FIRST SEMESTER 2008-09
GRADUATE LEVEL COURSES
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HST 436/536 Havighurst Colloquium: Islam in Central Eurasia (4 credits) – M W 12:00-1:50
Dr. Daniel Prior

In this course we will study varieties of religious thought and practice among Muslims in Central Eurasia from the 8th century to the present day. A background unit will provide basic information on the land and peoples of Central Eurasia and the Islamic religion. For the bulk of the course, our attention will focus on a series of invited presentations by leading scholars who will share and discuss their current work on problems of interpreting Central Eurasian Islam. No prior knowledge of Islam or Central Eurasia is required.

HST 442/542 Ancient Jewish History – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Kevin Osterloh

What does it mean to be Jewish in the ancient world? Where, and under what social conditions, did Judaism come into being? This course deals with the ancient history of the Jewish people from the Persian through the Greco-Roman periods (539 BCE-200 CE), during which time Judaism – the “way of life” of the Jewish people – first emerged within the broader sociopolitical and cultural context of the ancient Near East. This is a story of how the Jewish people began to define their identity, as Jews, and find their place in a world as politically and culturally complex as our own. In this course we will study how Jews preserved their communal traditions and Israelite legacy through a variety of approaches to foreign cultures and rulers, such as the Persians, Greeks and Romans. Jews survived and flourished in a majority non-Jewish world through a process of “creative communal reinvention” revealed in the architecture, coins, inscriptions and literature of the period, which we will study throughout this course. In sum, this course provides a basic knowledge of ancient Jewish history, essential for understanding both the origins of Judaism and the great significance of the ancient Jewish cultural legacy for later Judaism, Christianity, Islam and western society as a whole.

HST 453/553 Italian Counter-Reformation – W 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Wietse de Boer

The religious reformations of the 16th century revolutionized social and cultural life across Europe and affected many other parts of the world as well. Italy was a protagonist in this transformation. As the heartland of Roman Catholicism, it was the scene for the transformation of the Catholic world. The papacy, severely attacked during the Protestant Reformation, played a critical role in the repression of heresy; the reform of European church life, society and culture; and the creation of a new worldwide religion. It was also in Italy that the reforming Council of Trent was held, the Roman Inquisition was introduced, and new religious orders such as the Jesuits were based. The course has a twofold purpose. The first half introduces students to the history of the Italian Counter-Reformation and the ways in which it has been studied; in the second, the class will work in common on the study, edition, and interpretation of a vital, unedited source on the history of the Counter-Reformation–the private diaries of a devout Milanese carpenter Giovan Battista Casale who witnessed and described the sweeping reforms in Milan from the perspective of a common citizen.

HST 710 Colloquium in American History – W 7:00-9:40
HST 770 Colloquium in Gender and Comparative Women’s History
Dr. Mary Frederickson

Globalization and Gender in the United States and the World ---A global view of our nation's social history that examines America’s changing place among the nations of the world through a gendered lens. We will examine the historical development of US economic and political systems from a global perspective as we analyze the impact of American-style colonialism, the influence of American culture, and domestic and international responses to U.S. industrial and military power.

HST 720 Colloquium in European History – T 2:00-4:40
Dr. Stephen Norris

“Picturing the Past: History and Imagery in Russia and Europe.” This colloquium will focus on the relationship between visual sources and the study of the past. We will discuss the ways in which images allow us to “picture the past” more clearly and how prints, posters, and paintings shaped modern European economic, political, and cultural movements. Although our focus will be on Europe and Russia, the course should be of interest for any graduate student interested in writing about images or using them in their classes. Assigned readings will include Peter Burke’s Eyewitnessing, Simon Schama’s The Power of Art, Timothy Brooks’s Vermeer’s Hat, Joan Landes’ Visualizing the Nation, Victoria Bonnell’s Iconography of Power, and Eric Michaud’s The Cult of Art in Nazi Germany.

HST 760 World History: An Introduction to Authors and Approaches – T 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Judith P. Zinsser

An introduction to world history with emphasis on those writers who posed new questions and identified new ways of thinking about history as comparative across regions, through global themes, and by studying a particular phenomenon over many centuries. Students will have the opportunity to do presentations on particular historians and will be encouraged to experiment with the different approaches in relation to their own research interests. The overall goal is to enable prospective historians and teachers to give a comparative and global context to their knowledge.

HST 793 Historical Methods – R 9:00-11:40 am
Dr. Daniel Cobb

An introduction to the practice and the discipline of history, for beginning graduate students. Required of all first-year students, this course will develop practice skills needed by history graduate students as well as addressing problems of evidence and interpretation. The course will also serve as an introduction to the history department and to the approaches to history that historians in it typically practice.

 

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