As one of the first institutions in the United States to provide for historical studies, Brown University has long valued and nurtured research in the Department of History. The faculty’s high standard of scholarship and excellence in teaching are well known, and members of the department are committed to the value a rigorous education in the humanities confers upon students. The department trains students in the fundamentals of historical thinking: skills and attitudes that will provide a foundation for excellence in a wide range of careers and professions, including teaching, law, medicine, business, public service, and advanced historical research.
For additional information, please visit the department's website: http://brown.edu/Departments/History/
HIST 0010. History Matters.
History matters because the past profoundly shapes the present. As William Faulkner wrote, "the past is never dead. It isn’t even past." Through readings focusing on a wide variety of cultures and eras, this course explores how and why history is so potent. It also examines the big questions that lie at the heart of the practice of history, including: how does change happen? who makes history? who owns history? In looking at these and other questions, the course considers the important concepts and theories that historians use to make sense of the past and its impact on us. E
HIST 0020. Europe since the French Revolution.
A survey of European history from the middle 18th century until recent times. The themes include the transformation of a traditional society, industrialism, revolutionary movements, ideological changes, imperialism, fascism, communism, and the present state of European civilization. M
HIST 0150A. History of Capitalism.
Capitalism didn't just spring from the brain of Adam Smith. Its logic is not encoded on human DNA, and its practices are not the inevitable outcome of supply and demand. So how did capitalism become the dominant economic system of the modern world? History can provide an answer by exploring the interaction of culture and politics, technology and enterprise, and opportunity and exploitation from the era of the Atlantic Slave Trade to the 2008 Financial Crisis. HIST 0150 courses introduce students to methods of historical analysis, interpretation, and argument. This class presumes no economics background, nor previous history courses. E
HIST 0150B. The Philosophers' Stone: Alchemy From Antiquity to Harry Potter.
As a set of ideas and practices, alchemy has a long, rich history in China, Roman Egypt, the Middle East, Europe, and the U.S.. From late antiquity to the present, alchemists have transformed matter in order to understand nature, make things (including elixirs and gold), and explore connections between the natural and the supernatural. The history of alchemy offers a point of entry into science, magic, medicine, gender, religion, and cultural images of the sage, fool, and fraud. HIST 0150 courses introduce students to methods of historical analysis, interpretation, and argument. This class presumes no previous history courses. E
HIST 0150C. Locked Up: A Global History of Prison and Captivity.
A long history lies behind the millions of men and women locked up today as prisoners, captives and hostages. Beginning in antiquity and ending in the present, this course draws on materials from a variety of cultures across the world to explore incarceration's centuries-old past. In examining the experience and meaning of imprisonment, whether as judicial punishment, political repression, or the fallout of war, the class will ask fundamental questions about liberty as well. History 150 courses introduce students to methods of historical analysis, interpretation and argumentation. This course presumes no previous history courses. E
HIST 0150D. Refugees: A Twentieth-Century History.
Refugees are arguably the most important social, political and legal category of the twentieth century. This introductory lecture course locates the emergence of the figure of the refugee in histories of border-making, nation-state formation and political conflicts across the twentieth century to understand how displacement and humanitarianism came to be organized as international responses to forms of exclusion, war, disaster and inequality. M
HIST 0410. Histories of East Asia: China.
China's ascendancy as a global economic power in recent decades has been regarded by many as a reclaiming of its former glory. In introducing the history of China from earliest times to the present, this course aims to provide an understanding of the making and remaking over millennia of what we call Chinese civilization, with its changes, contingencies, and continuities, its various claims to greatness, and its many recurring challenges. This course is open to all students and assumes no prior knowledge of Chinese culture, history, or language. Readings consist of both a textbook and relevant primary sources. E
HIST 0420. Histories of East Asia: Japan.
This is a course for students who have always been curious about Japan but haven't had an opportunity to explore that interest fully, for anyone in search of a better understanding of the historical contexts that shaped Japan's complex relationships with China, Korea and the West, and for all those who wish to broaden their exposure to the histories of East Asia. Open to all students, this course assumes no prior knowledge of Japanese culture, history, or language. WRIT E
HIST 0510. American Exceptionalism: The History of an Idea.
For four centuries, the theme of America having a special place in the world has dominated American politics and culture, though many have questioned or challenged American distinctiveness. This course examines articulations and critiques of American exceptionalism, using sources from American history and literature, from comparative history and literature, and from modern American culture and politics. It is intended both as an introduction to American history and as a thematic class, focused on the U.S. in a global context, which is different from a traditional high school or first-year college American history class. WRIT E
HIST 0520. Modern American History: New and Different Perspectives.
Rather than a survey, this course uses specific episodes and events to reveal different modes of analysis. Examples of questions are: What do gender perspectives tell us about men on the frontier and women in dance halls? What is the importance of baseball to American culture? How do a historian and a lawyer differ in their analysis of a sensational crime case? How can we understand why the U.S. dropped two atomic bombs on Japan? How did scandals in television and popular music signal an end to American innocence? How has the Baby Boom generation altered American society? And more. M
HIST 0710. The Inquisition, Conversos, and Early Capitalism in the Atlantic World: 1492-1700.
This course explores the rise and fall of converso (Sephardic Jews forced to convert to Christianity) trading networks in the Atlantic world. In particular, we will focus on the converso communities in Spanish America, and consider how the institution of the Inquisition was used to control, and eventually to eradicate, this trading community. While the emphasis is on Spanish America, we will nonetheless also consider converso communities in other parts of the Americas as well. Additionally, we will consider the nature of capitalism, and debate the hypothesis that these converso trading networks were an early form of capitalism.
HIST 0720. A Checkered Past: The United States and the "Third World," 1945-Present.
An indelible post-9/11 image was that of international headlines proclaiming "We are All Americans Now." However, not everyone shared that sentiment, prompting many Americans to ask "why do they hate us?" Part of the answer lies in the history of U.S. policy. This course examines the history of the relationship between the United States and the regions of the world (Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East) that collectively came to be known as the "Third World." No prerequisites, although a basic knowledge of American history and an active interest in current affairs and international politics are suggested. M
HIST 0740. Religion, Ethnicity, and Race Through History.
Explores how religion, ethnicity, and race contributed to group separatism at some points in history and intersected to create a unified national identity at others. Considers influence of contextual factors, such as immigration, war, the civil rights and feminist movements, on the meaning and representation of love and intermarriage during the rising culture of individualism in an increasingly seemingly secular America.
HIST 0750. Great Modern European Thinkers.
This course will introduce you to the intellectual and cultural history of Europe from the late eighteenth century to the present. Through a broad study of ideological and artistic currents-including liberalism, romanticism, Marxism, surrealism, and fascism, and postmodernism-we will examine the changing attitudes of Europeans towards modern life.
HIST 0760. World War II in Europe: History, Experience, Memory.
World War II was the defining event of the twentieth century. This course will focus on the military, political, social and cultural dimensions of the war in Europe and the USSR. Topics and themes include: Hitler’s war aims; the uses of propaganda; civilian mobilization and "total" war; the Grand Alliance; racial policies and genocide; and the collaboration and resistance of civilians under Nazi occupation. The course will conclude with a survey of the ways in which the war has been--and continues to be--commemorated and debated in Britain, Russia, Germany, France and Austria. No prerequisites.
HIST 0930A. Word, Image and Power in Renaissance Italy (ITAL 0580).
Interested students must register for ITAL 0580.
HIST 0930E. Sacrifice and Suffering: Rhetorics of Martyrdom Compared (RELS 0640).
Interested students must register for RELS 0640.
HIST 0930F. Twentieth-Century Africa (AFRI 0160).
Interested students must register for AFRI 0160.
HIST 0930J. The World of Byzantium (CLAS 0660).
Interested students must register for CLAS 0660.
HIST 0930K. Islam and Modernity (RELS 0600).
Interested students must register for RELS 0600.
HIST 0930L. Israel's Wars (JUDS 0050H).
Interested students must register for JUDS 0050H.
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HIST 0940A. History of Intercollegiate Athletics (EDUC 0850).
Interested students must register for EDUC 0850.
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HIST 0940B. The Campus on Fire: American Colleges and Universities in the 1960's (EDUC 0400).
Interested students must register for EDUC 0400.
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HIST 0940C. When Leaders Lie: Machiavelli in International Context (ITAL 0751).
Interested students must register for ITAL 0751.
HIST 0940D. The Border/La Frontera (ETHN 0090A).
Interested students must register for ETHN 0090A.
HIST 0940E. Autobiography of the Civil Rights Movement (AFRI 0110C).
Interested students must register for AFRI 0110C. WRIT
HIST 0940F. Brown v. Board of Education (EDUC 0610).
Interested students must register for EDUC 0610.
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HIST 0940G. From Amsterdam to Istanbul: Christians, Moslems, and Jews (JUDS 0050E).
Interested students must register for JUDS 0050E.
HIST 0940H. The Jew in the Modern World (JUDS 0050L).
Interested students must register for JUDS 0050L.
HIST 0960G. When Leaders Lie: Machiavelli in International Context (ITAL 0981).
Interested students must register for ITAL 0981.
HIST 0970A. Object Histories: The Material Culture of Early America.
History is not just about people; it is also about things! Come explore the world of early America through the lens of objects--boats, dresses, plows, houses, wagons, watches, silver cups, wigs, blankets, land, gardens, hammers, desks--and the cultures that produced and consumed them. As a first year seminar, this course is designed to engagingly introduce students to the basic concepts of historical study. We will take several field trips to local historical sites, both on and off campus. Our primary focus will be specific objects and their contexts and histories. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT P
HIST 0970B. Tropical Delights: Imagining Brazil in History and Culture.
Examines the many ways that Brazilians and foreigners have understood this vast continent-size country, ranging from early European explorers' anxieties about Cannibalism to modern images of the Amazonian rainforest, Rio De Janeiro's freewheeling Carnival celebrations, and the array of social movements mobilizing for social justice. Through an examination of historical sources, literature, movies, and popular culture, this seminar will consider how multiple images and projections of Brazil have shaped national and international notions about the country. Reserved for First Year students. Enrollment limited to 20. FYS E
HIST 0970C. Animals and History.
Human beings have lived alongside animals for millenia. Yet only rarely have these creatures featured into the ways that historians think and write about the past. This course endeavors to introduce students to some of the conceptual questions at the heart of the historical enterprise by revisioning American history around such animals as the horse, the wolf, the buffalo, the passenger pigeon, and the pig. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS E
HIST 0970D. South Asian History.
HIST 0970E. Gender and Sexuality in Latin America: From Colonial Times to the Present.
This course examines historical constructions of gender and multiple manifestations of sexuality in Latin America to consider how family, politics, culture, can economics have conditioned power relations between men and women. We will study how gender shaped and has been shaped by conquest, colonialism, slavery, capitalism, labor struggles, urbanization, migration, nationalism, and revolution. E FYS
HIST 0970F. Greeks, Romans, and Jews: Conflicts and Confluence in Civilization.
Students should be prepared to read texts and discuss specific problems that illuminate the collision between the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Jews from 200 B.C.E. to 200 C.E. and begin to appreciate how that collision helped produce the cultural values that have largely defined the Western world. FYS
HIST 0970G. History and Image in Modern Japan: Geisha.
Explores the persistent and stereotypical representations of the "Orient" in the popular and academic cultures of the West and considers these images in the context of Japan's cultural, gender, and social histories. Uses Arthur Golden's Memoirs of a Geisha alongside other works of film, fiction and analysis to address issues of "orientalism" and the realities of women's lives in the modern era. FYS
HIST 0970H. History and Memory in China.
How do societies remember? This cultural history of history and memory examines how individuals and collectivities instrumentalize the past to shape the present. Case studies are drawn from Chinese history and emphasize the history of time-keeping and temporalities, traditional Chinese historiography, ritualized memory, and monumental archives. FYS
HIST 0970I. Magic, Science and Religion in Europe.
Explores the shifting boundaries among magic, science and religion in Europe between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Topics include popular magic religious reform; learned magic and the scientific revolution; and the persecution of witchcraft. Considers the extent to which magical beliefs disappeared by the 18th century. FYS
HIST 0970J. Slavery and Historical Memory in the United States.
How has America chosen to remember and forget the enslavement of millions of its own people? What are appropriate ways to acknowledge slavery in monuments, museum exhibitions, film, literature, and public policy? By approaching these questions through a wide range of visual and textual sources, we will explore the indeterminate space between history and memory. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT M
HIST 0970K. The Many Worlds of the California Gold Rush.
An exploration of the multifaceted changes set in motion by the discovery of gold in California in 1848. Topics to be covered include the gold rush's effect on the environment, on gender relations, on the Chinese, Mexican, and Native American communities and on American arts and letters. For first year students only. M FYS
HIST 0970L. Tokyo Modern.
In 1868, Tokyo (known then as Edo) was a town of samurai and shoguns. By 1929, it was a cosmopolitan world city, dominated by a vibrant middle class. We will explore this transition from tradition to modernity, asking whether modernity was imported from the West or a product of the Japanese past and whether it was a wrenching experience or one that brought personal satisfaction. M FYS
HIST 0970M. World of Walden Pond: Transcendentalism as a Social and Intellectual Movement.
Examines the 19th century phenomenon of Transcendentalism: this country's most romanticized religious, philosophical, and literary movement. Focusing especially on Emerson, Thoreau and Fuller, we'll examine the ideas of the Transcendentalists in the age of reform and evaluate the application of their principles to abolition, feminism, and nature. The central problem which they wrestled with will be the focus, too, of our investigations: the tension between individualism and conformity. For first year students only. P FYS
HIST 0970N. Worlds in Collision: Colonial Encounters and the Creation of Latin America.
Explores the interaction between Europeans and Native Americans during the sixteenth century. We will study a wide range of primary texts, including Spanish and Portuguese narratives, indigenous accounts, and books written by the descendants of the encounter. Among the seminar's major topics: ideologies of conquest; indigenous responses to invasion; and the reliability of ethnohistorical sources. For first year students only. FYS
HIST 0970O. Abraham Lincoln: Historical and Cultural Perspectives.
This seminar uses the life, legacy, and myth of Abraham Lincoln to explore central themes such as the frontier in the early republic, the nature of political leadership, law and legal culture, and the emergence of sectionalism, slavery, antislavery, and Civil War. Sources are drawn from Lincoln’s works, the writings of his contemporaries, and modern non-fiction, fiction, and film. The course enables us to consider two larger themes: 1) the relationship between memory and history; and 2) the function of history in modern society. The course has no prerequisites and does not presuppose special knowledge of American history. M FYS
HIST 0970P. Culture and U.S. Empire.
This seminar examines the relationship of American culture to U.S. imperial project. We will look at how cultural ideologies such as those about race, gender, and American exceptionalism have not only shaped Americans' interactions with other peoples but also justified the spread of U.S. power. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT M
HIST 0970Q. Truth on Trial: Justice in Italy 1500-1800.
This seminar analyzes controversial trials in Italy between 1500-1800. From the persecution of heretics to the trial of Galileo and the increasing use of courts to resolve conflict, the judicial arena was crucial in evaluating political, scientific, and religious truth. A case study approach will evaluate the success of law courts in defining deviance, appropriate beliefs, and knowledge. FYS
HIST 0970R. The Holocaust in Historical Perspective.
The course will examine the history and historiography of the Holocaust from early accounts to recent reconstructions of the origins, implementation, and aftermath of the "Final Solution." We will also analyze documents, testimonies, memoirs, trial records, and various forms of representations and commemorations of the Shoah. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT M
HIST 0970S. Sport in American History.
This course covers the relationship of sports to aspects of American culture since 1900. Topics include gender, race, amateurism, professionalism, intercollegiate athletics, and sports heroes. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS M
HIST 0970T. The Measure of All Things.
Interest in measurement is a peculiarly modern pre-occupation. This seminar will look at intellectual, cultural, and historical forces that have shaped attempts to reduce the world to numbers from Newton to Einstein. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS M
HIST 0970U. Politics of Gender in the U.S. from World War II to the E.R.A.
Gender and sexuality in the U.S. from World War II through the defeat of The Equal Rights Amendment in 1982. Examines issues of privacy, gender equality, reproduction, marriage, the family, homosexuality, and roles and expectations of men and women in both private and public life. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS M
HIST 0970V. The American South in History and Memory.
An examination of some of the historical myths and realities surrounding the American South, especially during the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War. Special attentions will be given to southern slavery and its legacy in the United States. Students will be introduced to sources from history, literature, film, and music. FYS
HIST 0970W. The French Revolution.
Explores the French Revolution and its various interpretations as an introduction to the practice of history. Through a close examination of documents and images, this course invites students to develop their own interpretation of this cataclysmic event and its legacy.
HIST 0970X. Making Change: Nonviolence in Action.
This seminar will focus on the life and work of one of the most influential thinkers of the twentieth century, examining both his role in the Indian nationalist movement, as well as the global impact of his ideas on leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS
HIST 0970Y. Liberty and Empire: U.S. Expansion and Native America.
HIST 0970Z. Atlantic Pirates.
This seminar explores piracy in the Atlantic from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries. We will examine everyday life on pirate vessels; the pirates' role in emerging colonial societies and economies; the complex links between piracy, imperialism, and nation-building; and the image of pirates as both villains and figures of legend. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS P
HIST 0971A. The Holy Grail and the Historian's Quest for the Truth.
Dan Brown's wildly successful novel The Da Vinci Code has recently given a feminist twist to an enduringly popular medieval legend also memorably captured in the big-screen antics of Monty Python and Indiana Jones: the quest for the Holy Grail. Beginning with Brown's novel and other modern representations of the search for the Grail and then turning back to texts from the Middle Ages, this seminar will unravel the truth - or truths - behind the legend. One of our central questions will be how historians can use legends to understand the cultures they study. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. Instructor permission required. FYS WRIT P
HIST 0971C. China in the Literature of Travel.
Seminar in the history of travel to and travel literature about China, from the time of Marco Polo to the present. Readings include classic European travel accounts written by merchants, missionaries, tourists, and adventurers, as well as outstanding examples of Chinese travel writing about China, Southeast Asia, and Taiwan. By comparing these writings we will gain a deeper appreciation of the motives animating world travel and of the various forms of literature that travelers developed in order to communicate their findings to readers back home. The course also provides first-year students with an introduction to the practice of history. Students will read and write original essays about primary source material. The course also offers an introduction to examples of scholarship drawn from one of the most vibrant sub-fields of history today: the study of travel and tourism. No prerequisites. Reserved for First Year students. Enrollment limited to 20. FYS P
HIST 0971D. An Empire and Republic: The Dutch Golden Age.
Between about 1580 and 1690, a new nation emerged in Europe that became a bastion of liberty, ideas in ferment, fine art, military power, science and technology, and global economic reach: the Dutch Republic. A nation that thought of itself as peaceful, yet was constantly at war; as Protestant, yet was composed of people of many faiths; as personally aspirational, yet derived much wealth from the conquest and slavery of others. Its people and institutional arrangements greatly influenced Britain and America on their paths to power, too. Its rise and eclipse may be instructive.. Enrollment limited to 20 first-year students. FYS P
HIST 0971E. The U.S. and the Middle East: Image and Imperialism.
The Middle East has figured prominently, in narrative and image, in the Western imagination. We will assess some of those narratives and images in their historical contexts, first tracing U.S. - Middle Eastern relations in the 19th and 20th centuries, then focusing our attention on representations of the Middle East in sources such as diplomatic reports, films, travel narratives, religious tracts, magazine advertising, and cartoons. Topics include the role of the press, the creation of the Middle Eastern "bad guy," imagining the "Oriental" female and male, imperial ethnographies, and visions of the "Holy Land." Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. Instructor permission required. FYS WRIT M
HIST 0971G. The Age of Revolutions, 1760-1824.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Americas belonged to a handful of European monarchies; within a few decades, most of the Americas was composed of independent republics, some of the European monarchs were either deposed or quaking on their thrones. Usually considered separately, revolutions in British North America, France, Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and Spanish America had diverse local circumstances yet composed a single cycle of intellectual ferment, imperial reform, accelerating violence and, forging of new political communities. We will examine revolutions that helped create the world we live in. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. E FYS WRIT
HIST 0971H. The Philosophers' Stone: Alchemy from Antiquity to Harry Potter.
As both an intellectual tradition and a set of practices, alchemy has a long, rich, and varied history in Egypt, China, the Middle East, Europe, and North America. In this seminar, we will examine the evolution of this tradition, with particular attention to alchemy's changing relationship to art, magic, medicine, science, and mysticism. We will also consider cultural images of the alchemist as sage, fool, and fraud, among others. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT
HIST 0971I. Science and Society in Darwin's England.
This course is a first year seminar designed to introduce students to the study of history. It will be divided into two very different parts. The first part will be organized as a traditional history seminar in which we explore together the world in which Darwin developed his theory of the Origin of Species. The second part will be a historical re-enactment of an 1863 discussion in Britain's Royal Society about whether to award Darwin their highest honor, the Copley Medal. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT M
HIST 0971J. Athens, Jerusalem, and Baghdad: Three Civilizations, One Tradition.
This FYS examines the core beliefs of early Greek, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic civilizations that form the basis of Western thought. Serving a similar ideological purpose in the pre-modern world as have political and economic theories for the modern world, religion and philosophy defined individual lives and collective identities. We focus on the manner of appropriation and modification of thought from one culture to another in order to appreciate that there is far more similarity than difference in belief systems among what are today viewed as separate, even contesting, cultures. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. Instructor permission required. FYS WRIT P
HIST 0971L. Act Your Age! : Age Consciousness in the West since 1500.
This course examines changing conceptions of age beginning in Early Modern Europe through 20th century Europe and North America. From Shakespeare's "Seven Ages of Man," to the rise and fall of the Developmental Paradigm in the late 20th century, this course will explore the historical literature on the ways that human age has been constructed, understood, and worried about, from infancy to decrepitude. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS M
HIST 0971M. The Rise of Abolitionism in the Atlantic World: Americas, Europe, and Africa.
This class examines the rise of abolitionism and colonialism in the Atlantic world in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We will begin by analyzing the intellectual, political, and economic foundations of the movement for the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, assessing its spread and impact to the Americas and Africa. The class devotes significant attention to the suppression of the slave trade in the Lusophone Atlantic world (Angola, Brazil, and Portugal). Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS WRIT P
HIST 0971N. Warriors, Lovers, and Saints: The Middle Eastern Story-Cycle in Historical Context.
Explore the Islamic Middle East and its cultures through ‘epic’ story-cycles taken from Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Examine medieval stories in historical context, discussing the nature of rule, the organization of society, the layering of Islam onto earlier religious beliefs and practices, and the persistence of their social values in contemporary society. Topics include: warrior ethos, the gendering of power and relationships, masculine and feminine ideals, the sufi (mystical) path and its effects on society, the nature of love and justice, and the ways in which animals are perceived as crucial social actors and activists. P FYS
HIST 0980A. Taiwan: Crossroads of World History.
Examines Taiwan's place as a crossroad of world history while introducing students to core aspects of historical inquiry; primary sources, historiography, and the writing of history. We will consider the island's importance to numerous early modern and modern colonial polities, and to the U.S. during the Cold War, as well as the intersecting histories of settlement, migration, and the environment that have shaped the island's population, culture, and ecology. Enrollment limited to 20 first-year students, sophomores, and juniors. E
HIST 0980B. Becoming French: Minorities and the Challenges of Integration in the French Republic.
Recent controversies around Muslim integration, including debates around the headscarf and uprisings in the working class suburbs of large French cities, point to difficulties France has faced in integrating its minority populations. This course will explore the encounter between France and its immigrant, religious, and racial minorities from the Revolution to contemporary times. By comparing paths of integration and debates around minority inclusion, we will consider how minorities negotiated their identities as they struggled to internalize France’s cultural and historical legacy. We will also addresses political and historiographical debates over the relationship between political citizenship and religious/cultural identity. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students and sophomores. M
HIST 0980C. Culture Wars in American Schools.
This course examines "culture wars" in American public schools over the past century. It will explore how and why school curriculum has become an arena for cultural conflict and how those debates have changed over time. These debates clashes in schools over religion, values, politics, and educational aims raise important questions about majority and minority rights, the existence and meaning of a common national culture, and the role of schooling in a democratic nation. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students and sophomores. M
HIST 0980F. Abraham Lincoln: Historical and Cultural Perspectives.
This seminar uses the life, legacy, and myth of Abraham Lincoln to explore some central themes in American history, such as the frontier in the new republic, the nature of political leadership, early law and legal culture, and the emergence of sectionalism, slavery, antislavery, and Civil War. Sources are drawn from Lincoln's works, the writings of his contemporaries, and modern non-fiction, fiction, and film. Enrollment is limited to 20 first-year and sophomore students. WRIT M
HIST 0980G. The Search for King Arthur.
The King Arthur legend is one of the most enduring stories to emerge from medieval Britain. Drawing on evidence from written and archaeological sources, we'll delve into the shadowy period in which legend is based, between the collapse of Roman imperial power in Britain and establishment of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic kingdoms that would succeed the empire. We'll also take students inside the historian's workshop, exposing them to the tools, texts, and objects from which historians and archaeologists construct their interpretations of how the inhabitants of Arthur's Britain lived and died. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students and sophomores. WRIT P
HIST 0980I. The Jewish Problem.
Jewish history took a dramatic turn in the late 1700s; having lived in relative isolation, many European Jewish communities began winning citizenship in modern states. This shift raised questions about the nature of citizenship for Jews and non-Jews alike: Who made up the nation? Was religion a key component of citizenship? Could outsiders of the past be compatriots of the future? These questions made up "the Jewish problem," which will be the subject of this course. We will examine the origins of the "problem" and the range of assimilationist, anti-Semitic, nationalist and Zionist solutions proposed. Enrollment limited to 20. WRIT DPLL M
HIST 0980J. Welfare States and a History of Modern Life.
History of the American welfare state, from its origins in nineteenth-century industrial capitalism to contemporary debates about health care, in comparative perspective. Why did welfare states appear and what form did the U.S. version take? Considerations of social inequality, labor relations, race, gender, family policy, the social wage, and the relationship between markets and the state are all considered. Some comparison with European models. M
HIST 1000A. History of Greece: From Alexander the Great to the Roman Conquest.
Covers the decline of Athens as the center of classical civilization; the conquests of Alexander the Great; the culture of the Greek elite and, to the extent that it's recoverable, of the indigenous populations of the Hellenistic world; and Greek contributions to what we call Western Civilization. P
HIST 1000B. The Shaping of the Classical World: Greeks, Jews, and Romans.
Focuses on the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Jews, from 300 B.C.E. to 400 C.E. Covers primarily social, philosophical, and religious areas of contention and accommodation, ending with the late Antique, Christianity, and rabbinic Judaism. P
HIST 1010A. Roman History I.
No description available.
HIST 1010B. Roman History II.
No description available.
HIST 1020. Living Together: Muslims, Christians, and Jews in Medieval Iberia.
A pressing issue in today's pluralistic societies is how people of different identities (religious, ethnic, etc.) can live together. This course explores a slice of history that can help us think through questions of difference in our own world: medieval Spain, where for centuries Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived in close proximity. Often through explicit juxtaposition with modern debates, this course examines how these people understood and structured their relations with each other in the Iberian Peninsula between 711 and 1492. Themes include: identity and cultural definition; power and religious violence; tolerance and intolerance; acculturation and assimilation; gender and sexuality. WRIT P
HIST 1030. The Long Fall of the Roman Empire.
Once thought of as the "Dark Ages," this period of western European history should instead be seen as a fascinating time in which late Roman culture fused with that of the Germanic tribes, a mixture tempered by a new religion, Christianity. Issues of particular concern include the symbolic construction of political authority, the role of religion, the nature of social loyalties, and gender roles. P
HIST 1031. The Viking Age.
For two centuries, Viking marauders struck terror into hearts of European Christians. Feared as raiders, Norsemen were also traders and explorers who maintained a network of connections stretching from North America to Baghdad and who developed a complex civilization that was deeply concerned with power and its abuses, the role of law in society, and the corrosive power of violence. This class examines the tensions and transformations within Norse society between AD 750 and 1100 and how people living in the Viking world sought to devise solutions to the challenges that confronted them as their world expanded and changed. P
HIST 1040. Crusaders and Cathedrals, Deviants and Dominance: Europe in the High Middle Ages.
Popes named Joan, Gothic cathedrals, and crusaders-all these were produced by rich world of the western European Middle Ages. The cultural, religious, and social history of this period are explored with special attention to the social construction of power, gender roles, and relations between Christians and non-Christians. WRIT P
HIST 1050. Renaissance Italy.
Italian society and culture from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. Explores the traditional understanding of the Renaissance as a period of remarkable artisticand intellectual achievements in Italy as well as the broader social, political and cultural context for these innovations. Topics include art, political theory, humanist scholarship, family life, court society, religion, urban and rural identities and sexuality.
HIST 1060. Late Renaissance and Reformation Europe.
HIST 1070. Early Modern Europe from Religious Reform through the Age of Absolutism.
This course surveys the history of Europe from the Reformation to the early eighteenth century. Particular attention will be paid to the major religious splits and conflicts and political developments, as well as the expansion of European powers overseas.
HIST 1080. Slavery in the Ancient World.
Examines the institution of slavery in the ancient world, from Mesopotamia and the Near East to the great slave societies of classical Greece and (especially) imperial Rome; comparison of ancient and modern slave systems; modern views of ancient slavery from Adam Smith to Hume to Marx to M.I. Finley. Readings in English. E
HIST 1090. Black Freedom Struggle Since 1945.
Examines the extended history of the Civil Rights Movement in the U.S. with a range of primary sources. Starting at World War II, the course considers the roles of the courts, the government, organizations, local communities, and individuals in the ongoing struggle for African American equality, focusing on African American agency. Sources include photographs, documentaries, movies, letters, speeches, autobiography, and secondary readings. Must have taken at least one post-1865 U.S. history course demonstrating a foundation in this time period. Enrollment limited to 50. M
HIST 1100. Taking Heaven by Storm: Early Modern Reform, Renewal and Expansion.
Catholic priests revolting against the pope; Jesuit missionaries engaging Confucianism in China; European empires invading the newly “discovered” American continents. This class explores an amazing epoch in human history that involved a complete revisioning of the world through changes in religion, politics, mass media, evangelization, warfare, science, and global geographic expansion. To do so, we will examine key movements and leaders as well as the lives of ordinary men and women as they navigated new ideas and—quite literally—new worlds. P
HIST 1110. Discipline and Punish: Authoritarianism and Fascism in Southern Europe.
This course focuses on Southern European countries with an authoritarian tradition: Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain. It adopts a cross-national analysis of these countries throughout the 20th century and deals with several repressive state policies, such as torture, propaganda and censorship and their effects. The course analyzes the ideology and tactics that were adopted in order to enforce ultra-conservative ideological agendas against the backdrop of economic crises, political instability and social insurrection. The first part draws on a number of theoretical studies on the origins of fascism, and the various forms of authoritarianism and military regimes. A later part of the course analyzes the regimes' inner transformations. Questions that will be dealt with include the role of the Army in politics, the connections between authoritarian ideologies and violence, the role of charismatic personalities such as Mussolini, Franco, Salazar and Metaxas, and the similarities and differences with totalitarian systems, such as Nazi Germany. M
HIST 1120. Revolution from Below: Political Violence and Militant Ideologies in the European South.
This course is an interdisciplinary analysis of political violence in Southern Europe and Balkan countries in the 20th century. The course adopts a cross-national analysis in dealing with practices of political violence from below, its effects and the different responses to it. It analyzes the variety of ideologies that were linked to violence, ranging from fascism to communism, and the state tactics that were adopted in order to enforce law and order. The first part of the course will provide a theoretical exploration of the term "political violence" and its implications, as well as a historical background prior to the 20th century. The second part will deal with case studies, including Portuguese anarchists, Yugoslav ultra-nationalists and Italian fascists. Other issues that will be covered include the Greek and Spanish Civil Wars, the national liberation struggle and intercommunal fighting in Cyprus, Basque micro-nationalism and terrorism against the state in Italy and Greece. M
HIST 1130. The Renaissance in Northern Europe.
Explores the late Renaissance as it developed primarily in sixteenth- century Northern Europe, particularly the relationship between artistic and intellectual developments and their social, political, and religious context. Topics include: the commodification of art and knowledge, court culture and patronage, early museums and curiosity cabinets, the gendering of intellectual authority, humanism and print culture.
HIST 1140. Nature, Knowledge, and Power in Renaissance Europe.
This course connects natural knowledge to larger developments in Renaissance Europe such as noble court culture, artistic innovation, commercial exchange, exploration and colonization. Topics include: alchemy, early museums, the visual culture of science, and the impact of New World nature on Old World knowledge systems. P
HIST 1170A. History of the Holocaust.
An investigation of the state-sponsored murder of six million Jews and millions of non-Jews during World War II. Topics include the entry of Jews into European society, the evolution of modern anti-semitism, the rise of Nazi Germany, the implementation of the Final Solution, reactions by bystanders and perpetrators, and the long term impact among survivors, national governments, scholars, and revisionists. M
HIST 1170B. History of Zionism.
Examines the history of the Zionist movement within the context of the history of European nationalism and as one of numerous Jewish political responses to rising anti-Semitism. Explores the ideological and political foundations of the Zionist movement until Israel's establishment as well as broader concerns of Jewish politics in the late 19th and 20th centuries.
HIST 1180. The Rise of the Scientific Worldview.
Examination of the worldview that emerged in Europe during the scientific revolution, from 1543 when Copernicus and Vesalius published their works until Lavoisier's chemical revolution in the late 18th century. Considers both the chronology of scientific developments, and their broader social and intellectual contexts. Accessible to science, humanities, and social science concentrators. P
HIST 1190. The Roots of Modern Science.
This course explores the ways theories of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics grew in relation to the natural, cultural and social worlds of the 18th and 19th centuries. There are no formal pre-requisites for the course, which is designed to be equally open and accessible to science and humanities students. WRIT M
HIST 1200. Science at the Crossroads.
This course will look closely at the dramatic developments that fundamentally challenged Western Science between 1859 and the advent of the Second World War in the 1930s. Its primary focus will be on a variety of texts written in an effort to understand and interpret the meanings of fundamentally new ideas including from the biological side--evolutionary theory, genetic theory, and eugenics; from the physical side relativity theory, and quantum mechanics. The class should be equally accessible to students whose primary interests lie in the sciences and those who are working in the humanities. M
HIST 1210. European Intellectual History: Discovering the Modern.
A lecture course, primarily for juniors and seniors, that focuses on salient philosophic, artistic, and ideological currents of 19th-century Europe. Beginning with the crisis of political and cultural legitimacy posed by the French Revolution, it concludes with the consolidation of bourgeois culture in the 1860s and 1870s and the two great scientific systematizers of these decades: Darwin and Marx. M WRIT
HIST 1220. European Intellectual and Cultural History: Exploring the Modern, 1880-1914.
A sequel to HIST 1210 focusing on radical intellectual and cultural currents that challenged and destabilized the assumptions of Victorian high culture during the fin de siecle. Through a careful reading of primary texts by Hobhouse, Nietzsche, Weber, and Freud. The course explores issues such as the rise of mass consumer culture, neoliberal and neofascist politics, philosophic irrationalism, psychoanalysis, and the woman question. WRIT M
HIST 1230. European Intellectual History: Exploding the Modern.
The overarching theme of the course is the relationship between modernity and the primitive as manifested in major cultural, aesthetic and political movements in the 20th century. Films are an integral part of the course. WRIT M
HIST 1240. Reason, Revolution and Reaction in Europe.
This course will explore cultural, economic, and political forces taking place in the globalizing Europe of the 18th and 19th centuries. WRIT
HIST 1260. Modern European Women's History.
The history of European women from the Enlightenment to the present, with special attention to culture and sexuality.
HIST 1270. History of the Book in Latin America.
The history of the book in Latin America does not only imply the import of European printed materials which began soon after 1492, but also the establishment of printing presses which spread across the continent during the colonial period. Thus, local intellectuals had the opportunity to communicate their own contributions for the building of a creole or proto-nationalistic conscience. As this course shall demonstrate, the history of the book is a crucial discipline which connects with political, cultural, religious, and social aspects. Prerequisites: A level of knowledge of the Spanish language equivalent to HISP 0500 (SP0050) would be helpful but not required.
HIST 1280. English History, 1529-1660.
Examines politics, religion, and society from the Protestant Reformation to the Puritan Revolution-a period of rapid and dramatic change when the world, for most English people, was turned upside down. Considers the experiences and concerns of ordinary men and women, as well as the elite. Takes in Scotland, Ireland, and the great migration to New England. P
HIST 1290. British History, 1660-1800.
A survey of British history from the restoration of monarchy to the Wilkes affair and the loss of the American colonies. In addition to political developments such as the Glorious Revolution and the rise of party, examines political ideology (including the great political theorist, John Locke) and various themes in social history (such as crime, popular protest, the sexual revolution, and the experiences of women). P
HIST 1300. Victorian Britain: Liberalism, Morality and Empire.
How and why did 19th-century Britain become the most powerful nation in the world? We will investigate Britain's remarkable political stability, examine its industrial expansion and the growth of cities, explore its trademark philosophy-liberalism- and consider challenges to the parliamentary system, especially by workers; and chart the expansion of empire and its consequences for the metropole.
HIST 1301. Nineteenth-Century Cities: Paris, London, Chicago.
This course surveys the literature on the origins of visual information - architecture, entertainment, mapping, shopping, advertising, painting, and film - in the modern city. For each of these visual productions, both form and content are implicated in the political and social worlds of their original settings. Nineteenth-century issues of labor, gender, consumption, and governance played a a role in making the original spectacles. What messages they contained, who produced them, and who witnessed them were determined by contemporary hierarchies, political struggle, and technology. M
HIST 1310. Empire to Cool Britannia: Twentieth-Century Britain.
One hundred years ago the greatest power in the world, Great Britain today is merely a junior partner in the new Europe. Yet is the history of Britain in the twentieth century chiefly a story of decline? Themes include the effects of the two world wars, the political incorporation of labor, decolonization and immigration, state expansion, and mass culture. M
HIST 1311. Land Use and Capitalism, 1350-2013.
This course offers an overview of major traditions for analyzing landscape in political economy, theology, literature, anthropology, asking how imaginary landscapes of the mind become the material realities of farm and highway. Themes will include the rise of modern, surveying, engineering, cities, infrastructure systems, and land reform. It will ask how historic models of government have played out in an era of environmental disaster, famine, mortgages, and evictions. We will explore tensions between political centralization and heterotopias, nomadic and settled people, peoples' movements and finance, exploring questions about the spiritual, economic, aesthetic, ecological, political relationship of people to territory. M
HIST 1320. Colonial Cuba: Slavery and Modernity in the Spanish Caribbean.
This course explores the impact of modernity, slavery, and colonialism in the production of Cuban national identity. We will discuss how technologies of power affected the development of the island, with an emphasis on the role of modern forms of social domination based on race, gender, and class. To be taught in Cuba.
HIST 1330. War and Peace in Modern Europe.
This course explores the relationship between war, culture, and society in modern Europe. The two world wars changed the political, social, and cultural landscape of Europe, and by extension, of the rest of the world, not least the United States. We will not delve into the military history of these vast conflicts; instead, we will examine how the experience of total war remolded European understanding and practices of memory and commemoration, culture and representation, humanity and civilization, utopia and revolution, catastrophe and identity. We will read influential scholarly texts and literary works, and watch important contemporary films.M
HIST 1331. Revolutionary Europe, 1750-1850.
Many Europeans would have agreed with the Austrian statesman, Prince Metternich, when he concluded in 1832: "There is only one serious matter in Europe and that is revolution." Through a comparative study of revolutionary and counter-revolutionary trends in Britain, France, Italy, and German Central Europe, this course seeks to resurrect the turbulent character of early 19th-century Europe. We will engage with the main events of the period—1789, 1830, and 1848—but our special focus is the formation of national, gender, and class identities through close analysis of a broad range of primary sources: novels, memoirs, visual art, and poetry. M
HIST 1340. Modern France, 1870-1980.
French history, with a special emphasis on cultural formations, from 1870 to Mitterrand's victory in 1981. Prerequisite: HI 2 highly recommended.
HIST 1350. Modern Genocide and Other Crimes against Humanity.
This course explores the emergence, evolution, varieties, underlying causes, and means of confronting and coming to terms with genocide and other crimes against humanity in the 20th century. We will discuss the origins of genocide and the subsequent conceptualization of this phenomenon; manifestations of colonial, imperial, racial, and communist genocide; war crimes and mass crimes by totalitarian regimes; and policies of mass expulsions and "ethnic cleansing." We will conclude with attempts to curb and punish genocide by means of international justice. M
HIST 1360. Between Marx and Coca-Cola: European Youth Cultures in the 'Long Sixties'.
This comparative course is designed to guide students through the traits of a major characteristic of post-war European societies: the consolidation of separate youth cultures in the 'long Sixties'. The particular characteristics of the style, literature, socialization and self-perception of the European youth and the student bodies of both East and West will be analyzed, before proceeding to the cultural and political explosion of 1968, namely the symbolic condenser of new dynamic identities and the outbreak of long-lasting cultural tensions. The course further explores how in this time of crisis and transformation countries under authoritarian regimes, such as Czechoslovakia and Spain which had little in common on a political level, but also Yugoslavia and Greece later on, experienced a wave of student protest and youth radicalization similar to the countercultural tension of France, Italy, and West Germany. Issues such as urbanization, popular culture and cultural transfer will be widely used in the framework of this course. M
HIST 1361. Empire and Nation: Violence and Cosmopolitanism in the Eastern Mediterranean, 1856-1922.
With Greece in crisis and the Middle East experiencing an "Arab Spring" the Eastern Mediterranean is again hitting the headlines. This course offers a historical perspective to current developments by examining the social, political and cultural transformations between the mid-19th century and the 1922 Greco-Turkish exchange of populations while questioning the current image of the Eastern Mediterranean as a model of cosmopolitan conviviality and an archetype of unbridled violence. Topics include state-building in Greece, the modernization of the Ottoman Empire, colonialism in Egypt, nationalism and coexistence, the Balkan wars and population movements, and, finally, contemporary nostalgias for fin-de-siècle Mediterranean.
HIST 1362. Failed States? Democracy and Dictatorship in Southern Europe.
Why did some of the first European countries to introduce democratic institutions end up as dictatorships? This course examines the history of democracy and dictatorship in Spain, Italy, and Greece by looking at the development of liberal democracy, the challenges it faced, and the eventual establishment of dictatorial regimes during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Topics include the relation between liberalism, authoritarianism, and nationalism; civil society and its discontents; military intervention in politics and proto-fascist movements; the character of charismatic leadership; the introduction of repressive state policies; and the role of violence and propaganda in the consolidation of authoritarian rule. M
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HIST 1363. Unwanted and Uprooted: Minorities and Refugees in Twentieth-Century Europe.
Refugees and minorities dominate contemporary international politics and the western humanitarian imagination bringing Hollywood stars to the most devastated parts of the Global South. And yet during the twentieth century, the global south was Europe itself. This course draws from the insights of history, minority and refugee studies, and international relations and uses a variety of sources (from parliamentary reports to refugee testimonies, and from films to literature), to examine this phenomenon. M
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HIST 1370. Germany, 1914 to the Present.
Explores the extraordinarily violent and no less remarkably creative course of German history in the 20th century. Emphasizes the impact of World War I; politics and culture in the Weimar Republic; conformity, resistance, and complicity in the Third Reich; Hitler's war of destruction and genocide; the divergent paths of East and West Germanies; reunification and Germany's future prospects. M
HIST 1380. Peasant Rebellion and Popular Religion in China.
Treats the role that religious beliefs played in inspiring and guiding popular protest and peasant rebellion in China up to the present. We will discuss the relationship between folk beliefs and the Three Teachings (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism) and state efforts to regulate religious belief. Then, through a series of case studies (the Eight Trigrams uprising, the Taiping rebellion, and the Boxer movement), we will examine how religious belief shaped both the ideology and the actions of protesters and rebels. We will conclude with a consideration of the place of religion in contemporary China. E
HIST 1390. Modern Italy.
Examination of Italian society, culture, and politics over the past two centuries. Particular attention is devoted to the creation of Italian national identity, the role of the Catholic Church, changing gender and class relations, conflicts between North and South, the development of fascism, postwar political developments, and changing Italian family life.
HIST 1400. The Rise of the Russian Empire.
This course provides a broad survey of Russian history from Kievan Rus' to the Crimean War. Topics include the rise of Moscow, the Time of Troubles, the reforms of Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, the Napoleonic Wars, and the conservative reign of Nicholas I. The following themes are emphasized in the lectures and readings: the changing stratification of society; the expansion of the Russian empire; Russia and the West (including diplomatic and cultural relations); economic development; and the origins and growth of the Russian intelligentsia and radical opposition to the autocracy.
HIST 1410. Russia in the Era of Reforms, Revolutions, and World Wars.
This course examines the rapid industrialization, modernization, and urbanization of Russia from the era of the "Great Reforms" (1860s) through the Second World War. We will examine both the growing discontentment among the population with autocracy's efforts to maintain power and the Bolshevik effort to recreate the economy, society, and everyday life. Topics will include Russian Marxism and socialism, terrorism, the Russian revolutions of 1917, the rise and consolidation of Soviet socialism, famine, the red terror, and World War II. WRIT M
HIST 1420. The Collapse of Socialism and the Rise of New Russia.
This course examines late Soviet socialism, the collapse of the USSR, and the emergence of the new Russia. The following themes are emphasized in lectures and readings: the major features of de-Stalinization; Soviet and Russian foreign policy during and after the Cold War; the domestic and international causes and consequences of the collapse of the Soviet Union; and the emergence of a new Russian government and national identity during the 1990s and early 2000s. WRIT
HIST 1430. Truth on Trial: Justice in Italy, 1400-1800.
Law courts had a profound impact on Italian society and culture between the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Law courts helped define what constituted deviance, legitimate knowledge, and individual rights. They did so in a long ago world in which it was possible to imagine that some gifted individuals could fly, that certain people were created superior to others, and that the sun revolved around the earth. From the persecution of heretics and witches, to the trial of Galileo and the increasing use of courts by women and other marginalized groups, the Italian legal arena mediated what was political, social, scientific, and religious truth. By the eighteenth century many judicial practices came under criticism, including the use of torture and the death penalty. How did reformers attempt to remake the legal regime and the society in which it was by then so intricately entangled? LILE WRIT P
HIST 1440. Islamic History, 1400-1800.
A survey of the major sociopolitical alignments of the central parts of the old world from 1400 to 1800. Particular attention given to the Ottoman, Safavi, and Mughal empires, which spanned much of these lands ca. 1500-1750. Concentrates on the socioeconomic and cultural environment within which the main institutions of these empires developed. P
HIST 1450. History of the Modern Middle East, 1800-1918.
Transformation of Middle Eastern societies and polities from 1800 to 1918 under the impact of growing Western economic, political, and cultural domination. The rise of new patterns of economic organization, governance, sociopolitical alliances, and cultural tastes in Ottoman Turkey, Arab lands, and Iran. M
HIST 1453. Civilization, Empire, Nation: Competing Histories of the Middle East.
The "Middle East" is a recent invention. A hundred years ago, none of the countries currently populating this region existed. This course considers how historians have used the concepts of civilization, empire, and nation to construct competing narratives about this region's past from the rise of Islam to the present. Since facts acquire meanings through interpretative frameworks, we ask: What is privileged and what is hidden in these narratives? And what would the history of this region look like if we could see it through the eyes of the peoples who have long lived there? E
HIST 1455. The Making of the Modern Middle East, 1750 to the Present.
From North Africa to Afghanistan, Turkey to the Arabian peninsula, the goal of this course is to provide students with a robust background in modern Middle Eastern history, broadly defined. We begin in the long nineteenth century, an era of intense social and economic transformation that led to the collapse of the Ottoman empire and emergence of a new state system, primarily under British and French colonial rule. We then explore forces shaping the contemporary region, including nationalism, oil, regional conflicts and the Cold War, Islamism and mass politics, and military interventions by the US and other world powers. M
HIST 1460. History of the Modern Middle East since 1918.
This course examines the histories of colonialism and nationalism in the modern Middle East, underlining the integral impacts of the World Wars and the Cold War in shaping the political, social, and cultural contours of the region. Throughout the 20th c., revolutionary ideologies rooted in the age of empire fed tensions between state and society and amongst states. In 2011, despotic regimes gave way to a revolutionary wave fashioned by ordinary people demanding freedom, dignity, and transparent governance. The fate of these revolutions remains unsettled. This course has been updated to provide a historical context to "the Arab Spring."
HIST 1461. Afghanistan: Crossroads of Empires to America's Longest War.
The primary goal of this seminar is to broaden and deepen students' knowledge of Afghanistan’s history on topics ranging from geography and society to key events and personalities. Second, the course is designed to provide more sophisticated understandings of Afghanistan’s politics and cultures, by contextualizing ongoing developments concerning the country and its people, relations with its neighbors, and role in the modern world. Third, we'll illustrate Afghanistan's unique status as a transregional borderland between three "Area Studies" in US academia—Middle East, Central Asia, South Asia—providing a springboard for advanced study or work in one or more fields. M
HIST 1470. Southern African History.
This course examines major themes of the history of southern Africa from the earliest times until 1994, with a heavy emphasis on historiographical debates. Our discussions of the South African past will always be informed by a consideration of the approach of the scholars who have interpreted and presented it as history. Our major questions concern the origins of historical change and the creation of racial groups. We will probe the significance of race in South African history but also the limitations of its explanatory power. Readings are arranged at three levels. First, we will be reading primary sources, to gain experience in working with the evidence that informs historical work. Second, we will be working through a concise textbook that summarizes the major themes of South African history. Third, we will be reading specialized scholarly books and articles, chosen to illustrate recent discussions about the interpretation of South Africa's past. The course will meet twice a week for lecture and discussion groups will meet once a week. E
HIST 1480. The Crusades.
From the 11th through the 15th centuries. Christians from Western Europe were pitted in a series of Holy Wars against their Islamic, Pagan, and even other Christian neighbors. This course offers a multi-faceted overview of military, political, religious and cultural aspects of the Crusades, including the Crusades' long legacy of cultural conflict in our contemporary world. P
HIST 1490. History of Medicine I: Medical Traditions in the Old World Before 1700.
People have always attempted to promote health and prolong life, and to ameliorate bodily suffering. Those living in parts of Eurasia also developed textual traditions that, together with material remains, allow historians to explore their medical practices and explanations, including changes in their traditions, sometimes caused by interactions with other peoples of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The course will introduce students to the major medical traditions of the Old World to about 1700, with an emphasis on Europe, and explore some of the reasons for change. A knowledge of languages and the social and natural sciences is welcome but not required. Not open to first year students. P
HIST 1491. History of Medicine II: The Development of Scientific Medicine in Europe and the World.
From the 18th century onward, Western medicine has claimed universal validity due to its scientific foundations, relegating other kinds of medicine to the status of "alternative" practices. The course therefore examines the development of scientific medicine in Europe and elsewhere up to the late 20th century, and its relationships with other medical ideas, practices, and traditions. Students with a knowledge of languages and the social and natural sciences are welcome but no prerequisites are required. Not open to first year students. E
HIST 1492. Global History and Medicine.
How medicine in one place was altered by changes elsewhere.
HIST 1500. The Chinese Renaissance.
Selected topics in the history of China's middle period, the T'ang and Sung Dynasties (AD 618-1279). Clustered around readings in political history are materials on social and economic history, or alternatively, intellectual and cultural issues. HI 41 is recommended as prerequisite. P
HIST 1501. Modern China: 1800-2011.
This course surveys the history of China from the mid-Qing (around 1800) to the present day—from relative decline, to revolutionary chaos, to reemergence as a global power. Major themes include imperial decay and the construction of the nation state, economic development and its institutional foundations, the collapse of Confucianism as a mainstream sociopolitical ideology, and the formation of Chinese Socialism. In particular, we will focus on the three-way interaction between intellectual trends, sociopolitical institutions, and economic change. The course moves in relatively broad narrative and analytical strokes, drawing comparisons with the histories of other regions, including Japan, India and Europe. M
HIST 1510A. China's Late Empires.
A post-nationalist perspective on history in China from 1200-1930, with emphasis on empire--formation, gender, and daily life in the Mongol Yuan, Chinese Ming, and Manchu Qing empires, as well as nationalist reconstructions of the Chinese past in the early twentieth century. P
HIST 1510B. Race and Ethnicity in China.
HIST 1520A. China Since 1936.
Examines competing visions of Modern China as seen from the vantage points of China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, and Inner Asia. Emphasizes changing relations among these places and China's contributions to the rise and fall of international socialism, feminism, decolonization, the cold war, the emergence of Asian capitalism, the growth of international exile communities. HI 41 or 151 recommended. Lecture with discussion. M
HIST 1520B. Modern China.
Examines competing visions of twentieth-century China as seen from the vantage points of various regimes in China, as well as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Tibet. Emphasizes changing relations among these places and China¿s place in the history of the rise and fall of international socialism, feminism, decolonization, the cold war, and the emergence of East Asian capitalism. Lecture with discussion. M
HIST 1530. Modern Korea: Contending with Modernity.
This course examines the extraordinarily rapid revolution of Korea from isolated, agrarian society into a culturally modern, industrialized, and democratic nation that is an important actor on the world stage. It also will investigate how a non-Western society generates its own inspiration for human relations, social structure, political and cultural values. Includes coverage of North Korea. M
HIST 1540. Samurai and Merchants, Prostitutes and Priests: Japanese Urban Culture in the Early Modern Period.
Examines the cultural traditions of the urban samurai, the wealthy merchant, and the plebian artisan that emerged in the great metropolises of Edo, Osaka, and Kyoto during the early modern period. Focuses on the efforts of the government to mold certain kinds of cultural development for its own purposes and the efforts of various social groups to redirect those efforts to suit their desires and self-interest. P
HIST 1550. From Amsterdam to Istanbul: Jews in the Early Modern World.
What can history of a minority teach us about the history of Europe? Using text, pictures, and music, we will examine the relationship of Jewish and non-Jewish societies in the early period, focusing on how the development of the modern state and the blurring of cultural boundaries within the Jewish world and between Jews and non-Jews transformed concepts of identity. New patterns of Jewish life in the Atlantic world, the Ukranian steppe, and the Middle East, as well as the cultural revolutions which led to the codification of Jewish law and the spread of Kabbalah, will be examined. Not open to first year students. E
HIST 1551. A Commonwealth of Many Nations? Early Modern Poland-Lithuania.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was the largest state in early-modern Europe, home to a diversity of ethnic and religious groups. We will examine how they lived together and interacted in this unique setting. The rise of the nobility and development of Poland's constitutional monarchy show how Polish identltiy was transformed. The interaction of Germans, Italians, Scots, and Jews as "national" groups within urban society, and the economic dynamism of Jews and Armenians reveal the possibilities and problems of social integration. The experiences of Protestants, the Ukranian Orthodox population, and the Moslem Tatars demonstrate the meaning and limitations of Polish religious tolerance. M
HIST 1552. Co-Existence and Conflict: Polish-Jewish Relations From 1500 Until Today.
Relations between Poles and Jews formed one of the bitterest national-religious conflicts in twentieth-century Eastern Europe. Like all such conflicts, however, it did not simply happen; nor were relations uniformly hostile. In this course we examine the roots of the conflict, stretching back centuries, and the ways in peaceful co-existence between Poles and Jews could breed hostility and violence. Topics include: Jews and the early-modern nobility; the nineteenth-century “Polish-Jewish Brotherhood”; the exclusionary politics of the interwar Polish republic; Poland’s role in the Holocaust; the post-war Communist regime and the Jews; Polish-Jewish relations following the collapse of communism. E
HIST 1553. Slavery in the Early Modern World.
There were multiple forms of slavery in the Early Modern world. We will look at three major systems: Mediterranean slavery and the Barbary Corsairs, Black Sea slavery and the slave elites of the Ottoman Empire, and the Atlantic triangular trade. We will examine the religious, political, racial, and economic bases for these slave systems, and compare the experiences of individual slaves and slave societies. Topics discussed include gender and sexuality (e.g. the institution of the Harem and the eunuchs who ran it), the connection between piracy and slavery, and the roles of slavery in shaping the Western world. M
HIST 1560. The Social History of Modern Japan.
Since Japan's modern transformation began some 150 years ago, its citizens have repeatedly confronted questions about the nature of democracy, capitalism, and modernity itself, and in so doing have shaped the institutions of society into new and powerful patterns. This course examines those transformations through the lenses of popular culture and social history. M
HIST 1570. Japan's Pacific War: 1937-1945.
Uses film, oral histories, historical fiction, and more traditional forms of historical interpretation to explore the events, ideas, and legacies of Japan's Pacific War. The armed conflict began in 1937 with the Japanese invasion of China and ended in 1945 with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Some attention is paid to military developments, but the principle concerns fall into the areas of mutual images, mobilization, and memory. M
HIST 1571. The Making of Modern East Asia.
This course examines Asia in the shaping of the modern world, from competing definitions of empires circa 1800 to the rise of the notion of the twenty-first as a "Pacific Century." It investigates the definition(s) of Asia as a world region, explores transnational interactions and emphasizes Asians as historical actors via written, visual and aural sources. Events are placed in the context of key historical paradigms, including varying definitions of modernity, the rise of the nation-state, birth of mass politics, new mechanisms of war, the language of self-determination, changing views of gender, shifting types of media and consumption, etc. M WRIT
HIST 1580. Gandhi's India: South Asia Before 1947.
Gandhi's India tracks the emergence and transformations of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent, the insurgencies and the cultural and economic critiques that shaped anti-colonial nationalism, the conflicts that fueled religious differences and the ideas that shaped non-violent civil disobedience as a unique form of resistance. With readings from Gandhi, Marx and Tagore, amongst others, this course interrogates relationships between power and knowledge, histories from below, as well as violence and political mobilizations that would, by the mid-twentieth century, bring down an empire and create a bloody and enduring divide with the birth of two nation-states. M
HIST 1581. Inequality and Change: South Asia after 1947.
With a focus on inequality and change this lecture course will survey South Asia's history post-1947, with the end of colonial rule and the making of nation-states. With a historical attention to 'inequality', we will interrogate the inequalities cast by rural poverty, environment, religion, caste, gender and ethnicity and the remarkable contestations of people in the region that have challenged state power, and have thus shaped South Asia's postcolonial histories. We will particularly focus on histories from below, and engage historical and literary writings, newspapers as well as documentary films. M
HIST 1590. Beyond Hindu, Muslim: Recovering Early South Asia.
This course will examine the recovery of early South Asia through history, archaeology and art, from the discovery of the Indus valley civilization to the establishment of Mughal rule, paying particular attention to colonial and post-colonial constructions and contestations over 'antiquity' and the making of Hindi, Buddhist and Muslim civilizations. M
HIST 1600. The Rise and Fall of the Aztecs: Mexico, 1300-1600.
This course will chart the evolution of the Mexica (better known as the Aztecs) from nomads to the dominant people of central Mexico; examine their political, cultural, and religious practices (including human sacrifice); explore the structure and limitations of their empire; and analyze their defeat by Spanish conquistadors and their response to European colonization. We will draw upon a variety of pre- and post-conquest sources, treating the Aztecs as a case study in the challenges of ethnohistory.
HIST 1610. Reform and Rebellion: Mexico, 1700-1867.
This course focuses on Mexico's difficult transition from colony to nation. We will examine the key political, social, economic, and cultural developments during this period. Major topics will include: the paradoxical eighteenth century, which saw Mexico emerge as the most prosperous region of the Spanish empire, even as social and economic tensions deepened; the outbreak of peasant rebellions in the early nineteenth century; the elite-led movement for independence; the economic decline and political turmoil of the early republic; foreign interventions by the United States and France; and the rise of the Liberals as Mexico's dominant political force. E
HIST 1620. Colonial Latin America.
Colonial Latin America, from Columbus's voyage in 1492 to Independence in the nineteenth century, was the creation of three peoples: Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans. The Spanish and Portuguese conquerors brought with them the world of the Crusades, the Inquisition, and the Renaissance. Native Americans lived there already, in rich empires and hunter-gatherer bands. Africans came as slaves from Senegal, Nigeria, Congo and Angola, bringing old traditions and creating new ones. These diverse peoples blended together to form a new people. This was a place of violence, slavery and oppression -- but also of art, faith, new societies and new ideas. P
HIST 1630. Modern Latin America I.
This course offers an introduction to the history of Latin America, beginning with the late colonial period and running through the close of the twentieth century. Emphasis is placed on political, social, and cultural history; less attention is paid to diplomatic and economic history. M
HIST 1637. Sub-Saharan Africa, 1945-2015: Sovereign States and Modern Developments.
This course begins with the end of imperialism and ends with a look toward the future. Themes include the pivotal importance of the newly sovereign states, the ongoing engagement with the rest of the world, and shared opinion about the imperative of modern development, even as definitions of modern and development differed. Readings include many primary sources, supplemented by articles on history and social science. Evaluation is based on participation, a map quiz, mid-term and final examinations, and short writing examinations, including article reviews. Students will also discover, analyze, and edit two new primary sources. M WRIT
HIST 1639. Sub-Saharan Africa, c. 1850-1946: Colonial Contexts and Everyday Experiences.
This course considers major actors and developments in sub-Saharan Africa from the mid-nineteenth through the mid-twentieth centuries. With a critical awareness of the ways that Africa's past has been narrated, it balances coverage of the state and economy with attention to daily life, families, and popular culture. The majority of the reading assignments are drawn from contemporary documents, commentaries, interviews, and memoirs. Works produced by historians supplements these. Students will analyze change, question perspectives, and imagine life during the age of European imperialism. Written assignments include a book review, two examinations, and identifying and editing a primary source text. WRIT M
HIST 1640. Clash of Empires in Latin America.
Examines Latin America as the scene of international rivalry from the 16th to the 19th century. Topics include comparative colonization, the transatlantic slave trade, privateering and piracy in the Caribbean, and the creation of an "Atlantic world." P
HIST 1641. The Age of Revolutions in the Atlantic World, 1760-1824.
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Americas were a foreign subsidiary of a handful of western European monarchies; not long into the nineteenth century, most of North and South America was composed of independent republics. What happened in the meantime? Often considered separately, the revolutions in British North America, Peru, France, Saint-Domingue (Haiti) and Spanish America had diverse local circumstances but also composed a single narrative of intellectual ferment, imperial reform and over-reach, accelerating violence and, ultimately, the forging of new political communities. It was a process that helped create the modern world. E
HIST 1650. Modern Latin America II.
No description available.
HIST 1660. The Mexican Revolution.
An in-depth study of the Mexican Revolution. The focus is on the years of revolutionary violence (1910-1920), but considerable attention is also paid to the roots of the Revolution and to its socioeconomic and political impact in the period 1920-1940. M
HIST 1670. History of Brazil.
This course charts the history of Brazil from Portuguese contact with the indigenous population in 1500 to the present. It examines the countrys political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural development to understand the causes, interactions, and consequences of conflict, change, and continuity within Brazilian society. WRIT E
HIST 1671. Brazil: From Abolition to Emerging World Power.
How did Brazil transform itself from a slave society in 1888 to rising international economic and political force? This course will examine the history of Brazil from the end of slavery to the present. We will analyze the reasons for the fall of the Empire and the establishment of a Republic, the transformations that took place as immigrants arrived from Europe, Japan, and the Middle East in the early twentieth century, and the search for new forms of national identity. We will study the rise of authoritarian regimes and the search for democratic governance in more recent years. M
HIST 1680. History of Modern Cuba.
Examines Cuban history since the late 18th century with a focus on the rise of sugar cane production, the frustrated nationalist revolts against Spain, eventual independence under a virtual U.S. protectorate, the long dictatorship of Batista, and the Revolution of 1959, which produced the first socialist society in the Americas.
HIST 1700. Colonial America Beyond the Thirteen Colonies.
America was international before national. Taking a region-wide perspective that includes the Caribbean, Mexico, Pacific coast, and Canada, this roughly chronological course examines a broad range of North American communities and cultures before the United States. These may be located in a pirate ship, a Mexican convent, a courier de bois canoe, a Middle Passage voyage, an Apache teepee, a Puritan circuit court, a Dutch island entrepôt, or a Russian fort. Theoretical undercurrents address "contact," colonialism, cultural syncretism, core-periphery, resistance, and hegemony, offering insight into enslavement, capitalism, consumerism, democracy, nationalism, and a host of defining American characteristics. P
HIST 1701. The Shot Heard 'Round the World: The History of Revolutionary America.
For those who lived through it, the American Revolution was a very personal experience. The struggle for American liberties pitted neighbors against neighbors, tore local communities apart, destroyed families, ruined livelihoods and ended lives. But the Revolution was also a global phenomenon. Its ideological origins lay in ancient Greece and Rome. Its economic causes stretched around the globe. Its ideals and values have inspired generations. Only by studying the complexity of the Revolution, and by placing the local experiences of newly-minted "Americans" within the global backdrop of their times, can this formative stage of United States history be fully understood. P
HIST 1720. The Early Republic.
The emergence of democratic America between 1789 and the election of Jackson. E
HIST 1730. Antebellum America and the Road to Civil War.
Surveys society, culture, and politics between 1800 and 1860. Topics include the social order of slavery, the market revolution and its impact, abolition and other evangelical reform movements, and the development of sectional identities. M
HIST 1740. The American Civil War.
In this course we will investigate the "felt histories" of the American Civil War—the personal experiences of Americans (northerners and southerners, slaves and freed people, European immigrants and Native Americans, men and women) who fought its battles and bore its consequences. These histories, as Robert Penn Warren notes, are an "index to the very complexity, depth, and fundamental significance" of the conflict. In addition to military and political dimensions we will also examine constructions of Civil War memory (photography, film, and other media) and the dominant narratives that have shaped our understanding of the war since 1865. M
HIST 1750. American Politics and Culture Since 1945.
History of the United States between the end of World War II and the present. Major themes and topics include race and civil rights, women's history and feminism, the Cold War, Vietnam, and U.S. foreign policy, suburbanization and the urban crisis, the rise and fall of the welfare state, and a history of consumption and popular culture. M
HIST 1754. Democracy and Inequality in the United States Since the New Deal.
This course examines the United States from the 1930s to the present. We will focus on the interaction between political economy, public policy, racial inequality, class conflict, social movements, and national politics, and how these spheres of American life collectively and cumulatively shaped the modern U.S. and its internal distribution of wealth and power. M
HIST 1755. The Intimate State: The Politics of Gender, Sex, and Family in the U.S., 1873-Present.
Examines the "intimate politics" of gender norms, sex and sexuality, and family structure in American history, from the 1870s to the present, focusing on law and political conflict. Topics include laws regulating sex and marriage; social norms governing gender roles in both private and public spheres; the range of political perspectives (from feminist to conservative) on sex, sexuality, and family, and the relationship of gender to notions of nationhood and the role of the modern state. Some background in history strongly recommended. M
HIST 1760. Political Movements in Twentieth-Century America.
Political movements in the United States in the twentieth century. History and theory. Highlights of the course include: populism, progressivism, segregationism, first wave feminism, labor movement, civil rights, new left, second wave feminism, new right. The course focuses on the origins, nature, ideologies, and outcomes of major political movements on both left and right in the twentieth century United States. M
HIST 1770. U.S. Cultural History from Revolution to Reconstruction.
What does it mean to survey a country's history? In this course, it means setting out in several different directions in order to determine the form, extent, and situation of the United States from the 1750s to the 1870s. It means looking carefully at the nation's past through its cultural productions (ideas, beliefs, and customs expressed in print, material, and visual forms). And it means paying close attention to the details. Each week, students will examine one object, text, or idea in order to track broader developments in American history during this time period. M
HIST 1780. Making America Modern, 1877-1920.
This course surveys a crucial period in American history between the end of Reconstruction and the beginning of World War I. During this time, the United States transitioned from a relatively fragmented, traditional, and largely agricultural society into one that was remarkably diverse, increasingly urban, and highly industrialized. In surveying this important transitional period, we will pay particular attention to far-reaching changes in the nation's business and economic life, its social movements, as well as its cultural developments, all with an eye to understanding how the United States became one of the world's most commanding economic, political, and cultural powers. M
HIST 1781. Ideas in the U.S. Since 1865.
This course treats aspects of both the intellectual and cultural history of the United States since the Civil War. Efforts will be made not only to comprehend the ideas of major thinkers, but also trends in the general culture that entail changes and continuities in values, attitudes, and behaviors. It will explore how historical changes have inspired ideas, and how those ideas have helped to shape history. Major themes include Darwinism, Victorianism, pragmatism, progressivism, pluralism, modernity, corporate capitalism, environmentalism, the beats, and the Sixties. M
HIST 1783. Science in the Marketplace.
We will explore the longstanding relationship between science and commerce from the 17th century to our own asking when the modern notion of science as a disinterested pursuit of objective truth took root. We will also explore how knowledge of the natural world has been shaped by personal, financial, and other kinds of self-interest in a number of diverse contexts ranging from Galileo’s invention of the telescope in Renaissance Italy to to the patenting of genetically engineered organisms in today's world, paying special attention to the diverse mechanisms that have been devised to guard against fraud and disinformation. E
HIST 1790. Environmental History.
Environmental history examines the changing relationship between human beings and their physical surroundings. We will actively question the boundary between nature and culture, showing how social and natural history mutually inform one another. We will do so by asking three interrelated questions. First, how has the material context in which history unfolded impacted the development of our culture, society, and economy? Second, how and why did people’s ideas and representations of the natural world change over time? Finally, in what ways and to what ends have human beings actively though not always intentionally altered their physical surroundings? M
HIST 1791. Exploration and Expertise: The Role of Science in American Society.
In eighteenth century, scientific pursuits were the province of a small select group of gentlemen like Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. By the end of twentieth, professional scientists numbered nearly 3 million. This course seeks to explain how and why science grew so large and so influential in the past 200 years, investigating both conceptual developments internal to particular disciplines, as well as external changes in social and institutional contexts. Students will have the opportunity to rethink some of the defining dualisms of American culture: elitism vs. democracy; centralization vs. pluralism; pure vs applied. M
HIST 1800. Sinners, Saints, and Heretics: Religion in Early America.
This course considers the major people, events, and issues in the history of religion in North America, from pre-contact Native cosmologies to the tumultuous events of the Civil War. Attention will be given to "religion as lived" by ordinary people, as well as to the ways that religion shaped (or not) larger cultural issues such as immigration, public policy, social reform, warfare, democracy, slavery, and women's rights. Prior knowledge of religion in North America is not required; there are no prerequisites to this course, and it is open to all students. E
HIST 1801. Religion, Politics, and Culture in America, 1865 - Present.
Religion has played an undeniable role in the contemporary American cultural landscape. This course lends some perspective on the present by investigating the various and, at times, surprising role religion has played in history in the shaping of American culture from 1865 to the present. M
HIST 1805. First Nations: the People and Cultures of Native North America to 1800.
This course explores the history of North America through the eyes of the original inhabitants from pre-contact times up through 1800. Far from a simplistic story of European conquest, the histories of Euroamericans and Natives were and continue to be intertwined in surprising ways. Although disease, conquest, and death are all part of this history, this course also tell another story: the big and small ways in which these First Nations shaped their own destiny, controlled resources, utilized local court systems, and drew on millennia-old rituals and practices to sustain their communities despite the crushing weight of colonialism. WRIT P
HIST 1820. American Urban History to 1870.
Both a survey covering urbanization in America from colonial times to the present, and a specialized focus exploring American history from an urban frame of reference. Examines the premodern, "walking" city from 1600-1870. Includes such topics as cities in the Revolution and Civil War, the development of urban services, westward expansion, and social structure. E
HIST 1830. American Urban History, 1870-1950.
A survey with a specialized focus exploring American history from an urban frame of reference. Topics include the social consequences of the modern city, politics, reform, and federal-city relations. M
HIST 1840. Capitalism, Slavery and the Economy of Early America.
The simultaneous expansion of capitalism and slavery witnessed intense struggle over the boundaries of the market, self-interest, and economic justice. This course traces those arguments from Colonization through Reconstruction and asks how common people navigate the shifting terrain of economic life. The approach is one of cultural and social history, rather than the application of economic models to the past. E
HIST 1845. Capitalism, 1500 to the Present.
This course will study capitalism as a historically-specific and contingent system of economic organization. By "denaturalizing" capitalism, we will seek to embed markets in a wide range of social relations, cultural practices, and institutional arrangements. The course begins with early modern Europe and the Atlantic Slave Trade, before moving into Enlightenment political economy and the Industrial Revolution. The nineteenth-century focus is on empire, law, and the rise of the corporation, before culminating in the twentieth-century of mass consumption, the IMF, deindustrialization, and the rise of the securities industry. This course presumes no economics background. E
HIST 1850. American Legal and Constitutional History.
History of American law and constitutions from European settlement to the end of the 20th century. Not a comprehensive survey but a study of specific issues or episodes connecting law and history, including witchcraft trials, slavery, contests over Native American lands, delineations of race and gender, regulation of morals and the economy, and the construction of privacy. E
HIST 1860. European Women's History.
This course deals with the history of European women and gender from the Enlightenment to the present. It will focus on large historical themes and questions, especially shifting constructions of femininity and masculinity. It will begin with an analysis of eighteenth-century philosophies regarding women and gender, and it will move to examinations of specific topics such as industrialization, Victorian femininity, the suffrage movements, gender and the Great War, interwar sexuality, fascism, gender and the Second World War, and the sexual revolution. M
HIST 1870. Modern France.
This course will explore the major events in French history from the time of absolutism to the present. We will devote particular attention to the concept of French national self-definition. Our central question will be: who belongs to the French nation at various moments in its history? Through focus on this question, we will study how phenomena such as revolution, war, sexuality, race, and imperialism shift the boundaries of national belonging in modern France. M
HIST 1880. Modern Britain 1801-2009.
Modern Britain's history encompasses the industrial revolution, one of the world's greatest empires, two world wars, and one of the first welfare states. In this introductory course, we will examine this history through the lenses of the class system, imperialism, gender roles, and ideas about progress and decline. M
HIST 1890. Empires in America to 1890.
This course surveys the development of American foreign relations from initial encounters between Native Americans and newly arrived Europeans to the extension of EuroAmerican power beyond the continental United States. By being attentive to a wider global context, we will attempt to understand the trajectory of "America" from a colonial hinterland to dominant world power. E
HIST 1900. American Empire Since 1890.
This survey of twentieth-century US foreign relations will focus on the interplay between the rise of the United States as a superpower and American culture and society. Topics include: ideology and U.S. foreign policy, imperialism and American political culture, U.S. social movements and international affairs, and the relationship between U.S. power abroad and domestic race, gender and class arrangements. M
HIST 1901. The Vietnam War in Vietnamese History.
The causes, course and consequences of the Vietnam War, with emphasis on the social and cultural features of the conflict, from a Vietnamese perspective. The experiences of ordinary soldiers and civilians to be considered as much as the motives and decisions of Vietnamese and American politicians and generals. Not open to first-year students. M
HIST 1910. Modern Ireland, 1798-2009.
Narrated like an adventure story, the history of modern Ireland seems to move from uprising to famine to revolution in a romantic and dramatic arc. This course offers a critical take on the nationalist narrative. Topics include: the Celtic Revival, the role of women, the power of the Catholic Church, Ireland's role in the British Empire, and Ireland's recent turn as the poster-child success story of the European Union. M
HIST 1920. Chicago and America.
This course explores the history of Chicago, but also uses that history as a way to think about issues in American history. Sources include novels, memoirs, popular histories, film and music. M
HIST 1930A. History of American School Reform (EDUC 1200).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1200.
|Spr||HIST1930A||S01||25592||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930B. Academic Freedom on Trial: A Century of Campus Controversies (EDUC 1740).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1740.
|Fall||HIST1930B||S01||16277||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930C. The Century of Immigration (AMST 1611Z).
Interested students must register for AMST 1611Z.
HIST 1930D. Making America: Twentieth-Century U.S. Immigrant/Ethnic Literature (AMST 1611A).
Interested students must register for AMST 1611A.
HIST 1930E. Health and Healing in American History (GNSS 1960B).
Interested students must register for GNSS 1960B.
HIST 1930F. Renaissance Italy (ITAL 1360).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1360.
HIST 1930G. Black Freedom Struggle Since 1945 (AFRI 1090).
Interested students must register for AFRI 1090.
HIST 1930H. Teaching Topics in American History and Literature, 1945-1980 (EDUC 1620).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1620.
HIST 1930I. American Higher Education in Historical Context (EDUC 1730).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1730.
HIST 1930J. Word, Image and Power in Renaissance Italy (ITAL 1580).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1580.
|Fall||HIST1930J||S01||16272||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930L. The History of American Education (EDUC 1020).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1020.
|Fall||HIST1930L||S01||16274||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930M. History of African-American Education (EDUC 1050).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1050.
HIST 1930N. Germany, Alcohol, and the Global Nineteenth Century (GRMN 1661E).
Interested students must register for GRMN 1661E.
HIST 1930P. Development, Dependency, and Decline in Africa, 1950-2025 (AFRI 1640).
Interested students must register for AFRI 1640.
HIST 1930Q. History of the State of Israel: 1948 to the Present (JUDS 1711).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1711.
|Fall||HIST1930Q||S01||16398||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930R. Roman History I: The Rise and Fall of an Imperial Republic (CLAS 1310).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1310.
|Fall||HIST1930R||S01||16282||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930S. Roman History II: The Roman Empire and Its Impact (CLAS 1320).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1320.
HIST 1930T. History of African-American Education (EDUC 1050).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1050.
HIST 1930U. Slavery in the Ancient World (CLAS 1120E).
Interested students must register for CLAS 1120E.
HIST 1930V. History of Zionism and the Birth of the State of Israel (JUDS 1712).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1712.
HIST 1930W. Introduction to Yiddish Culture (JUDS 1713).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1713.
|Spr||HIST1930W||S01||25723||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1930X. Antisemitism and Islamophobia (JUDS 1710).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1710.
HIST 1930Y. The Pogrom: Violence in Modern Jewish History (JUDS 1719).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1719.
|Spr||HIST1930Y||S01||25616||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1931A. Kabbalah: Jews, Mysticism, and Magic (JUDS 1740).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1740.
HIST 1931B. Money, Power, Sex and Love: the Modern Jewish Family in Europe and America (JUDS1722).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1722.
|Fall||HIST1931B||S01||16417||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1931C. The End of Modern Jewish History (JUDS 1716).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1716.
|Spr||HIST1931C||S01||25721||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1940. Making the Nation: Race, Class, Gender, and the Concept of Citizenship in U.S. History.
Explores meanings and history of citizenship in the U.S. from the drafting of the national constitution in 1787 to the present. Topics include legal, political, and social content of belonging to the nation. What does citizenship mean? What is the national body? Who has been defined in and out of the nation and why? Focus on race, class, gender, and nationality as analytical frameworks.
HIST 1950B. European Empires in the East (1500-1800): A Comparative Analysis.
Overview of the European expansion in the East during the early modern period. Through an analysis of European encounters with the peoples of India, Southeast Asia, China, and Japan, examines different forms of interaction. Stresses comparisons with the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and English merchant empires. P
HIST 1950C. Portuguese Navigations and Encounters with Civilizations (Africa and Brazil).
Survey of the making of the Southern Atlantic World during the early modern period based on the interaction between Portugal, Africa, and Brazil. Topics include slavery and African agency, the role of merchant communities, Indian answers to European encounters, economic cycles, colonial powers and forms of resistance, the conflicts between the Crown, the settlers and the missionaries, and the formation of colonial elites in the quest of a new nation. Conducted in English.
HIST 1950D. The Golden Age of Iberia, 1450-1700.
Overview of Iberia from the end of medieval times to the period before the Enlightenment, the period when Portugal and Spain charted the globe and established their respective Empires. The changing concepts of Golden Age and Decline are explored in their political, economic, social, and cultural contexts. Particular emphasis is given to the period from 1580 to 1640 when the three Habsburg monarchs ruled a united Iberia. Conducted in English.
HIST 1950E. Europe and the Indian Ocean, 1500 - 1800.
This course aims to characterize the Indian Ocean in the early modern period and examine the complex relationship between this lively world and a variety of European players. The classical topics related to the economic history of maritime Asia and how the trading world of the Indian Ocean was impacted by different Wester powers (the Portuguese Estado da India, the European commercial companies) will be addressed. However, the course will focus on a set of relevant social and cultural phenomena, ranging from the interaction between European and Asian political, religious, scientific and artistic structures to the indigenization of individuals, groups and "micro-societies," or the formation and circulation of mutual ethnographical images. P
HIST 1950F. From Morocco to China:Frontier Societies, Cultural Brokers, Multiple Identities in Portuguese Empire.
This course focuses on the study of social and cultural forms of hybridism within the Portuguese early modern empire. By exploring the interaction between Portuguese soldiers, merchants and missionaries and a variety of litoral societes stretching from Morocco and West Africa to Brazil and Asia, the course will discuss both profile and role of those go-betweens and cultural brokers that easily moved between distinct cultural worlds. The creation and development of multiple social, ethnic and "national" identities is also under consideration. P
HIST 1951. The First Globalization: The Portuguese in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
This class surveys history of Portuguese empire in Asia, Africa, and Brazil from fifteenth to early nineteenth centuries. Portugal pioneered the European expansion in the fourteenth century, laying the groundwork for several historical phenomena that defined modernity - the formation of colonial coastal enclaves in Africa and Asia, the colonization of the Americas, and the beginning of large-scale trade across the Atlantic and Indian oceans. The class analyzes the economic, religious and technological factors behind Portugal's pioneering role in European expansion. We focus on patterns of socio-cultural and religious interaction between Portuguese and native peoples in Asia, Africa, Brazil. P
HIST 1953. Brazil: From Conquest to the End of Slavery.
This class surveys the history of Brazil from the early phase of Portuguese conquest in the sixteenth century to the end of African slavery at the end of the nineteenth century. We pay close attention to religious and cultural exchange, as well as Brazilian social and economic ties to African through transatlantic slave trade. We devote significant attention to subaltern groups in Brazilian society, focusing on women role in Brazilian colonial society and African and African descent people agency in the context of abolition of slavery in Brazil. We will make extensive use of movies, YouTube videos, and radio interviews. M
HIST 1960A. African Environmental History (AFRI 1060M).
Interested students must register for AFRI 1060M.
HIST 1960B. Alien-nation: Latina/o Im/migration in Comparative Perspective (AMST 1903B).
Interested students must register for AMST 1903B.
HIST 1960C. End of the West: The Closing of the U.S. Western Frontier in Images and Narrative (AMST 1904D).
Interested students must register for AMST 1904D.
HIST 1960D. Africa Since 1950 (AFRI 1060A).
Interested students must register for AFRI 1060A.
HIST 1960E. Word and Utopia: Seventeenth-century Portuguese World (POBS 1600S).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600S.
|Spr||HIST1960E||S01||25594||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960F. The Portuguese Colonial Empire in a Comparative Perspective (XIX-XX Centuries) (POBS 1600Y).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600Y.
HIST 1960G. The Teen Age: Youth, Society and Culture in Early Cold War America (AMST 1700D).
Interested students must register for AMST 1700D.
HIST 1960H. Methods and Problems in Islam: Heresy and Orthodoxy (RELS 1530B).
Interested students must register for RELS 1530B.
HIST 1960I. Portuguese Discoveries and Early Modern Globalization (POBS 1600D).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600D.
|Fall||HIST1960I||S01||16273||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960J. Knowledge Networks and Information Economies in the Early Modern Period (HMAN 1970Z).
Interested students must register for HMAN 1970Z.
HIST 1960K. The End of Empires? A Global History of Decolonization (POBS 1600I).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600I.
HIST 1960L. Conflicts, Diasporas and Diversities: Religion in the Early Portuguese Empire (POBS 1600J).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600J.
HIST 1960M. The Birth of the Modern World: A Global History of Empires (POBS 1601A).
Interested students must register for POBS 1601A.
HIST 1960N. South Africa since 1990 (AFRI 1060T).
Interested students must register for AFRI 1060T.
HIST 1960P. Museum Histories (AMST 1903I).
Interested students must register for AMST 1903I.
|Spr||HIST1960P||S01||25053||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960Q. Jews and Muslims (JUDS 1723).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1723.
|Fall||HIST1960Q||S01||16396||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960R. Urban Schools in Historical Perspective (EDUC 1720).
Interested students must register for EDUC 1720.
|Spr||HIST1960R||S01||25596||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960S. 17th Century Portuguese World (POBS 1600S).
Interested students must register for POBS 1600S.
HIST 1960T. Modernity, Jews, and Urban Identities in Central Europe (JUDS 1718).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1718.
|Spr||HIST1960T||S01||25613||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960U. Popular Cultures, 1400-1800 (ITAL 1430).
Interested students must register for ITAL 1430.
|Fall||HIST1960U||S01||16261||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960W. World of Walden Pond: Transcendentalism as a Social and Intellectual Movement (HMAN 1971F).
Interested students must register for HMAN 1971F.
|Fall||HIST1960W||S01||16389||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1960X. American Jews and Israel: From AIPAC to J Street (JUDS 1717).
Interested students must register for JUDS 1717.
|Fall||HIST1960X||S01||16397||Arranged||'To Be Arranged'|
HIST 1965. Social Change in the 1960s.
The 1960s continue to resonate in today's culture as the decade left an indelible imprint on the present society. This course focuses on the tumultuous decade and incorporates the following topics: the Civil Rights Movement, race and ethnicity, the Women's Movement, the Peace movement, student movements, Vietnam War and foreign policy, sexuality, and cultural productions (music, film, art, photography). Lectures are rooted in historical narratives, but engage with interdisciplinary methodologies. In this way, as the semester unfolds we witness the complexity, the intertwining of movements and issues, and the evolution of cultural and political ideas and policy. M
HIST 1970A. Students and Scholars in the Modern Middle East.
In this course we examine the profound transformations shaping societies and cultures across the Middle East through the lives, writings, and educational institutions of students and scholars in the region. From “traditional” madrasas, seminaries, and yeshivas, to missionary schools and American universities, we’ll make use of memoirs, biographies, and other social histories to explore a range of institutions of learning—and their complex relationships with colonialism, nationalism, Islamism, and modern state-building. Our goal: to explore the contestations and negotiations between education, everyday life, and political authority—from participatory to autocratic modes, from Morocco to Afghanistan, from 1700 to the present. M
HIST 1970B. Aestheticism, Decadence, and Primitivism: The Roots of European Modernist Culture 1850-1914.
Explores the different phases of the dialogue between aesthetic modernism and mass culture. In particular, it focuses on the construction of such archetypes of the modern artist as the bohemian, the flaneur, the decadent, and the primitive in the context of Parisian urban culture between 1830 and 1900.
HIST 1970C. African Environmental History.
This seminar considers the relations of humans and their non-human environment in Africa's past. The topics are the same as those in the environmental history of other regions: conservation, food, animals, disease, population, energy, and climate. We sample recent writings on these topics while asking how has Africa's environmental history been affected by its position as the cradle of humanity, the source for the Atlantic slave trade, the imperial possession of Europe, and the underdeveloped margin of the global capitalist economy. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1970D. After the Revolution: Mexico since 1920.
This seminar examines political, social, and cultural developments in 20th century Mexico. We will pay particular attention to the emergence of the post-revolutionary state and its relationship to popular sectors, culminating in the crises of the 1980's and 1990's.
HIST 1970E. Brazil Under Vargas: Reshaping the Nation.
How did Getúlio Vargas, a large rancher from the southern Brazil, end up playing such a significant role in country’s history during the twentieth century. This seminar will examine the conditions that brought Vargas to presidential power in 1930, the influence he had on economic development, cultural nationalism, and the shaping of ways Brazilian understand their country until 1945. We will consider his return to power in 1950 as a democratic and populist figure and evaluate his legacy and lasting influence on politics, economics, notions of nationalism, music, Carnival, and culture. M
HIST 1970F. The Problem of Class in Early American History.
This seminar considers economic inequality in colonial British North America and the newly United States. Studying everyone from sailors, servants, and slaves in the seventeenth century to mill owners in the nineteenth century, this course will look at the changing material structures of economic inequality and the shifting arguments that legitimated or challenged that inequality. Readings will explore how historians have approached the subject of inequality in the American past, with specific attention on class as a mode of analysis. Is class an objective category external to a particular moment in the past? Is class an identity or consciousness that people take upon themselves at a specific time and place? How is class related to other structures of inequality, such as patriarchy and race-based slavery? Specific topics include the "Atlantic Proletariat", the emergence of the eighteenth-century middle class, the contest over the Constitution in 1780s and 1790s, the labor movement of the 1820s and 1830s, and the ideology of Antebellum America's fiercest opponents of capitalism, Southern slaveholders. Students will write extended papers that place primary research in conversation with relevant historiography. Enrollment limited to: 20. Written permission required. WRIT
HIST 1970G. The Recent History of Life on Earth: The Anthropocene.
This seminar will explore ramifications of the concept of the Anthropocene. The Anthropocene has been proposed as a new human-driven geologic age that began with the increased exploitation of fossil fuels in the late eighteenth century. Its proponents emphasize transformations through anthropogenic climate change, but we will also consider the effects of population growth, pollution, habitat destruction, and extinction. To assess the historical validity of the concept, we will discuss the impact of humans on the environment before 1800, the extent of transformation since 1800, and whether human-environmental interactions can be usefully generalized to our species as a whole. M
HIST 1970H. American Legal and Constitutional History, 1780-1920.
Undergraduate seminar on selected topics in American legal and constitutional history, focusing mainly on the period before the twentieth century. Examines recent debates surrounding such subjects as the making and meaning of the U.S. Constitution; law as an instrument of economic development and exploitation; crime and punishment in the early republic; construction of racial and gender categories through law; and the evolution of rights-consciousness. Enrollment limited to 20. Students should contact the instructor before the beginning of the semester if they are interested in taking the course. Instructor permission required. M WRIT
HIST 1970I. Welfare States.
History of the American welfare state, from its origins in nineteenth-century industrial capitalism to contemporary debates about health care, in comparative perspective. Why did welfare states appear and what form did the U.S. version take? Considerations of social inequality, labor relations, race, gender, family policy, the social wage, and the relationship between markets and the state are all considered. Some comparison with European models. WRIT
HIST 1970J. Families and Secrets.
Today we live in a 'confessional culture'. A family's most intimate secrets are no longer considered sacred. We will chart the shifting boundaries between what was considered private and public in Britain and the U.S. from the Victorian era to the 1980s. Topics: skeletons in the cupboard (the mentally disabled child, bankruptcy, the gay uncle) as well as the means by which family secrets were outed (the memoir, the tabloid paper, the divorce case). Instructor permission required.
HIST 1970K. The Practice and Theory of Everyday Life.
What do we mean by the "everyday" and how can we study it in the social sciences and represent it in the arts? This seminar focuses on attempts to answer this question both on the theoretical and the empirical levels. Readings will include philosophers of everyday life and examples of recent scholarship in "everyday life studies" that have revolutionized the study of leisure, entertainment, national identity, decolonization and gender.
HIST 1970L. The Jewish Problem.
Jewish history took a dramatic turn at the end of the 18th century; having previously lived in a condition of relative isolation, many European Jewish communities began winning citizenship in modern nation-states. The inclusion of Jewish minorities raised questions about the nature of citizenship for Jews and non-Jews alike: Who made up the nation? Was religion a key component of citizenship? Could the outsiders of the past be considered the compatriots of the future? Collectively, these questions made up "the Jewish problem," which will be the subject of this course. We will examine both the origins of the "problem" and the range of assimilationist, anti-Semitic, nationalist and Zionist solutions that were articulated. Enrollment limited to 20. WRIT M
HIST 1970M. The Nuclear Age.
This is a course for students interested in questions about the development of atomic weapons, their use on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Cold War arms race that followed, and debates over the risks associated with other nuclear technologies. We will look carefully at the scientific and military imperatives behind the Manhattan Project, the decisions that led to the use of atomic weapons on Japan, and subsequent efforts to reflect on the consequences of those choices. We will also explore how popular protest and popular culture after 1945 shaped our understanding of the terrors and promise of the nuclear age. WRIT
HIST 1970N. Christian Muslim Relations in the Middle Ages.
This course will examine Christian-Muslim relations during the eleventh through fifteenth centuries. It takes a broad definition of Christianity and includes the experiences of the Roman, Byzantine and Eastern churches. As a result, students will examine Christian-Muslim relations in a number of locations throughout the Mediterranean and Near East, ranging from Spain, the Levant, and Persia. Comparative views on sacred land, political and religious views, philosophy, polemics, learning and scientific understanding will be examined, with particular reference to primary texts in translation. WRIT, LILE, DPLL P
HIST 1970O. Moving Boundaries: Inequalities, Histories and the Making of Postcolonial South Asia.
This innovative seminar will combine readings and discussions with visiting scholars, writers and activists to critically examine the making of national and cultural boundaries of postcolonial South Asia - but with the goal to substantially rethink them. Connecting with the Watson Institute's broad thematic of 'inequality' and history's attention to chronology, we will trek through well-known and marginal dates that allow us to interrogate the inequalities cast by poverty, religion, caste, ethnicity and the environment and the remarkable contestations of people in the region that have challenged state power, and reshaped South Asia's postcolonial history.
HIST 1970P. Women in Early Modern England.
Selected topics in the social history of early modern England (c.1500-1800), with particular emphasis on the experiences of women. Themes to be addressed will include the family, working life, education, crime, politics, religion, and the early feminists. Not open to freshmen sophomores. P
HIST 1970Q. Approaches to The Middle East.
This seminar introduces students to the interdisciplinary field of Middle East Studies in the broader context of the history of area studies in the humanities and social sciences. Why and when did the Middle East become an area of study? What are the approaches and topics that have shaped the development of this field? And what are the political implications of contending visions for its future? The readings sample canonical and alternative works and the classes feature visits by leading scholars who research and write on this region. M
HIST 1970R. Confucianism in Chinese Society.
This course explores Confucian values in late imperial and modern China through writings on family, society, and history. Students will be working mostly with primary sources in English translation. P
HIST 1970T. The Prism of Ephemera: British History through Material Culture, 1500 - 1939.
A Victorian dance-card, a Depression-era movie poster, a brass button from a Napoleonic War uniform, a notebook of handwritten recipes, a funeral, or a sinuous garden pathway: all of these objects and phenomena are classified as "ephemera" ¿ historical data of transitory existence. And yet, the ephemeral object or experience is often surprisingly durable and revealing of the historical past. In this seminar, we will explore the secret meanings of the past that material objects can help us unlock. We will focus upon the histories of British families and their milieu throughout this period: how ephemeral data can not only help us understand how they lived and their value systems, but also how and why those values changed over time.
HIST 1970U. Radical Peasants, Rent Strikes, Land Reforms and Squats: A Global History.
Between 1890 and 1980, movements for freezing rents and redistributing haciendas transformed law in almost every nation in the world. In the form of the Via Campesina, global land movements constitute the most numerous movements today. Their contentions over land and water constitute one of the most coherent legal grounds for fighting global warming.
Students will read of key documents from rent strikes, global governance, and liberation theology, gaining acquaintance with key events and authors. Exercises will involve using digital tools to analyze World Bank reports, primary-source documents from the global history of squatting, and independent research. M
HIST 1970V. Race and Ethnicity in Colonial and Post-Colonial Latin America.
This seminar will undertake a close examination of race and ethnic formations as grounded in the historical experiences and interactions of major ethnoracial groups and communities in Latin America -- negros, indios, chinos, arabes, and blancos. We will focus on the historical and social constructions of race and ethnic identities and the significance of miscegenation and race mixtures (mestizajo and castas), using case studies from select temporal and spatial contexts, such as the Spanish Caribbean, colonial Mexico and Peru, the US-Mexico borderlands during the transition to the 20th century, and contemporary Brazil.
HIST 1970W. Medieval and Renaissance Medicine.
This seminar will explore changing ideas about the theory and practice of medicine from the Middle Ages to the early seventeenth century. During this period, medical practitioners faced new diseases, including plague and syphilis, which spurred a rethinking of traditional therapeutics. At the same time, some physicians began to challenge the ancient understanding of the body as a balance of humors and microcosm of the world, reconceptualizing it as a chemical entity instead. We will explore these major shifts, as well as the introduction of human dissection and anatomy, tensions within the medical marketplace between university-educated physicians and unlicensed "charlatans," and the experiences of patients in navigating health and disease. The emphasis in this seminar is not on locating the origins of modern medicine, as much as on understanding medieval and Renaissance medicine on its own terms. Written permission required.
HIST 1970X. Comparative American Slavery.
Seeks to understand why slaves were treated more harshly in some parts of Americas than in others. Explores how such factors as religion, law, demographics, slave resistance, the actions of Native Americans, ethnicity (of red, white, and black peoples), and the formation of racial identity influenced the treatment of slaves. E
HIST 1970Y. The Cold War and Environmentalism.
Beginning with the psychic and environmental dislocations wrought by the advent of the Bomb, this seminar will move forward in time to trace the nation's growing environmental awareness and concern as we seek to understand what underlies contemporary environmentalism. In so doing we will look not only at classic texts like Aldo Leopold's Sand County Almanac and Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, but many complicating traditional notions of the origins and conduct of the modern environmental movement.
HIST 1970Z. Cuban Revolutions: Nineteenth through Twenty-First Century.
Beginning in 1959, Cuba was transformed from a shady tourist destination and virtual colony of the United States into an ostensibly socialist society and a Soviet client state. This seminar examines the Cuban Revolution in historical perspective, beginning with the tumult of the nineteenth century and ending with the collapse of the USSR and the ongoing remaking of Cuban society.
HIST 1971A. Cold War/War on Terror.
This seminar will examine the militarization of U.S. society since the end of World War II. Its purpose is to provide a historical context to the current "War on Terror" by studying the foreign policy, political rhetoric, social movements, and popular culture of the Cold War. M
HIST 1971B. Consumer Culture in the United States.
This seminar will examine the history of consumer culture in the United States, with readings spanning the colonial era through the present. We will focus on how the culture of the U.S. has encouraged and shaped the development of consumer culture, and how the growing power of that consumer culture has, in turn, influenced American culture and life and (arguably) impacted other cultures. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1971C. Gender and Sexuality in Early Modern Europe.
Explores how notions of masculinity and femininity structured society, religion, intellectual life and politics in early modern Europe. Examines how individual women and men negotiated and contested idealized notions of gender in their daily lives, as well as how ideals informed understandings of nature, power and politics. Topics include debates about womens education, sex crimes, moral moral reforms, and witchcraft.
HIST 1971D. Pirates to Poppies: America and the China Trades.
From the early colonial period in North America to the 19th-century Opium Wars in China, we will examine the passionate and competitive Western fascination with the Celestial Empire and its importance to American economic and cultural development. From pirates who plied the Indian Ocean to the tea that sparked the Revolution to U.S. involvement in smuggling drugs into China, early Americans actively participated in this global commerce. Prized trade goods and art were central to the China trades, so this course develops a critical methodology for material and visual culture analysis. Enrollment limited to 22. E
HIST 1971E. The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
The Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, the son of a Spanish conquistador and an Inca princess, is a major figure in the Hispanic American literature and culture of the post-conquest period. A large number of publications have been devoted to his life and works, and the flow tends to increase in recent times. This seminar intends to review the most recent trends in this intellectual contribution, stressing some relevant aspects in the historiographic construction of Garcilaso's Comentarios Reales de los Incas. Prerequisite: A level of knowledge of the Spanish language equivalent to HISP 0500 (SP0050) would be helpful but not required.
HIST 1971F. Gender and Society in the High Middle Ages.
This course explores the changing constructions of masculinity and femininity in the High Middle Ages and considers the sources and social consequences of these cultural conceptions. The issues addressed -including sexuality, sanctity, sin, the body, and transgression of gender boundaries- raise the problem of understanding the mutually informing relationship between cultural representations and social context.
HIST 1971G. Drinking in Britain and America c. 1580-1800.
This course examines the cultural, social, and political life of beverages such as beer, gin, coffee and tea within Britain and America, paying special attention to puritan social movements, popular resistance and revolutionary struggles.
HIST 1971H. Introduction to Political Cinema: Films as Sources for Social and Cultural History.
This course will examine the reciprocal relevance of cinema for history and history for cinema, within the context of the so-called 'political' film-making. It will mainly focus on political inflected cinema and 'cinema of social concern' of the 1960s and 1970s, mainly in Europe. Drawing on a range of films the course will consider the social and political imaginary of these decades, focusing on the masters of the genre and proceeding with films made on particular historical junctures, their relation to the actual period of realization and the politcal messages they sought to send across. The course will examine specific case studies in order to investigate how film can be used to explore the cultural, political and social history of particular societies in important transitional periods. The case studies include: Fascist Italy; Second World War France; the Alergian War; Francoist Spain; the Greek Civil War; Greece under the Colonels; Britain in the 1950s and 1960s; and Latin American dictatorships. M
HIST 1971I. High Culture/Low Culture.
Explores the development of culture as a historical idea coterminous with industrialism, democracy, and mass society in 19th- and 20th-century Europe. Concerned particularly with the growing differentiation between high culture and popular culture and with attempts to theorize these realms by thinkers such as Matthew Arnold, Max Nordau, Raymond Williams, Theodor Adorno, Clifford Geertz, and Pierre Bourdieu.
HIST 1971J. Ethnic Women's Histories.
By comparing literature written by and about women of different ethnic backgrounds, this seminar considers how African American, Asian American, Jewish, Chicana/Latina, and Native American women of varying social locations and generations understood their ethnicity in relationship to their lives in America, as well as the historian's task uncovering that relationship. The goal of the course is to engage with the concept of "sisterhood" and to dissect how this rhetorical device brings women together and divides them by failing to fully take into account the historical ways in which different backgrounds influenced women's identities and choices.
HIST 1971K. Tiananmen 1989 as History.
This course is an inquiry into the causes, nature and significance of the dramatic events that took place in Tiananmen Square and across the People's Republic of China in the spring of 1989. The course pushes the borders of contemporary history, forcing students to think through the meaning and limits of historical inquiry itself. The student movement in Beijing and violent crackdown by the state on June 4th is the narrative at the core of our investigation. However, the course will be primarily concerned with the historical trends, socio-political changes, and reformist thinking out of which the student movement emerged. A rare set of primary documents recording the ideas of leading reformist figures who gathered together at the peak of the student movement will provide focus for exploring the roots of Tiananmen and its historical significance. Some background in the study of modern China recommended.
HIST 1971L. History of Islamic Law: Theory and Practice.
Highlights of the development of a religiously inspired legal tradition which guided individuals, social relations, commercial transactions, and concepts of governmental legitimacy in Islamic lands. How did the theory and procedures of this tradition develop? How did it adapt to changing times and circumstances? How did it interact with other sources of right? Enrollment limited to 20 juniors, seniors, and graduate students with a background in Middle East and/or Islamic history. Instructor permission required.E
HIST 1971M. Middle East Voices: The Novel as Social History from Morocco to Afghanistan.
This seminar introduces students to the dynamic transformations affecting social and cultural life in the modern Middle East through the writings of people of the region themselves. In pursuit of this goal, we will read novels and essays in translation from across the twentieth century Middle East, both chronologically and geographically. In examining the relationship between novels and social history, as well as the related genres of memoirs and microhistory, particular attention will be given to the lives of “ordinary” people, as well as uncovering voices silenced by popular media accounts or conventional histories of the region. M
HIST 1971N. Dissolution of the Ottoman Empire.
This seminar focuses on external and internal developments that contributed to the gradual dissolution of the multi-religious and multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire into lands (a) that became dependently incorporated into the capitalist modern world order, and (b) where religious and ethnic-linguistic distinctions became the founding principle of solidarity and political organization. We examine critically the context, advantages and shortcomings of different historical approaches to these developments. Since these approaches are shared by historians who work on other parts of the modern world, historians working these approaches characterize the coverage of modern history are students who should be able to gain from this seminar a better understanding of the historiography of not only the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire but also of the broader issues of the historiography of the modern era.
Requirements: students must meet the following conditions for registration:
(1) Background knowledge of Middle East history and cultures. Students must have taken at least one survey course related to the Middle East or South East Europe, or the equivalent of such a course in another university.
(2) Written permission of the instructor when conditions are not met. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1971O. Iberia from the Golden Age to the Enlightenment, c. 1450-1800.
Overview of Iberia from the end of medieval times to the Enlightenment. This is the period when Portugal and Spain charted the globe and established their respective empires. The changing concepts of Golden Age, Decline and Enlightenment will be explored in their political, economic, social, and cultural contexts.
HIST 1971P. Identity Conflicts in Mid East History, 1900- Present: A Proseminar thru Memoirs, Novels, and Films.
A critical study of selected memoirs, novels, and films (in English translation) as mirrors of identity conflicts and problems in Middle Eastern history since 1900. How competing political agendas and ideologies, differences in social background, gender and education, and changing conditions help shape, reshape, and blur collective as well as individual identities. M
Students must meet the following conditions for registration in this seminar:
(1) Background knowledge of Middle East history and cultures. Students must have taken at least one survey course taught by Akarli, or courses focusing on the Middle East taught through Religious Studies, Comparative Literature, Political Science, and Anthropology departments.
(2) A senior or junior student status
(3) Concentration in one of the following fields: History, Middle East Studies, International Studies, Comparative Literature, Religious Studies, or Development Studies.
(4) Instructor's written permission will be required when the conditions above do not apply.
HIST 1971Q. Imagining Modern Japan.
This course examines the ways in which images of the West and of Asia have been articulated in modern Japan and the parallel construction of Western images of Japan. Through popular culture and media, travelers' accounts and other primary sources the course explores the role these images play in shaping both definitions of race and nation in Japan and Western conceptions of Japan's status and power.
HIST 1971R. Sex and Scandal in Modern Britain.
Nothing changes more than what is considered shocking. This course traces the shifting boundaries between private vice and public virtue in modern Britain, focusing especially upon sexual practices, proscriptions, and conventions. Among the topics to be explored are sexual violence, sensationalism, imperial liaisons, slumming, homosexuality, marriages heterodox and traditional, birth control, sex scandals, and the era of permissiveness.
HIST 1971S. Indian/Black Individuals and Communities in the Americas.
Persons of mixed African and Native American ancestry were often important in the American colonial period and beyond. This course examines relations among Indians and blacks, the formation of Afro-Indian communities, and their changing ideas about one another. The focus is on the 18th and 19th centuries, but some attention is given to more recent developments.
HIST 1971T. Knowing and Believing: Galileo to Darwin.
This course will consider the 17th century career of Galileo and the 19th century career of Darwin to clarify the changing relation between science and religion in the European West. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1971U. The Measure of all Things.
HIST 1971V. Living in the New Jerusalem: Britain After 1945.
HIST 1971W. Law and the Making of the Color Line in the US 1865-1920.
A study of how legalized segregation came to exist in the United States by the early twentieth century. We will examine not only legal and historical texts but also fiction and films. Students will write a final paper based on significant research into primary sources.
HIST 1971X. From Emancipation To Obama.
This course develops a deep reading knowledge of significant issues and themes that define African American experiences in the 20th century, experiences that begin with the years following Emancipation and culminates with the election of President Obama. Themes include citizenship, gender, labor, politics, and culture. The goal is to develop critical analysis and historiographical depth. Some background in twentieth century United States history is preferred but not required. Assignments include weekly reading responses, class participation and presentation, and two written papers. Enrollment limited to 20. DPLL WRIT M
HIST 1971Z. Memoirs and Memory: The Individual Experience of Modern Jewish Life.
By comparing memoirs from the early modern period through contemporary times and from widely diverging geographical settings such as eastern, central and western Europe, North Africa, the U.S., and Palestine/ Israel, this course considers how Jews in different historical settings have understood their Jewishness and their relationship to their past, as well as the historian's view in this relationship. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1972B. History of Science in Africa.
A study of knowledge about health, nature, and mathematics in Africa. The course will consider indigenous knowledge (and what is meant by that category), the politics of colonial knowledge production and the ownership and purposes of post-colonial science. Some background in African History strongly recommended. E
HIST 1972C. Old Skeletons, New Closets: History, Myth and Nation in Southern Europe and the Balkans.
This course focuses on die-hard cultural myths that cemented a sense of "community" and fueled political nationalism in Southern Europe and the Balkans from the late eighteenth century onwards. It highlights the constant interaction between historical discourses and collective representations of the past, which are often triggered by the experiences of violence and war, such as in the former Yugoslavia. Finally, the course looks at how dissemination of historical myths, representations and transmission of memories across generations take place but also the ways in which the past is mobilized for political reasons. Topics include the relation between literature and myth, the figure of Dracula and the image of the violent Balkans, the silenced Ottoman and Jewish past, the myth of the "good" Italian soldier, the role of Alexander the Great in the new "Macedonian Question", the dominance of the Battle of Kosovo over Serb politics and the institutionalization of Columbus Day in Spain. M
HIST 1972D. Prejudice in Early Modern England.
Examines English attitudes towards the "other" in the period from the Reformation to the early Enlightenment. Utilizing a combination of theoretical and secondary readings and primary source materials, the course will investigate English prejudices against and stereotypes of religious minorities within England (Catholics and Puritans), the non-English peoples of The British Isles (Scots, Welsh and Irish), continental Europeans (particularly the Spanish, the French and the Dutch), and the non-Christian other (Jews, Turks, and Blacks) during a period of revolutionary upheaval. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1972E. Word of Mouth: Orality and Memory in Historiography and Documentary Film.
This course focuses on the methodological issues related to the practice of Oral History (OH), one of the most contested methods in historical research. Despite the fact that OH has been established and institutionalized through various centers, archives and journals, still the advocates of "orthodox" historical writing insist that its employment is not scientific enough and that its findings can be misleading. The course analyzes the possibilities and problems that are inherent in the use of oral sources. A theoretical part explores various theories on how to approach memory. The empirical part includes case studies from 20th century European history, such as Italian Fascism and war crimes, the Red Army in Berlin, the Spanish and Greek Civil Wars, the Vinchy government in France, the Holocaust experience, the student movements of '68, the Colonels' dictatorship in Greece and the war in Yugoslavia. A further issue that will be discussed is the use of interviews in historical documentaries, such as "Shoah," "Sorrow and the Pitty" and the "Fascist Legacy." Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1972F. Muslims and Jews.
This course considers interactions between Muslims and Jews in various historical settings from early modern and modern Europe to the contemporary Middle East. The course is intended neither as a general survey nor as a country-by-country analysis. Rather, the goal is to move beyond simplistic histories of interfaith utopia, Islamic persecution, and Zionist domination to consider the complexities of ethno-religious interaction in a variety of social, cultural, economic and political contexts. One of our central questions will be to explore how a variety of historians, anthropologists, and social commentators have described and analyzed Jewish/Muslim interactions to date and to think about alternative analytic or interpretative framework that might be illuminating. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1972G. The Mongols Viewed from Inside and Out.
By comparing The Secret History of the Mongols with several most important travel accounts about the Mongol empire by travelers from China, Europe, and the Islamic world, this seminar aims to present a "balanced" history of the Mongols as well as to teach students how to do historical analysis. The Mongols present an excellent opportunity to learn the historian's craft. We will evaluate primary sources throughout the course, identifying authors' biases, evaluating reliability, and determining the contribution each source makes to our understanding of the Mongols. Over the course of the seminar, students will learn how to design a historical research project (such as a senior essay) in several stages: defining a topic, locating primary materials, surveying relevant secondary sources, crafting proposals, writing drafts, presenting their findings, and preparing a final written product.
HIST 1972H. Sex, Power, and God: A Medieval Perspective.
Cross-dressing knights, virgin saints, homophobic priests, and mystics who speak in the language of erotic desire are but some of the medieval people considered in this seminar. This course examines how conceptions of sin, sanctity, and sexuality in the High Middle Ages intersected with structures of power in this period. While the seminar primarily focuses on Christian culture, it also considers Muslim and Jewish experience. Enrollment limited to 20. WRIT P
HIST 1972I. Out of the Ghetto: Emancipation and Acculturation in Modern Jewish Life.
The acquisition of citizenship in modern nation-states transformed the course of modern Jewish history. We consider the complexities of this emancipatory process. How did the move away from self-governing enclaves, which had characterized communal life prior to this period, change Jewish life? How did Jewish communities reconcile a particularistic Jewish identity with a more universalistic national one?
HIST 1972J. Science in Darwin's England.
This class will examine the interactions between the development of powerful new understanding of the natural world and the enormous social, cultural and intellectual changes that marked England in the Victorian Era. M
HIST 1972K. Rethinking Society in Industrializing America.
This course will examine social thought and reform in the United States during a pivotal moment of industrialization in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Paying particular attention to the development of intellectual thought within social context, we will explore how Americans struggled with the relationship between the individual and society in a period of rapid social and economic change and wrestled with the implications of science, modernity, and industrial capitalism for American society. Topics will include the development of the social sciences, critiques and defenses of capitalism. Social Darwinism and social control, democratic realism, pragmatism, eugenics, and the new education among others. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1972L. Race and the Law in the United States, 1780-1920.
HIST 1972M. Portuguese "Discoveries" and Early Modern Globalization.
The purpose of this seminar is to introduce students to the study of the Portuguese empire c. 1400-1800 by adopting a non-conventional perspective. The first section addresses the major historiographical debates as well as the standard topics related to early modern Portugal and its maritime empire. More than a chronological or geographical approach to the subject, centered in the idea of exceptionally of the Portuguese overseas experience, the course is intended to place the "discoveries" in the broader framework of the early modern world and will especially deal with the question of the so-called first globalization. The economic globalization and the "world economy" will be considered side by side with the exploration of global political, social and religious connections. In the later part of the seminar, one will elaborate on issues of "cultural globalization" and reassess the role of early modern Portugal in the globalization process.
HIST 1972N. Poverty and Social Welfare in the Western World, 1500-1900.
From the emergence of capitalism in early modern Europe through 19th century industrialization, this seminar explores shifts in the definition of poverty, laws respecting unemployment, distribution of public and private relief, cultural representations of the impoverished, and survival strategies of poor families. Focus on United States, Europe, and Latin America. E
HIST 1972O. Visualizing History: The Politics of Maternal Culture in South Asia.
HIST 1972R. Politics and Culture Under The Brazilian Military Dictatorship, 1964-1985.
This course will focus on the political, social, economic, and cultural changes that took place in Brazil during the military dictatorship that ruled the country from 1964-85. We will examine why the generals took power, the role of the U.S. government in backing the new regime, cultural transformations during this period, and the process that led to re-democratization. M
HIST 1972S. Red, White, and Black in the Americas.
Examines relations among red, white, and black peoples in the Americas from the 18th through the mid-19th century. Topics include slavery (of Africans and Indians by Europeans, and of Africans by Indians), religious syncretism, racial hierarchies, maroons, and communities of mixed race persons. Preference given to seniors in Afro-American studies, American civilization, and history. E
HIST 1972T. The Vote in Transnational Context.
People in the West commonly associate the act of voting with more expansive notions of democracy and human rights. Is this an accurate assumption? This course will discuss this association through historical analyses of enfranchisement. We will first examine how voting developed, specifically focusing on the origins of concepts of voting and human rights during the Enlightenment. We will then look at how the vote was implemented in its earliest forms, particularly during the French Revolution. Who was included in voting-based definitions of citizenship and who was excluded? On what basis were these distinctions made? We will then turn to various groups' demands to address their lack of voting rights, including female suffragists, movements for enfranchisement in various colonies, African-Americans and discriminatory practices, as well as the French movement for gender parity in elections. The coruse will also consider the meaning of voting in nonwestern societies, as well as the state of voting in the world today.
HIST 1972U. Body and Soul: Women and Health, 1860-1920.
Examines the history of women/gender in relation to American discourses about health and well-being (both physical and mental) from the era of the Civil War through the Progressive Era. It samples various movements in the United States, including efforts to control reproduction and initiatives to advance women into the medical and "helping" professions. M
HIST 1972V. Modernity, Jews, and Urban Identity in Central Europe, 1867-1938.
This course will explore the intersections between cultural modernity and assimilated Jews in central European cities such as Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest in the 19th and 20th centuries. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1972X. History of the Book in the Atlantic World.
This course will introduce students to the key theoretical and methodological approaches to the History of the Book, and how the latter have been applied to the study of the book in the Iberian Atlantic. Taught at the John Carter Brown Library, each class will also include hands-on experience with early printed books that illustrate the themes discussed in class. Students will develop an understanding of the central questions and methodologies employed in book history, sufficient to conduct their own research in the field. Limited to 20 students and open to advanced undergraduates and graduate students, this course should appeal to students interested in History, History and Philosophy of Science, Literature, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Hispanic Studies, Religious Studies and other concentrations.
HIST 1972Y. Rise and Fall of the Aztecs: Nahuas in Fifteenth- and Sixteenth-Century Mexico.
Examines the creation and expansion of the Triple Alliance (better known as the "Aztec Empire"); Aztec society, economy, and religion (including the role of human sacrifice); the Spanish conquest of 1519-1521; and the impact of Hispanic colonization on central Mexico during the 16th century. Also concerned with the use and evaluation of ethnohistorical sources.
HIST 1972Z. Minority Peoples of China.
Examines the history of minority populations of China, where there are today 55 officially recognized ethnic minority nationalities. We will look at how minority identity and experience has shaped and been shaped by intertwined histories of ethnic classification, notions of human diversity, and broader social and political currents of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ranging from nationalism, communist "class struggle," and tourism. Readings will be drawn heavily from anthropological accounts of minority groups, and address the Miao, Yi, Zhuang, and Uighur, among others. The course should be of interest to students of the comparative history of race and ethnicity. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1973A. Science and Culture in Victorian England.
Examines the world of English scientific thinkers such as Faraday, Babbage, Thompson, Lord Kelvin, Darwin, Maxwell, Huxley, Dalton, and Joule. Also examines their work in the context of the society in which they interacted and the intellectual contexts they constructed and shared.
HIST 1973B. Shanghai!: Adventurer's Paradise?.
A history of China's most cosmopolitan city, tracing its rise from a "land of rice and fishes" to the "Paris of the Orient." Emphasis is on social and cultural topics, including immigration, labor, prostitution, organized crime, "Shanghai faction" modernism, and fashion, as well as the city's transformations under Socialism.
HIST 1973C. Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Scotland and Ireland.
Selected readings in the political, religious, and social history of Scotland and Ireland in the Tudor and Stuart period, from the Reformations of the 16th century, through the upheavals of civil war and rebellion in the mid-17th century, to the far-from "Glorious" or "Bloodless" Revolutions of 1688-91.
HIST 1973D. Friends, Enemies and Heroes: Reading the Soviet Poster.
This course will examine the concept of propaganda and the contours of Soviet propaganda iconography following the Revolution of 1917. Diverse aesthetic traditions and shifting political contexts as well as fundamental political ideas will be analyzed. Student research papers will draw on a data base of Soviet posters, flyers, brochures and cartoons.
HIST 1973E. Cities and Urban Culture in China.
Treats the development of cities and urban culture in China from roughly the sixteenth century (the beginning of a great urban boom) to the present. We will look at the physical layout of cities, city government and social structure, and urban economic life, often from a comparative perspective. The course focuses, however, on the changing culture of city life, tracing the evolution of a vernacular popular culture from the late imperial period, through the rise of Shanghai commercial culture in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, to the diverse regional urban cultures of contemporary China. E
HIST 1973F. Knowledge and Power: The Late Imperial Chinese Elite.
This is an advanced undergraduate seminar on the nature and social, political, and economic roles of the elite class—variously identified as “the gentry,” “literati,” “scholar-officials”—in late imperial China (roughly the Ming and Qing dynasties, 1398-1911). We will focus in particular on the role that the civil-service examination system (and the educational institutions that supported it) and both landed and commercial wealth played in the formation of the elite and in supporting its social, economic, cultural and political dominance. We will also examine the development of a distinctive elite aesthetics, its impact on Chinese arts and letters, and the tensions that it created within the elite. After discussing the changes in and ultimate decline of the elite over the course of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, we will conclude the course with a consideration of how the legacy of the late-imperial elite has shaped the modern Chinese state. E
HIST 1973G. Social History of Sports in America.
Focuses on three interrelated aspects of American sport history between 1870 and the present: race, gender, and intercollegiate athletics. Readings are complemented by films. Requirements include discussions, a heavy reading load, and a 25-page research paper. Priority given to concentrators in history and American civilization and students who have taken HI 52 and/or HI 182 or 183. M
HIST 1973H. The American Founding, 1750-1800.
This capstone seminar surveys original sources, classic interpretations, and new perspectives on America's revolutionary founding during the second half of the eighteenth century. Major topics include imperial loyalty and protest, popular sovereignty, liberty and republicanism, rebellion and revolution, independence, confederation and consolidation, constitution-making and constitutional interpretation, the politics of opposition, the rise of political parties, and the legacy of the American founding. Please note that this conference course does not treat the military history of the Revolution in any substantial depth. Enrollment in this seminar is limited to 20 students and requires instructor permission. P
HIST 1973I. South Asia 1947-2000-Society Politics, and Governance.
HIST 1973J. Korea: North and South.
This course offers a systematic investigation of the political, economic, and social histories of Korea, North and South, from the inception of the two governments following liberation from Japanese occupation in 1945 to the present day. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1973K. The Age of Rebellion: Mexico and the Andes, 1750-1850.
This seminar examines the two most important centers of Spanish colonization during the transitional era in which they gained their political independence but lost their social stability. The topics considered include: the Bourbon reforms, the erosion of racial hierarchies, the Andean peasant insurrections, the Hidalgo revolt, the wars of independence, and the rise of caudillismo. E
HIST 1973L. History, Politics, and Psychoanalysis from Freud to Foucault.
HIST 1973M. Outside the Mainstream.
When ratifying the UN Covenant on Civil Rights in 1979, its representative reported, "The right of any person to enjoy his own culture... is ensured under Japanese law. However, minorities... do not exist in Japan." Nothing could have been further from the truth. Japan is - and for a long time, has been - home to immigrants, indigenous populations forced to accept Japanese citizenship, outcast communities of Japanese ethnicity, and otherwise ordinary persons who live outside the mainstream as outlaws and prostitutes. This course examines how these minority communities came into existence and struggled to maintain distinctive lifestyles in what many view as an extraordinarily homogenous society. Enrollment limited to 20 students. M
HIST 1973N. The French Revolution.
The French Revolution is inarguably one of the most important moments in western history. Yet its legacy, which is surprisingly widespread, is also quite mixed. Was it a time of progress or a time of retrenchment? Was it a success or a failure? In addressing these and other questions, this course will examine the social and cultural components of this moment, beginning with the Old Regime and ending with the Revolution's "resolution": the arrival of Napoleon Bonaparte. We will look at primary and secondary sources, including memoirs, pamphlets, and the debates between contemporary historians about the Revolution. M
HIST 1973O. The Chivalrous Society and the Monastic World (ca. 1000-ca. 1250).
Medieval monks and nuns, knights and ladies-these are the stuff of modern popular fantasy. This seminar provides a more realistic image of these women and men while exploring their own idealized notions of themselves. A central focus is how the monastic and knightly ways of life, ostensibly so different, often involved similar responses to changes and how they influenced each other.
HIST 1973P. City as Modernity:Popular Culture, Mass Consumption, Urban Entertainment in Nineteenth-Century Paris.
Modernity as a distinct kind of cultural experience was first articulated in the Paris of the 1850s. The seminar will explore the meaning of this concept by looking at the theories of Walter Benjamin, as well as historical examples of popular urban culture such as the mass circulation newspaper, the department store, the museum, the café concert and the early cinema. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1973Q. Stalinism.
In this course students will examine in detail one of the most deadly and perplexing phenomena of the twentieth century: Stalinism. Readinngs will introduce students to major events of Soviet history from the mid-1920s to the mid-1950s as well as debates among historians about how to interpret those events? M
HIST 1973R. Legacies of Empire: Postcolonial Immigration in Modern Europe.
Turkish Gastarbeiter in Germany. Second-generation North African "Beurs" in France. Muslim "home-grown terrorists" in Britain. In the wake of the demise of formal European empires, the migration of former imperial subjects to Europe has become a vexed topic. This course looks at the links between decolonization and postcolonial immigration and examines how immigration has affected European discourses on race and citizenship. It also considers the experiences of such immigrants, focusing on France, Britain, and Germany. Previous coursework in history or related disciplines recommended. M
HIST 1973S. Punks, Queers, and Pakistanis: Subcultures and the Nation in 20th Century Britain.
British cultural theorists pioneered the concept of the subculture in order to explain distinctive groupings within British society, particularly youth culture. In this course, we will use the idea of the subculture as a passport to a tour of the undergrounds and by-ways of modern Britain. Along the way, we will consider some of the central themes of British history, including the decline and the loss of empire, the intersections of race, class, gender, and nation, and the rise of consumer culture. Previous coursework in history or related disciplines recommended. M
HIST 1973T. The English Revolution.
Looks at the origins and nature of the English Civil War and Republican experiment in government (1642-1660) through a close examination of primary source materials. Considers not only the constitutional conflict between the crown and parliament, but also the part played by those out-of-doors in the revolutionary upheaval, the rise of popular radicalism, and the impact of events in Scotland and Ireland. P
HIST 1973U. World of Walden Pond: Transcendentalism as a Social and Intellectual Movement.
This course examines the 19th century phenomenon of Transcendentalism: this country’s most romanticized religious, philosophical, and literary movement. Focusing especially on Emerson, Thoreau, and Fuller, we’ll examine the ideas of the Transcendentalists in the age of reform and evaluate the application of their principles to abolition, feminism, and nature. The central problem which they wrestled with will be the focus, too, of our investigations: the tension between individualism and conformity. M
HIST 1973V. The History and Historiography of Suffering.
How have historians approached the representation of suffering in their work? How have attitudes toward representations and displays of suffering and atrocities in museums, historical narratives, and other venues changed since the Second World War? This seminar will explore these questions in the context of recent genocides and in human rights discourses. M
HIST 1973W. Women, Gender, and Empire in Modern Europe.
This class will examine the history of European empires with respect to women and gender. We will focus on theoretical underpinnings of gender and empire, as well as particular countries' experiences in the colonies, and finally we will look at how colonists themselves reacted (and continue to react) to colonization and decolonization. By looking at women and gender, we will be able to delve more deeply into colonial policies and practices, seeing the relationships that developed between men and women, male and female, and colonizer and colonized, all while remaining conscious of the larger histories at play. M
HIST 1973X. The Maya in the Modern World.
This seminar focuses on the Maya in postcolonial Guatemala. The main theme is the evolving relationship between indigenous peoples and the nation-state. Topics include peasant rebellions in the nineteenth century, the development and redefinition of ethnic identities, the military repression of the 1970s and 1980s, the Rigoberta Menchú controversy, and the Maya diaspora in Mexico and the United States. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1973Y. Children and Childhood in America, 1640-Present.
This course explores the history of children in America from 1640 to the present. It is organized chronologically, but is also topical in approach. Fundamental questions posed by historians in this burgeoning field will be examined: How has the regard for children changed over time? What is the role of children in the popular imagination? How has children's work evolved? How does gender affect children's development? We will consider answers to these questions through the historiography and primary sources that inform our knowledge of the past as children experienced it. Senior history concentrators will receive priority in enrollment. Instructor permission required. WRIT M
HIST 1973Z. Colonialism, War and Memory in East Asia.
This seminar explores the development and legacies of Japan's empires in Asia. We will examine the realities of the colonial and wartime experiences in places like Korea, Taiwan, and China, and analyze how war crimes trials, history writing, and popular media have shaped debates over restitution and apology, and how those issues influence Japan's relationships with its neighbors. M
HIST 1974A. Modern Mexico.
We will cover Mexican history from the Liberal reforms of Benito Juarez in mid-19th to the long dictatorship of Porfirio Diaz which set up the Mexican Revolution of 1917, and conclude with an examination of the impact of the revolution on 20th century Mexico, including the large-scale movement of people and capital across the U.S.-Mexican border. M
HIST 1974B. The Old South and Slavery.
Focuses on the "Old South" of the United States-the period of southern history between the American Revolution and the end of the Civil War. Special attention given to slavery and race, honor and violence, class and gender relations, and political culture. Readings include historical monographs, memoirs, and novels. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1974C. The Peculiarities of the Bourgeoisie.
Explores that sometimes reviled, sometimes celebrated class--the bourgeoisie--through the history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Europe. We will take up questions of middle-class cultures and politics as we investigate the bourgeois city, divisions of public and private, work and leisure, and the fate of liberalism.
HIST 1974D. The Practice of History.
An examination of the practice of history and the historical process using the writings of historians, philosophers, and novelists. Permission should be obtained before the beginning of the semester. E
HIST 1974E. The Third Reich.
In contemporary culture, Nazism has become a byword for evil. This course will critically examine past and present interpretive frameworks for Nazism. It will address historical debates about the structure of dictatorship, its overt racism, and expansionism. Enrollment limited to 20. Written permission required.
HIST 1974F. The Urban Crisis and American Political Culture, 1932-1984.
Upper-level seminar on the relationship between cities and American politics and political culture in mid century. Focuses on the New Deal welfare state, civil rights and black power politics, national party politics, the politics of immigration, feminist politics, and post- industrial and post-welfare state politics of fiscal retrenchment.
HIST 1974H. Brazil as a Nation.
Highlights aspects of Brazilian history from its political independence in 1822 until contemporary times. Only more recently has Brazil garnered more serious attention in the U.S. The bulk of this interest has been found on Wall Street where since the 1990s analysts have included Brazil on a list of up and coming world economies. Only three nations rank in the top ten in the following categories--territorial expanse, population, and gross domestic product--the U.S., China, and Brazil. Still, Brazil is often a forgotten stepchild whose importance is neglected. In part, this course will explore why this is the case. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. M
HIST 1974I. War and Gender in Modern Europe.
This course examines the interconnectivity of war and gender in twentieth-century Europe. Scholars have long assumed that wars represent times of great social change with respect to gender. This has especially been the case for women. Such scholars have argued that women's participation in war efforts has dramatically shifted cultural stereotypes about their capacities and innate natures. We will question these and other related assumptions, using a variety of primary and secondary source readings to consider issues such as violence, heroism, espionage, peace, torture, and citizenship.
HIST 1974J. Shanghai Under Communism.
A survey of Shanghai history from 1937 to the present. Discover the fate of China's most celebrated city under the regime of the Chinese Communist Party. How could this so-called "adventurer's paradise" become both a center of socialist radicalism under Mao and the vanguard city of Chinese capitalism today? M
HIST 1974K. War, Culture, and Society: The Emergence and Decline of Total War.
Explores the relationship between universal conscription and the modern nation-state; the world wars, democratization, totalitarianism, and genocide; imperialism, postcolonial conflicts, and ethnic cleansing; and representations of violence, commemoration, and trauma. M
HIST 1974L. Gender and Sexuality in Brazil.
Utilizing historical sources about Brazil from the colonial period to the present, we will consider how the family, politics, culture, and economy have conditioned sexual and power relations between men and women, and how notions of honor, gender, and sexuality have structured class and ethnic relations within Brazilian society. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1974O. The State and Sexuality in U.S. History, 1900-1950.
This course explores the relationship of two important trends in early twentieth century United States history: the emergence of the modern American state and of "sexual identities." A growing body of historical literature argues that these two trends are deeply interrelated. By exploring some of that literature, this course will meditate on several critical questions: Why and how does the state regulate sexuality? What role does the state have in the production of sexual identities? How does sexual identity condition political citizenship and access to state power? Why has sexuality been important to the expansion of state power? How has the relationship between the state and sexuality changed over the first half of the twentieth century in the United States? Enrollment is limited to 20 students. Seniors and students with substantial experience in history courses will be given priority.
HIST 1974P. Hannah Arendt and Her World.
This seminar will place the work of Hannah Arendt (1906-75) in contexts of German and Jewish European, American, and émigré intellectual traditions and political commitments. Arendt's work, especially The Origins of Totalitarianism and Eichmann in Jerusalem, will be read together with work of Walter Benjamin, Hermann Broch, Martin Heidegger, and Gershom Scholem, as well as with more recent work of Jacques Derrida, Julia Kristeva, Gillain Rose, Dana Villa and others.
HIST 1974Q. Brazil and Africa in the Making of the Southern Atlantic World.
The course discusses the making process of the Southern Atlantic World during the early modern period based on the interaction between the Portuguese, Africans, and Brazilians. Topics include slavery and African agency, the role of merchant communities, Indian and African answers to European encounters, colonial powers and forms of assistance, the conflict between the Crown, the settlers and the missionaries.
HIST 1974R. Telling Stories: Memoirs, Fiction, and the Holocaust as Historical Event.
How do survivors remember the Holocaust? How do novelists construct a narrative about it? How do historians? How do these different exercises shape our common remembrance of the event? This course studies the role of literature - memoirs, poetry, prose - and history in how the Holocaust is remembered. The readings are designed to familiarize students with the process of the shaping of memory that takes place through the reading of selected texts, and challenges them to insert these pieces into their historical context with the aid of primary documents. The concepts of (selective) remembering, forgetting, truth, and commemoration will be scrutinized, and more theoretical frameworks about narrative and emplotment will be introduced to explore the distinction between fiction and history.
HIST 1974S. Women in Italy, 1500-1800.
During the early modern period (1500-1800), the social, economic, and political roles of Italian women were tightly restricted both by law and by custom. In practice, however, women successfully claimed considerable autonomy for themselves and left a rich visual, literary and legal record that illuminates their efforts. Such sources will be explored so that students gain the historical knowledge and research skills to write a 20-page research paper as their final assignment.
HIST 1974T. Ethnic Los Angeles.
This course will focus on the historical and contemporary struggles of people of color in Los Angeles, California, throughout the twentieth century. We will take an interdisciplinary approach, examining films, literature, and history pertaining to the city. There are no prerequisites.
HIST 1974U. Theory and Practice of Local History.
Examines the theory and practice of local history, evaluating examples from a variety of genres ranging through micro history to folk music, from genealogy to journalism. Work with primary documents, evidence from the built environment and visits to local historic sites and archives will enable students to evaluate sources and develop their own ideas about writing history and presenting it to a public audience. Enrollment limited to 20. Instructor permission required. M
HIST 1974V. Gender, Sex and Family in Twentieth-Century America.
This upper-division seminar traces the history of American ideas about gender roles, sexuality, and the institution of the family from the late nineteenth century to the present. In addition to ideas, we examine changing practices and expectations, among both women and men, political conflicts over women's rights, reproduction, and homosexuality, and the complex ways in which race, religion, and capitalism have shaped notions of the family. We ask a fundamental question: how have ideas about and expectations of men and women changed over more than one hundreds years of modern American history? Enrollment limited to 20 sophomores, juniors, and seniors. M
HIST 1974W. History of American Catholicism.
The history of the Catholic Church in the United States is a fascinating but often overlooked aspect of the nation's history. Catholicism was a major force in the colonies of Spain and France, but in the English colonies that developed directly into the United States, Catholicism was at first the faith of a small minority and struggled to win acceptance in a Protestant land. Eventually, however, immigration from predominantly Catholic nations caused the Church to grow into the largest religious group in the United States. Perhaps the dominant question of American Catholic history has been to what degree (if at all) the Church could or should become assimilated into American society. Notable disputes occurred over church government, education, religious freedom, and sexual matters. In this seminar, we will examine these controversies and attempt to understand the distinctive history of the American Catholic Church.
HIST 1974X. Crime, The Crowd, and Authority in Early Modern England, 1660-1800.
What is crime? Who defines it? What role does crime play in power relations? This seminar will examine these questions within the context of Early Modern England, between the years 1660-1800. This volatile period featured political revolutions, foreign wars, domestic rebellions, outbreaks of plague and famine, and economic crises which led common people to challenge the authority of governing elites. Students will examine how crime served as a conduit for popular politics by considering how the government used crime to reinforce its authority and how the crowd used criminalized activity to voice their concerns. This course will include sessions on policing and prosecution, religious violence, witchcraft, counterfeiting, urban and rural riots, highway robbery, murder, and Jacobitism. Readings and discussions will include comparative material from other areas of Europe. Taking HIST 1280 is recommended, but not required.
HIST 1974Y. Managing Nature, Managing People: Conservation in Africa and the United States.
Originating in a transnational exchange of ideas, technologies and people, conservation, the rational management of natural resources by experts was and continues to be a global phenomenon. This course seeks to explore this international movement by comparing the history of conservation in two of the locations most profoundly affected by the movement, the United States and Africa. Both locations saw the rise of conservation bureaucracies, the redefinition of some landscapes according to European aesthetics, and conflict between the sustainability of common resources and capitalist imperative. In both the United States and Africa, conservation served to define some uses and some users of the natural world as proper and other uses and users as harmful. Topics to be covered include National Parks, hunting, soil, fisheries and forests. A background in either African or American history recommended.
HIST 1974Z. Female Maladies: Women and Mental Health and Disorders in the U.S. Since 1860.
This course represents a topical overview of mental disorders that have been frequently diagnosed since the mid-nineteenth century. Topics include hysteria and neurasthenia; Freudian theories on sexuality and femininity; eating disorders; borderline personality disorder; psychotherapeutics and psychotropics; and anti-psychiatry. Readings cross several disciplines.
HIST 1975A. History of Rio de Janeiro.
From colonial outpost to capital of the Portuguese Empire, from sleepy port to urban megalopolis, this seminar examines the history of Rio de Janeiro from the sixteenth century to the present. Using an interdisciplinary perspective rooted in historical analyses, we will analyze multiple representations of the city, its people, and geography in relationship to Brazilian history, culture, and society.
HIST 1975B. The USSR and the Cold War.
This seminar will examine in detail the Soviet Union's involvement in the Cold War, the defining international conflict between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of communism in Europe. Topics include cultural phenomena, economic organizations, and ideology, in addition to diplomatic crises and the indirect military confrontations in Asian, Africa, and the Americas. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1975C. Eating Cultures: Food and Society.
Explores analyses of eating practices and food production that inform a broader discussion of race and social justice. The purpose is to move from classical studies of "foodways" or how food embodies the society in which it is found towards a deeper analysis of race and the racialization of eating. Instructor permission required. M
HIST 1975D. Female Mystics and Witches in Early Modern Europe.
In early modern Europe many women were recognized as prophetesses and visionaries; more than 35,000 were executed as witches. How can we understand these two developments? Were they related? This seminar examines female mysticism and the witchcraze through biographies, confessions and trial records using theological, anthropological, and gender paradigms.
HIST 1975E. Transcendentalism, Reform, and Society in Antebellum New England.
Transcendentalism, the philosophy of idealism and individualism associated with Emerson and Thoreau, emerged in mid-century New England, when capitalism, democracy, religion, and popular culture were taking on modern forms. This course sets the leading Transcendentalists-- Emerson, Thoreau, and Margaret Fuller-- in social context, with particular attention to religious radicalism, abolitionism, women's rights, and utopian reforms.
HIST 1975F. Early Modern Ireland.
This seminar will cover various themes in the political, religious, social and cultural history of Ireland between c. 1500 and the later eighteenth century. Topics to be discussed will include the Reformation, the Irish Rebellion, Cromwell's rule, the War of the Two Kings, popular protest, the beginnings of the Irish nationalism, and the experiences of women. M
HIST 1975G. Urban Crisis and American Political Culture, 1932-1984.
An exploration of major developments in American national and local urban politics and policies from the New Deal of the 1930s through the rise of the right in the 1980s. Emphasis on the 1960s. Questions focus on race, class, gender, and the politics of liberalism in the era of the welfare state and dramatic urban spatial and political transformation. Heavy writing required. M
HIST 1975H. Politics and Society in Britain, 1660-1742.
This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to various topics in British political and social history from the Restoration to the fall of Walpole, combining traditional historical sources with literary texts and visual materials. Themes to be discussed will include: the emergence of party politics, religion, crime, morality, sexuality, and the rise of bourgeois society.
HIST 1975J. England, Scotland and Ireland in an Age of Revolution, 1660- 1691.
This course explores the political and religious upheavals that tore the British Isles apart between the Restoration and the Glorious Revolution. Dealing with both high and low politics, intellectual debate as well popular protest and sectarian violence, it will seek to show how England, Scotland and Ireland were transformed as a result of a series of revolutions in the later seventeenth century.
HIST 1975K. Political Economies of Modern Capitalism 1500-1900.
This course explores capitalism not as universal economic laws, but rather as an historicized political economy situated in particularities of the time, place, culture, law and politics. Readings include classic texts (Smith, Marx), as well as recent scholarship focusing on the global economy of the early modern period.
HIST 1975L. Gender and Sexuality in the European High Middle Ages.
This course explores the changing constructions of masculinity and femininity in the High Middle Ages and considers the sources and social consequences of these cultural conceptions. The issues addressed -including sexuality, sanctity, sin, the body, and transgression of gender boundaries- raise the problem of understanding the mutually informing relationship between cultural representations and social context.
HIST 1975M. Image, Fiction, Stereotype: Germans and Jews in Film and Literature.
This course will look at how Germans and Jews are represented in twentieth century novels written by both Jewish and non-Jewish German language writers and in films from Germany and Israel. This is an interdisciplinary course that will combine historical contextualization with close reading and aesthetic analysis. In English.
HIST 1975N. Food Empires and Food Cultures.
HIST 1975O. Racial Frontiers in South African History.
HIST 1975P. Spin, Terror and Revolution: England, Scotland and Ireland, 1660-1720.
Examines the revolutionary upheavals in England, Scotland and Ireland of the later 17th-century through a close examination of primary source materials. Topics covered include: high and low politics, the rise of the public sphere, the politics of sexual scandal, government spin, persecution and toleration, and the revolutions of 1688-91 and their aftermaths. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1975Q. Taiwan: Past and Present.
A comprehensive history of Taiwan that examine patterns of continuity and change among the island's indigenous populations, successive waves of migration from the "mainland" under Dutch and Qing rule, the Japanese colonial period, and the problems and prospects of decolonization after 1945. The course is designed to provide a long-term perspective on the Island's present-day predicaments and to consider the contributions that historical knowledge may play in understanding and negotiating those predicaments.
HIST 1975R. History of American Consumer Movements.
This course explores how Americans have used consumption as a means to organize against perceived or actual injustices ranging from racial discrimination to labor exploitation from the colonial period to the present day. We will examine social movements, such as the boycotts of British goods during the American Revolution, antebellum "Buy for the sake of a slave" campaigns, twentieth century "buy American" movements, consumer cooperatives, and the growing environmental consumer movement of recent years. We will also investigate differing interpretations on how and when the United States became a "consumer society," as well as the ways in which it has reinforced, reshaped or complicated people's racial, ethnic, class and gender identities. Class readings and discussions will evaluate the varying levels of effectiveness of consumer organizing throughout different historical contexts and analyze the ways in which a consumer society has been both a liberating and a controlling force in American history.
HIST 1975S. Politics, Religion and Everyday Life in Local China.
This course will be focusing on Chinese commoners' daily life experience and local society. In this class, we will be reading and discussing some very important works done by not only historians but social scientists to approach Chinese commoners' daily life experience. Throughout this course, moreover, the correlations between popular religion and local politics will be one of the most important agendas for this course. Finally, depending on students' language skills, we will discuss local archivals (mostly in English), such as local gazetteer, temple history, and inscription, to help students build their own understanding of Chinese local history. In addition to text reading, we will also watch some first hand documentary film done by scholars during their fieldwork. HIST 0410, 1510, and 1520 are suggested, but not required.
HIST 1975T. Colonial Encounters: Indians, Europeans, and the Making of Early America.
This seminar explores Native American histories and cultures in North America, primarily through the multiple and overlapping points of contact and coexistence with Europeans from the sixteenth through the eighteenth centuries. Although we will be reading widely in the very interesting recent literature in the field, a major component of the class is to investigate in a practical way the problem of sources for understanding and writing about American Indian history. As a senior capstone seminar, the final project is a substantial research paper. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1975U. Gender, Empire, and the Nation in the Middle East.
Examines the histories of colonialism and nationalism in the modern Middle East through a gendered lens. The ruptures of colonialism recast gender relations, while the alchemy of race, gender, and ethnicity figured prominently in the formation of anti-colonial nationalisms. Colonialism and nationalism, then, were processes that informed and were shaped by highly gendered notions of civilization and citizenship. The course draws on a variety of genres, including film, art, memoires, and political speeches. Our case studies include Algeria, Afghanistan, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. M
HIST 1975V. Culture, Politics, and History in the Middle East.
The nexus of culture and politics helps determine the relationship of the Middle East to the West--and the internal understandings of these increasingly ploarized societies. This course seeks to complicate the layered histories of the modern Middle East by examining culture and politics through a variety of historical genres, including academic monographs, theoretical analysis, films, art, fiction, graphic novels, music, and the internet. The readings draw from different academic fields, including history, anthropology, sociology, and political science, providing an opportunity to think of the ways that academic disciplines draw on and shape historical narratives. Enrollment limited to 20. Instructor permission required. M
HIST 1975W. History and Democracy in the Middle East.
Examines the complex history of democracy in the Middle East through a synergistic approach - reading democracy through the lens of the Middle East and understanding the Middle East through the lens of democracy. For decades, U.S. politicians, the press, think tank pundits, and academics have debated the feasibility of establishing democracy in the region. Few, however, examine a longstanding history of democracy in the Middle East - one that reveals the complex underpinnings of democracy itself. We will examine the discursive debate on democratization in the Middle East and then match keywords with historical case studies in Iran, Egypt, Yemen, Turkey, Afghanistan, and Muslim Europe. Enrollment limited to 20 students. Not open to first year students. M
HIST 1975Y. Clean and Modern.
Examines the ways in which ideas of cleanliness fit into broader conceptualizations of European "modernity" and the effort to modernize others in the 19th and 20th centuries. After studying some theoretical approaches to understanding the body and purity, we will turn to the relationship between hygiene and power, gender, class, race, and empire in specific times and places. Enrollment limited to 20 students. M
HIST 1976A. Comparative Native American History: Indigenous Peoples of North and South America.
From Alaska to Argentina, Native people have diverse histories. Spain, Portugal, England and France established different colonial societies; indigenous Latin Americans today have a different historical legacy than Native Americans in the United States. But the experiences of conquest, resistance and adaptation also tell a single overarching story. In colonial times, Native Americans and Europeans struggled over and shared the land. After Independence, however, the new American republics tried to destroy American Indians through war and assimilation. But in the last century Native peoples (both North and South) reasserted their identities within modern states: the "vanishing Indian" refused to vanish. Enrollment limited to 20 students. E
HIST 1976B. Boundaries, Refugees, Conflicts: Partition of 1947 in Comparative Perspective.
The seminar will focus on Partition of the Indian sub-continent in 1947 - an event that can be placed at the very heart of the twentieth century - not only in terms of chronology, but in terms of the kinds of questions it raises. We will ask how questions about Partition lend itself to understanding border-making, displacements and violence more broadly. We will examine debates on religious community, genocidal violence, rape, refugeeness, and territorial divisions of identity and nation-state formation as quintessential to the twentieth century experience. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1976D. Stories to Rule By: The Politics of Exceptionalist Narratives.
This seminar will explore the exceptionalist narratives that settler colonial states and other imperialist powers have relied upon to understand and justify their rule. While it will focus on American exceptionalism and its European origins, it will also examine exceptionalism as an ideology of other modern (i.e., post-Enlightenment) colonial settlers, including the Japanese, the Israelis, and others. Enrollment limited to 20 students. M
HIST 1976E. Women and Gender Relations in China, Past and Present.
The government of the People's Republic of China has, since early in its history, stated as one of its goals the "liberation" of women from the institutions, customs, and attitudes that had long limited their access to power and personal fulfillment within Chinese society. We will consider, first, the assumptions about China's past made in this claim, by examining the roles that women played in the early modern Chinese society and economy. Second, we will turn to the changes of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to discover how modern political, social, and economic transformations have reshaped women's lives and opportunities. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1976F. Stalin and Stalinism.
This course will explore one of the darkest periods in Soviet history. Beginning in the late 1920s, when Joseph Stalin and his supporters gained control of the Communist Party and the state, and ending in 1953 with Stalin's death, it explores the impact of Stalin and his policies in shaping the world’s first socialist country. The course covers the bloody struggle over collectivization, "the Great Terror," the tragedy and triumph of the war, and the painful period of rebuilding. Using history, novels, film, and primary source documents, we will examine the sharp debates over the causes of Stalinism. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1976G. Portuguese Maritime Expansion: Establishing a Global Empire (1400-1650).
This seminar course will broadly survey, chronologically and geographically, the historical development of Portuguese colonization in the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans during the early modern era (approx. 1400-1650), focusing primarily on the role of colonies as conduits for global cultural and economic exchange. The course will examine the political, economic, social and intellectual contexts in which Portuguese maritime expansion occurred. We will consider the various historical catalysts for and significance of Portuguese maritime exploration and colonization, which led to worldwide trading networks and an unprecedented diffusion of populations, cultures and technology. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. P LILE WRIT
HIST 1976H. Racial Boundaries in Early South Africa.
Nothing about South Africa’s earliest history doomed it to become a mid-twentieth-century bastion of extreme white racialism. Looking at environmental forces, war, slavery, sexuality, colonial ideology, and science, this seminar will trace evolving categories of race and deepening social divisions before 1850. We will identify patterns of boundary placement as evident in studies of individual lives, cosmopolitan colonial society, and the remote frontier. Students will write a research paper on some aspect of South African history or an historiographical paper comparing the history of race in South Africa with that of another early European colonial society. Enrollment limited to 20; instructor permission required; not open to freshmen or sophomores. P
HIST 1976I. Total War and the Shaping of Modern Europe, 1914-1919.
Investigates the profound social, cultural, and political changes accompanying the First World War. The goal is to analyze the usefulness of the total war paradigm. Consequently, readings address military history only to the extent that such details shed light on the war's broader social and cultural implications. Primarily, but not exclusively, focuses on Germany's role in the First World War. Themes include the social consequences of modern industrial warfare; the consequences of the war for noncombatants; the identification and restriction of ethnic and national minority populations; and the interplay between political decision-making and industrial warfare. Not open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1976K. The Emergence of Capitalism in Early Modern Europe.
Students will read and consider how, when and why capitalism emerged and rose to dominance in European and other societies, especially in the 16th through 18th centuries. Theories considered will include evolution/innateness, culture, societal development, colonialism, empire and institutional efficiency. Readings include Smith, Marx, Weber, Pirenne, Wallerstein, Brenner, Hirschman, North and Thomas, de Vries and Arrighi. We will put these accounts into dialogue with one another, assessing their assumptions, persuasiveness and failings. Based on these readings, the goal will be for each student to come to a reasoned judgment as to why and how capitalism emerged. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first-year students. M
HIST 1976L. Remembering Revolution in China.
This seminar explores the history of revolution in twentieth-century China and its representation in memoirs. Together we will read a number of personal accounts of the Republican Revolution of 1911, the Communist Revolution of 1949, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution from 1966 to 1976. We will try to understand how people experienced these revolutions and what historians can learn about them from reading memoirs. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. M
HIST 1976M. Women in the Islamic Middle East.
This course focuses on women in the Middle East, from the seventh century emergence of Islam to the twentieth century rearticulation of women's "place" in the context of nation state formation and the struggle for new identities. We examine the status of women and the ways women were culturally crafted. In particular, we will discuss the contested nature of women's roles; the encounter between "Eastern" and "Western" societies; power, patronage, and seclusion; veils and voices; and the modes by which women’s lives were narrated (by themselves and others). Enrollment limited to 20. Instructor permission required. E
HIST 1976N. Popular Protest and Social Justice in China, Past and Present.
This course examines the role that Chinese cosmological and popular religious beliefs had, first, in the formation of concepts of social justice and, second, in shaping popular protest movements throughout Chinese history. The course begins with an exploration of early concepts of cosmic and social justice and an examination of how these concepts are expressed in selected pre-21st century popular uprisings; and then moves on to study a range of contemporary protest movements--against environmental degradation, government corruption, religious restrictions, and so forth--and their social and political significance for the future development of China. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1976O. Seeing/Reading/Making Brown.
This research seminar asks when, how and why did Brown change from being a small, regional liberal arts college and become a “hot school” and a noted research university, and investigates the problems it faced along the way. It will involve the students in original research. E
HIST 1976P. Writing the History of Brown.
This research seminar, which is limited to 20 upper-class students, asks when, how and why did Brown change from being a small, regional liberal arts college and become a "hot school" and a noted research university, and investigates the problems it faced along the way. It will involve the students in original research. Enrollmnet limited to 20. Instructor permission required. E
HIST 1976R. Early Modern Globalization: Jewish Economic Activity, 1500-1800.
What can the experience of a minority group like the Jews teach us about the roots of globalization? What were the economic, political, and cultural conditions that allowed early modern Jewish merchants to create economic networks stretching from India to the New World? We will answer these questions by examining the connections and interactions between four major Jewish centers: Ottoman Jewry in the Eastern Mediterranean, the Port Jews of Amsterdam and London, Polish-Jewish estate managers in Ukraine, and the Court Jews of central Europe. We will see how European expansion exploited - and was exploited by - these Jewish entrepreneurs. Enrollment limited to 20 undergraduates. P
HIST 1976T. History of the Andes from the Inca Empire to Evo Morales.
Before the Spanish invaded in the 1530s, western South America was the scene of the largest state the New World had ever known, Tawantinsuyu, the Inca empire. During almost 300 years of colonial rule, the Andean provinces were shared by the "Republic of Spaniards" and the "Republic of Indians" - two separate societies, one dominating and exploiting the other. Today the region remains in many ways colonial, as Quechua- and Aymara-speaking villagers face a Spanish-speaking state, as well as an ever-more-integrated world market, the pressures of neoliberal reform from international banks, and the melting of the Andean glaciers. Enrollment limited to 20. E WRIT
HIST 1976U. Cannibals, Barbarians and Noble Savages: Images of the Other in the Atlantic World.
This seminar will trace the growth of European images of the "other" in early modern Africa, Europe and the Americas. Using the three tropes of cannibal, barbarian and noble savage, it explores evolving theories about human nature, human difference and race. Alongside critical analyses drawn from several disciplines, the main readings will be primary sources: vivid, enigmatic accounts, portraits of a world alien to the writer, yet also mirrors on the writer's own culture. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1976V. Modern Cuba.
This course is an introduction to the study of Cuban history, culture, and politics, from the sixteenth century to the present. We will discuss the development of the island along a series of overlapping and inconclusive historical processes. These include five hundred years of colonialism starting in the 1500s, a century of formall independence inaugurated in the 1900s, fifty years of real socialism since the 1960s, and two decades of virtual collapse started in the 1990s. Using Cuba as a case study, we will examine what it means, for a colony and a nation, to be Western and modern. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1976W. Colonialism, Culture and Conflict in Modern Ireland.
Using recent scholarship and a wide range of literary and visual sources, this course examines the history of modern Ireland, focusing on the struggle to determine who is "Irish" and to define the country’s relationship to Britain and the empire. A primary focus of our attention will be the late nineteenth and early twentieth century--the decade or so before the Easter Rising of 1916--when the underlying differences at stake in the effort to create a distinct and recognizably "Irish" culture were revealed in heated controversies in the popular press and in the plays performed in W.B. Yeats' newly-created Abbey Theatre. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1976X. The Vietnam War.
This seminar will explore the Vietnam War (or the American War, as the Vietnamese call it) from multiple perspectives and with close attention to the many forces that shaped and perpetuated the conflict. We will collectively discuss secondary and primary sources -- speeches, policy documents, films, music, photographs -- to draw out the issues and debates involved in the Vietnam War. In doing so, we will also learn about the larger historical phenomena -- the Cold War, global decolonization, 1960s dissent, and so on -- that were embedded in the ordeal of the war. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. M WRIT
HIST 1976Y. Energy and Environment in American History.
Americans' production and consumption of energy has increased dramatically over the last 200 years. This course introduces students to the different sources and uses of energy from the colonial period up to the present. Students examine how energy choices have been shaped by Americans' understanding of and interactions with the natural world. Students also examine how energy choices reflected the society Americans envisioned for themselves. The seminar's objective is to understand how the American energy environment is a historical artifact of the changing knowledge and know-how of natural resource exploitation and of the developing cultures of capitalism and consumerism. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1976Z. Charlemagne: Conquest, Empire, and the Making of the Middle Ages.
The age of Charlemagne sits at the nexus of antiquity and the middle ages. For two hundred years Charlemagne’s family, the Carolingians, welded together fragments of the splintered Roman imperial tradition and elements from the Germanic world to forge a new, medieval European civilization. This seminar examines that process by exposing students to the primary sources, archaeological evidence, and modern scholarly debates surrounding the Carolingian age. Topics include the Carolingians' rise to power; Charlemagne’s imperial coronation; interactions with the Islamic and Byzantine worlds; the revival of classical learning; the Church; warfare; the economy; Vikings; and the collapse of the Carolingian Empire. Enrollment limited to 20. Not open to first year students. WRIT P
HIST 1977A. English Families 1500-1750.
Families were the most basic social and economic unit in early modern England. In this upper-level seminar we will explore the role of families in this society, the formation of families, and the different roles that each member of the family played. We will look at the "ideal" family in this period, but also at families that fell apart or failed to function according to social norms. We will also place the family within the context of the Reformation and the political upheavals of the seventeenth century. The course will be reading and writing intensive. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1977B. Crises, Promises, Tragedies: The History of Weimar Germany, 1918-1933.
This seminar explores Germany's ambiguous history from 1918-1933 during the "Weimar Republic." Born out of defeat of WWI, "Weimar" can be characterized as a time of chronic conflict and political extremism. But more than just a tragic prelude to Nazi Germany and WWII, it was also a period of great promise, witnessing important social and cultural innovations. The seminar's central question – significant beyond the German context – probes the reasons for Weimar's "failure" despite its great promises, by analyzing its social, cultural and political history through a close reading of primary sources, including literary and visual representations and films. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977C. The Visual Culture of Empire: Art, Urbanism and Mapping in the Iberian World, 1450-1800.
Introduces students to visual culture (art, urbanism, cartography) of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires during the Early Modern period c. 1450-1800. Highlights the difficulties in distinguishing between "Western" and "non-Western" art around 1500. Deals with the relations between built environment and power in the Atlantic sphere. Discusses colonial societies and subalterns (conquered Indians, Black slaves) as subjects and producers of art. Analyses the making and circulating of "hybrid" objects in Africa and Asia. Moves toward a "connected history" of global artistic production through the lens of Iberian expansion, exploring relations between empire, race, trade, religion and art. Conducted in English. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1977E. The Ottoman Empire & Europe: Interactions and Representations in the Long Early Modern Era.
The rise to power of the Ottoman Turks and their conquests of Constantinople in 1453 and Cairo in 1517 reconfigured the dynamics of power as well as religious, commercial, and cultural relations in the Afro-Eurasian world. That reconfiguration was expressed in rituals, diplomatic reports, religious tracts, maps, paintings, chronicles, harem tales, and histories, as well as in battle narratives. In this course, going beyond the image of "The Terrible Turk" invoked in Reformation literature, we study the nature of the Ottoman system, evaluating the ways in which Europeans crafted a vision of the empire, its power, and "the Islamic threat." Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1977G. The Travel Narrative and the "West's" Encounter with the Middle East.
This course begins by examining the genre and historiography of travel narratives from the 15th-19th C. We then focus on the accounts of those who journeyed to the Middle East: European travelers, as well as their Persian, Ottoman, and Moroccan counterparts. Of particular interest are the nature of the cross-cultural encounter; the ways in which travel narratives visualize layers of history; what difference gender makes in the witnessing of the Middle East; and how the experience of travel reveals the mental maps of travelers, the perceived nature of sovereignty and frontiers, and the ethnographic options available to the traveler. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977H. U.S. Legal and Business History: Regulating the Marketplace.
A seminar surveying the history of American business and capitalism from the colonial era through the twentieth century, with special attention to how legal regimes and regulatory institutions emerged to confront specific market problems and, in turn, influenced the distribution of wealth and power throughout American history. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977I. 3.11: Building a History of the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake.
The earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on 11 March 2011 left some 20,000 people dead or missing, devastated communities and infrastructure all along Japan's northeastern coast, and triggered a series of catastrophic events at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. This seminar studies this crisis within both a global history of disastrous encounters with natural and man-made hazards, and within Japan's own history of such encounters. We will explore the emergence of modern, scientific explanations of how and why disasters happen, and analyze the role played by popular culture in shaping the meanings assigned to disasters past, present and future. Enrollment limited to 20 juniors and seniors. WRIT E
HIST 1977M. Twentieth Century Iran.
This history of Iran in the 20th century is bracketed by two revolutions. The Constitutional Revolution of 1906 set in place the Middle East's first parliamentary democracy; the second in 1979 ended 2500 years of monarchical reign. The 1953 Coup that ousted the democratically elected prime minister was the CIA's first Cold War era covert operation and British intelligence's last. The Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s was the 20th century's longest war, leaving a million Iranian casualties. The course examines Iran's intellectuals, writers, artists, and filmmakers, highlighting their debates on colonialism, democracy, modernity, and political Islam. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977N. State, Religion and the Public Good in Modern China.
In late imperial China, religion formed an intrinsic part of public life, from the cosmological ritual of the state to the constitution of family and communities of various kinds. This arrangement was challenged in the twentieth century by the fall of the dynastic system and the introduction of new definitions of religion, modernity, sovereignty, and secularism. We will explore the ramifications of this change in greater China and its border areas during the past hundred years, looking at how people have sought to create a good public and the public good. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977O. The Occupy Movement in Historical Context.
This seminar will explore the significance of the Occupy Movement and use it as an entry point to examine major themes in postwar U.S. history and global political economy. We will look at the historical context of Occupy's grievances and its relationship to the American protest tradition. Students will gain a stronger understanding of the historical forces that have structured the current crisis and protest wave, along with a better sense of how movements relate to shifts in society and politics. A basic understanding of postwar U.S. history, political economy, and the events of 2011 is preferred, but not required. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977P. South Africa to 1990: Apartheid's Rise and Fall.
History of South Africa to 1990, with attention to the diverse representations and uses of the past by South Africans. Explores the challenge to develop critical and conciliatory versions of the past in post-apartheid South Africa by examining interpretations of key episodes and personalities in the making of modern South African history, including Dutch settlement at the Cape, the "Hottentot Venus" Sara Baartman, Shaka Zulu, the Great Trek, the Anglo-Boer War, the rise of apartheid, moments of rebellion and resistance from the armed struggle to the Soweto uprising, Nelson Mandela, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1977Q. Decolonizing Minds: A People's History of the World.
This seminar will explore the knowledge-production and military-financial infrastructures that maintain empires, and the means through which people have resisted or embraced empire. While some attention will be made to the 19th and early 20th century colonial context, the bulk of the course will focus on the Cold War liberal era to the neoliberal regime that continues today. Topics include: popular culture and ideology, Cold War university, area studies, international anti-war networks, transnational labor activism, the anti-colonial radical tradition, and the Arab Spring/Occupy Movements. Weekly readings; evaluation based on participation and analytical essays. Enrollment limited to 20 juniors and seniors. M
HIST 1977R. The Rise of the Middle Class: Modernity, Nationalism, and Globalization.
With the present economic crisis depicted as a crisis of the middle class, this course revisits the middle classes in Europe, the Americas, and the colonial world in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It explores the local renderings of a global social category and analyzes a set of historiographical approaches to middle-class formation from Marxism to post-social history. Topics include the transnational constitution of the middle classes; the gender, ethnic and religious dimensions of middle-class identities; middle-class politics and political representations of the middle; and, finally, the troubled relations between the middle classes and nationalism, imperialism, and modernity. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977S. American Monuments and Memorials: From Slavery to September 11.
This course will investigate the role memorials play in society and examine the politics of memorialization in order to better understand the dynamic nature of creating meaning in the past and present from American monuments. We will broaden our conception of monuments beyond stone statues to include museums, national parks, music, art, film and the web. Movies and viewings of local memorials will supplement our seminar experience. Case studies include the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the United States Holocaust Museum, and memorials to 9/11, women's rights and slavery (including the commissioned Brown University memorial), among others. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977T. From Nature's Dangers to Nature Endangered: A History of American Environmental Thought.
This course will trace how American attitudes towards nature have shifted over the centuries: from the colonial period, when the wilderness was seen as something to be feared and subdued, to the romantic view of nature that emerged in the nineteenth century, to the growing concerns of the modern environmental movement. Readings will include many of the seminal works of American natural history writing, from Thomas Jefferson to Rachel Carson, in order to highlight how these changing views towards nature have influenced American political and social history. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1977U. Running in High Heels: Women and Politics in American History.
This course examines women's participation in American politics from a historical perspective. Since women began organizing for the vote, women's political engagement has highlighted cultural tensions related to motherhood, family life, sexuality, work, and the meaning of citizenship. The goal of the course is to better understand women's participation in American politics, and to think critically about the complicated role of gender in American society. Specific course topics include suffrage, labor reform, the changing role of the First Lady, feminist politics, sexuality, race and anti-feminist family values campaigns. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977V. Science and Technology in Modern Chinese History.
In this reading seminar, we will explore how different regimes that ruled China in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, from imperial to socialist, mobilized science in their governance of a society in rapid transition. At the same time, we will examine the scientists, doctors, and engineers involved in the process of producing scientific knowledge, and the impact that their ideas then had on ordinary Chinese men and women. In so doing, we seek not only to deepen our understanding of China's recent past, but to also rethink, more broadly, the relationship of science, technology, and society in modern states. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977W. Europe During World War II and the Holocaust.
World War II marked a dramatic period of crisis and transition in twentieth-century Europe. The correlation of regional and global conflicts reshaped the political, social, economic and ethnic map of the continent. The material and moral losses provoked by the war impacted individual and collective lives for decades to come. This course discusses how Nazi Germany and its allies ruled occupied Europe, and analyzes the Holocaust as a modern, state-promoted, massacre. Movies and memoirs provide insightful perspectives on divided, even, conflicting memories of World War II, and their significance for the postwar reconstruction of European states and society. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1977X. Nations and Nationalism in Modern Europe.
We will explore how nationalism has become the prevailing organizing principle of states and societies in modern Europe and discuss the rising of nationalism in Europe from the French Revolution to the present time. Students will engage with theoretical debates focusing on political sovereignty, citizenship, and national identity. Course topics will include the impact of colonialism, migration, industrialization, and European integration process on national identities, comparing and contrasting case studies focusing on France, Germany, and Britain, as well as on the transition from multicultural empires to nation states in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977Y. Communism and Dissent in East-Central Europe, 1945-1989.
Soviet-supported regimes assumed power throughout East-Central Europe in the wake of World War II. This seminar examines how writers, filmmakers, and other intellectuals (primarily in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary) grappled with the experience of communism between 1945 and 1989. When and how did they begin to oppose their political regimes, and what strategies did they use to defy state power and aesthetic orthodoxy? Readings for the course include novels, plays, and essays (in English translation) by Czeslaw Milosz, Milan Kundera, Eugene Ionesco, Adam Michnik, Vaclav Havel, and George Konrad. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1977Z. Globalization: An Idea Through History.
It is impossible to not run into global problems or challenges. What does it mean for an issue to be global, or to think globally? What is globalization, how did it develop? How global were past societies. How global are we? This course provides a history of globalization and an introduction to a selection of globalizing moments in history as well as the modes of thinking that have contributed to contemporary global consciousness. Reaching far beyond the globalization debate of recent decades, it seeks to uncover historical greats, who were often thinking locally, but whose impact has been felt globally. Enrollment limited to 20. WRIT E
HIST 1978A. Drifting Cities. Multiethnic Societies from Empire to Nation-State.
What happens to a multiethnic city when it passes from a dying empire to a nascent nation-state? This course focuses on Vienna and the Mediterranean ports of Trieste and Salonica from the late 19th century to the end of the Second World War and examines their transformation from cradles of Habsburg and Ottoman imperial modernity into laboratories of Austrian, Italian and Greek nationalism. Topics include: interethnic relations; the impact of WW1 and interwar nationalism; assimilation, antisemitism and state policies; urban transformations; the Holocaust and its memory; and nostalgic imaginings of these cities in current public discourse. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978B. Energy and the History of the U.S. and the World.
Energy is central to modern life, yet it is seldom the focus of historical study. This course examines the history of the United States through the lens of its use of major energy resources, including wood, coal, whale oil, horse, water, petroleum, natural gas, nuclear, and alternative/sustainable. We will consider the significant impact of energy on the nation’s political, diplomatic, military, social, cultural, scientific, business, and economic histories, as well as the corresponding impact that the U.S. has had on energy resources and the environment. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1978C. Health and Healing in Colonial and Post Colonial Africa.
Reading-intensive seminar that examines health, healing, and the (post-) colonial "mission" in Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will study the effects of Western biomedical and scientific intervention through the prisms of imperial control, public health crusades, urbanization, reproduction, and four specific maladies: sleeping sickness (trypanosomiasis,) leprosy, mental illness, and AIDS. The examination of these topics and maladies provides a window into the nature of colonial rule and the politics of race and cultural difference. Western Europe's "rational" medical theories, treatments, and preventive regimes were often shaped by preconceived notions of the colonial environment and racialized bodies. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978E. Global Ideas of Race in the History of the Biological, Medical and Human Sciences.
Despite the certainty with which these authors made their pronouncements, "race" has remained not only a salient concept within a variety of disciplines, but also an enduring object of scientific investigation and controversy. The purpose of this course is to trace the origins of "scientific" concept of race and interrogate its transformations and uses over time. The primary sources assigned, ranging from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, will highlight the multiple, and often ambiguous, definitions of the term; also underscoring the concept's correlation, at various points in history, to idea of species, variety, tribe, linguistic group, nation, civilization. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978F. History of Global Urban Epidemics.
Polio. Plague. Pox. This seminar will use historical, sociological, journalistic, epidemiological, documentary film, and literary sources to explore urban disease outbreaks and human responses from ancient to modern times. By examining cases such as plague in Florence and Hong Kong, yellow fever in Charleston and Veracruz, smallpox in Rio de Janeiro and Bombay, AIDS in New York and Kampala, and SARS in Toronto and Beijing, we will seek to understand the role of urban ecological factors in the emergence of disease, and the nature of social, scientific, and civic authority responses to urban epidemics. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978H. Culture and Power in Modern Iran.
"I went to the Persian Art Exhibit at 51st Street and Fifth Ave...The important thing is the realization that here is an art which has survived through 6,000 years of invasion, war, tyranny, prosperity and power." So wrote Eleanor Roosevelt in her newspaper column in June 1940. Throughout the history of modern Iran, its relations with the West have been mediated through a cultural lens. In turn, the struggle to define national culture within Iran itself has been deeply embedded in cultural production. This course examines the history of modern Iran through its art, cinema, literature, and cultural institutions. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978K. The Mediterranean City: Conflict and Coexistence in the Long Twentieth Century.
The Mediterranean Sea is home to some of the oldest, most celebrated urban settlements in the world. Its cities have nonetheless experienced such repeated and deep transformations in the past two centuries as to become virtually unrecognizable with regards to the built environment, the ethnic composition of their population, and discursive representations. This course takes a critical look at these developments and will examine the cities as shaped by imperial state, western traveller, colonial urbanist, nationalist visionary, uprooted refugee, Holocaust survivor, fighting soldier - in a kaleidoscopic attempt to understand dramatic and traumatic experience of modernity in streets/piazzas of the Mediterranean. Enrollment limited to 20. M
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HIST 1978L. Age of Impostors: Fraud, Identification, and the Self in Early Modern Europe.
Alchemists claiming to possess the philosophers' stone; basilisks for sale in the market; Jews pretending to be Catholics; women dressing as men: early modern Europe appeared to be an age of impostors. Officials responded to this perceived threat by hiring experts and creating courts, licenses, passports, and other new methods of surveillance in an era before reliable documentation, photography, and DNA. And yet one person's fraud was another's self-fashioning. We will examine instances of dissimulation, self-fashioning, and purported fraud, efforts to identify and stem deception, and debates about what was at stake when people and things were not what they seemed. Enrollment limited to 20.
HIST 1978O. Enslaved: Indians and Africans in an Unfree Atlantic World.
This course examines the varieties of Indian and African enslavement in the Atlantic world, including North America, up through 1800. Reading widely in the recent literature in the field as well as in primary sources from the colonial period, we will ponder the origins, practices, meanings, and varieties of enslavement, along with critiques and points of resistance by enslaved peoples and Europeans. Special emphasis will be given to the lived nature of enslavement, and the activity of Indians and Africans to navigate and resist these harsh realities. A final project or paper is required. Enrollment limited to 20. P
HIST 1978S. The History of the World, 2009-2013.
This course examines a very specific period of history: the four years of your time on the Brown campus. How has the world changed since your arrival? Students will be encouraged to use untraditional sources along with books and essays. How do we judge a past so recent? Indeed, the questions they ask will be one of the ways in which student performance is measured. What are the slow trends happening in the world that we know less well? What facts about recent history should a graduating senior know before leaving this sanctuary and encountering the world? Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978T. Fin-de-Siècle Paris and Vienna.
We will examine two great imperial capitals facing similar set of challenges at the end of a century dominated by Europe. Austria-Hungary and France were forced to reckon with declining status as great powers, made manifest by their defeat at the hands of Prussia in 1867/1870 respectively. Both struggled with place of ethnic and religious minorities in modern states, and both responded with outbursts of political anti-Semitism that emerged. We will not only gain a basic factual knowledge of fin-de-siècle urban life but also explore some of the works and problems animating the intellectual life of the twentieth century. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978V. Islamic Political Thought, Global Islam, and Globalization.
The term 'Global Islam' is used to describe Islam's worldwide diversity as well as the groups and networked understanding that make this religion a vital aspect of 21st-century life. This seminar examines Globalization as a factor in shaping the evolution of Political Islamic Thought and the emergence of Global Islam, and explores the process for how modernity and globalization have influenced fundamentalist theological reform movements and formed a basis for political action. It will examine concepts of global 'Ummahs', which link disparate groups across national boundaries into imagined communities with a shared religious viewpoint and perceived fate. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1978Z. History of the Amazon.
This course traces the history of human interactions and understandings of the Amazon, a tropical rainforest of continental dimensions. It has provided an environment for diverse encounters between outsiders and indigenous peoples, some of whom remain uncontacted to this day. Beginning with pre-Columbian indigenous history and Amazons of Greek legends and arrive at present-day debates concerning preservation/development. Other issues to be considered include indigenous and property rights, sovereignty, and the evolving ethics of biodiversity and conservation. We will focus on the largest section of the basin, the Brazilian Amazon, but incorporate comparative perspectives from further afield. Enrollment limited to 20. E
HIST 1979A. Death and Destruction in American History.
What can trauma—the loss of life, and of property—tell us about the past? The turn to "dark history" illuminates all manner of American cultural developments: political shifts, economic changes, class and racial tensions, gender roles, landscape use. In this course we will examine the beliefs and practices circulating around the most intimate of traumas (death) as well as large-scale events—(un)natural disaster, war, and economic implosion—in order to determine the ways they have shaped American history. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1979B. The American West.
Lone horsemen. Teepees gathered along riverbanks. Shootouts in dusty streets. Railroad tracks stretching out across the plains. These are common visions of the American West, and they convey many of the myths of America: the frontier spirit, the vanishing Indian, the American dream. This course will examine these myths and the cultural, political, and environmental realities that both informed and undermined them over the course of two hundred years. Readings will range widely across both space and time, moving with communities across deserts, national boundaries, mountain ranges, and plains as they come into various forms of contact with one another. Enrollment limited to 20. M
HIST 1979C. Plague, War, Famine and Death: Crisis in Late-Medieval Europe.
This course explores the ways that people in fourteenth and fifteenth century Europe responded to the extreme hardships inflicted by famines, climate change, epidemics, wars, peasant rebellions, and religious upheaval. Covering topics ranging from evolving treatments for the plague to reactions to the Ottoman Turks’ capture of Constantinople in 1453, our discussions will help students to develop a deep understanding of a key period of transition within the history of Europe. Drawing on the lessons of the late Middle Ages, the course will provide background for understanding current events such as the Syrian Civil War and the Eurozone financial crisis. P
HIST 1979D. American Slavery and Its Afterlife.
This upper-level seminar considers slavery and its historical and contemporary legacies. Devoting about one third of the semester to an intellectual study of slavery mostly in the nineteenth century, the rest of the course unpacks what many scholars have called, “the afterlife of slavery.” A term introduced by literary scholars, the afterlife of slavery provides an interesting and provocative way to think about American culture and politics in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries as tied firmly to the institution that formed the economic basis of the founding of this nation.
HIST 1979E. Medieval Kyoto - Medieval Japan.
In the Western historical lexicon, the term “medieval” often conjures up images of backwardness and stagnation. Japan, however, pulsated with political, economic, and cultural creativity during its middle ages. This course explores topics central to Japan’s medieval revolution: -The emergence of a samurai-led shogunate and the creation of new warrior values -The appearance of Zen and popular religious sects -The creation of innovative “Zen arts” such as noh drama and the tea ceremony, and -The destruction of Kyoto and its subsequent resurgence in the sixteenth century as a city shared by aristocrats, merchants, and artisans. P
HIST 1979F. Intellectual History of Capitalism.
What are the intellectual underpinnings of modern capitalism? In this seminar, we will probe into history of economic thought by reading classic works by modern economists as well as more recent interpretations by intellectual historians. Among other things, we will discuss theories of value, property, markets, labor, inequality, and prices. We will also ask how the relationship between capitalism and other forms of production have been understood at various times. Throughout, we will pay particular attention to the different narratives and explanations that have been offered by working economists, economic historians, intellectual historians, philosophers, and historians of science. M
HIST 1979G. Lincoln.
This seminar will explore the life of the most famous American who ever lived. It will use a wide variety of sources, including his own writings, and the journals of those who worked closely with him, particularly John Hay, a recent Brown graduate. The seminar will pay attention to the known external facts of Lincoln's life, but it will also attempt to shed light on his rich psychological interior. Finally, it will contemplate the complex role Lincoln occupies today, in the wake of the successful 2012 film. M
HIST 1979H. Descartes' World.
An exploration of history and historical fiction through the examination of the early life of René Descartes, one of the most famous “French” philosophers of the 17th century. Little is known about his personal life, however, especially before he left France for good in 1628, despite many hints about his years as a soldier, his extensive travels in Europe, and his possible political and occult associations. This seminar is designed as a collective exploration into the small pieces of evidence about his early life and the lives of his friends and enemies in order to understand it imaginatively but truthfully. P
HIST 1979I. Filmed History: Modern China.
How did film become a message as well as a medium of history? This seminar considers the history of twentieth century China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan in conjunction with the development of film and video, and looks at how the two become intertwined. We will examine both the role of documentary films in political and social mobilization and the use of contemporary and past history in feature films. Weekly screenings are required in addition to the seminar meeting. M
HIST 1990. Undergraduate Reading Courses.
Guided reading on selected topics. Section numbers vary by instructor. Please check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
HIST 1992. History Honors Workshop for Prospective Thesis Writers.
HIST 1992 and HIST 1993 students meet together as the History Honors Workshop, offered in two separate sections per week. Prospective honors students are encouraged to enroll in HIST 1992 during semesters 5 or 6. HIST 1992 offers a consideration of historical methodology and techniques of writing and research with the goal of preparing to write a senior thesis in history, allowing students to refine research skills, define a project, prepare a thesis prospectus, required for admission to honors. Students who complete honors may count HIST 1992 as a concentration requirement. Limited to juniors who qualify for the honors program. WRIT
HIST 1993. History Honors Workshop for Thesis Writers, Part I.
HIST 1992 and HIST 1993 students meet together as the History Honors Workshop, offered in two separate sections per week. All students admitted to the History Honors Program must enroll in HIST 1993 for two semesters of thesis research and writing. They may enroll in the course during semesters 6 and 7, or 7 and 8. Course work entails researching, organizing, writing a history honors thesis. Presentation of work and critique of peers' work required. Limited to seniors and juniors who have been admitted to History Honors Program. HIST 1993 is a mandatory S/NC course. See History Concentration Honors Requirements.
HIST 1994. History Honors Workshop for Thesis Writers, Part II.
HIST 2050. Proseminar in Late Medieval History.
Macrohistory/Microhistory. A comparison of two different approaches to the study of the past, especially of late medieval and early modern Europe, focusing on the works of Fernand Braudel and Carlo Ginzburg.
HIST 2080. Seminar in European Social History in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Methods of analysis for current topics in social, economic, demographic, family, and gender history. Depending on sources available, papers may be on Italian topics of the 16th-19th centuries, or on French or English topics of the 18th-19th centuries. Language requirement depends on area of specialization.
HIST 2090. Proseminar on European Social History in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Selected readings on changes of social life in European cities in the period of transition from the preindustrial to the industrial economy. Primary focus is on developments in France, England, and Italy. Language requirement depends on area of specialization.
HIST 2450. Exchange Scholar Program.
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HIST 2890. Preliminary Examination Preparation.
For graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing for a preliminary examination.
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HIST 2910. Reading and Research.
Section numbers vary by instructor. Please see check Banner for the correct section number and CRN to use when registering for this course.
HIST 2930. Colloquium.
Required of all first-year graduate students; includes participation in Thursday Lecture Series. E
HIST 2940. Graduate Workshop: The Practice of History.
Required of all incoming Ph.D. students. E
HIST 2950. Professionalization Seminar.
Required of all second year Ph.D. students; includes participation in Thursday Lecture Series. E
HIST 2960. Prospectus Development Seminar.
This required course open only to second-year students in the History Ph.D. program focuses on the development of a dissertation prospectus. The seminar will include considering the process of choosing a dissertation topic, selecting a dissertation committee, identifying viable dissertation projects, articulating a project in the form of a prospectus, and developing research grant proposals based on the prosectus. E
HIST 2970A. New Perspectives on Medieval History.
Over the past several decades, the field of medieval history has been reshaped radically. New approaches have changed the ways that medievalists think about old subjects. Our understanding of medieval society itself has expanded as previously marginal or unexplored subjects have become central to medievalists' concern. This seminar explores how the ways in which medieval historians practice their craft have altered in response to these developments. Readings in classic older works are juxtaposed with newer ones on their way to becoming classics themselves.
HIST 2970B. Race, Ethnicity and Identity in the Atlantic World.
Explores the question of identity in the Atlantic world (especially the Spanish and English Atlantic) from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. We will focus on three types of identity: 1) ethnicity; 2) race; and 3) nationality. How are such identities created and maintained? Are they "natural" or "artificial"? How do they change over time, and why? Throughout the seminar, we will consider both internal and external boundaries, how social actors - particularly subalterns - see themselves and how they are imagined by outsiders. Finally, we will examine how identity is expressed in a wide variety of media - codices, paintings, maps, oral histories, diaries, etc. - and how scholars make use of such sources.
HIST 2970C. Rethinking the Civil Rights Movement.
This graduate course encourages a rethinking of the complex components, arguments and activities that have characterized what we have come to know as the Civil Rights Movement, concentrating primarily on African American agency, actions and politics, through careful reading of recent scholarship in the field. While knowledge of U.S. history is preferred, this course asks larger thematic questions about protest movements (the role of the state, relationships with and between oppressed groups and organizations, and periodization), that will interest non-Americanists also. Some of the topics covered include: gender, organizing and strategies, the local, global ramifications and interactions, organizational structures and politics, and the recent concept of the Long Civil Rights Movement. M
HIST 2970D. Modernity and Everyday Culture - Reading.
No description available.
HIST 2970E. Early Modern Continental Europe - Reading.
This course is designed to introduce graduate students to some major topics and debates in early modern European history, as well as a range of geographical, methodological, and historiographical perspectives. Readings combine recent works and classics to give a sense both of where the field has been and where it is going. Topics covered include political history, religious interactions (among Christians and between Christians, Jews and Moslems), urban history, the history of the book, Atlantic history, the history of science, and the Enlightenment. The class also provides the opportunity to explore a single topic of choice in greater depth.
HIST 2970F. Problems in Modern Jewish History - Reading.
This course examines significant issues in the history and historiography of modern European Jewry from the mid-18th century to WWII. It is divided into four units each of which considers a thematic question that has been of interest to European Jewish historians, including: emancipation, integration, and acculturation; gender and the study of modern Jewish history; approaches to minority identity; and history and memory. Written permission required.
HIST 2970G. Early Modern European Empires.
This course addresses both the history and historiography of the most relevant European imperial experiences in Africa, Asia and America c. 1400-1800. It will focus on the structure and dynamics of the Iberian case(s), as well as in the profile of the so-called Second European expansion led by the Dutch, the English and a number of other (minor) European examples. Particular emphasis will be given to the relations between these imperial bodies and other (non-European) Empires, by focusing on cross-cultural contacts and conflicts, hybrid societies and images. Restricted to juniors, seniors, and graduate students only. P
HIST 2970H. History of Sexuality - Reading.
A seminar addressing recent developments in the history of sexuality. Begins with the work of Michel Foucault and explores more recent historical and theoretical work. The aim is to define how the field is constituted: how do scholars construct object; what are the primary methods of inquiry; what are the theoretical debates informing those methods? Readings include primary documents, secondary historical works, and articles primarily concerned with theory.
HIST 2970I. Methodologies of the Ancient World.
No description available. Open to graduate students only.
HIST 2970J. Early Modern British History-Reading.
No description available.
HIST 2970L. Race and U.S. Empire.
No description available.
HIST 2970M. Japan, from Tokugawa to Meiji - Reading.
Compares the organization and exercise of political authority, the production and distribution wealth, and norms of cultural expression during the Tokugawa and Meiji periods as a way of understanding the dynamics of Japanese modernization.
HIST 2970N. Slavery, Race, and Emancipation in 19th-Century America.
An introduction to slavery and emancipation from a variety of periods, places, and perspectives, with an emphasis on the theoretical and methodological issues involved in tackling these complex subjects. Although the bulk of the course focuses on 19th-century America, all subjects will be viewed in comparative and transnational perspectives.
HIST 2970O. Modern Latin American History - Reading.
No description available.
HIST 2970P. Nineteenth and Twentieth Century American History - Reading.
No description available.
HIST 2970Q. Core Readings in 20th Century United States History.
Major topics and themes in 20th-century U.S. history. M
HIST 2970R. U.S. Social/Cultural History, 1877-present - Reading.
Case studies of prominent public intellectuals spanning the century from John Reed to George Wills, Mary McCarthy to Frances Fitzgerald.
HIST 2970S. Western and Frontier History - Reading.
An introduction to recent work on the history of North American frontiers and the region of the American West.
HIST 2970T. Representations of Suffering and Victimhood in History and Memoirs.
How have historians approached the representation of suffering in their work? How have attitudes toward representations of suffering and atrocities in historical narratives changed since the second world war? More generally, how do human rights narratives construct the identities of victims? This seminar will explore these questions in the context of the genocide of European Jewry. Requirements: One in-class presentation of weekly readings; one 20-25 page paper. Class participation required.
HIST 2970U. Topics in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century American History.
HIST 2970V. Atlantic Empires.
No description available.
HIST 2970W. Graduate Readings in Early American History.
No description available.
HIST 2970X. Topics in the History of Empire and Culture.
No description available.
HIST 2970Y. History and Theory of Secularity.
No description available.
HIST 2970Z. Core Readings in Nineteenth Century Europe.
Provides an introduction to the central issues of nineteenth-century European history. It has two purposes: first, to help you refine your abilities to think historiographically; second, to assist you in preparing for your comprehensive exams. To that end, we will read both standard interpretations and newer scholarship.
HIST 2971A. Science in a Colonial Context.
This graduate seminar will consider the politics of science in colonies societies. Subjects covered include: the relationship between science and local (indigenous) knowledges, science and the "civilizing" mission, social relations in knowledge production, science and development, racial science and subject bodies, science and nationalism. Assignments will include book review, a review essay and leading discussion.
HIST 2971B. Topics in Twentieth Century Europe.
This course will introduce graduate students to current scholarship on major issues in twentieth century European history. Topics will include (but are not limited to) the causes and consequences of the two world wars; the emergence, workings, and collapse of authoritarian societies; the spread of mass culture and consumerism; Americanization; de-colonization; the European Union, and the collapse of the bi-polar political system. In the interest of introducing students to the significant historiographical debates of the field, they will read both standard historical interpretations and newer scholarship. M
HIST 2971C. Readings in American History.
Topics in American social and cultural history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
HIST 2971D. Passion, Dispassion, and the Scholar.
What role should passion and the imagination play in intellectual endeavor? Is the dispassionate, objective, and objectifying voice the only appropriate one in the arena of scholarship? How much can or should the scholar let his or her personality and personal investment in a subject appear on the page? The seminar will explore these and related questions by examining non-traditional modes of scholarly writing (primarily but not exclusively drawing on historians and anthropologists). This is not a seminar about theory and method, although such issues will inevitably be part of our discussions. It is a seminar about writing and scholarly voice. P
HIST 2971E. Latin American Historiography.
This course examines the development of historical writings on Latin America produced in the United States from the late nineteenth century until the present. We will focus on themes, such as race, gender, labor, subaltern studies, dependency theory, postcolonial analysis, and post-modernism, to understand the diverse approaches to Latin American history. M
HIST 2971F. Gender & Knowledge in Early Modern Europe.
HIST 2971G. Notions of Public & Private in Late Modern Europe.
HIST 2971H. Politics and Society in the 20th Century.
HIST 2971I. New Perspectives on Medieval History.
No description available.
HIST 2971J. Topics in 19th c. U.S. History.
This state-of-the-field course will introduce students to nineteenth-century U.S. history, with specific attention to how recent transnational, imperial, institutional, and cultural approaches have reframed older debates over the "Age of Jackson," "Manifest Destiny," and the "Market Revolution." This seminar offers core readings for students preparing a comprehensive exam field, while providing others with content knowledge to teach this period of American history.
HIST 2971L. Borderlands: Violence and Coexistence.
Readings of theoretical and empirical studies in interstate and inter-ethnic relations in borderland regions throughout the world, with an emphasis on the modern period in East-Central. Open to graduate students only.
HIST 2971M. History of Medicine.
The history of medicine is a topic that can shed light on any period and place, since all aspects of human life are intertwined parts of the story: ideas, religion, culture, material life, economy, politics, social organization and legal institutions, etc. This reading course is meant to introduce graduate students to the main subjects debated in the field, so that by the end of the semester you will be able to read in the literature and to take up any related archival trail with confidence. Open to graduate students only. E
HIST 2971N. Critical Perspectives on Public and Private.
No description available. Open to graduate students only.
HIST 2971O. Graduate Preliminary Readings.
No description available.
HIST 2971P. Diasporas and Transnationalism.
This reading seminar is designed to familiarize students with the most cited and current theories on diaspora and transnationalism, to examine a few exemplary case studies from around the world, and to allow students to develop and discuss their individual interests and reading lists around these broad themes and concepts, towards a prelim field or dissertation prospectus.
HIST 2980B. Legal History.
An introduction for graduate students to the significance and methods of legal history, broadly defined. Students will engage with works in legal history from a variety of time periods and geographical areas, and they will be guided to sources related to their specific research interests. A major research essay will be required that draws from the models of legal history given and is based on original research into legal sources. E
HIST 2980C. Race, Ethnicity and Identity in Atlantic World.
This seminar examines the meaning of racial and ethnic identity in colonial Latin America. Our primary approach will be historiographical; we will begin with colonial concepts of racial hierarchy, then move on to national ideologies of mestizaje and indigenismo, the emergence of "race mixture" as a scholarly topic, the "caste vs. class" debate of the 1970s and 1980s, and finally recent works on the African diaspora.
HIST 2980D. Topics in Violence in Modern Europe: Interethnic Relations and Violence in Eastern Europe.
This seminar will examine recent studies on interethnic coexistence, violence, and genocide in East-Central and Eastern Europe in the 20th century. Readings will range from works on definitions of ethnicity and the making of nations to studies of communities and interpersonal relations. We will also read and listen to testimonies and analyze contemporary documents.
HIST 2980E. Social History in Early Modern England - Research.
Readings on select topics in early modern English social history. Topics include: marriage formation, crime, social unrest, gender issues, and popular culture. Open to graduate students and advanced undergraduates.
HIST 2980F. Modern British History - Research.
No description available.
HIST 2980G. Topics in Violence in Modern Europe - Research.
No description available.
HIST 2980H. Early American History - Research.
HIST 2980I. Problems in American Social History - Research.
An advanced examination of the issues and methodology of American urban and social history plus primary research in specific topics.
HIST 2980J. U.S. Women's/Gender History - Research.
Focus is 20th-century history. Open only to graduate students.
HIST 2980K. Passion, Dispassion, and the Scholar.
What role should passion play in intellectual endeavor? Should the scholar's personal involvement in a subject appear on the page? What is the value of the dispassionate voice as opposed to a narrative voice of immediacy? The seminar explores such issues in modes of scholarly writing (primarily but not exclusively historical and anthropological). Although questions of theory and method inevitably arise, this is a seminar about scholarly voice.
HIST 2980L. Research and Pedagogy.
This research seminar is geared to help graduate students think about the ways in which they can incorporate their own research into the courses they will teach. The final product for the seminar is a primary source unit and an accompanying essay tht can conceivably serve as a "teacher's guide." All fields and periods welcome. E
HIST 2980M. Nature, Space and Power: Environmental History.
No description available.
HIST 2980N. Gender and Knowledge.
No description available.
HIST 2980P. Theory of Everyday Life.
What do we mean by the "everyday" and how can we study it in the social sciences and represent it in the arts? We will focus on attempts to answer this question both on the theoretical and the empirical levels. Readings will include philosophers of everyday life and examples of recent scholarship in "everyday life studies" that have revolutionized the study of leisure, entertainment, national identity, decolonization and gender.
HIST 2980Q. Seminar in Early Modern British History.
No description available.
HIST 2980R. Cultures of Empire.
The goal of this course is to research and produce a piece of original historical scholarship, drawing on methodologies developed during the cultural turn in the study of empires. Early semester readings address approaches to studying empire (Marxian, Subaltern Studies, Cultural Studies, etc.) and various locations: British India, Japanese Manchuria, and Netherlands Indies, among others. The course then evolves into a history writing workshop for the rest of the semester, paying attention also to historical writing, including style, form, and narrative strategies. Relevant to historical inquiry into cross-cultural encounters in any time period.
HIST 2980S. Hannah Arendt and Her World.
This seminar will explore key concerns and paradigms in 20th-century intellectual history via a critical consideration of the thinking of Hannah Arendt (1906-75). In recent years, Arendt's work has earned renewed attention for its multidisciplinary, multicontinental importance as well as for its uncanny currency to the present political and academic moment. Her thinking is thus in many ways "migratory thinking." Migratory thinking involves first the diaspora and exchange of thinkers, most specifically through political exile and emigration during the Nazi period and after. It thus involves both the experience and theorization of "worldliness": the Enlightenment value that remains a key principle for Arendt, with special reference to Lessing. Migratory thinking also involves discursive movement among disciplines and cultures, for example from German philosophy to American political theory/science, and the complications of intellectual and cultural subjectivity of émigré as well as German Jewish thinking. Finally, the history and historical contingency that support this style of thinking emphasize the drive to thinking, responsibility, and judgment at a moment of danger. Readings and seminar discussions will focus on Arendt's work, read in dialogue with the work of thinkers with whom she was in dialogue (Benjamin, Broch, Heidegger, Scholem) and with the later work of thinkers whose own subject positions might be considered comparable with the concerns in the paragraph above (G. Rose, S. Neiman, S. Aschheim, J. Derrida et al.). Themes will include cosmopolitanism, nationalism, and totalitarianism, the global politics of race, capitalism, and exchange, religious/secular tensions, and the relations of society and politics to art and the imagination.
HIST 2980T. Minorities, Citizenship and Nation.
No description available.
HIST 2980U. Power, Culture, Knowledge.
"Truth isn't outside power, or lacking in power... [t]ruth is a thing of this world," wrote Michel Foucault in the mid 1970s. In this course we will read and examine Foucault's seminal works on knowledge and power, and the kinds of scholarship it has engendered at the intersections of history, art history, anthropology, political science and social theory. In addition to Foucault's major interlocutor, Edward Said, we will read Antonio Gramsci, Derrida and Walter Benjamin. We will end the semester with facing the challenge of historicizing our own political present through a number of contemporary thinkers. M
HIST 2980V. Early Modern Empires.
This seminar will explore various approaches to understanding the rise, expansion, and contraction of empires in the early modern period (ca. 1500-1800). Students will be required to write a major research essay based on primary sources.
HIST 2980W. First Person History in Times of Crisis: Witnessing, Memory, Fiction.
This seminar examines the relationship between History as a narrative of events and history as individual experience. Postulating that historical events as related by historians were experienced in numerous different ways by their protagonists, the seminar focuses on the complementary and contradictory aspects of this often fraught relationship at times of crisis, especially in war and genocide. While much time will be spent on World War II and the Holocaust, the seminar will engage with other modern wars and genocides across the world. Materials will include eyewitness reports, postwar testimonies and trial records, memoirs and relevant works of fiction. Open to graduate students only. M
HIST 2981C. The Frontiers of Empire.
This class will look at interactions along and across imperial frontier zones throughout the world, with an emphasis on the pre-modern and early modern period. Readings will be both theoretical and empirical in nature, and will focus on themes including the conceptualization of space; practices and consequences of warfare, captive-taking, and slavery; identity- and secondary state-formation; economy and society; diplomacy and the negotiation of claims to authority.
HIST 2981D. The Digital Humanities and the University of the Future.
How can humanists, computationalists, social scientists and engineers collaborate in redefining university-based expertise in an era of global warming, massive online education, and computational connectivity? This massively team-taught course will be led by up to 10 professors from different fields. Themes may include: the legacy and future of participatory maps for governing water infrastructure in developing-world cities; the political economy of teaching in the age of the MOOC; the new philology, or the convergence of neuroscience, literature, and linguistics in a digital age. Graduate students from Sociology, Anthropology, MCM, English, Classics, Art History, Engineering, and Computer Science are welcome. E
HIST 2981I. Theory From The South.
The “global south” is a working category today for a diversity of intellectual projects centered on the non-European postcolonial world. While this category is embedded in histories of empire and culture, critical thinking since the 1970s has already done much to “provincialize Europe” and interrogate the ways in which power and knowledge have been imbricated in the making of universal claims, institutional processes and historical self-understanding. This graduate seminar will draw upon lineages of anti-colonial thought and postcolonial critique to relocate and rethink the "south" as a generative source for theory and history.
HIST 2990. Thesis Preparation.
For graduate students who have met the tuition requirement and are paying the registration fee to continue active enrollment while preparing a thesis.
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Engin D. Akarli
Professor Emeritus of History
John P. Birkelund Distinguished Professor of European History
John P. Bodel
W. Duncan MacMillan II Professor of Classics
Cynthia J. Brokaw
Professor of History
Mari Jo Buhle
William R. Kenan, Jr. University Professor Emerita of American Civilization and History
Howard P. Chudacoff
George L. Littlefield Professor of American History
Harold J. Cook
John F. Nickoll Professor of History
L. Perry Curtis
Professor Emeritus of History
Lewis Perry Curtis Jr
Professor Emeritus of History
Beshara B. Doumani
Joukowsky Family Professor of Modern Middle East History
Charles W. Fornara
David Benedict Professor of Classics Emeritus
Professor Emeritus of History
Professor of History; Professor of Judaic Studies
Stephen Richards Graubard
Professor Emeritus of History
James N. Green
Professor of History; Professor of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies
Jerome Bailey Greider
Professor Emeritus of East Asian Studies and History
Timothy J. G. Harris
Munro, Goodwin, Wilkinson Professor of European History
Professor of American Studies; Professor of History
University Professor Emeritus of Education, History and Public Policy
Steven D. Lubar
Professor of American Studies; Professor of History; Professor of History of Art and Architecture
James L. McClain
Professor of History
Richard Alan Meckel
Professor of American Studies
Professor Emeritus of History
Kurt A. Raaflaub
Professor Emeritus of Classics
Norman Robert Rich
Professor Emeritus of History
Joan L. Richards
Professor of History
Donald Gerard Rohr
Professor Emeritus of History
Kenneth S. Sacks
Professor of Classics; Professor of History
Robert O. Self
Royce Family Professor in Teaching Excellence and Professor of History
Michael P. Steinberg
Barnaby Conrad and Mary Critchfield Keeney Professor of History
Lea Everard Williams
Professor Emeritus of History
Visiting Professor of History
Associate Professor of Italian Studies
Robert Douglas Cope
Associate Professor of History
Vasca da Gama Associate Professor of Early Modern Portuguese History
Nancy J. Jacobs
Associate Professor of History and Africana Studies
Associate Professor of History and Judaic Studies
Rebecca A. Nedostup
Associate Professor of History
Tara E. Nummedal
Associate Professor of History; Associate Professor of Italian Studies
Associate Professor of History; Associate Professor of Slavic Languages
Amy G. Remensnyder
Associate Professor of History
Seth E. Rockman
Associate Professor of History
Neil F. Safier
Associate Professor of History
Associate Professor of American Studies; Associate Professor of History
Associate Professor of History
Associate Professor of History; Associate Professor of Judaic Studies
Associate Professor of History
Vazira F-Y Zamindar
Associate Professor of History
Assistant Professor of History
Jonathan P. Conant
Assistant Professor of History
Assistant Professor of History
E. Joanna Guldi
Assistant Professor of History
Francoise N. Hamlin
Hans Rothfels Assistant Professor
Lukas B. Rieppel
Assistant Professor of History
Tracy L. Steffes
Assistant Professor of Education; Assistant Professor of History
Visiting Assistant Professor
Jeremy R. Mumford
Visiting Assistant Professor of History
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Joel W. Revill
Adjunct Assistant Professor of History
Anthony J. Watson
Adjunct Assistant Professor of History
Rebecca Sherrill More
Visiting Scholar in History
History is the study of how societies and cultures across the world change over time. History concentrators learn to write and think critically, and to understand issues from a variety of perspectives. The department offers a wide variety of courses concerned with changes in human experience through time, ranging from classical Greek and Roman civilizations to the histories of Europe, the Americas, and Asia. While some courses explore special topics, others concentrate on the history of a particular country (e.g. Russia or France) or period of time (e.g. the Middle Ages or the Renaissance). By taking advantage of our diverse course offerings, students can engage in and develop broad perspectives on the past and the present.
- Basic Requirement: A concentration in History consists of a minimum of ten semester-long courses; of these, at least eight (seven in the case of students who spend more than one semester at another institution; see “Transferring Courses” below) must be offered by the Brown University History Department, including cross-listed courses.
- Introductory Courses: Students may count no more than two lecture surveys numbered 0520 or lower and only one HIST 0970 or HIST 0980 seminar toward the concentration requirements. It is recommended that concentrators in their first or second years take a HIST 0970 series seminar or a HIST 0980 series seminar for a seminar-based introduction to historical reasoning, discussion, and writing.
- Field of Focus: Upon declaring a concentration in History, students must define the area that will be the primary focus of their program. The primary field of focus must include minimum of four courses. The field may be defined by geographical regions (see #4), by geographical regions with thematic or chronological emphases, or by topic.
Students who choose a geographical focus must provide a thematic or chronological rationale for the coherence of courses with a broad chronological span. Students who are interested in a thematic or transnational focus (such as Science, Technology, Environment and Medicine or the Ancient World) may include courses from different geographic areas. All students should consult a concentration advisor early in the process. All fields are subject to approval by the concentration advisor.
- Geographical Distribution: Concentrators must distribute nine of the ten required courses as follows: four courses in the primary geographic area. Thereafter, five courses in two or more secondary areas, with a maximum of three in any of these areas. Comparative and transnational courses may count for the geographical requirement with the approval of the concentration advisor. The geographic areas are:
- East Asia
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Middle East and South Asia
- North America
- Chronological Distribution: All History Department courses are designated “P” for pre-modern, “M” for modern, and “E” for either pre-modern or modern. Concentrators must complete at least three courses in the pre-modern period and three courses in the modern periods. Two of the courses must be designated “P” and two must be designated “M”. Courses designated “E” may fulfill the requirements for a third course in each category.
- Capstone Seminar: All concentrators must complete at least one capstone seminar (HIST 1960 or HIST 1970 series seminar). These seminars are designed to serve as an intellectual culmination of the concentration. They provide students with an opportunity to delve deeply into a historical problem and to write a major research and/or analytical paper which serves as a capstone experience. Ideally, they will be taken in the field of focus and during the student’s junior or senior year. Students considering writing a senior honors thesis are advised to take an advanced seminar in their junior year.
- Honors: To be admitted to the honors program, students must have achieved two-thirds “quality grades” in History department courses. A “quality grade” is defined as a grade of “A” or a grade of “S” accompanied by a course performance report indicating a performance at the “A” standard. Honors is normally a three-semester process, with students taking HIST 1992, “History Honors Workshop for Prospective Thesis Writers,” one semester and HIST 1993, “History Honors Workshop for Thesis Writers,” for two semesters. Both classes will be offered every semester, so students may begin the process in either their 5th or 6th semester.
HIST 1992 is strongly recommended but not required. The class may count as one of the 10 courses required for graduation in history. Students may be admitted into HIST 1993 in one of two ways.
1. By receiving a grade of A- or above in HIST 1992.
2. By submitting a thesis prospectus of equivalent quality (A- or above) no later than the first day of their 7th semester. This method of entry into HIST 1993 is geared especially, but not limited to students who have spent their junior year away from Brown.
Students who take HIST 1992 in the 5th semester can finish the thesis in the 7th semester. Students who take HIST 1992 in the 6th semester will finish it in the 8th semester.
Students who contemplate enrolling in the honors program in History should consult the department website. They are also encouraged to meet with the Director of Undergraduate Studies, who serves as the honors advisor.
- Transferring Courses: The History Department encourages students to take history courses at other institutions, either in the United States or abroad, as well as history-oriented courses in other departments and programs at Brown. Students may apply two courses taken in other departments/programs at Brown to the ten-course minimum for the History concentration. Students who spend one semester at another institution may apply to their concentration a maximum of two courses from other departments or institutions, and those who spend more than one semester at another institution may apply to their concentration a third course transferred from another institution. The total number of courses from other departments or institutions may not exceed three.
Students wishing to apply such courses must present to their concentration advisor justification that those courses complement some aspect of their concentration. Courses from other Brown departments may not be applied toward the chronological distribution requirement; courses transferred from other institutions may be applied toward the chronological distribution requirement so long as they clearly are history courses.
It is normally expected that students will have declared their intention to concentrate in History and have their concentration programs approved before undertaking study elsewhere. Students taking courses in Brown-run programs abroad automatically receive University transfer credit, but concentration credit is granted only with the approval of a concentration advisor. Students taking courses in other foreign-study programs or at other universities in the United States must apply to the Transfer Credit Advisor.
Final transfer and concentration credit will not be granted until the student successfully completes the course(s) and returns to Brown. Approval by the department advisor for transfer credit will be contingent on satisfactory course content and performance (to be demonstrated by documents such as a transcript showing the grade, syllabi, notes, papers, exams, etc).
- Regular Consultation: Students are strongly urged to consult regularly with their concentration advisor or a department advisor about their program. During the seventh semester, all students must meet with their concentration advisor for review and approval of their program.
The department of History offers graduate programs leading to the Master of Arts (A.M.) degree and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree.
For more information on admission and program requirements, please visit the following website: