SECOND SEMESTER 2009-10
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HST 111 Survey of American History I
Dr. Sherman Jackson – MWF 12:45-1:35 (Sec. A)
Dr. Andrew Cayton - M W 2:15-3:30 (Sec. B)
Dr. Sara First - MWF 8:00-8:50 (Sec. C)
HST 112 Survey of American History II – MW 10:10-11:00
Weekly discussion sections scheduled at various times.
Dr. Allan Winkler
MP Humanities Foundation--Historical Perspective.
MP U.S. Cultures Foundation
History Major: Survey.
Together, HST 111 and 112 provide students with a basic introduction to the major issues and questions in the history of the geographical region covered by the present-day United States of America. Specifically, HST 111 deals with the American past between 1492, the year in which Spain "discovered" the Western Hemisphere, and the Era of Reconstruction (1865-1877). HST 112 covers the past century, during which time the United States industrialized and developed into a world power. While each course will ask you to learn about specific people, places and events, the major concern will be to ask you to think about why we are what we are today. While we will focus on the central events of our collective past--in HST 111 the founding of the colonies, the establishment of black slavery, the American Revolution, the Civil War and Reconstruction; in HST 112 immigration, industrialization, urban growth, 20th century reform, and the impact of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War--we will do so from the perspectives of recent scholarship by historians concerned with questions of gender, race, environmentalism, class and region. Although the basic structure of this course will be traditional, the content will be more unusual. HST 111 and 112 may be taken singly, in sequence or out of sequence.
HST 121 Western Civilization I
TR 8:00-9:15 (Sec. A)
TR 9:30-10:45 (Sec. B)
Dr. William Meier
HST 122 Western Civilization II – M W 11:15-12:05
Weekly discussion sections schedule at various times.
Dr. Stephen Norris
MP Humanities or World Cultures Foundation--Historical Perspective.
History Major: Survey.
In a world of growing specialization and compartmentalization, students face increasing difficulty relating various areas of knowledge to one another and to themselves. HST 121 and 122 cannot provide a complete answer to this problem, but they are a good start. These courses present a broad, multi-faceted approach to the study of western civilization over the course of nearly three millennia. Their purpose is to survey the major societal issues and cultural themes that have defined the concepts of humanity and society in the western world. In aiming at this objective, these courses afford a degree of perspective which assists the student in both relating diverse information to central themes and in understanding his or her relationship to a culture and an age. Texts and techniques will vary with the individual instructor. HST 121 and HST 122 may be taken singly, in sequence or out of sequence.
HST 198 World History since 1500 – M W 9:05-9:55 am
Discussion sections scheduled at various times.
Dr. Erik Jensen
HST 198 World History since 1500
Dr. Renée Baernstein – T R 9:30-10:45 (Sec. BB)
Dr. D. S. Chandler - T R 12:45-2:00 (Sec. CC)
Dr. David Fahey - T R 2:15-3:30 (Sec. DD)
HST 198.H World History since 1500 (Honors) – MW 2:15-3:30
Dr. Elena Albarrán
MP Humanities or World Cultures Foundation--Historical Perspective
History Major: Survey.
Emphasizes the growing interrelatedness of the regions of the world since the time of the European voyages of exploration and accelerating since the industrial and ideological revolutions of the late eighteenth century.
HST 206 Introduction to Historical Inquiry
Dr. Matthew Gordon – W F 11:15-12:30 (Sec. A)
Dr. Charlotte Goldy – MWF 10:10-11:00 (Sec. B)
Dr. Mary Cayton - T R 2:15-3:30 (Sec. C)
Introduction to essential skills in investigating and interpreting the past. Course stresses active participation, writing, and intensive reading of primary documents and secondary literature. Required of History Majors.
HST 211 / FRE/GER/RUS 212 Secular Jewish Culture from the Enlightenment to Zionism – T R 11:15-12:30
Dr. Sven-Erik Rose (French and Italian Department)
History Major: Non-Western Advanced
Surveys key aspects of secular Jewish culture, identity, thought, society and politics from mid 17th to mid 20th century. Significant treatment of Jewish life in Western Europe (France and Germany) and eastern Europe; shorter treatment of Jewish experience in U.S. and Mandate Palestine. Readings in English.
BWS/HST 221 African-American History – T R 11:15-12:30
Dr. Nishani Frazier
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
Thematic Sequence (ENG 8): African American History and Literature.
HST 221 is a survey of the African-American experience in the United States, from African origins to the present. The course emphasizes biographical profiles; constitutional, political and social contributions to the nation; and race relations.
HST 222 U.S. Diplomatic History since 1914 – M W 8:00-9:15 am
Dr. Amanda McVety
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
Thematic Sequence (NSC 2): War--An Extension of Politics.
A history of U.S. foreign relations from the onset of World War I to the present. Emphasis is placed upon identifying, analyzing, and correcting historical myths about selected major events, issues, and themes that have influenced our memory of the past and our lives in the present and future.
BWS/HST 225 The Making of Modern Africa – T R 12:45-2:00
Dr. Osaak Olumwullah
MP Humanities or World Cultures Foundation--Historical Perspective
History Major: Africa; Non-Western Advanced.
This course is a survey of the transformation of Africa, south of the Sahara, from the time of the scramble for, and partition of, the continent among European powers in the second half of the 19th century, to the present. Emphasis will be on economic, social, cultural, political, and intellectual features of this period. This will be done through the reading of monographs, articles, and literary works (novels, plays, poems, etc.) on the political economy of colonialism, African experiences with colonialism, the rise and triumph of nationalism, African womanhood, popular culture and the experiences of change, and the rise and nature of post-colonial economic and political crises in the region.
HST/FST/BWS 252 Representation of History in Film and Video - T R 2:15-3:30
Dr. Tammy Brown
HST/ATH/POL/REL/RUS 254 Introduction to Russian and Eurasian Studies
Lecture combining both sections meets M 2:15-3:30
Section A discussion meets W 11:15-12:30 - Dr. Scott Kenworthy (Comparative Religion)
Section B discussion meets W 2:15-3:30 - Dr. Neringa Klumbyte (Anthropology)
History Major: European Advanced
This course examines the major developments that have shaped Russian and Eurasian culture, society and politics over the last millennium. The course incorporates perspectives from the social sciences, humanities and the fine arts.
HST/LAS 260 Latin America in the United States – M W 2:15-3:30
Dr. José Amador
History Major: U.S. Advanced
Interdisciplinary examination of historical, social, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the experience of peoples of Latin, Hispanic, Latino/a background in the United States.
HST 270.B Topics in European History: Ireland since 1600 -- T R 12:45-2:00
Dr. William Meier
History Major: European Advanced
We will explore the history of Ireland from the English plantations in the seventeenth century to the era of the twentieth-century “Troubles” between Ireland and Northern Ireland. One of the key objectives in this course will be to analyze the tradition of Irish nationalism in terms of its popular support, its goals (cultural, constitutional, or revolutionary change), its leadership, and its outcomes. A second major objective will be to explore the colonial relationship between Britain and Ireland and the perceived value of Ireland to the British imperial system. Lastly, the course explores aspects of Irish culture, from language change and literature to emigration and the “Celtic tiger.”
HST 270.C Topics in European History: The Renaissance and Early Modern Science – W F 12:45-2:00
Dr. Muriel Blaisdell
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern
This may sound like a specialized course, but it is designed to escape from such labels. Students will have the opportunity to read words and to consider objects that were written or produced during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. While this course draws upon the approach called “intellectual history,” it will also reach out to issues of culture and politics and will require you to think about the sciences and the philosophy within them. We will study six cases: Leonardo da Vinci (art, technology and science), Nicholaus Copernicus and Johannes Kepler (mathematicians and astronomers), Galileo Galilei (science and the Roman Catholic Church), Andreas Vesalius (the transformation of medicine), William Harvey (the 17th century bio-mechanical worldview), and the invention of museums and their social meaning.
FST/HST 280.B Honors Seminar: Politics and Memory in Europe after WWII – M W 2:15-3:30
Dr. Joshua First
This course examines European cultural production–literature, cinema, the visual arts, along with the production of history itself–on the topic of World War II. The course is broadly comparative, touching upon a multitude of national narratives of the war, but focusing on four countries: Britain, France, Germany, and the Soviet Union. Through readings and film screenings, we address how European countries dealt with the topic of violence and suffering; the relationship between war and entertainment; how representations of the war changed over time, and what these changes indicate about the cultural, social and political climate in each country.
Students are expected to participate actively in discussion, in addition to writing short response papers in preparation for each weekly topic. You will also keep a journal on Vasily Grossman’s epic novel, Life and Fate, and write a longer paper (10-12 pages) due at the end of the term.
HST 296 World History since 1945
M W 12:45-2:00 (Sec. A)
M W 2:15-3:30 (Sec. B)
Dr. Anne Rose
From Hiroshima to the Information Age. Focuses on the politics of identity and social history.
AMS/HST 304 History, Memory, Tradition – T R 11:15-12:30
Dr. Helen Sheumaker and Dr. Daniel Cobb
It is not uncommon for history, memory, and tradition to be defined in simplistic terms. People are often comforted by the sense of certainty they convey. The past becomes a place of refuge. This course takes a different view. Drawing upon a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, it examines the constructed and contested nature of all three concepts. We will explore provocative questions such as: How do we know the past and whose pasts do we actually know? What does it mean to remember and how do some memories get privileged over others? Why are traditions created and what purposes do they serve? Our search for answers will include many sites of memory—from popular film to museums—and will take place primarily in the context of American history. Guest lecturers will include Altman faculty scholars -- faculty from performing arts, architecture, literature studies and other areas who are working on issues of memory and culture. Students will also have an opportunity to apply their knowledge through a public history project.
HST 307 Latin American Civilization: Colonial Period – T R 9:30-10:45
Dr. D. S. Chandler
History Major: Latin America; Non-Western Advanced; Pre-Modern.
HST 307 begins with the Native American and Hispanic backgrounds of Latin America. During the semester we consider the post-1492 invasions, the emergence and growth of colonial society and institutions in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the nature of the relationship between Europeans and non-whites in America. Also, the impact of the Enlightenment and 18th-century reforms are discussed, leading to the eve of the Era of Independence.
HST 322 The History of the Modern Middle East – W F 9:30-10:45
Dr. Matthew Gordon
History Major: Middle East; Non-Western Advanced
An introduction to 19th and 20th century Middle Eastern society, culture and political history from the Ottomans to the present. The Palestinian- Israeli conflict is a central topic of the course.
HST/WMS 323 Women/Gender in Modern Europe - T R 4:10-5:25
Dr. Anne Rose
In this historically-oriented and methodologically interdisciplinary course, we will examine the history of gender relations from the era of the French Revolution to the 21st century. While the individuals we study were often European by birth, the context in which we examine their lives will often be global. We will engage a variety of theoretical perspectives to understand how gender history is constructed. We will use the lens of gender as a way of gaining insight into different forms of social and political organization. We will see how sexuality has been practiced, policed, liberated and controlled. We will look at the ways in which social class and ethnic identity has often determined women’s opportunities. We will examine a variety of political transformations, including the Latin American Wars of Independence, the Holocaust, post-war decolonization, recruitment within the Basque ETA movement, and the establishment of the EU.
BWS/HST 341 East African History - M W 2:15-3:30
Dr. Osaak Olumwullah
History Major: Africa
This is a reading and discussion course that takes Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi as its focus. Broadly defined, the course examines how these modern states came into being over the past century and a half, the ways their boundaries have been permeable, and the rise and persistence of the issue of regional integration. Our understanding of the region’s changing political, economic, cultural and environmental terrains will inform our approach to these three issues. Three trans-state regions are built into the syllabus: the Great Lakes Region, the Eastern Rift Valley and adjacent plateaux, and the Indian Ocean Islands and Littorals.
HST 346 Medieval Jewish History – MWF 2:15-3:05
Dr. Charlotte Goldy
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern
Jewish Studies and Medieval Studies Minors
Thematic Sequence (HST 1): Medieval Studies
Thematic Sequence (REL 5): Jewish Civilization through History
An introduction to the history of the Jews of medieval Europe (the Ashkenaz). Topics will include Jewish life and culture, life as a sole minority, the beginnings of Christian persecution, interaction with the Sephardic Jewish communities and comparison to life under Islam. Understanding the European Middle Ages is crucial to understanding later society, both its cultural and institutional achievements, and its biases and handicaps. An understanding of Jewish history and culture gives insights into a people with a unique history and contribution to the world as well as into minority-majority relations. Your grade will be based on out-of-class essays and reading responses.
HST 354 Modern Chinese History – T R 2:15-3:30
Dr. Yihong Pan
History Major: Asia; Non-Western Advanced
Modern Chinese History recounts the drastic changes and dramatic events that China had to undergo in its search for modernity. We will examine the major forces that shaped modern China from 1600 onwards, and how people lived through this period. The course aims at understanding the various scholarly interpretations of this history, and at enhancing critical thinking through examination of primary and secondary sources, class discussions, and various types of writing.
HST 359 Junior Honors Colloquium – M 5:30-8:10
Dr. Erik Jensen
Introduction to some of the issues involved in the conceptualization and writing of a major history project. Designed for students planning to write an Honors thesis in History in the senior year. Enrollment is by invitation only; contact the instructor for more information
HST 360.Z Sports, National Identity, and Globalization – T 6:00-8:40 pm
Dr. Sheldon Anderson
History Major: European Advanced
Some of the most compelling sports competitions in the 20th century have involved athletes from different countries, cultures, ethnic groups, or political systems. In the 21st century, sporting events still enthrall the masses; whole peoples and nations often identify with their sports heroes – they bask in their reflected glory and commiserate with them through triumph and defeat. Sport does not full “explain the world,” as one scholar put it, but it is a lens through which to understand it.
This course will study international sporting contests in the last hundred years to examine political, social, cultural, and diplomatic themes. For example, has sport furthered understanding and goodwill between peoples, as most sports federations profess, or has it in fact maintained or even increased ethnic and national divisions? What is the function of sports in developing ethnic and national identities, and what role has sports played in societal change and international relations? Has the rapid globalization of sport in the last several decades muted its chauvinist and nationalist character in the developed world?
AMS/HST 363 The Early American Republic, 1789-1828 – M W 12:45-2:00
Dr. Andrew Cayton
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
The United States in the Early Republic was a nation undefined. In the quarter century that followed the end of the American War for Independence, the peoples of the rapidly growing republic tried to translate Revolutionary ideals into permanent social and political structures. They debated what it meant to be an American citizen, fought over the power of the national government, thought about the role the United States should play internationally, conquered the Trans-Appalachian West, pursued the main chance economically, and tried to make sense of social relationships in a post-revolutionary society. Above all, they struggled to balance the demands of social order with their commitments to democratic government and individual liberty. In this course, we will deal with familiar events -- including the writing and ratifying of the federal Constitution -- and public figures -- including Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison. But we will also devote considerable time to questions of region, religion, race, gender, and class. We will probably spend more time talking about childbirth than the Jay Treaty and as much time dealing with the Shawnee, Miami, and Cherokee as we will with the formation of political parties. Students will read approximately 100 pages a week and will take in-class essay exams and write several out-of-class papers.
BWS/HST 365 Civil War and Reconstruction Era – MWF 9:05-9:55 am
Dr. Sherman Jackson
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
The Civil War and Reconstruction era is often compared to the American Revolution. With the exception of the American Revolution, more historical literature has been written about the Civil War and Reconstruction than any other period in American history. The Civil War is historically significant because of the complex social, economic, political and constitutional issues which eventually erupted into the greatest constitutional and military crisis in 19th century America. Reconstruction is commensurately important because of the social and constitutional reforms at the conclusion of the civil war. The primary focus of this course will be to analyze the major issues of the civil war and reconstruction era and present the latest historical interpretations and scholarship for a better comprehensive understanding of a very significant chapter in American history.
AMS/HST 373 Transforming America, 1815-1848 - W 5:30-8:10
Dr. Sara First
History Major: U.S. Advanced
The course will explore a period characterized by rapid changes in communications and transportation technologies, tremendous territorial expansion, war with Mexico and deep economic depression. Out of its remarkably young population came abolitionists and women's rights activists, as well as some of the country's most passionate defenders of slavery and the traditional order. Having inherited a united nation from their predecessors, these were the people and the times that pushed the U.S. inexorably towards Civil War.
BWS/HST/LAS 385 Race, Science, and Disease in Tropical America – M W 11:15-12:30
Dr. José Amador
History Major: Latin America
This course surveys a variety of debates over race and disease since the European overseas expansion to the Americas, particularly in those tropical regions that developed plantation-based agriculture. We will begin with the medical and scientific construction of ideas about race from the conquest to the eighteenth century. We will then place the development of racial theories of sickness and health in a broad social and political context, and, in particular, explain the medical salience of race in the settings of slavery and colonialism. Discussions will focus primarily on Brazil, the Caribbean, and the U.S. South, but will also explore the making of knowledge about race in global setting.
HST 388 U.S. Constitutional Development since 1865 – MWF 11:15-12:05
Dr. Sherman Jackson
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
This course examines American Constitutional law and development from the Civil War/Reconstruction era to contemporary society. It is designed to provide an analytical interpretation of constitutional law from Reconstruction America to the 21st century. Courses in American history and/or Political Science are suggested as prerequisites.
HST 397 American Environmental History - T R 11:15-12:30
Dr. Kevin Armitage
History Major: U.S. Advanced
HST 400.2 Senior Capstone in U.S. Foreign Relations: Teddy Roosevelt – M W 11:15-12:30
Dr. Amanda McVety
History Major: Senior Capstone
This course uses an examination of Teddy Roosevelt’s life, beliefs, and political policies to explore the larger issue of American involvement in the world at the beginning of the 20th Century.
HST 400.6 Senior Capstone: Contemporary China – T R 4:10-5:25
Dr. Yihong Pan
History Major: Senior Capstone.
This seminar deals with China’s Cultural Revolutions in the twentieth century, focusing on the May Fourth movement, the Mao’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), and the new culture in the post-Mao era. Its objective is to enhance critical and analytical ability through examining how history is presented from different perspectives and through critical reading of primary sources, class discussions, and various writing assignments including a research paper.
HST 400.G Senior Capstone: Spanish Borderlands (American Southwest) - T R 12:45-2:00
Dr. Tatiana Seijas
History Major: Senior Capstone
Students will read secondary scholarship and primary sources with the goal of writing a research paper on a topic pertaining to the present-day American states that used to be part of the Spanish Empire.
HST 400.V Senior Capstone: Renaissance Diaries – T R 9:30-10:45
Dr. Wietse de Boer
History Major: Senior Capstone
AMS/HST 433/533 Oral Tradition: History and Practice – T R 2:15-3:30
Dr. Nishani Frazier
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
Traces the use of oral tradition in historical writing and introduces theory and practice of oral history as a methodology basic to historical research.
HST 452/552 Florence in the Time of the Republic, 1250-1530 – T R 12:45-2:00
Dr. Renée Baernstein
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern.
Thematic Sequence (ITL 1): Italy in the Renaissance.
Few European city-states have aroused as much comment from contemporaries and from historians as the Republic of Florence. This course begins with the emergence of the republican commune, continues through the crisis of the 14th century (plague, depression, and workers' revolts), the Medici family domination, the foreign invasions, and the fall of the republic. Special attention to Florence's role as the "cradle of the Renaissance," and its unique political institutions and political theory, including Machiavelli's Prince and Discourses. Other topics include: civic religion; business and banking; families and clans; art and architecture.
BWS/HST 495/595 Modern African Environmental History – M 6:00-8:40
Dr. Osaak Olumwullah
History Major: Africa
Offers a multidisciplinary approach to the social, economic, and political aspects of environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa. Explores the utility of social science and historical analyses for understanding long-term changes in the region’s environment. Concerned with the way the idea of development has been conceptualized and applied in the region in the last 100 or so years. Considers how Africans perceived and responded to environmental crises in the 20th century.
HST 710 Colloquium in U.S. History – M 12:45-3:25
Topic: 20th Century America
Dr. Allan Winkler
HST 780 Colloquium in World and Comparative History - M 5:30-8:10
Topic: Spanish Borderlands (American Southwest)
Dr. Tatiana Seijas
The Spanish Borderlands refer to a region covering present-day Northern Mexico and the Southwestern states. This frontier region was the site of cultural and economic exchange, accommodation, and political resistance to imperial intrusions. Students will read the latest scholarship on the subject, which has primarily focused on intercultural relations between Indigenous and European peoples, geographical rivalry, and the antecedents to today’s border crisis. A primary-source based paper will be required.
HST 794 History and Theories – T 5:30-8:10
Dr. Wietse de Boer
Introduction to theories and models of the practice of history from 1850 to the present.
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