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 2008 -- S. Yoon

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 Winter 2009 -- A. Khalid

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 Fall 2008 -- D. Tompkins

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 2008 -- 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 2008 -- C. Clark

HIST 110: Transforming Religious Identities: Personal Conversion in Later Medieval Europe

This course will explore the concept of religious conversion, treating it as a process of redefining the boundaries of personal identity. How was the conversion experience interpreted during the Middle Ages? How do modern scholarly disciplines view conversion? What does conversion mean for the historian? We will explore these questions through readings in medieval sources and from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, and religious studies. Topics will include: conversion to and from Judaism and Islam; St. Francis of Assisi and the heretical movements; women’s conversions and male paradigms. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 110: Antebellum Reform Movements

In the first half of the nineteenth century, Americans both mainstream and marginal thought that they could reform their country. Attempts to improve bodies, families, souls, and government through reform movements as wide-ranging as vegetarianism and temperance, anti-masturbation and prisons, utopias and feminism, swept the country. Some of their attempts now seem crazy, others clearly worthwhile. Using primary sources as varied as novels, newspapers, images, and court records, we will explore these movements (and many more), their participants, and their legacies. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Zabin

HIST 110: Lewis and Clark’s West

When the Lewis and Clark expedition headed up the Missouri River in 1804, they entered a world far wider and far more complicated than any of the explorers realized. The diverse landforms, ecological communities and Native peoples they encountered were woven together in ways that reached widely across space and drew on roots thousands of years deep. It was also a world being refashioned by all sorts of new forces creeping into the region from nearly every direction. This course will explore this complex and changing world--the West in the age of Lewis and Clark. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- G. Vrtis

HIST 110: The Age of Elizabeth I

Her subjects remembered her as Good Queen Bess, and biographers have sung the praises of Gloriana, but what is our current understanding of Elizabeth I of England? This course will examine recent works on Elizabeth's family and personal life, as well as histories of the political and religious events of the Tudor Age. In the process we will be seeking not merely to understand how historians have studied Elizabeth, but also to learn about how historians practice their craft. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Ottaway

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 Fall 2008 -- C. Clark

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 2009 -- G. Vrtis

HIST 130: The Formation of Early Christian Thought

This course offers a historical survey of the development of Christian thought in the Latin West and Greek East from the second to seventh centuries, the period when the authoritative intellectual traditions of both medieval Europe and Byzantium were created. Among the themes/problems to be explored: 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; not offered 2008-2009

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 138: The Making of Europe

What are the origins of what we call "Europe?" How did this corner of the Eurasian continent come to play a predominant role in world history? What forces worked to create or to undermine a recognizably "European" culture? While cultural developments and new institutions offered powerful sources of shared experience and practice, national states and self-conscious localisms introduced new lines of fragmentation. Through lectures and discussion of a wide variety of primary sources from the period this class will examine these competing tendencies as they shaped the history of Europe's peoples during the later Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 2008 -- S. Ottaway

HIST 140: Modern Europe 1789-1914

An introduction in the age of political and social revolutions. Emphasis is given to the impact of industrialization, the rise of national consciousness, and the search for progress through the great liberal and socialist movements, and ultimately the drive for global domination and development, students are invited but not required to take HIST 141 as a follow-up to this course. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 150: Ancient and Medieval Japan

An introduction to the history of Japan from its pre-historical past to the fall of the Tokugawa order in 1868. It examines the ways in which the Japanese civilization has been shaped by its political institutions, foreign relations, religious developments, social forms, and literary achievements. Topics include the sources and legitimization of ancient political power; aristocracy in medieval times; the popularization of various sects of Buddhism; the rise of the warrior class; agrarian society and peasant rebellions; urban lives of artisans, merchants, and entertainers; and the world of popular literature and arts. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 151: History of Modern Japan

This course explores the modern transformation of Japanese society, politics, economy, and culture from the Meiji Restoration of 1868 to the present. It is designed to provide students with an opportunity to explore basic issues and problems relating to modern Japanese history and international relations. Topics include the intellectual crisis of the late Tokugawa period, the Meiji Constitution, the development of an imperial democracy, class and gender, the rise of Japanese fascism, the Pacific War, and postwar developments. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 2009 -- S. Yoon

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; offered Spring 2009 -- S. Yoon

HIST 156: History of Modern Korea

An historical survey on the development of Korean society and culture from the fifteenth century to the present. Students will analyze various aspects of Korean life such as autocracy and bureaucracy, family and education, peasantry and rural life, commerce and industry, Yanghan literary enterprises, and religious orientations, both elite and popular. In addition, sections will be devoted to a discussion of Korea's interactions with its neighbors, including China, Inner Asia, Japan, Europe and America. North Korea, for example, will be examined in terms of colonialism and postcolonialism as well as Cold War contexts. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 160: History of Classical India

This course will look at classical Indian civilization by examining the interconnectedness of its political and social institutions, religions, and material life. We begin with the Indus Valley civilization (2500 BC) and end with the Turkish Sultanate in Northern India (1525 AD). Ancient India has recently become the object of intense political debate; we will consider the implications of current debates and the challenges and methods of reconstructing India's history. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- P. Sengupta

HIST 161: History of Modern India

A survey of the modern history of the Indian sub-continent from the establishment of the Mughal Court in North India (1525 AD) to the present including the Indian Ocean trade, the Southern independent kingdoms, British colonial rule, nationalism and post-colonial South Asia. Students will be asked to consider the differences between the early modern, colonial, and national states and empires on the subcontinent. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- P. Sengupta

HIST 165: Modern Middle East 1800-1939

This class will survey the history of the Middle East from the late eighteenth century until the breaking up of the Ottoman State and the rise of the Modern Turkish and Arab States. In addition, it will also touch upon Iran and North Africa. The first section will concentrate on the nineteenth century with emphasis on the "reforms" which were prevalent both in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. The second section will deal with the years leading up to WWI, the subsequent dividing of the Ottoman Lands, and the British and French mandates. In this class we will try to define if there is such a thing as the "Middle East," and we will focus on some central issues such as Islamic thought, the rise of nationalism, and European intervention. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 166: Modern Middle East 1939 to Present

This class will survey Middle East history from the 1930's until the present and will concentrate on the phasing out of European colonialism, the rise and decline of the Arab revolutionary parties, the role of Islamic movements, and the growing American intervention. It will also focus on other issues such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Iranian revolution, and Turkey's turn towards Europe. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 168: Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, 1881 to Present

This class will trace the roots of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict back to Europe, Istanbul, and late Ottoman Palestine. Following this, the class will move on to the British mandate period, cover the Holocaust's impact on the conflict and how following Israeli independence this conflict transformed into a full-fledged Arab-Israeli conflict. The last section will cover events in Israel and the Palestinian territories once the land was united following the 1967 war. Lastly, it will focus on the Oslo Accords and its eventual failure. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 2008 -- A. Fisher

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 2009 -- A. Fisher

HIST 180: An Historical Survey of East Africa

Using case studies and primary documents, this course will survey the history of Eastern Africa from 1000 BC to the present. Topics to be covered include the economic and cultural networks that have linked the Indian Ocean with the interior; the East African slave trade; comparative colonialism; anti-colonial resistance and East African nationalism. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 182: A Survey of Southern African History

This course will review the history of southern Africa from the Late Neolithic period to the twentieth century. The development of a multiracial society; the impact of the mineral/industrial revolution in the nineteenth century; and the growth of African resistance and nationalism up to the present will be the focal points. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 Fall 2008 -- G. Vrtis

HIST 200: The Zen of Asian and Western Woodworking

This course will contrast traditional Chinese and Japanese philosophies of woodworking to those used in England and the U.S. through readings, museum visits, and hands-on projects in the woodshop. The focus will be on the history of the design and construction of furniture using traditional hand tools. Particular attention will be paid to the impact of Ming Dynasty furniture design on the furniture constructed in colonial America. We will also explore some of the complexities of cultural borrowing and cultural difference. Students will be responsible both for writing essays and for completing several small projects made out of wood. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 204: Crusade, Contact and Exchange in the Medieval Mediterranean

The theory that the focus of affairs in Europe turned northwards after the Muslim conquests of North Africa and Spain has been highly influential in shaping courses on medieval Europe. More recently, however, attention has focused on the rich culture of contact among the peoples of the Mediterranean throughout the medieval period. Through lectures and critical discussion of primary sources, this course will explore the many faces of this contact, including trade, warfare, political ties, missions, and artistic and intellectual influences. Our primary focus will be on the Christian European experience, but we will also study Jewish, Muslim and Byzantine sources. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 211: More than Pilgrims: Colonial British America

An intensive exploration of particular topics in early American history in its context as part of an Atlantic world. Topics will include voluntary and involuntary migration from Europe and Africa, personal, political, and military relationships between Europeans and Native Americans, the pattern of colonial settlement and politics, concepts of family and community, strategies of cultural adaptation and resistance, slavery, religion, the making of racial, rank, and gender ideologies, and the development of British and American identities. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Zabin

HIST 212: The Era of the American Revolution

This class will examine the American Revolution as both a process and a phenomenon. It will consider the relationship of the American Revolution to social, cultural, economic, political, and ideological change in the lives of Americans from the founding fathers to the disenfranchised, focusing on the period 1750-1800. The central question of the course is this: how revolutionary was the Revolution? 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- S. Zabin

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; not offered 2008-2009

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 Winter 2009 -- C. Clark

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 2009 -- H. Williams

HIST 221: African American History II

The transition from slavery to freedom; the post-Reconstruction erosion of civil rights and the ascendancy of Booker T. Washington; protest organizations and mass migration before and during World War I; the postwar resurgence of black nationalism; African Americans in the Great Depression and World War II; roots of the modern Civil Rights movement, and black female activism. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- H. Williams

HIST 222: U.S. Women's History to 1877

Gender, race, and class shaped women's participation in the arenas of work, family life, culture, and politics in the United States from the colonial period to the late nineteenth century. We will examine diverse women's experiences of colonization, industrialization, slavery and Reconstruction, religion, sexuality and reproduction, and social reform. Readings will include both primary and secondary sources, as well as historiographic articles outlining major frameworks and debates in the field of women's history. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- A. Igra

HIST 223: U.S. Women's History Since 1877

In the twentieth century women participated in the redefinition of politics and the state, sexuality and family life, and work and leisure as the United States became a modern, largely urban society. We will explore how the dimensions of race, class, ethnicity, and sexuality shaped diverse women's experiences of these historical changes. Topics will include: immigration, the expansion of the welfare system and the consumer economy, labor force segmentation and the world wars, and women's activism in civil rights, labor, peace and feminist movements. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- A. Igra

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 227: The American West

This course explores the history of a large and seemingly unruly swath of North America, the lands lying west of the Missouri River. For many people, the American West tends to conjure up familiar images: Indians riding hard after buffalo, wagon trains winding their way west along river valleys, bedraggled goldseekers, Custer’s last stand along the Little Bighorn, cowboys and the open range, Populist stump-speakers, hardscrabble cities, towering mountains, majestic national parks, and many more. This course will examine these images--these iconic western stories--and the complex historical developments they both represent from pre-history through the twentieth century. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- G. Vrtis

HIST 228: American Indian History

This course offers an introduction to the history of American Indian societies from prehistory to the end of the nineteenth century. It will focus on the major issues and events that defined and shaped Indian peoples' lives, including their deep roots in North America, the dynamics of Indian-European encounters, the impact of Euro-American expansion, the process of removal, and the programs to "Americanize" Indian peoples. Throughout the course, we will examine how Indians struggled to retain a sense of their historic cultures and political autonomy, even as they confronted and adapted to the powerful forces unleashed by Euro-American society. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 229: Gender and Work in U.S. History

Historically work has been a central location for the constitution of gender identities for both men and women; at the same time, cultural notions of gender have shaped the labor market. We will investigate the roles of race, class, and ethnicity in shaping multiple sexual divisions of labor and the ways in which terms such as skill, bread­winning and work itself were gendered. Topics will include domestic labor, slavery, industrialization, labor market segmentation, protective legislation, and the labor movement. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 232: Renaissance Worlds in France and Italy

Cross-listed with FREN 232. Enthusiasm, artistry, invention, exploration, inquiry... How do these stereotypical notions of Renaissance culture play out in texts and images of the period? Through a range of sources (fourteenth-sixteenth centuries) we will use literary and historical approaches to explore selected issues of the period, including the nature of education and the idea of the self; women, gender and society; artistic production as a mode of knowing; and the exploration of other worlds. 6; Does not fulfill a distribution requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- V. Morse, C. Yandell

HIST 233: Cultures of Empire: Byzantium, 710-1453

Heir to the Roman Empire, Byzantium proved to be one of the most enduring and fascinating polities of the medieval world. Through written and visual evidence, we will examine the central features of Byzantine history and culture from the period of Iconoclasm to the Empire's fall to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, concentrating on the nature and function of imperial rule; Byzantine aesthetics and religiosity; Byzantium's relations with the Latin West and Islam; and the changing nature of the Byzantine thought world. No prerequisites, but HIST 130 and/or CLAS 229 will be useful preparation. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- W. North

HIST 234: France in the Making, 987-1460

This course will examine the political, social, religious, and cultural developments that came to form the kingdom of France, one of the most influential polities in the medieval world. Reading and discussion will focus in particular on: the theory and practice of medieval governance; the formation of "French" national identity; France as a center of European intellectual and cultural life (in particular, music and architecture); forms of religious life, dissent, and persecution; and the ideals and realities of social relations (courtly romance, the rise of the merchant class, the status of women). No prerequisites but HIST 137 or 138 will be useful preparation. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 235: Dante's Italy

Italy at the end of the Middle Ages was an intricate patchwork of small states woven together by a vibrant and distinctive culture. We will examine the politics, law, economic life, culture, and spirituality of the independent city states like Florence and Milan, the Papal States (centered on Rome), and the Kingdom of Naples through texts, including selected works by Dante, buildings and city plans, and works of art. Our goal will be to develop a vivid sense of what life was like in the Italy of Dante, Boccaccio, Giotto, and Petrarch. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 236: Courtly Queens to Revolutionary Heroines: European Women 1100-1800

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 237: The Enlightenment

This course focuses on the texts of Enlightenment thinkers, including Locke, Montesquieu, Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Kant and Mesmer. Emphasis will be on French thinkers and the effect of the Enlightenment on French society. The course covers the impact of the Enlightenment on science, religion, politics and the position of women. Students will have the opportunity to read the philosophies in French. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- S. Ottaway

HIST 238: Topics in Medieval History: Church, Papacy and Empire

Over the course of the late eleventh century, the foundations of medieval society began to shake as monks and clerics, kings and princes, lay men and women, challenged the traditional order of European society, demanding purity, freedom, and justice for their church and the reform of institutions grown corrupt. Yet the traditional order had its defenders, too. In this course we will examine their intellectual and political struggles as they debate such issues as clerical marriage and purity, institutional corruption, the relationship of Church and King, the meaning of canon law, the concept of just war, and the power of the pope within the Church. 3; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- W. North

HIST 238: The World of Bede

This course will examine the works and world of the Venerable Bede (c. 673-731), one of the great Christian thinkers and historians of the Middle Ages and a key witness to the history of early medieval Ireland and Anglo-Saxon England. Through close study of Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People and other contemporary sources, we shall address such issues as Christian vs. Germanic rulership; the nature of religious conversion in early medieval societies; monasticism and conceptions of sanctity; Ireland and England as outposts of classical and Christian culture; and the problems of historical thought and writing in the early Middle Ages. 3; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- W. North

HIST 240: History of Russia to 1917

A survey of selected topics in Russian history including the emergence of Kievan Rus, the period of Mongol domination, the rise of Muscovy, Westernization under Peter the Great, and Russia's emergence as a major European power. We will pay special attention to the multiethnic character of the Russia Empire. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- A. Khalid

HIST 241: History of Russia Since 1917

A continuation of History 240, this course examines the history of the Soviet Union and its successor states. Special attention is given to policies in the realms of politics, society, and nationalities. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- A. Khalid

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 245: Ireland: The Origin of the Troubles

The religious and political tensions and violence that have characterized modern Irish history have deep roots in centuries of troubled relations between Ireland and England. This course examines Irish history with a special focus on Anglo-Irish relations from Tudor colonization through the Great Hunger of the nineteenth century. We will also be examining the very different ways in which Irish history is told by nationalist and revisionist scholars. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- S. Ottaway

HIST 249: Modern Central Europe

An examination of the political, social, and cultural history of Central Europe from 1848 to the present day. We will explore the evolution of state and civil society in the multicultural/multinational regions of the present-day Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, as well as eastern Germany and Austria. Much of the course will focus on the common experiences of authoritarianism, anti-Semitism, fascism/Nazism, and especially the Communist era and its dissolution. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- D. Tompkins

HIST 253: Bureaucracy, Law, and Religion in East Asia

One tends to interpret East Asian polity in terms of rule by person rather than rule by law and of the unity between politics and religion. Students will examine the validity of these traditional conceptualizations through an analysis of the intricate interactions between bureaucratic behaviors, legal parameters, and religious orientations as evolved in the East Asian historical societies from its beginnings to the present. Students will discuss the relationships between autocracy and bureaucracy, church and state, aristocracy and literati ideals, eunuch prerogatives, samurai ethics, and yangban protocols, with a focus on various bureaucratic configurations (public, private, ecclesiastical, parallel, and interstitial). 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 2009 -- S. Yoon

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 2009 -- S. Yoon

HIST 258: Foreign Relations of East Asia in Modern Times

This course explores the history of foreign relations in East Asia, with special attention given to its cultural underpinnings. It covers the seventeenth century to the present, the period during which the Chinese, Koreans, and Japanese became integrated into the modern world. Students will first examine the distinguishing characteristics of multilateral exchanges in the context of empires, kingdoms, modern states, and Western Powers. The course then attempts to define a system of regional order in theoretical terms and, by extension, the role of East Asia in the world. Topics include the collapse of the tributary system, colonialism, nationalism, and post-colonialism. Some previous work on East Asian history is recommended. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 259: Women in South Asia: Histories, Narratives, and Representation

The objective of this course is to survey the historical institutions, practices and traditions that defined the position of women in India. We will examine the laws and religious traditions related to women in South Asia including marriage, inheritance, sati and purdah. We will also read a variety of women's writings including the poetry of buddhist nuns and medieval women saints, as well as stories and memoirs from the colonial and post-colonial period. The purpose of the course is to understand women in India as both the object and subject of history. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- P. Sengupta

HIST 260: The Making of the Modern Middle East

A survey of major political and social developments from the fifteenth century to the beginning of World War I. Topics include: state and society, the military and bureaucracy, religious minorities (Jews and Christians), and women in premodern Muslim societies; the encounter with modernity. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- A. Khalid

HIST 261: The Modern Middle East

A study of the major political and social developments in the Middle East since World War I. Topics discussed: the decline of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of nation-states; the impact of Western imperialism; the domination of military regimes; "Islamic fundamentalism;" women and gender in contemporary Muslim societies. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 262: Post-colonial South Asia, 1947-Present

This course will examine the questions and issues that faced post-independence India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. We will examine both the similarities and differences in how different nations dealt with the imprint of colonialism, the struggle for democracy, the relationship between religion and politics, women's movements; ecological movements, demands for regional autonomy and globalization. We will use a wide range of primary and secondary sources as well as theoretical texts to illuminate the specificities of post-colonial modernity. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- P. Sengupta

HIST 265: Empires of the Steppe

This course provides an introduction to the history of Inner Asia, the vast region that bridges the civilizations of China, the Middle East, and Europe, but which itself has been the center of empires that have shaped and reshaped the history of the Old World. Beginning with the ecological imperatives that shape life in Inner Asia, we will survey the history of the region and its interactions with its neighbors, with an emphasis on cultural and political developments from the earliest times to the present. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 267: History of Modern Turkey

We will focus on the last years of the Ottoman Empire and on the emergence of different ideologies, such as nationalism and Islamism, and how these ideologies played out during the first years of the Turkish Republic. We will concentrate on the Turkish-Greek population exchange and the status of religious minorities, then on the present, and then on the vital role of the military, secularism, and the rise of political Islam, the Kurdish question, and Turkey's road to the European Union. Finally we will also touch on how history, religion, and current events are played out on literature, film, and music. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 272: The Emergence of Modern Mexico

This course will explore the challenges that nation-builders in Mexico encountered in their attempt to forge and maintain an independent nation-state after achieving independence from Spain in 1821. An important theme of the course will be how national leaders and popular groups came to define Mexican national identity, particularly during and after the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920). The themes of the course should help frame similar inquiries about other post-colonial situations in Latin America and elsewhere. Prerequisite: History 169 or 170 or consent of the instructor. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Spring 2009 -- 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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 277: Human Rights, the Cold War and United States Foreign Policy in Central America

Over the course of the Cold War, Central America endured one of the worst records of human rights violations in the world. This course investigates the multiple factors behind this catastrophe, including the role of U.S. foreign policy. Of particular interest will be the powerful humanitarian response the crisis generated both within the United States and in the larger international community, and how such organizations sought to uncover the truth about human rights abuses, negotiate peace, and less successfully, implement justice in the region. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 278: Religion and Identity in Latin American History

This course traces the relationship between religious belief and collective identity in Latin America. Thematic in approach, case studies will highlight the range of cultural responses and sources of social conflict associated with religious change that are emblematic of the region's historical development. Depending upon the year it is offered, coverage may include the "conversion" of indigenous societies to Catholicism, millenarian movements, the religious beliefs of African slaves and their descendants, and the rise of Protestantism in contemporary Latin America. Some background knowledge of Latin American history is recommended. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- A. Fisher

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 Spring 2009 -- C. Clark

HIST 283: Farm and Forest: African Environmental History

We will explore the complex interaction between the African physical world or "nature" (plants, soils, water, climate) and "culture" or human society over time, from the pre-colonial through the colonial period to the present. We also seek to understand the meanings (including cultural and symbolic meanings) associated with the African natural world, both for African societies and for non-Africans who have lived, worked, or been engaged with the continent. We will delve into controversies about land use, population growth, wildlife conservation, desertification and other topics. Each student will gain insight into a particular issue or case study through an independent research project. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 285: Topics in Historical Ethics: The Ethics of Service

In this course we will discuss the ethical questions that arise when students engage in service and learning in contexts of difference. Taking our examples from the Peace Corps; Teach for America; internships in developing countries and off-campus study, we will read and discuss diverse perspectives on the ways that power and privilege relate to service and altruism. We will place our discussion in historical perspective (including the histories of empire and colonization) while considering its implications for today's world. This course will be based on discussion and will welcome all points of view. 3; S/CR/NC; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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 2008, Winter 2009 -- A. Fisher, A. Khalid, S. Zabin

HIST 306: Topics in Environmental History: America’s National Parks

Each year, this course will focus on a major issue in North American or world environmental history. To many Americans, the National Park system includes some of America’s most treasured landscapes. The Grand Canyon, Yosemite, Yellowstone--these and other icons of the National Park Service have been described as America’s great public cathedrals. But those "cathedrals" have been under siege for generations, increasingly overrun by visitors and fought over by all sorts of interests. This course will examine the history of these developments from the founding of Yellowstone to the present. Prerequisite: History 195, one prior history course, or consent of the instructor. 6; Humanities; offered Winter 2009 -- G. Vrtis

HIST 322: The Civil Rights Movement in America

It will be the task of this seminar to explore the discourse of civil rights reform in U.S. history from the standpoint of activists, organizations, and histories of domestic civil rights politics. The impact of Cold War foreign affairs on civil rights is discussed. The seminar is also an occasion to interogate the idea of freedom and contours of black policial discourse. African American History II recommended. 6; Humanities, Recognition and Affirmation of Difference Requirement; offered Winter 2009 -- H. Williams

HIST 324: The Concord Intellectuals

The social and intellectual history of the American Renaissance with focus on selected works of Emerson, Thoreau, Amos Bronson Alcott, and Margaret Fuller. Special emphasis will be placed on the one common denominator uniting these intellectuals: their devotion to the possibilities of democracy. Prerequisite: History 120 or consent of the instructor. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- H. Williams

HIST 330: Gender, Ethics and Power in Medieval France

Cross-listed with HIST 395. What comprised the ethical fabric of medieval France? How was it created and understood over the generations? This course explores the ways in which men and women from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries explored essential questions about their society: What was love? What factors shaped relations between men and women? How did one know right from wrong? What are the obligations between men and women, rich and poor, knight and lord, merchant and seller, humans and God? What kinds of violence were just, why, and for whom? Students enrolled in the History 395 will research and write an extended essay. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- W. North

HIST 333: Iconoclasm

What roles do images play in society? What are these images thought to be and to do? Why, at particular moments, have certain groups attempted to do away with images either completely or in specific settings? How do images create and threaten communities and how is the management of the visual integrated with and shaped by other values, structures, and objectives? This course will examine these questions by looking in depth at iconoclasm in Byzantium and in Protestant Europe and by examining theoretical discussions of images, vision, and cognition from the fourth-sixteenth centuries. Discussion intensive with a research component. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 353: Intellectuals and the State Power in East Asia

A course to explore issues concerning the evolving relations between intellectuals and the state power in East Asia with an emphasis on developing the skills to analyze primary sources. 6; Humanities; not offered 2008-2009

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; not offered 2008-2009

HIST 395: The History of Poverty and Social Welfare

This course will examine attitudes towards, and experiences of poverty in history. We will look at early steps towards the creation of a "Welfare State", and examine the interactions of public policy with the practical experience of coping with the poor. The content of the course will have a particular focus on the late medieval and early modern eras, but students may choose to pursue research on other areas and time periods. Students will produce an extended research essay at the end of the course. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- S. Ottaway

HIST 395: Gender, Ethics and Power in Medieval France

Cross-listed with HIST 330. What comprised the ethical fabric of medieval France? How was it created and understood over the generations? This course explores the ways in which men and women from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries explored essential questions about their society: What was love? What factors shaped relations between men and women? How did one know right from wrong? What are the obligations between men and women, rich and poor, knight and lord, merchant and seller, humans and God? What kinds of violence were just, why, and for whom? Students enrolled in the History 395 will research and write an extended essay. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- W. North

HIST 395: Political Culture in the New Nation

From 1775 to 1860, the United States moved from colony to nation. In this advanced research seminar students will write a 25-30 page paper based on original research. Possible topics include citizenship rights for women as well as men, the aftermath of the American Revolution and the Constitution, the racial paradoxes of Jeffersonian ideology, Native American removals, and abolition. All topics in this period are possible, but the emphasis will be on the creation of a political culture. Participation in the seminar will include common readings about the major themes of this period, and extensive peer reviews. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- S. Zabin

HIST 395: American History in a Global Context, 1830-2000

Contesting the idea that American History differs from that of other nations, this seminar will explore movements such as imperialism, social welfare, medicine, war, or another topic of the student’s choice in a comparative framework that looks at the similarities and differences between the U.S. and other nations. The first half of the course focuses on the debate over "imperial America" in the post-World War II period and historians’ attempts to rethink America's place in the world. In the second half of the course, students will produce a 20 to 30 page research essay and give a class presentation. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- C. Clark

HIST 395: Decolonization and Its Discontents

This course focuses on decolonization, one of the foundational events that shaped the West and the non-West in the second half of the twentieth century. We will use a wide range of historical, historiographic and theoretical texts to move away from a story of decolonization as merely about the winning of independence or the transfer of power. Instead, we will consider the discursive, political, social and cultural implications of what both empire and the end for empire meant for Western Europe, Asia and Africa. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- P. Sengupta

HIST 395: Financing Revolutions in East Asia

An advanced research seminar on financing revolutions in modern East Asia; students will isolate one particular case or region, introduce source materials of their choice, and build a substantial paper based on guided research. Agents include social bureaucrats, tax collectors and tax farmers, compatriot merchants, foreign bankers, salt smugglers, military entrepreneurs, philanthropists, as well as professional revolutionaries. Themes include fiscal failures, tax resistance, ecological crisis, ownership changes, and structural corruption. Key study questions are: Did revolutionary actions facilitate or hinder fiscal rationalization, capital formation, economic growth, and distributive justice? Was there a revolution in East Asia? 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- S. Yoon

HIST 395: Black History’s Global Vision

This seminar seeks to enrich United States history by exploring how black America’s story interacts with Europe, Asia, and Africa between 1883-1950. An international perspective expands understanding of African American thought and activism by studying George Washington Williams, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James, and George Schuyler in the context of Jim Crow and movements for freedom, justice, and self-determination. Course identifies differences in methodology and politics. Themes investigate the global interdependence of slavery and capitalism, citizenship, diasporic identity, anti-colonialism, Garveyism, fascism and black revolt, and the early Cold War. Major research paper required. 6; Humanities; offered Fall 2008 -- H. Williams

HIST 395: Nationalism

In the first half of the course, students will acquaint themselves with the recent literature on nationalism, including both theoretical and historical works. In the second half, they will prepare and present research papers on nationalism in a given historical context. Previous work in history required. 6; Humanities; offered Spring 2009 -- A. Khalid

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 2009 -- C. Clark, A. Igra, S. Ottaway