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History Course Descriptions

Introductory Courses (100–199)

 

Courses numbered 100–199 are introductory in material or approach; they are appropriate for any student, but particularly first year students.

 

100 DISCOVERING WORLD HISTORY

An introductory survey treating all periods, regions, and peoples, but focusing on contact and exchange between empires, civilizations, and cultures as peoples encountered one another throughout history in a process which accelerated dramatically at the beginning of the modern era and ultimately made the very activity of studying world history possible in our own time. Every year. (4 credits)

 

110 INTRODUCTION TO EUROPEAN HISTORY

A one semester introduction to the study of European history focusing on a selected period; designed primarily for lower division students who have no previous college-level background in this general field. Every year. (4 credits)

 

112 THE GLOBAL IN THE LOCAL: MINNESOTA HISTORY IN WORLDWIDE PERSPECTIVE/GLOBAL HISTORY FROM A MINNESOTA PERSPECTIVE

This introductory level course uses historical frameworks and methodologies to explore the bumpersticker motto: "Think Globally—Act Locally." Through readings, films, lectures, and discussion, this course explores central trends in world history—economic change, from industrialization and commercialization to globalization and the information economy; political activism, inside and outside electoral politics; the construction of gender, race, and class, and their impact on everyday lives; urbanization and the development of neighborhoods; immigration and the transformation of communities. We will use similar resources plus site visits, tours, guest lectures, and hands-on activities to explore how these trends have shaped the state of Minnesota and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. There will be key points where we will explore how local developments have shaped national patterns. Throughout, students will be positioned as historians to analyze the changing relationships between "the global" and "the local." In the end, they will understand not only our local community better, but they will be better prepared to analyze any community in which they find themselves. Every year. (4 credits)

 

115 AFRICA SINCE 1800

This course is designed to introduce students to the history of Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines major themes relating to change in the colonial period such as European conquest and imperialism, the development of the colonial economy, African responses to colonialism and the rise of nationalist movements that stimulated the movement towards independence. Students will examine these themes by applying them to case studies of specific geographic regions of the continent. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

121 THE GREEK WORLD (Same as Classics 121 and Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 121)

This course surveys the political, economic, and cultural development of the peoples of the ancient Greek world from the late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era. Students will hone their critical thinking skills while working with translations of ancient literature, archaeological remains and works of art. The basic structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the interaction between physical landscape and historical change; rule by the one, the few and the many; the nature and development of literary and artistic genres; the economic, military, and/or cultural dimensions of empire; or the intersections of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, slave/free status and civic identity in the Greek world. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

122 THE ROMAN WORLD (Same as Classics 122 and Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 122)

This course introduces students to the Roman world, which at its height stretched from Britain to Iran, from Germany to Africa, and lasted well over a thousand years. Students will develop critical thinking skills while working with Roman literature in translation, art, architecture and other archaeological remains. The structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the development of Roman literature out of and in response to Greek culture; the effects of the civil wars and the resulting political change from a republic to a monarchy; the cultural, religious and/or military aspects of the Roman empire and its immediate aftermath; Roman conceptions of gender, sexuality, slave and free status, citizenship and/or ethnicity, and how these social categories were used to legitimize or exercise power. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

140 INTRODUCTION TO EAST ASIAN CIVILIZATION (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 140)

This course introduces the cultures and societies of China, Japan and Korea from the earliest times to the present day. Primarily an introductory course for beginners in East Asian civilization, this course considers a variety of significant themes in religious, political, economic, social and cultural developments in the region. Every fall. (4 credits)

 

190 TOPICS IN UNITED STATES HISTORY

A topical analysis of United States history stressing the historical antecedents of selected contemporary issues; designed primarily for underclassmen who have no previous college-level background in this general field. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

Courses 200–299 are intermediate in material and/or approach and ordinarily taken by sophomores or juniors

 

211 HISTORY OF AFRICA TO 1800

A study of the history of Africa before 1800, this course covers the major themes relating to the development of African societies and cultures from the earliest times. Students will engage with themes of state-building, trade and religion as catalysts for change and learn how historians have reconstructed the history of early Africa. This course will provide students with knowledge of specific case studies from North, South, East, West, and Central Africa. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

212 WEST AFRICA: COLONIALISM, COMMERCE, AND CULTURE

This course offers an in-depth view of West Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It provides students with an understanding of political, economic, and social change in this region by examining the conditions that set the stage for colonial conquest in the late nineteenth century, the nature of European imperialism, and the responses of West African men and women to these changes. In focusing on the different societies within West Africa, this course will provide students with a greater understanding of the role of Islam and Christianity in West Africa, the emergence of African traders in the colonial economy, and the development of West African intellectuals in the twentieth century. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

213 WOMEN IN AFRICAN HISTORY

The objective of this course is to explore the role that women have played in the development of African history and to understand the major issues that define their experience as women from this region of the world. This course introduces students to the ways in which gender is studied in African history and to the major "break-through" works on women in African history. An important component of this course is the study of life histories of women from various geographical regions of the continent. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

221 AMERICAN LABOR RADICALISM

This course probes the history of labor radicalism as a specific current within the stream of social and political thought and movements, up to the rank and file movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Along the way we explore the Knights of Labor and the populists of the Gilded Age, the Socialists and Communists and other radicals of the Great Depression. Particular attention is paid to the experiences and contributions of women and racial and ethnic minorities. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

222 IMAGINING THE AMERICAN WEST (Same as American Studies 222)

Fantasies about the U.S. West are central to American history, popular culture, and collective memory. From John Wayne to Zane Grey to Disneyland, ideas about the West have shaped the ways we think about settlement, conquest, race, gender, and democracy. This course examines the myths that have circulated about the West alongside what has been called new western history, in an attempt to make sense of western Americans and the societies they created. Beginning with notions of the frontier, we will consider the scholarship that challenges our thinking about a region that has defied simple constructions. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

224 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY: SLAVERY, EMANCIPATION, AND RECONSTRUCTION (Same as American Studies 224)

This course explores the Afro-American experience from the villages of West Africa to the cotton plantations of the antebellum South. Considers West African social structure and culture, the international slave trade, the development of racism, the development of American slavery, the transformation of Afro-American culture over more than two centuries, the struggle, the possibilities of reconstruction, and the ultimate rise of share-cropping and segregation. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

230 WOMEN AND WORK IN U.S. HISTORY (Same as American Studies 230)

An historical overview of women's changing experiences with work—both paid and unpaid—from the mercantilist economy of colonial times to the post-industrial era of the late twentieth century. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Approved for Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

232 IMMIGRATION AND ETHNICITY IN U.S. HISTORY (Same as American Studies 232)

An overview of U.S. history as seen through the experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

233 INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF THE U.S. WORKING CLASS (Same as American Studies 233)

This course traces the development of the U.S. working class—men and women, native-born and immigrants, black and white—from the artisan era to the post-industrial age. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

234 AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY (Same as Environmental Studies 234)

People have always had to contend with the natural world, but only recently have historians begun to explore the changing relationships between people and their environment over time. In this course, we will examine the variety of ways that people in North America have shaped the environment, as well as how they have used, labored in, abused, conserved, protected, rearranged, polluted, cleaned, and thought about it. In addition, we will explore how various characteristics of the natural world have affected the broad patterns of human society, sometimes harming or hindering life and other times enabling rapid development and expansion. By bringing nature into the study of human history and the human past into the study of nature, we will begin to see the connections and interdependencies between the two that are often overlooked. Every fall. (4 credits)

 

236 CONSUMER NATION: AMERICAN CONSUMER CULTURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY (Same as Environmental Studies 236)

"Of all the strange beasts that have come slouching into the 20th century," writes James Twitchell, "none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism." In this course we will trace the various twists and turns of America's vigorous consumer culture across the twentieth century, examining its growing influence on American life, its implications for the environmental health of the world, and the many debates it has inspired. Every other spring; next offered Spring 2008. (4 credits)

 

237 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE (Same as Environmental Studies 237)

Poor and minority populations have historically born the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements—national and local—that seek to rectify environmental injustices. Offered occasionally. (4 credits)

 

240 JEWS IN AMERICA

An examination of the Jewish experience in America both from a historical perspective and from the perspective of American Jewish life today. We will look at examples of writing by and about Jews drawn from both scholarly and popular sources, at portrayals of Jews in the media, and at other manifestations of the Jewish presence in the United States. This examination will lead both to a greater understanding of the origins and current condition of Jewish life in the United States and a greater appreciation of the problems and promises of multi-culturalism in America. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

244 U.S. SINCE 1945

Using visual materials (movies, TV, videos, and advertising imagery) as its primary sources, this course will look at some of the cultural forces that rolled through the final six decades of the twentieth century. Topics include cultural tensions of the Cold War era; Hollywood's Cold War imagery, especially in films noirs, sci-fi films, and musicals; the identification of "youth" as a political-social force during the 1950s and 1960s; cultural products and practices associated with various insurgent groups during the 1950s and 1960s; ferment in the advertising and design industries during the same decades; changing markers of gender and sexuality; the rise of Reaganism and the New Right; products and styles associated with postmodernism; the challenge to Hollywood's domination of the visual economy from TV and the Internet. The final weeks of the course will focus on the different sounds and looks that have circulated, ever more rapidly and vividly, during the past two decades, a.k.a. "your own times." Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

248 JIM CROW (Same as American Studies 248)

This course examines the political, cultural, economic, and social ramifications of segregation in the United States from approximately 1865 to the present. While much of the course will focus on the South, we will also consider how racial boundaries were drawn in the West and North. The course will pay special attention to the ways racial boundaries became "fixed," and how black men and women defied Jim Crow in the streets, courts, and in their homes. Additionally, this class examines how segregation has been forgotten and how and when it is remembered. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

249 AFRICAN AMERICANS AND THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE CITY: 1890–1945 (Same as American Studies 249)

This course investigates two mutually influencing transformations of the first half of the twentieth century: 1) the urbanization of the Afro-American people; and 2) the emergence of the modern American metropolis as the site of congregation and segregation of distinct racial and ethnic groups. Principal points of focus for this course include the causes and patterns of black migration from the rural South to the urban North; the formation of ghettoes in major northern cities; the internal life of those ghettoes, including changing gender roles and the development of new cultural forms; and the rise of new political and social ideas within these communities. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

250 HISTORY OF PRE-MODERN MEDICINE

This course is intended to familiarize students with both concepts of human biology and medicine from ancient Egypt and the formation of the Hippocratic corpus to the early modern period and the relationship of these concepts to broader religious, intellectual, and societal trends in Europe and the Middle East. Medicine in China, India, and the Americas will be touched upon but the course will be concentrated on ancient Greek and Roman medicine in the pre-modern Christian and Muslim worlds. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

255 HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SOCIALISM

An analysis of the various ideas of socialism from the eighteenth century to the present. Philosophically, the course will investigate the logic and ethics of the socialist ideas encountered. Historically, the course will explore the social-economic, cultural, and political environments in which the socialist ideas appeared. Radicals of the French Revolution, the Utopian socialists, the Anarchists, Marx, Marxian Revisionists, Bolshevism, Soviet Marxism-Leninism, the socialism of Mao Tse-Tung, and the significance to socialism of the collapse of the USSR will all be studied. Readings will be heavily weighted toward socialist texts themselves. Students will enroll for both History 255 and Philosophy 255. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

257 EMPIRES

This course will survey the evolution of modern European empires from their inception in the mid-nineteenth century to their aftermath in the 1980s and 1990s. The course will be organized topically, separate modules being devoted to theory, imperial administration, race and segregation in the colonies, cultural and economic exploitation of colonies, European culture and imperialism, indigenous anti-colonial movements and decolonialization, and the issue of colonialism's role in globalization. Materials will be drawn from the experiences of the British, French, German, Dutch and Russian empires. Lectures, class discussions and films. Essay exams prepared outside of class and quizzes. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

258 EUROPE SINCE 1945

A survey of European history from the end of World War II to the present, emphasizing social and economic history and including both western Europe and the former socialist republics of eastern Europe. The course tests the hypothesis that Europe constitutes a social and political entity as well as a geographic one. Among the topics the course will cover are a comparison of European post-World War II reconstruction (East and West), Europe's power decline in a global context, Europe as a tool and a participant in the Cold War, political trends and their roots in social and economic change, and the origins and European-wide implications of the collapse of the socialist states of eastern Europe. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

260 RISE AND FALL OF TSARIST RUSSIA

A survey of the development of Russian social and political institutions from Peter the Great (1682–1724) to 1917. The course will explain the growth of the tsar's authority, the origins and outlooks of Russia's major social/gender groups (nobility, peasants, merchants, clergy, women, minorities, Cossacks) and the relations which grew up between the tsar and his society. The course will conclude with an appraisal of the breakdown of the relationship in 1917, and the tsarist legacy for Russia's social and political institutions in the Soviet Union and beyond. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

265 JEWISH HISTORY (Same as Religious Studies 365)

An examination of the history of the Jewish people from the time of emancipation in the late eighteenth century to the present. The major theme will be the development of new forms of Jewish self-identity as the self-contained communities of the pre-emancipation period begin to dissolve. Among the topics to be considered are the relationship between Jewish communities and the "outside world," pressures from within and without the Jewish community for assimilation, antisemitism, the holocaust, Zionism and the birth of Israel, and the position of the Jews in the world today. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

266 HISTORY OF ISLAM FROM MOHAMMED TO 1517

This course will survey Islamic history and culture up through the Ottoman takeover of Egypt and the Hijaz. Students will become familiar with the basic economic, technological, social, philosophical, literary, and religious developments in the medieval Islamic world through examining a combination of medieval sources, both written and pictorial, and modern scholarly studies. Students should finish the course not only with a firm grasp of early Islamic thought but an understanding of the ways in which different parts of the Islamic World were connected yet culturally distinctive. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

274 HISTORY OF TRADITIONAL CHINA (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 274)

A study of the culture and society of China from earliest times to the eighteenth century, when the impact of the West was strongly felt. The course will feature themes in Chinese history, including the birth of the Great Philosophers, the story of the Great Wall, the making and sustaining of the imperial system, the Silk Road and international trade and cultural exchange, the emergence of Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, Genghis Kahn and his Eurasian Empire, the splendid literary and artistic achievements, the Opium War and its impact on modern China. Lecture/discussion format. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

275 HISTORY OF MODERN CHINA (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 275)

A study of leading institutions and movements of nineteenth- and twentieth-century China. Major emphases include the impact of Western imperialism, intellectual and cultural changes, the transformation of peasant society through revolution, the rise of Mao Tse-Tung, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and the rise of China as a world power. Special attention will be given to China's international relations. Every year. (4 credits)

 

276 HISTORY OF TRADITIONAL JAPAN (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 276)

A survey of the major political, social, religious, intellectual, economic and artistic developments in Japan from earliest times to the opening of Japan in the 1850s. The course will revisit Japan's emperor system, Shintoism, feudalism, Samurai as a class, selective borrowing from China, Korea, and the West, and the background of Japan's rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

277 HISTORY OF MODERN JAPAN (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 277)

Japan's rapid industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and its phenomenal rise as the number two economic power in the world after the devastation wrought by World War II, have led many scholars to declare Japan a model worthy of emulation by all "developing" nations. After an examination of feudal Japan, this course probes the nature and course of Japan's "amazing transformation" and analyzes the consequences of its strengths as a nation-state. Considerable study of Japanese art, literature, and religion will be undertaken and American attitudes toward the Japanese and their history will also be examined. Every year. (4 credits)

 

278 WAR CRIMES AND MEMORY IN CONTEMPORARY EAST ASIA (Same as Asian Languages and Cultures 278)

This course's main goal is to introduce evidence of the major crimes and atrocities during World War II in East Asia such as the Nanjing Massacre, biochemical warfare (Unit 731), the military sexual slavery ("comfort women") system, the forced labor system, and inhumane treatment of POWs. The course will also help students understand the contemporary geo-political and socio-economic forces that affect how East Asians and Westerners collectively remember and reconstruct World War II. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

Courses 300–399 are advanced in material and/or approach and ordinarily taken by juniors and seniors.

 

305 COMPARATIVE FREEDOM MOVEMENTS: THE U.S. AND SOUTH AFRICA

This advanced course explores two of the most important movements to challenge institutional racism in the second half of the 20th century—the U.S. civil rights movement and the South African anti-apartheid movement. The course places both of these movements within their specific historical contexts and, therefore, opens with an examination of the historical role(s) of racism in each of these societies. It then explores dimensions of these movements in a comparative fashion: the leadership produced by both movements; the functioning of both movements and the roles played by particular cohorts (women, young people, workers, allies); the internal tensions within each movement, particularly around ideologies, strategies, and tactics; the uses of culture (music, theater, poetry, visual art) within each movement. We also explore the methodologies of comparative history, particularly the critique that insists that the movements' influences on each other need to be considered. Finally, we assess the impact of each movement on its respective society. Every other year. (4 credits)

 

330 ADVANCED STUDIES: HISTORIANS AND CRITICAL RACE THEORY

This two credit course is designed for advanced students, particularly those who might participate in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program. The course—using different materials and pursuing different emphases—each semester examines the development and application of critical race theory, its place within the historiography of various disciplines, and its intersections with feminist, postcolonial, and other perspectives. The course pays particular attention to the development (structurally, ideologically, culturally) of race and racism within not only a US context but also within transnational and diasporic frameworks. The course also provides an opportunity to explore graduate programs and the processes of application and self-presentation. This course is intended not only to further the goals of the MMUF Program but also to encourage the intellectual success and development of students who might be drawn to the goals and activities of this program. Signature of instructor required. Every year. (2 credits)

 

331 RACIAL FORMATION, CULTURE AND U.S. HISTORY (Same as Humanities and Media and Cultural Studies 331 and American Studies 331)

This interdisciplinary course will employ the methodologies of cultural and media studies within an historical framework to ask: What roles did "race" (the presence of diverse races; the relationships among those groups of people; the construction and representation of racial identities; the linking of material privileges and power to racial locations) play in the development of the United States? How have relationships of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality been linked to "race"? How has "race" been a site of struggle between groups? How is the present a product of historical experiences? Our coursework will rely on reading historical studies, theory, cultural analysis, and memoirs, and on viewing and analyzing cultural performances and films. This course is designed for students with experience in history, cultural studies, African American Studies and/or American Studies. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

340 U.S. URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY (Same as Environmental Studies 340)

In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent—places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

343 IMPERIAL NATURE: THE UNITED STATES AND THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT (Same as Environmental Studies 343)

Although the United States accounts for just five percent of the world's population, it consumes roughly twenty-five percent of the world's total energy, has the world's largest economy, and is the world's largest consumer and generator of waste. Relative to its size, its policies and actions have had a significantly disproportionate impact on global economic development and environmental health. Mixing broad themes and detailed case studies, this course will focus on the complex historical relationship between American actions and changes to the global environment. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

345 CAR COUNTRY: THE AUTOMOBILE AND THE AMERICAN ENVIRONMENT (Same as Environmental Studies 345)

At the dawn of the twentieth century, automobiles were newfangled playthings of the very wealthy; by century's end, they had become necessities of the modern world. This momentous change brought with it a cascading series of consequences that completely remade the American landscape and touched nearly every aspect of American life. This course will explore the role that cars and roads have played in shaping Americans' interactions with the natural world, and will seek an historical understanding of how the country developed such an extreme dependency on its cars. In the process, we will engage with current debates among environmentalists, policymakers, and local communities trying to shape the future of the American transportation system and to come to grips with the environmental effects of a car-dependent lifestyle. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

350 RACE, GENDER, AND SCIENCE

How has science informed definitions of race, sex, and gender in the past? How is scientific knowledge about race, sex, and gender constructed? How has racial difference shaped scientific knowledge? How has the scientific search for sexual difference shaped debates about sex and gender? This class examines the scientific discourses and methodologies that have, historically, sought to explain racial and sexual difference. We will examine scholarship that considers the social effects of science and the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and science. Among the topics under consideration: the definitions of deviance in colonial and post-colonial societies, eugenics, phrenology, scientific racism, contemporary debates on race, sexuality, and genetics. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

351 TUDOR-STUART ENGLAND

A survey of English life, politics and society in the days of the Tudor and Stuart monarchs. The course will focus on a number of major themes including the emergence of the English nation; the struggle between royal and parliamentary authority; the English roots of the American tradition; and the relation of social structure, religious belief and political action. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

352 MODERN BRITAIN

The development of English politics and society from the time of George III to the twentieth century. Among the topics to be considered are: the transition from rural to urban society; the American Revolution; the rise and decline of Britain as world leader; Victorian and Edwardian society; England and Ireland; and the future of Britain in the modern world. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

353 THE VICTORIANS

A study of the culture, social conditions, and artistic developments of Victorian England (1837–1901) through an examination of a number of documents (novels, plays, memoirs, government reports, etc.) of the period. This course is usually taught in conjunction with English 332, and when it is, students will be required to register for both courses. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

362 HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION AND ITS SUCCESSORS

A survey of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet history from the Russian Revolution to the present. Topics include the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Bolshevik rule and its tsarist heritage, Soviet "monocratic" society under Lenin and Stalin, dissent in the USSR, the "command economy" in the collapse of Communist political power, and national consciousness as an operative idea in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

364 GERMANY FROM 1871 TO THE PRESENT

A survey of the history of German society and politics from the Bismarckian unification to the present with emphasis on the origins of the German and world catastrophe of 1933–45. Among the major issues covered will be Bismarck and his legacy for German politics, the army and German political life, the Weimar Republic and German political culture, the origins and development of the Nazi party, Germany between the United States and the USSR, and Germany's significance in post-Cold War Europe. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

366 EUROPE IN THE AGE OF UPHEAVAL AND REVOLUTION

A study of European politics, culture and society during the years (1780–1850) in which Europe experienced the most profound social and political transformations in its history. Among the topics to be considered are the French Revolution, urbanization, industrialization, new concepts of the family, Darwin, and the growth of new ideologies. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

367 HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST

In this course we will examine the Holocaust as an historical phenomenon. We will try to understand what brought it about, how it was experienced by those who lived through it (and those who did not survive) and how the event continues to affect the world today. Alternate years. (4 credits)

 

369 GENDER & THE DIVINITY IN JUDAISM, CHRISTIANITY, & ISLAM

Within certain forms/branches of late antique and medieval Judaism, Christianity, and Islam male and female became metaphorical categories for talking about the divine. This course will give students the opportunity to read the relevant primary sources, compare the texts to one another and consider the historical milieu in which they were produced. Students will also become familiar with classical and medieval biological theories about sex differentiation as part of the background for approaching these religious texts. Students taking this course must have a basic familiarity with the three religious traditions being studied. Not offered 2007–2008. (4 credits)

 

379 THE STUDY OF HISTORY

This advanced course is required for majors. It examines the various forms of analysis used by historians through a study of different kinds of historical texts and sources. It provides an opportunity for students to develop the skills and habits of thinking essential to practicing the discipline of history. This course invites students to address some of the myriad questions and controversies that surround such historical concepts as "objectivity," "subjectivity," "truth," "epistemology," and thereby to develop a "philosophy" of history. At the same time, it stresses the acquisition of such historical tools as the use of written, oral, computer and media sources and the development of analytical writing skills. The subject matter for study changes each year. Recent themes of the course have been memory, empires, and class formation. Every year. (4 credits)

 

Courses 400–649 are advanced seminars and independent projects ordinarily taken by seniors.

 

490 SPECIAL ADVANCED STUDIES

The senior seminar is team taught every fall by 2–3 members of the department, around themes that easily cross chronological and geographic lines. Recent topics include Documenting History, and Texts and Contexts. Every fall. (4 credits)

 

604 TUTORIAL

A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses. Every semester. (1–4 credits)

 

614 INDEPENDENT PROJECT

Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Every semester. (1–4 credits)

 

624 INTERNSHIP

A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student's goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Every semester. (1–4 credits)

 

634 PRECEPTORSHIP

Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Every semester. (1–4 credits)

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