• 2009-2010 Courses:
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Fall 2009

• HIST 110: The Chinese Revolution of 1949

  For the last half century the communist regime in China has made an indelible mark on the society comprising a quarter of the world's population. This seminar will examine various interpretations of different aspects and phases of Chinese life between the 1920s and 1990s. The emphasis will be on historical analysis of documentary sources. Students are introduced to materials in translation on the Chinese Revolution consisting of government publications, biographies memoirs, personal letters, journalistic reports, travelogues, and novels. Topics include political ideology, class and gender, nationalism, agricultural development, and mobilization of intellectuals. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Fall 2009 -- S. Yoon

• HIST 110: Gandhi and Nationalism in India

  This seminar examines the nationalist movements which swept through South Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most prominent was the anti-colonial struggle led by Mohandas K. Gandhi, centered on the practices of non-violence and civil disobedience, to help bring down the mightiest empire in the world. This period also saw numerous other powerful nationalist currents emerge, including many based on Islamic ideas and symbols. We will examine the historical forces and the people which comprised these movements, in an effort to understand the complex and intriguing ways in which Gandhi’s movement intersected, combined, and conflicted with other nationalist trends. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- B. LaRocque

• HIST 110: The Russian Revolutions of 1917

  An examination of the Russian revolutions of 1917 from a variety of intellectual and political viewpoints using both eyewitness and scholarly accounts. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- A. Khalid

• HIST 110: Black Slaves, White Masters: Historians and Slavery

  This seminar explores the place of slavery in American historiography in the half-century following U.B. Phillips's American Negro Slavery (1918). It probes the complexities of the master-slave relationship as well as integrates the methods and skills of the historian regarding questions of culture, gender, economics, and resistance. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Fall 2009 -- H. Williams

• HIST 110: Drunks and Teetotalers: Alcohol and American Society

  From its earliest days as a nation, the use and abuse of alcohol in the U.S. has been hotly debated. This course will examine historians' attempts to understand alcohol's powerful impact on American politics, society, and social reform. Using original source materials from the times, this course will focus on colonial rebellions, the temperance movement, immigration and the rise of saloons and saloon politics, the debate over prohibition, and the contemporary reforms of Alcoholics Anonymous, and MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers). 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- C. Clark

• HIST 110: Conquest and Survival in Indigenous Mexico

  The sixteenth century Spanish conquest of the native "empires" of Mexico and its long-term consequences. How disruptive was the conquest for indigenous societies? Did the downfall of indigenous empires and city-states signal the demise of indigenous culture? We will examine and discuss the views of the combatants themselves and later interpretations of historians. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Fall 2009 -- A. Fisher

• HIST 137: Before Europe: The Early Medieval World, 250-c. 1050

  This course examines the formation of western Christendom from its origins in the Christian Roman Empire to its consolidation in the eleventh century. As we move from Merovingian Gaul, Lombard Italy, and Anglo-Saxon England to the Carolingian Empire and its successor kingdoms in Germany, France, and Italy, we will examine such issues as the cultural and political legacy of the Roman and Carolingian worlds; the nature and forms of secular and sacred power; gender roles and relations; ethnic and social identity; and the forms, patterns and meaning of communication (political, economic, ritual, literary, religious) both inside and outside early medieval Europe. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- W. North

• HIST 139: Foundations of Modern Europe

  A narrative and survey of the early modern period (fifteenth through eighteenth centuries). The course examines the Renaissance, Reformation, Contact with the Americas, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment. We compare the development of states and societies across Western Europe, with particularly close examination of the history of Spain. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- S. Ottaway

• HIST 169: Colonial Latin America 1492-1810

  How did peoples from the Americas, the Iberian Peninsula, and Africa contribute to the creation of new colonial societies in Latin America and the Caribbean? The course examines the bewildering spectrum of indigenous societies Europeans and Africans encountered in the Americas, then turns to the introduction and proliferation of Hispanic institutions and culture, the development of mature colonial societies, and the increasing tensions and internal contradictions that plagued the region by the late eighteenth century. It asks how the colonized population managed to survive, adapt, and resist imperial pressures and examines the creation of new collective identities. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Fall 2009 -- A. Fisher

• HIST 180: An Historical Survey of East Africa

  This course will survey the history of Eastern Africa from 1000 BC to the present. Topics to be covered include the development of settled communities and states; the economic and cultural networks that have linked the Indian Ocean with the interior; the East African slave trade; comparative colonialism; anti-colonial resistance; African nationalism; and post-colonial developments. We will cover the region that today comprises the countries of Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- O. Masebo

• HIST 208: The Atlantic World: Columbus to the Age of Revolutions, 1492-1792

  In the late fifteenth century, the Atlantic ocean became a vast highway linking Spain, France, Britain, and the Netherlands to the Americas and Africa. This course will examine the lives of the men and women who inhabited this new world from the time of Columbus to the eighteenth-century revolutions in Haiti and North America. We will focus on the links between continents rather than the geographic segments. Topics will include the destruction and reconfiguration of indigenous societies; slavery and other forms of servitude; religion; war; and the construction of ideas of empire. Students considering a concentration in Atlantic History are particularly encouraged to enroll. Emphasis on primary sources. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- S. Zabin

• HIST 226: U.S. Consumer Culture

  In the period after 1880, the growth of a mass consumer society recast issues of identity, gender, race, class, family, and political life. We will explore the development of consumer culture through such topics as advertising and mass media, the body and sexuality, consumerist politics in the labor movement, and the response to the Americanization of consumption abroad. We will read contemporary critics such as Thorstein Veblen, as well as historians engaged in weighing the possibilities of abundance against the growth of corporate power. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- A. Igra

• HIST 248: Berlin Program: Monuments and Memory: A Cultural History of Berlin

  Berlin is the center of a transnational space both German-speaking and vibrantly multicultural. This course will examine Berlin’s complicated history and culture through its monuments, museums, and other sites of commemoration. Using Berlin as our text, we will gain insights into the significant historical events that shaped the society and culture of Germany’s capital city. Where relevant, we will discuss developments in Germany and Central Europe more generally, and incorporate visits to nearby cities into the course. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- D. Tompkins

• HIST 265: Central Asia in the Modern Age

  Central Asia--the region encompassing the post-Soviet states of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, and the Xinjiang region of the People’s Republic of China--is often considered one of the most exotic in the world, but it has experienced all the excesses of the modern age. After a basic introduction to the long-term history of the steppe, this course will concentrate on exploring the history of the region since its conquest by the Russian and Chinese empires. We will discuss the interaction of external and local forces as we explore transformations in the realms of politics, society, culture, and religion. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- A. Khalid

• HIST 298: Junior-year History Colloquium

  In the junior year, majors must take six-credit reading and discussion course taught each year by different members of the department faculty. The general purpose of History 298 is to help students reach a more sophisticated understanding of the nature of history as a discipline and of the approaches and methods of historians. A major who is considering off-campus study in the junior year should consult with their adviser on when to take History 298. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Fall 2009, Winter 2010 -- A. Khalid, S. Zabin

• HIST 386: Disease, Health, and Healing in Modern African History

  In this course, we will examine the history of disease, health, and healing in the context of changing economic, cultural, and political relations in Africa. Topics to be discussed include African medical ideas and practices, therapeutic pluralism, colonial medicine, social/public responses to disease, patient experiences, and controversies surrounding HIV/AIDS. We will pay attention to questions of power, agency, and gender as we discuss these topics. The course will highlight the key themes, historiographies, and methodologies in the history of disease, health, and healing in modern African history. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- O. Masebo

• HIST 395: Transnational Black History Since 1945

  An interdisciplinary seminar, this course places postwar U.S. black history in transnational context by examining flows of people, information, and images with parallel liberation movements in the Third World, including Ghana, Cuba, and what Vijay Prashad theorizes as the "darker nations." Major research paper required. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2009 -- H. Williams

Winter 2010

• HIST 110: Music and Politics in Europe Since Wagner

  This course examines the often fraught, complicated relationship between music and politics from the mid-nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth. Our field of inquiry will include all of Europe, but will particularly focus on Germany, Poland, and the Soviet Union. We will look at several composers and their legacies in considerable detail, including Beethoven, Wagner, and Shostakovich. While much of our attention will be devoted to "high" or "serious" music, we will explore developments in popular music as well. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- D. Tompkins

• HIST 120: Rethinking the American Experience: American Social History, 1607-1865

  A survey of the American experience from before Christopher Columbus' arrival through the Civil War. Some of the topics we will cover include: contact between Native and European cultures; the development of the thirteen mainland British colonies; British, French, and Spanish imperial conflicts over the Americas; slavery; the American Revolution; religious awakenings; antebellum politics; and the Civil War. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- S. Zabin

• HIST 152: History of Imperial China

  An introduction to the history of China from its beginnings to the end of the last dynasty in 1911, providing an overview of traditional Chinese thought, culture, institutions, and society. Students examine the development of philosophy and religion, achievements in art and literature, and social and economic change. This course also considers foreign conquest dynasties, Chinese expansion into Inner Asia, and China's relations with the West. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2010 -- S. Yoon

• HIST 167: History of Modern South Asia

  This course examines the history of South Asia from the beginning of the early modern era to the present. We will explore forms of government, types of economies, and art and culture, and examine the role of religions in South Asian societies, including Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. We will pay special attention to the decline of early modern indigenous empires, the expansion of European colonialism, and the development of nationalism. Topics including the role of political violence and non-violence, conceptions of masculinity and feminity, caste, class, and race will also form part of our material. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- B. LaRocque

• HIST 170: Modern Latin America 1810-Present

  This course focuses on the legacy of colonial rule and asks how nascent nation-states dealt with new challenges of political legitimacy, economic development, and the rights of citizens. Case studies from the experiences of individual nations will highlight concerns still pertinent today: the ongoing struggle to extend meaningful political participation and the benefits of economic growth to the majority of the region's inhabitants, popular struggles for political, economic, and cultural rights, and the emergence of a civic society. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2010 -- A. Fisher

• HIST 220: African American History I

  This survey begins with the pre-enslavement history of African Americans in West Africa. It proceeds to the transition of the slave from an African to an African American either directly or indirectly through the institution of slavery until 1865. Special attention will be given to black female activists, organizations, and philosophies proposing solutions to the African-American and Euro-American dilemma in the antebellum period. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2010 -- H. Williams

• HIST 230: Institutional Structure and Culture in the Middle Ages

  From churches to monasteries to universities to guilds, the medieval world was full of institutions that faced hard questions: How best to structure power and authority? What is our place in the wider world? How is our collective identity and ethos achieved, maintained, or transformed? How does the institution as a material community relate to the institution’s mission and culture? What are the ideals and techniques of leadership? What do success and failure look like? Through theoretical readings and case studies, students will investigate medieval responses to these challenges, while analyzing the complex dynamics of institutional life more generally. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- W. North

• HIST 241: Russia through Wars and Revolutions

  The lands of the Russian empire underwent massive transformations in the tumultuous decades that separated the accession of Nicholas II (1894) from the death of Stalin (1953). This course will explore many of these changes, with special attention paid to the social and political impact of wars (the Russo-Japanese War, World War I, the Civil War, and the Great Patriotic War) and revolutions (of 1905 and 1917), the ideological conflicts they engendered, and the comparative historical context in which they transpired. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- A. Khalid

• HIST 250: Modern Germany

  This course offers a comprehensive examination of German history in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. We will look at the German-speaking peoples of Central Europe through the prism of politics, society, culture, and the economy. Through a range of readings, we will grapple with the many complex and contentious issues that have made German history such an interesting area of intellectual inquiry. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- D. Tompkins

• HIST 254: Colonialism in East Asia

  This course explores the colonialisms in East Asia, both internal and external. Students examine Chinese, Inner Asian, Japanese, and European colonialisms from the seventeenth century to the present. Geographically, students cover borderlands of East Asian empires (Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria, Fujian, Yunnan, Canton, Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Okinawa, and Hokkaido). Methodologically, students eschew power-politics and an historical studies of "frontier" regions in order to analyze everyday aspects of colonial arrangements and communities in different historical moments from the bottom up. Topics include ethnic identities, racial discourses, colonial settlements, opium regimes, violence and memory (e.g. Nanjing massacre), and forced labor migrations (e.g. comfort women). 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- S. Yoon

• HIST 279: American Intellectual History

  A study of selected moments in the history of ideas from Puritanism to Pragmatism. The major focus will be on the classic writing of William Bradford, Anne Hutchinson, Jonathan Boucher, William Bartram, Henry David Thoreau, Oliver Wendell Holmes, William James and John Dewey. Students will examine the ideas of one writer in depth and analyze that writer's attempt to shape public policy. Using Louis Menand's Prize-winning "The Metaphysical Club," we will explore the attempt of post-Civil War thinkers to craft a social philosophy for the modern world of industry and science. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2010 -- C. Clark

• HIST 298: Junior-year History Colloquium

  In the junior year, majors must take six-credit reading and discussion course taught each year by different members of the department faculty. The general purpose of History 298 is to help students reach a more sophisticated understanding of the nature of history as a discipline and of the approaches and methods of historians. A major who is considering off-campus study in the junior year should consult with their adviser on when to take History 298. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Fall 2009, Winter 2010 -- A. Khalid, S. Zabin

• HIST 322: Civil Rights and Black Power

  This seminar frames the life and death of the civil rights and black power movements as rich experiments in political, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual theory and practice envisioned to create a racially liberal American state. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2010 -- H. Williams

• HIST 400: Integrative Exercise

  Required of all seniors majoring in history. Registration in this course is contingent upon prior approval of a research proposal. 6; S/NC; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2010 -- C. Clark, A. Igra, V. Morse

Spring 2010

• HIST 121: Rethinking the American Experience: American Social History, 1865-1945

  This course offers a survey of the American experience from the end of the Civil War through World War II. Although we will cover a large number of major historical developments--including Reconstruction, the Progressive movement, World War I, the Great Depression, the New Deal and World War II--the course will seek to emphasize the various beliefs, values, and understanding that informed Americans' choices throughout these periods. In countless ways, the legacy of their lives continues to shape ours today, and so we will seek to understand the connections (and sometimes the disconnections) between Americans past and present. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- H. Williams

• HIST 130: The Formation of Christian Thought

  This course surveys the development of Christian thought in the Latin West and Greek East from the first to the fifth centuries, the period when many of the authoritative intellectual traditions of both medieval Europe and Byzantium were created. Among the themes/problems to be explored: the contribution of late ancient philosophy to Christian thought; Christian attitudes towards non-Christian belief and culture (pagan and Jewish); the interpretation of the Bible; the development of heresy and orthodoxy; and the relationship between theology, asceticism, and the development of the church as an institution. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- W. North

• HIST 141: Europe in the Twentieth Century

  A survey of the major political, socio-economic, and intellectual developments of twentieth century Europe. Special emphasis will be placed on the rise of urban masses and private economic power and the attempts to integrate these new forces into a stable political system. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- D. Tompkins

• HIST 153: History of Modern China

  This course, a continuation of History 152 (History of Imperial China), offers a critical survey of the modern transformation of politics, economy, society, and culture in Chinese history from the eighteenth century to the present. Topics include neo-Confucianism, the bureaucracy, the repudiation of civil society, the interaction with the West, peasant rebellions, nationalism, party politics, the dynamics of Communist rule, and alternative Chinese societies both inside and outside Mainland China. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Yoon

• HIST 195: American Environmental History

  This course examines the changing relationship between humankind and the natural world in the portion of North America that is now the United States. We will begin with a consideration of Native American substinence strategies and ideas about nature, and then turn to the arrival of Europeans, colonialism, industrialization, increasing urbanization, and the conservation and environmental movements, among other major eco-historical developments. As we explore these developments, we will focus on the deeper ecological implications of human activities, cultural patterns and intellectual currents. One goal of the course will be to provide an historical context for understanding contemporary environmental issues. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- G. Vrtis

• HIST 213: The Age of Jefferson

  This course will examine the social, political and cultural history of the period 1783-1830 with special consideration of the framing and ratification of the Constitution and the defining of the "United States." Historians contend that the period covered by this course is the key era of social transformation in American history. To assess this hypothesis, we will examine changes in race, gender, and class relations within the context of economic and geographical expansion and religious revitalization. We will explore paradoxes of American democracy and citizenship as they developed in the early Republic. Previous knowledge of American history will be assumed. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Zabin

• HIST 217: From Ragtime to Football: U.S. History in the 1890s

  The 1890s were a period of turmoil. From the closing of the frontier west to the debates over imperialism, immigrants, ragtime music, and football, Americans tried to come to terms with the changing standards and social relationships of the modern world. Using original sources from the period, this course will explore the various debates over war, women's roles, sports, art, music, politics, and popular culture in the 1890s. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- C. Clark

• HIST 236: Women's Lives in Pre-Modern Europe

  Did women have a Renaissance? Were women increasingly relegated to a separate sphere from men: "domesticated" into the household? Or, on the contrary, is the history of European women characterized by fundamental continuities? This course seeks to answer these questions through an exploration of women's place in the family and economy, laws and cultural assumptions about women, and women's role in religion. Throughout the term, we will be focusing not only on writings about women, but primarily on sources written by women themselves, as we seek a fuller understanding of the nature of European women's lives before the modern era. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Ottaway

• HIST 239: Britain, c. 1485-1834: From Sceptred Isle to Satanic Mills

  This course traces the political, intellectual, economic and social history of the British Isles from the Tudor era to the Industrial Revolution. As we move from the world of Shakespeare to that of Jane Austen, we will follow changing British identities, the development of Atlantic slavery (and the subsequent move to emancipation), and revolutions in the political world. At the same time, we identify the origins and consequences of the fundamental economic and demographic changes associated with the demographic transition and industrialization. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Ottaway

• HIST 243: The Peasants are Revolting! Society and Politics in the Making of Modern France

  Political propaganda of the French Revolutionary period tells a simple story of downtrodden peasants exploited by callous nobles, but what exactly was the relationship between the political transformations of France from the Renaissance through the French Revolution and the social, religious, and cultural tensions that characterized the era? This course explores the connections and conflicts between popular and elite culture as we survey French history from the sixteenth through early nineteenth centuries, making comparisons to social and political developments in other European countries along the way. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Ottaway

• HIST 255: Press and Culture in East Asia

  What are the major distribution paths through which news and opinions are disseminated? Many believe that the modern press is one of the social and cultural bases within civil society and that it is not just a medium but a shaper of opinion in the public sphere. Students will test the validity of such claims by examining how the press reshaped printing and book culture in East Asia. Students will analyze communication circuits that link authors, journalists, shippers, booksellers, itinerant storytellers, readers, and listeners. Sources will be drawn from official gazettes, newsletters, pamphlets, handbills, rumor mills, pictorials, and cartoons. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- S. Yoon

• HIST 266: History of Islam in India

  The countries of South Asia --particularly India, Pakistan and Bangladesh--are collectively home to the world’s largest Muslim population. This course will examine the history and significance of the expansion of Islam into the Indian subcontinent, with an emphasis on topics including poetry and art, trade, Islamic concepts of law and justice, mysticism, and popular religion. We will study the development of specifically Indian forms of Islam, with a focus on the interaction of Muslims with non-Muslim communities. We will also examine the wide variety of socio-political movements which emerged among Muslim communities in the colonial and post-colonial eras. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- B. LaRocque

• HIST 273: Go-Betweens and Rebels in the Andean World

  This course examines the dynamics of imperial rule in the vertical world of the Andes from the time of the Inca, through Spanish rule, and beyond. Of particular interest will be the myriad roles played by indigenous intermediaries who bridged the social, political and cultural gap between their communities and the state. While critical for maintaining the imperial order, these individuals also served as a galvanizing source of popular resistance against the state. Emphasis will be placed on the reading of translated primary sources written by a diverse group of Andean cultural intermediaries and rebels. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- A. Fisher

• HIST 276: The African Diaspora in Latin America

  A study of the participation of peoples of African descent in the creation of Latin American societies and culture. After an examination of the Atlantic slave trade, the course will survey the institution of African slavery in colonial societies with particular attention given to urban versus rural slavery, slave resistance and rebellion, maroon communities, gender relations, manumission, and cultural continuities and innovations. The course concludes with a consideration of the experiences of freed peoples in post-abolition societies and the historical legacy of slavery. Some background knowledge of Latin American history is recommended. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2010 -- A. Fisher

• HIST 360: Muslims and Modernity

  Through readings in primary sources in translation, we will discuss the major intellectual and cultural movements that have influenced Muslim thinkers from the nineteenth century on. Topics include modernism, nationalism, socialism, and fundamentalism. Prerequisite: at least one prior course in the history of the Middle East or Central Asia or Islam. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2010 -- A. Khalid

• HIST 395: Themes in World Environmental History

  In the rapidly growing field of environmental history, one trend is becoming clear: some of the most ambitious and insightful work is now moving beyond the nation-state and pushing hard against long-standing conceptual boundaries. From Asia to the Americas, from colonialism to industrialization--innovative historians are rethinking our understanding of the past by turning attention to the ecological dimensions of global human processes and patterns. This course will consider several of these developments over the last several centuries. The requirements for this course will include extensive reading and a major research paper. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- G. Vrtis

• HIST 395: The Progressive Era

  Was the Progressive Era progressive? It was a period of social reform, labor activism and woman suffrage, but also of Jim Crow, corporate capitalism, and U.S. imperialism. These are among the topics that can be explored in research papers in this contradictory era. We will begin by reading a brief text that surveys the major subject areas and relevant historiography of the period. The course will center on the writing of a 25-30 page paper based on primary research, which will be read and critiqued by members of the seminar. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- A. Igra

• HIST 395: Dictatorships in Modern Europe

  This seminar examines the various European dictatorships of the twentieth century. We will discuss the applicability of the term "dictatorship" to the fascist and stalinist states and their societies, and then broadly engage the main historiographical debates on totalitarianism. We will focus specifically on the establishment of these regimes and the leadership and political structures that emerged, as well as recent literature on women, everyday life and mentalities, and high and popular culture. A major research paper is required, including peer review of students’ ideas and writing. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2010 -- D. Tompkins