Course Offerings

History 101 - Themes
Fall, spring
An introduction to history as a mode of intellectual inquiry, this is an intensive reading, writing, and discussion course which is limited to 24 students. Seeks to develop a sense of history through an in-depth study of selected topics and themes. Emphasis is on student participation and the development of critical thinking. Readings involve some textual analysis, and there are frequent short papers. First year students only. Only one themes course may be applied toward the minimum of 10 courses needed for the major. One unit.

History 103 - Perspectives on Asia 1: “Traditional” East Asia
Fall
Introduces the major philosophical, political, social, religious and artistic traditions that developed in Asia prior to the 20th century; examines the historical contexts in which those traditions evolved, and considers their legacy for the modern era. Students are also introduced to the historical discipline itself: the concepts, methods, and tools that historians use to study the past. Various works in translation (fiction, philosophical and religious tracts, chronicles) are used, together with films, slides, field trips, lectures and discussions. One unit.

History 104 - Perspectives on Asia 2: Modern Transformations
Spring
Focuses on historical and cultural movements in the Asian region. This a team-taught course and themes vary according to the interests and expertise of the Asian Studies faculty. Creative literature, anthropological accounts, journalists’ reports, films and guest lecturers will be used to gain a multi-layered perspective of these complex societies. One unit.

History 105 - Asia in Western Fiction and Film
Alternate years
Examines and compares descriptions of Asia and portrayals of Asian societies found in Western novels, short stories and films produced since the mid-19th century, and relates them to colonial and post-colonial historical encounters between Asia and the West. One unit.

History 106 - Origins of Japanese Culture
Alternate years
Surveys the development of Japanese social and political institutions, religion, art, and literature from prehistory to A.D. 1600. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between cultural and political change. Students also learn how archeological discoveries, painting, sculpture, poetry, fiction, and performing arts are used to study history. One Unit.

History 109 - The Ancient Near East and Greece
Every third year, fall
Examines the history of the Ancient Near East, Egypt, and Greece from the Neolithic to the fourth century B.C. Studies and compares the evolution of ancient humanity from prehistoric origins through the growth of ancient empires, explaining history as a discipline while studying the development of early human cultural advance. One unit.

History 110 - Rome: Republic and Empire
Every third year, spring
Provides an introduction to major themes in Roman history, from its foundation and relations with other Meditterranean powers, the development of the Republic, the evolution of Empire, to changes brought by Christianity. Political, legal, social and cultural themes are pursued, with emphasis on the primary historical and physical sources of knowledge. Fulfills one of the pre-industrial/ pre-modern requirements. One unit.

History 111 - The Rise of the Christian West to A.D. 1000
Fall
Western history from the later Roman period to the formation of Europe in the 11th century. Covers political, religious, economic, social, artistic and legal developments in the fusion of Roman and Christian civilization, the disintegration of the Western Roman Empire in the face of barbarian invasions, relations with the Byzantine Eastern Empire, the impact of Islam, rural and urban life, the Carolingian revival, and the impact of new peoples on the European scene. One unit.

History 112 - Emerging Europe, 1000-1500
Spring
The emergence of Europe in the 11th century to the era of the Renaissance. Covers political, religious, economic, social, artistic and legal developments in the formation of European states and territorial monarchy, European frontier expansion, urban growth, the evolution of Romanesque and Gothic styles, and the conflict of church and state. One unit.

History 113 - Renaissance to Napoleon, 1500-1815
Annually
Social, cultural, religious, economic, and political developments in Europe from the Renaissance to the fall of Napoleon. Special emphasis on the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the evolution of monarchical power, the rise of European overseas empires, the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte. Fulfills one of pre-modern/pre-industrial requirements for the major. One unit.

History 114 - Napoleon to the European Union, 1815-Present
Annually
This course will touch on the major events of modern European history from the French Revolution to the collapse of Communism. It will pay particular attention to issues that have troubled Europe throughout the modern era, many of which remain unresolved today. These include conflicts about values, most especially those between religious and secular world views; debates about social, economic, racial, and national inequality; changes in the role of women, men, marriage, and family in modern society; the experience to total war and its impact on individuals and nations; the emergence of mass politics and popular dictatorship; the ethics and methods of politcal protest; terrorism; and the consequences and legacies of superpower struggle in Europe.One unit.

History 121 - Making of the Modern Middle East
Annually
Examines the making of modern Middle Eastern states and societies from World War I to the present, including the Arab countries as well as Iran, Israel and Turkey. Against the backdrop of the rise of European economic and political domination vis-a-vis the Middle East and expanding relations of capitalist production in the 18th and 19th centuries, the course surveys the main political, social, economic, and intellectual currents of the 20th-century Middle East with an emphasis on historical background and development of current problems in the region. Topics include imperialism, nationalism, state and class formation, religion, Orientalism, women, the politics of oil, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Iranian revolution. One unit.

History 126 - Colonial Latin America
Fall
Provides an introduction to Latin American history from pre-Columbian to the late 18th century, emphasizing native cultures, the conquest of the New World, the creation of colonial societies in the Americas, race, gender and class relations, the functioning of the imperial system, the formation of peasant communities, and the wars of independence. One unit.

History 127 - Modern Latin America
Spring
Surveys the history of 19th- and 20th-century Latin America, focusing on six countries. Topics include the formation of nation-states, the role of the military, the challenges of development and modernization, the Catholic Church and liberation theology, social and political movements for reform or revolution, slavery, race relations, the social history of workers and peasants, and inter-American relations. One unit.

History 137 - American Slavery, American Freedom
Annually

Examines the intertwined origins and development of American slavery and American freedom, racial ideology and democracy, and the combustible interaction that created the central contradiction of antebellum America: a republican nation professing equality that was also an enormous slave holding society. Also examines the ways in which historians work and make arguments, and students will be asked to critically examine both primary and secondary documents. One unit. 

History 200 - The Historian's Craft
Fall, spring
An introduction to historical methods and to historiography- that is, how history is written and interpreted, and how the discipline or a topic within it has evolved. Students examine how historians formulate questions or lines of inquiry, how to locate and read primary sources, how to use secondary sources, how to develop research topics that are incisive and focused, and how to organize and present one's research in pral and written form. Required of all history majors. One unit.

History 201 - Colonial America
Alternate years, fall
The exploration, settlement, and development of North America from the late-16th to the mid-18th century. Special emphasis: comparative analysis of the backgrounds, goals, and accomplishments of the original colonists; social structure, economic development, and religious life; immigration and white servitude; slavery; Indian-white relations; and development of the British imperial system. One unit.

History 203 - The Age of Jackson, 1815-1860
Fall
American life and politics between the time of the Founding Fathers and the Civil War. Emphasizes Jackson’s role as a national hero and political leader; constitutional issues; political and economic developments; continental expansion; antebellum literature, social life, and reform; and the breakup of the Jacksonian consensus as a prelude to the Civil War. One unit.

History 204 - Lincoln and His Legacy: The Civil War and Its Aftermath
Spring
American life and politics from the Civil War to the end of the 19th century. Emphasizes Lincoln’s leadership and vision, the proximate causes and military progress of the Civil War, “Reconstruction” of the former Confederate states, and the evolution of the 14th and 15th Amendments as protectors of civil rights. One unit.

History 205 - U.S. in the 20th Century 1, 1890-1945
Fall
Examines the major political, economic, social and cultural forces that contributed to the modernizing of America. Special emphasis on: industrialization and Empire; the impact of racial, gender, class and ethnic struggles for justice with a democratic republic; “Americanism”; the expanding role of the government in the lives of its citizens; labor and capitalism; popular and consumer culture; war and home front. One unit.

History 206 - U.S. in the 20th Century 2, 1945-Present
Spring
Examines the major political, economic, social and cultural forces of the post-WWII era. Special topics include: Reorganizing the post-war world; McCarthyism; consumer and youth culture; the Civil Rights Movement; the New Left and the Vietnam War; the women’s movements; Watergate and the resurgent Right; and post-Cold War America. One unit.

History 207 - 19th- Century U.S. Diplomacy
Alternate years
Studies the foundations and development of American diplomacy to the turn of the 20th century, with emphasis on the American presidents and their secretaries of states. One unit.

History 211 - Labor and Capital in America
Annually
Examines the origins, development, and maturation of the Industrial Revolution in America, from 1800 to the present, with special emphasis on the experience of workers and the labor movement they built. Also takes into account the perspectives and interests of capitalists and the American entrepreneurial tradition to provide as full and complete a picture possible of the often contentious relations between workers and their employers. One unit.

History 214 - Comparative Women’s History
Alternate years
Beginning in the 19th century, women’s social roles were transformed with the spread of women in higher education, the transformation of women’s work, and the impact of the women’s rights movement. A particular focus is the impact of nationalism, imperialism and two world wars on women and families. One unit.

History 216 - American Religious History
Alternate years
A study of the American religious experience from colonial times to the present with an emphasis on the major religions, persons, institutions, and movements. One unit.

History 221 - American Urban History
Alternate years
A study of the role of cities in American life and thought from the colonial period to the present, with emphasis on the popular experience of city life, the evolution of municipal government, the organization of urban space, the emergence of suburbs and inner-city ghettoes, and visions of the ideal city in the United States. One unit.

History 223 - Radicalism in America
Annually
Americans recognize that we live in a profoundly different nation than that which was created out of the American Revolution. We might account for these changes in various ways—the genius of the Founding Fathers, the general prosperity of the nation, even the feeling that “things” just always get better over time. This course is based on the idea that these changes have been the result of human effort, and that the efforts of American radicals have been essential to the rise of the American democracy. It examines the thought and action of radicals of various stripe and means, from Tom Paine to Martin King, from the brutal war on American slavery attempted by Nat Turner and John Brown, to the more genteel fight against patriarchy waged by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, and look closely at the various efforts of Wobblies, Syndicalists, and Reds to advance the cause of industrial democracy. One unit.

History 224 - Catholicism in the United States
Annually
A historical examination of the development of the Catholic Church and its people in the U.S. Particular attention devoted to issues of church and society as they have developed since the 19th century. One Unit.

History 225 - The Civil Rights Movement
Annually
Provides an in-depth study of the civil rights movement from its origins in Jim Crow America to its stirrings in the 1950s, through to the heights of its successes in the mid-1960s and its dissolution thereafter. Assesses its legacy and consequence in the 1970s and afterward. Special attention is paid to the way in which the movement worked within and challenged consensus notions about progress and “the Negro’s place” in America and also to the movement as an ideological problem for Americans and activists like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and others. Also examines the ways in which historians work and make arguments, and students are asked to critically examine both primary and secondary documents. One unit.

History 226 - Irish American Experience
Annually
Examines the historical experience of the Irish, one of the largest ethnic groups in America. The Irish in America have left an indelible mark on the nation’s economy, politics, and culture, while at the same time they have been shaped by their adoptive country. Among the topics addressed: colonial era immigration, the Famine, changes in ethnic identity, class conflict and the labor movement, the Catholic Church, machine politics and political affiliations, culture and the arts, nationalism and the fight for Irish freedom, upward mobility and the quest for respectability, relations with other ethnic and racial groups. One unit.

History 228 - American Immigration since 1882
Alternate years, spring
A survey of immigration since the era of the Civil War. Topics include new immigration from southern and eastern Europe, the growth of sentiment for immigration restriction, assimilation in the wake of the National Origins Act of 1924, refugee immigrants, Hispanic-American and Asian immigrants, and immigration legislation since 1945. One unit.

History 230 — Environmental History   
Spring
Beginning with the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, Mesoamerica, China, and the Mediterranean, this course integrates human experience with the natural order. Examines changing ratios of humans to the land and of humans to other species and the impact of the transfer of plants, animals, and diseases between the hemispheres after 1492. Considers how perceptions of nature have differed over time. Case studies of environmental crises in the contemporary world are based on their 19th- and 20th-century roots. One unit.

History 231 - Medieval England to 1216
Alternate years, fall
Examines the political, social, legal and economic developments in England and the Celtic fringe from the prehistoric period, through the Roman and Anglo-Saxon invasions, into the Norman and Angevin eras, ending in 1216 with Magna Carta and the death of King John. Topics include the Romanization of Britain, the growth of Christianity, the roles of medieval women and minority groups, crime and violence. Fulfills one pre-modern/pre-industrial requirement for the major. One unit.

History 232 - Medieval Lives
Every third year
Focuses on medieval life-writings dealing with personal expressions of the intersection of faith and action, personal identity and communal responsibility. Chosen works deal with basic questions of morality and ethics, and exhibit the variety of rhetorical methods by which to communicate these issues. Readings range from Augustine’s Confessions, the autobiographies of Guibert of Nogent and Peter Abelard, to the trial testimony of Joan of Arc. Fulfills one pre-modern/pre-industrial requirement for the major. One Unit.

History 233 — War and Chivalry in Medieval France
Every third year
Examines the political, social, and cultural developments in France from Roman Gaul to the reign of Louis XI. Emphasizes the institutional development of the state, the vital role of Christianity in the religious, political and intellectual life of France, the evolution of social life and social classes, and the rich artistic and architectural heritage of this era in French history. One unit.

History 234 - Medieval Spain
Alternate years, spring
The historical evolution of the peoples of the Iberian Peninsula from their Roman experience to the creation of Spain as a political entity at the end of the 15th century. Emphasis is placed on political, social, economic, religious and artistic development, and the influence of the Visigothic and Muslim invasions and the Reconquest on the shaping of Luso-Hispania. One unit.

History 236 - Renaissance Europe
Every third year
Surveys the significant intellectual, cultural, social, and political developments across Europe, beginning with the social and economic structures of family life during the early Italian Renaissance, continuing with the political and artistic expressions of the Italian city-states, and tracing the spread of Renaissance influences to northern Europe through the early 16th century. One unit.

History 237 - The Reformation
Alternate years
The most significant political, intellectual, and religious developments of the Protestant and Catholic Reformation movements in 16th- and 17th-century Europe. One unit.

History 238 - The Papacy in the Modern World
Alternate years
Examines the evolution of the papacy from the Renaissance to the present, and considers the various roles played by the popes, not only in church government, but also in the arts, in politics and diplomacy, and in international advocacy of peace and justice. One unit.

History 239 - Louis XIV’s France, ca. 1560-1715
Alternate years
Studies the politics, religion, society, and culture of early modern France, from the Wars of Religion to the end of the reign of Louis XIV. Considers how and why France was the ‘superpower’ of the seventeenth century. One unit.

History 241 - Modern France from Revolution to End of Empire
Spring
From the Revolution of 1789, which gave birth to the nation, to human rights and to citizenship, to the creation of the European Union in the 1990s, France has been at the center of European culture. Paris was rebuilt in the late 19th century as “the capital of Europe,” a center of artistic modernism as well as an expanding global empire. During three wars with Germany between 1870 and 1945, the French suffered the devastating effects of total war on their own soil. France played a crucial role in the creation of the European Union but was forced to adapt to becoming a diminishing power in the world since World War II. One unit.

History 242 - British Society and Empire, 1763-1901
Alternate years
By the end of the Seven Years War (1756-1763), Britain had emerged as a genuine world power, with holdings larger and richer than any other in the Western world. During the next 150 years, Britain would eclipse its European rivals in industry, trade, and sea power. At the height of its power in the late 19th century, Britain controlled one quarter of the world’s population and one-fifth of its land surface. This course will survey the history of Britain and its empire from the late 18th century to the turn of the 20th century. This course rethinks certain familiar topics in British history by considering the intersections between home and empire and by highlighting how imperial considerations influenced Britain’s social formation. Topics include the slave trade and slavery, rise of capitalism, industrialization and consumer culture, political reform movements (e.g., anti-slavery, Chartism, and Irish Home Rule), imperialism, religion, and British identity. One unit.

History 243 - Twentieth-Century British Society and Empire
Alternate years
By the turn of the century, at the height of its power, Britain controlled one quarter of the world’s population and one-fifth of its land surface. Over the next 60 years, Britain would lose its status as a world and imperial power. This course focuses on the ways in which imperialism was constitutive of much of the domestic history of Britain from 1901 to 2001, even after Britain lost most of its colonies. Students examine Britain’s declining role as a world and imperial power and interrogate the meaning of Britain’s national and imperial identities. Discusses the two World Wars with analysis of their economic, social, cultural, and ideological repercussions within Britain and its empire. One unit.

History 245 - Imperial Russia - Between East and West
Spring
At its height, the empire of tsarist Russia stretched across one-sixth of the earth, running from Germany to the Pacific Ocean and bordering regions as disparate as Sweden, China, and Iran. Ever-preoccupied with their country’s amorphous position between Europe and Asia, Russians have struggled for centuries to define how their vast homeland should modernize, which values leader should embrace and which they should fight to change, and what the rights of individual citizens and their obligations to the state should be. The course examines debates about Russian identity and the country's relationship to East and West that raged from the time of Peter the Great in 1682 to the revolution of 1917, including issues that are still the subject of great controversy today. One uniy.

History 251 - Colonial Ireland and India
Alternate years
As British colonies gained their independence in the 20th century, Ireland and India offer interesting points of comparison for studying the nature of British colonialism. Such a comparison offers opportunities to understand distinctions and nuances within colonialism such as the complex interactions of peoples in inherently unequal power relationships; the difficulties of administering a vast multi-national empire in an age of nationalist ferment; and the often stark clash between pre-independence nationalist expectations and post-colonial realities. This course examines their places in the Empire through three lenses: an imperial lens that considers how Britain achieved dominance and maintained rule; a subaltern lens that focuses on indigenous peoples whose “pre (British)-imperial” histories and experiences of empire varied enormously and would continue to shape their relationships in the present; and a lens that probes the complicated interactions between colonizer and colonized, exploring Ireland’s unique position within the Empire, as both a colonized territory and an imperial participant. One unit.

History 253 — The Soviet Experiment   
Annually
The history of the Soviet Union is one violent transformation, a shocking tale of both idealism and repression, achievement and suffering on a gigantic scale. This course examines the colossal social, political, and cultural experiment that began with the Communist Revolution in 1917 and ended with the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. Topics include: the ideology of Soviet Communism, the hopes and fears the Revolution inspired, both at home and abroad, Vladimir Lenin's seizure and consolidation of power, the rise of Joseph Stalin, industrialization and collectivization, struggles to persuade the various peoples of a multiethnic Empire to embrace Soviet values, the Great Terror, World War II, the division of Europe, Cold War conflict, and troubled efforts at socialist reform. One unit.

History 255 - Europe: Mass Politics and Total War, 1890-1945
Alternate years, fall
From the high point of European global power and cultural influence, Europe moved into an era of world war, popular millenarian ideologies, dictatorships, and unprecedented mass murder. This course examines the origins, evolution, and impact of the modern European ideological dictatorships, from the cultural ferment and socioeconomic change that characterized the pre-1914 “belle époque” through the two world wars. Topics include: modern art; liberalism and its discontents; the origins and nature of World War I; the Russian revolutions; the Versailles peace settlement; the struggling interwar democracies; the economic crises; communism and fascism; the Italian, German, and Soviet dictatorships; the Spanish Civil War; and the origins of World War II. One unit.

History 256 - Europe and the Superpowers, 1939-1991
Alternate years, spring
Postwar Europe was shaped in part by four major influences: the clash between Western liberalism and Soviet communism; the withdrawal from overseas empires; the effort to come to terms with the legacy of world war; and the creation of integrative European institutions. Concentrating on Europe, this course examines reciprocal influences between the Europeans and the two peripheral superpowers (USA and USSR) of the Atlantic community. Topics include: World War II, the Holocaust, science and government, the Cold War, the division of Europe, the revival and reinforcement of western European democracy, de-Nazification, Christian democracy, the economic miracle, European integration, the strains of decolonization, the rise of Khrushchev, the Berlin crises, De Gaulle and his vision, protest and social change in the sixties, the Prague Spring, Ostpolitik and détente, the oil shocks, the Cold War refreeze, the Eastern European dissidents, the environmental movement, Gorbachev’s reforms, and the collapse of communism. One unit.

History 261 - Germany in the Age of Nationalism
Alternate years, fall
Late to unify, late to industrialize, and late to acquire democratic institutions, Germany had to cope with all three processes at once, with tragic consequences for human rights and international order. This course analyzes the development of German nation-building from the time of Metternich, through the age of Bismarck and the Kaisers, to the Weimar Republic and the rise of Hitler. We explore the trends and circumstances in German and European history that came together to produce Nazism. But we also explore the presence of diversity, the alternative pathways, and the democratic potential in pre-Nazi German history. Topics include religious tension and prejudice (Catholics, Protestants, and Jews), Prusso-Austrian duality, the German confederation, the revolution of 1848, German national liberalism, Bismarck’s unification and its legacy, imperial Germany under the Kaisers, German socialism, World War I, the revolution of 1918, the Weimar Republic, and the Nazis. One unit.

History 262 - Germany from Dictatorship to Democracy
Alternate years, spring
In Western Germany after World War II, a people that once had followed Hitler now produced perhaps the most stable democracy in Europe. At the same time, eastern Germans lived under a communist dictatorship that lasted more than three times as long as Hitler’s. What is the place of the two postwar Germanies in the broader context of German and European history? To what degree were the two German states a product of their shared past, and to what degree were they products of the Cold War? What are the implications for reunified Germany? This course explores these questions by examining the history of democracy, dictatorship, political ideology, and social change in modern Germany. Topics include: Marx as a German; liberalism, socialism, communism, and political Catholicism in pre-Nazi Germany; popular attitudes toward Nazism; the legacy of Nazism and the Holocaust; the Allied occupation; de-Nazification, the Cold War, and the partition of Germany; Christian Democracy and Social Democracy; the Adenauer era, the Berlin crises, and the economic miracle; German-German relations and the Ostpolitik of Chancellor Willy Brandt; protest politics, Euromissiles, and the Green movement; the development and collapse of East Germany; and Germany since reunification. One unit.

History 267 - Modern Italy
Fall
Italy has a long and distinguished history, but its political unification occurred only in 1861. This course analyzes the process of unification, the social and cultural life of 19th-century Italy, the deep divisions between the north and the south, Italy’s role in both world wars, Fascism and resistance to Fascism, the postwar economic miracle, the role of the Mafia in Italian politics, and Italy’s role in the formation of the European Union. One unit.

History 271 - Native American history 1: The Indians' New World
Annually
A survey of American Indian history from the pre-Columbian era through the 1840s. What was life like in North America 500 years ago? How did Native Americans react and relate to people from diverse cultures? Can we make broad generalizations about their lives, or do particularities like sex, age, and geographical location indicate diverse experiences among Native Americans? This course explores such questions and themes such as trade, work, war, disease, gender, and religion in early North America. It examines theories of origin and life in North America before 1492 and ends with “removals” to Indian Territory in the 1830s and 1840s. One unit.

History 272 - Native American History 2: Native Americans from the Plains Wars to the Present
Annually
Explores American Indian history from the 19th-century Plains Wars to the present. Because of the complexity, diversity, historical depth, and geographic scope of North American Indian societies, this course seeks to provide a general framework, complemented by several case studies, through an approach that is both chronological and thematic. Among the topics addressed are the development and implementation of U.S. federal policies toward Indian peoples; Indian resistance and activism; definitions and practices of sovereignty; and cultural attitudes toward Indians in American society. Considers Native Americans not as victims, but as historical, political, economic, and cultural actors who resourcefully adjusted, resisted, and accommodated to the changing realities of life in North America and continue to do so in the 21st century. One unit.

History 275 - U.S. Mexican Border
Alternate years, fall
This course examines the history and culture of the region encompassing the modern American southwest and Mexican north from Spanish imperialism to modern immigration debates. Particular attention is paid to the interaction of Native-, Latin-, and Anglo American societies in creating a unique "borderlands" society through the present day. This history offers important insight into processes of religious conflict, politcal revolution, economic dependency and globlization through latin American and U.S. history. One unit.

History 281 - Imperial China
Alternate years
Surveys Chinese political history from the formative era of the imperial system in the fourth century B.C. through the Communist revolution in 1949. Themes demonstrate how the tradition has shaped and is reconstructed to suit contemporary forces in China. Films, biographies, historical and philosophical writings, and western interpretations of events and personalities offer a variety of perspectives. Fulfills non-Western requirement and one pre-modern/pre-industrial requirement for the major. One unit.

History 282 - Modern China
Alternate years
Introduction to events, personalities, and concepts of particular significance for understanding China’s development from a traditional empire considered so weak that it was called the "sick man of Asia" to a modern state that will continue to play a major role in a global world. Covers the period from the Opium Wars in the mid-nineteeth century through the post- Maoist reforms using a variety of sources, including documents, film, literature, reportage and memoirs. Topics covered include ongoing debates within China itself about the often competing demands of modernization, nationalism, traditionalism, feminism, social justice, economic imperatives, rules of law, and human rights. One Unit.

History 286 - Modern Japan
Spring
This course begins by surveying politcal, social, economic and cultural developments during the so-called " early modern" period of Japanese history (1600-1850), when the country was governed by the samurai military class. The focus shifts to the period between the 1850 and 1930, when Japan undertook a thoroughgoing "modern" revolution that transformed it into a major military, industrial and colonial power that rivaled Europe and the United States. While modernization resolved some of the challenges facing the country in the 19th-century, it also posed a new set of challenges for Japanese in the early 20th century. One unit.

History 287 - The Pacific War
Fall
Examines the origins, conduct, impact, and legacy of the Pacific War. While the primarily focus will be on the years between the Manchurian Incident of 1931 and Japan's formal surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, attention will also be given to the period between 1967 and 1930- when Japan came of age as a modern imperialist nation competing with the Western colonial powers for power, territory, and influence in East and Southeast Asia- as well as to the aftermath and legacy of the war in the years since 1945. One unit.

History 288 — Japan Since World War II   
Fall
Examines the political, economic, social, intellectual, and cultural history of Japan since 1945. Some com- parisons are made with the prewar period, in order to place these developments within a broader historical context. Topics include: individual, community and state; religion, education and socialization; gender rela- tions; industrial development and its consequences; Japan and the global community; and postwar interpre- tations of Japanese history. Fulfills one non-Western requirement for the major. One unit.

History 290 - Vietnam: More Than an American War
Alternate years
Examines Vietnam in terms of its own unique history and culture through a wide range of materials produced by Vietnamese writers, historians and filmmakers. Covers the Vietnam-American War with an eye to understanding all sides involved and with a critical approach to information. Examines different perspectives of a conflict that continues to trouble both sides by using new materials from Vietnamese and American participants. Films, memoirs and creative literature will offer students a sense of the tenor of life in post-war Vietnam. Fulfills one non-Western requirement for the major. Does not fulfill U.S. history requirement. One unit.

History 293 - Ottoman Empire 1, 1300-1600
Fall
In the mid-16th century, all of Europe feared the power of the “Grand Turk,” whose empire stretched from Baghdad to Budapest and from the Adriatic to the ports of the Red Sea. Its population was made up of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Arabs, Kurds, Serbs and Bosnians, to name a few. This course surveys the emergence of this demographically diverse and geographically vast Ottoman state from a small frontier principality into a world empire in its social, political and cultural contexts. One unit.

History 294 - Ottoman Empire 2, 1500-1922
Spring
Surveys the major themes in the history of the Ottoman 17th and 20th centuries in an effort to understand transformations in state and society, which have collectively been termed by historians, “decline.” Topics include transformations in the classical Ottoman land and military systems, forms of protest and rebellion, the formation of provincial magnates, Ottoman incorporation into the world economy, reform and revival, the Eastern Question and the rise of local nationalisms throughout the empire. One unit.

History 297 — Early Africa to 1800   
Alternate years
Early African farmers and hunters, men and women, kings and queens, commoners and slaves long stood at the center -- not the margins -- of global change. From the rise of agriculture to the culmination of the slave trades, Africans actively borrowed ideas, technologies, foods, guns, and other goods from Asian and European (strangers). But they profoundly influenced these strangers as well, contributing their innovative ideas, technologies, cultural expressions, and wealth. Through close study of oral traditions, epics, archaeological data, food, autobiography, and film, we will investigate early Africans’ global connections. Environment plays an important role in our study; we explore the ways that Africans creatively adapted to, manipulated, and altered the continent’s diverse environments, and how choices shaped the kinds of societies in which they lived. By immersing ourselves in Africa’s early history, we will also begin to understand and to critique how and why contemporary western media has come to portray Africans as (marginal) to global change.This course begins its study of global connections when the climatic changes that contributed to the rise of agriculture (after 20000 BCE), and it concludes in the late-eighteenth century, following the period of Africa’s most intensive exports of slaves. One unit.

History 298 — Modern Africa Since 1870   
Fall
A survey of Africa’s complex colonial past, examining dominant ideas about colonial Africa and Africans’ experiences during colonialism, including important historical debates on Africa’s colonial past and the legacy of colonialism; pre-colonial Africa’s place in the global world; resistance and response to the imposition and entrenchment of colonialism; and the nature of colonial rule as revealed in economic (under) development, ethnicity and conflict, and the environment. One unit.

History 299 - Topics in History
Annually
Explores various subjects in the historical sciences, emphasizing reading, discussion, and writing on a topic selected by the instructor. Course format and subjects vary from year to year. One unit.

History 305 - America’s First Global Age
Annually
There is great talk about “globalization” and “global economies” during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. However, people living in America were touched by global economic processes as early as the time of Columbus. This course explores North America’s first global age beginning in the 1400s and extending through the 1860s. It examines this history thematically by focusing on various kinds of trades and industries such as gold, fish, timber, tobacco, silver, sugar, alcohol, fur, coffee, tea, and cotton. In addition to economic processes, the course addresses the social, cultural, and political implications of these global trade connections for Americans of African, European, and Native descent. One unit.

History 320 - Crafted by War: Late Medieval England
Alternate years, spring
Political, legal, social, and economic development in England and the Celtic fringe from 1216 and the reign of Henry III to the death of Richard III in 1485. Covers the growth of English common law and Parliament, especially during the reign of Edward I 1272-1307; agriculture and society, particularly during the years of demographic expansion in the 13th century and contraction after the Black Death; disturbances of the Hundred Years’ War, the Wars of the Roses, and the role of crime and violence in medieval society. One unit.

History 322 - War and Cinema
Alternate years, fall
Examines the depiction of war in American and British cinema, contrasting filmed versions to historical events, ranging from Medieval Europe to the jungles of Vietnam. Reading includes analysis of both the historical events and the background to the filmed versions. Emphasis given to the nature of film as a primary source reflecting the perspectives of the society generating it. One unit.

History 324 - Italy and France: War and Resistance
Alternate years, spring
Focuses on the nature of resistance to Fascism in Italy and France in the period between the two world wars. Students should have some background in European history in the twentieth century. The course is appropriate for students of the Italian and French language and to those interested in the period of the Holocaust and the Second World War. Among the works to be read are Carlo Levi, Christ Stopped at Eboli; Ignazio Silone, Bread and Wine; Richard Vinen, the Unfree French; Albert Camus, the Plague; Iris Origo, War in Val D’Orcia; Claire Chevrillon, Code Name Christiane Clouet; Marguerite Duras, The War: A Memoir; Primo Levi, Survival in Auschwitz; Susan Zuccotti, Italians and the Holocaust. One unit.

History 325 - Women and Gender in the War, Holocaust and Resistance
Alternate years, spring
Beginning with the New Woman of the early 20th century, women’s social roles were transformed with the spread of women in higher education, the transformation of women’s work, and the impact of the women’s rights movement. A particular focus will be the role of gender and sexuality in the construction of Fascism and National Socialism, and the impact of nationalism, imperialism and two world wars on women and the family. Many of the assigned texts are women’s writings from the Holocaust and the Resistance. One unit.

History 327 - Cultures of the Cold War
Alternate years
The superpower struggle that shaped the world post-1945 involved a competition not only for military might, but also for moral supremacy. During this time the United States and the Soviet Union came to define themselves in opposition to each other, both seeking to demonstrate the superiority of their respective social and political systems and advertise the alleged degeneracy of those of their arch- rivals. This course will look at how each country portrayed its own society and imagined that of its major global foe, and the way these representations often differed from reality. Because our major emphasis will be on the shaping and re-shaping of values and identities, we will draw heavily on cultural sources such as novels, short stories, films, cartoons, and music lyrics, as well as other more traditional primary and secondary historical texts. One unit.

History 329 - Collapse of Communism
Alternate years
This seminar will study the Soviet dictatorship from the death of Josef Stalin in 1953 to the dissolution of the USSR in 1991. While it will discuss some of the "high politics" of the era-a narrative shaped by colorful figures such as Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Mikhail Gorbachev-the course will con- centrate on social and cultural issues. What did family life look like in the Soviet Union? Can we speak of a Soviet "generation gap"? How did the USSR experience the 1960s? What did Soviet citizens think about their society and what, if anything, did they believe needed to be changed? Above all, we will analyze why the country failed in various post-1953 attempts to reform its political and economic system, what the fate of the Soviet Union teaches us about ideology and dictatorship, and what kind of legacy the Soviet era has left on Russia today. One unit.

History 340 - Gilded Age America
Spring
This course examines the Gilded Age (1870-1900), a period when America experienced astonishing growth in prosperity, population, industry, urbanization, and westward expansion. Many Americans, as the name Gilded Age suggests, considered this period a golden age of progress. Yet many others perceived these trends as only superficial-just as a gilded piece of jewelry has only a thin layer of gold on its surface. Beneath the wealth and excitement that marked the rise of modern America, critics argued, lay the harsh realities of urban squalor, political corruption, worker and farmer exploitation, Robber Baron ruthlessness, as well as an alarming growth in the gap between rich and poor. As a result, the Gilded Age was one of the most contentious eras in American history, marked by record numbers of strikes and several insurgent political movements. But out of this turmoil eventually emerged the reform ideas that eventually formed the basis of the succeeding Progressive Era (1900-1920). Some of the many topics we will consider include: westward expansion, Reconstruction, immigration and nativism, industrialization, the labor movement, imperialism, and the changing roles of women. One unit.

History 342 - Americans in Paris
Alternate years
Since Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin went to Paris in the era of the American and French Revolutions, Americans have been fascinated with Paris. Wealthy Americans did the Grand Tour to immerse themselves in the high culture that the young nation lacked. Paris became known as "the capital of the 19th century,"a mecca for artists and expatriates seeking what their own societies lacked. Paris was the center of modernity in the arts, literature, music, and progressive social ideas. From 1914 to 1945, the political fortunes of the United States and France became linked as Americans went to France as soldiers; and thousands of US soldiers from the First and Second World Wars remain buried on French soil. The political relationship between the US and France has been punctuated, too, by periods of misunderstanding and resentment, but from culinary tourists like Julia Child to college students studying abroad, Americans have found inspiration in the "city of light." One unit.

History 345 - ottoman Lands in the Age of Reform
Spring
In the mid-16th century, all of Europe feared the power of the "Grand Turk," whose empire stretched from Baghdad to Budapest and from the Adriatic to the ports of the Red Sea and whose population was made up of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Turks, Greeks, Armenians, Arabs, Kurds, Serbs and Bosnians, to name only a few. However, by the 19th century, the tides had changed as the Ottoman Empire faced new challenges associated with the rise of European economic and political supremacy and manifested in the rise of the nation-state and the expansion of capitalist relations of production. Territorial losses to Russia in 1774 set in motion the first decisive effort to examine and reconsider Ottoman notions of state and society, which had endured since the early Ottoman period. In Europe, the Ottomans were increasingly viewed as a relic of the past, receiving the designation "the sick man of Europe," The Ottomans embarked on reform and change designed to meet these challenges thus setting in motion a drive toward state centralization and modernization, which defined to a large extent the experience of modernity in the Ottoman Empire and the nation-states, which emerged out of its disintegration and dismemberment in the 19th and 20th centuries including Turkey, Arab states such as Egypt, Syria and Iraq, and Greece and the Balkan states. This course examines the major themes in the history of the Ottoman 18th-20th centuries in an effort to understand transformations in state and society, which have collectively been termed by historians, ‘modernization' or ‘tanzimat.' Specifically, we will consider the rise of new literary movements and local forms of national identity, the role of minorities and women, urban renewal and development and relations between the provinces and the central lands of the Ottoman Empire. One unit.

History 350 - Latino History
Alternate years, fall
Introduces students to the emerging field of United States Latino history. While the course emphasizes the intersection of U.S. and Latin American national histories, the migration process, and the formation of communities within the United States, it also examines the experience of Latinos in the U.S. through inter-disciplinary themes that include ethnicity, poverty and social mobility, identity, popular culture, and politics- all in historical perspective. Readings stress the experiences of people from Puerto Rico, Mexico/U.S. Southwest, Dominican Republic, Cuba, and Central America. One unit.

History 352 - Rebels and Radical Thinkers
Fall
This course examines revolutionary movements in Latin America from the early 1900s to the present, fo- cusing on the radical ideas that inspired the rebels. It explores why radical thinkers seemed to find a fertile ground in Latin American political life to our days. The course will discuss both the words and actions of some of the most salient radicals of the region-e.g., Emiliano Zapata, José Carlos Mariategui, Frantz Fanon, and Che Guevara. We will also trace some of these ideas/rebels as depicted in films-produced either in Latin America, the United States and Europe-analyzing their significance in popular culture. This course fulfills one cross-cultural requirement. One unit.

History 361 - Germans, Jews, and Memory
Every third year
Explores the place of Jews in German life before, during, and after the Nazi period. Commences with an examination of the centuries-old issue of assimilation. Explores the 20th- century “German world” of Einstein and Freud, everyday Jewish life in Nazi Germany, the Holocaust, survivors and their problems, the place of Jews in divided Germany after 1945, the growing Jewish community in contemporary reunified Germany, and the changing relationships among the children and grandchildren of the Holocaust’s perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. Special attention is given to memory issues in postwar Germany. These issues too have a history. How have Germans dealt with their past? How has the passing of generations affected this issue? Are Jews and non-Jews in today’s Germany comfortable with each other? One unit.

History 399 - Advanced Topics in History
Annually
Explores various subjects in the historical sciences, emphasizing reading, discussion, and writing on a topic selected by the instructor. Course format and subjects vary from year to year. One unit.

History 401 — History Seminar
Fall, spring
An intensive research-oriented study on various themes; offered each semester; limited to 12 participants. One unit.

History 408 - Tutorial
Fall, spring
Reading of selected sources, with individual written reports and discussion, under the direction of a member of the department. Students enrolled in a tutorial must receive the approval of the instructor. One unit.

History 420, 421 - Fourth-Year Thesis
Annually
An individual, student-designed, professor-directed, major research project. Usually available only to outstanding fourth-year majors. A lengthy final paper and public presentation are expected. Students engaged in a thesis may be nominated for Honors in History. One unit each semester.

The final authority on College and departmental policy, including faculty and course information, is the College Catalog. Please consult the Catalog for more information.