questions or lines of inquiry, how to conduct library and archival research and practice organizing and presenting research in oral and written form. Required of all history majors and minors.
This American History course covers the Black Power Movement’s history from its origins in the late 1960s and early 1970s through the current Black Lives Matter era. Together we review how the Black Power Movement empowered individuals and groups to protest police brutality, advance criminal justice reform, advocate for self-defense, promote Black collective interests, advance Black values, create Black institutions, and secure Black autonomy.
An exploration of the Southern past from the earliest English settlements to the establishment of the Confederate States of America. This course charts the development of distinctive Southern political, economic, and social structures, examines the role of chattel slavery in shaping the region, and analyzes the causes of the war for Southern independence.
A seminar dealing with important political, social, and intellectual movements in American history.
A seminar dealing with important political, social, and intellectual movements in American history.
This course introduces students to the history of a particular kind of early modern museum: the curiosity cabinet or Wunderkammer. These striking collections of curious objects, marvels, and "monsters" had become key research and educational venues in many European cities by 1500. They generated discussion about the relation between local and global knowledge, between the natural and artificial, the extent and causes of biodiversity, and much more. The course explores the history and politics of these collections while recognizing their role as nodes in global circuits of information transfer and exchange. Also considered is the Wunderkammer's impact on the development of museums of art, science and technology, natural history, and anthropology.
This course explores watershed changes in the strategies used to produce and circulate new knowledge in the early modern world (c. 1500 to 1800),
pursuing a global and interdisciplinary approach to understanding the diverse tools, embodied practices,socio political configurations, social and economic networks that contributed to the rise of modern science. Topics to be addressed may include natural magic, secrets and recipes; natural history collecting, empire and observation; human anatomy,medicine and the Galenic body; drug trials and experimentation; mechanical philosophy, androids, and the transfer of knowledge.
Through the reading of biographies, this course will examine major topics in Latin American history. Important issues to be explored will include: the Spanish conquest, the colonial experience, wars of independence, national projects, imperialism, and social revolutions. Among the historical actors whose lives will be discussed and analyzed are: Hernan Cortez, Montezuma, Jose Baquijano y Carrillo, Simon Bolivar, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, William Grace, Emiliano Zapata, Eva Peron, and Fidel Castro.
This course will explore the place of Christian saints in the society and culture of the late Roman and medieval worlds. It will analyze changing ideals of sanctity and their relationship to broader social, religious and cultural developments. It will also focus on the varied functions of saints' cults as perceived by both the promoters and the followers. Emphasis throughout will be on the close relationship of religious ideals, ecclesiastical and secular politics, and social and cultural change. The course will be a seminar with emphasis on reading, class participation, and papers.
An investigation of the ways historians read past crimes and scandals for evidence of broader social, political, and cultural anxieties and desires. Focusing less on details of incidents themselves than on the debates and public interpretation surrounding them, this seminar deals with crimes such as those committed by Jack the Ripper or French murderesses at the end of the nineteenth century. In addition to analyzing secondary sources dealing with crime and scandal, students scrutinize a variety of primary documents such as trial records, medical and judicial debates, scientific analysis of criminality, memoirs of notorious criminals and detective novels.
An exploration of the conservation and wilderness preservation movements, and their impacts on peoples, landscapes, and animal populations, with a focus on North America and Africa. The class will examine the historiography of these interrelated phenomena, including their connections with colonialism, urban growth, anti-colonial resistance, local and indigenous agency, tourism, and landscape ecology. Case studies will might include the Kruger National Park in South Africa, and various U.S. national parks. Attention will also be given to recent work on private and public/private conservation. Students will develop research projects in an area of their interest.
Humanities
As a critical introduction to cultural contexts and ideological tensions in the modern world, this interdisciplinary course examines the intersections of literature, the arts, philosophy, and politics to investigate what it means to be modern and how the modern era has reshaped and redefined the human experience. The course will compare literary, visual, and aural texts from different global traditions to de-link the concept of the modern from “the West” in its investigation of how societies have negotiated, registered, and expressed the experience of modernity.
This course focuses on special topics in the humanities not already covered in existing courses in the program. This course may be repeated twice for credit when the topic differs.
International & Global Studies
This course surveys the major monuments, population migrations, and cultural patterns of continental prehistory; examines how Christianity's arrival shaped myriad chiefdoms, kingdoms, and states into the Europe we recognize today; explores ethnicity and the historical origins of ethnic conflicts; and considers the cultural impacts of European Union membership and 21st-century immigration issues.