Fall 2023 Courses
Course Descriptions
103.01, 10655 TR 8-9:15, Crosby
World History to 1500 CE. History 103 covers world history from prehistory to circa 1500 CE, focusing on economic, social, political, and cultural aspects of people before the onset of western dominance and identifying major patterns and trends which characterized the world in each era.
115.01, 12467 MWF 8:00-8:50 ONLINE, Martin
Pre-Modern Travelers and their Worlds. In this course, we will interpret case studies in movements in Eurasia and Africa from roughly 3500 BCE to 1500 CE. We simply cannot cover every instance of travel in these roughly five- thousand years, but we will learn of how Eurasian nomads helped to establish Indo-European languages, what Romans valued in their leisure time, and perhaps most importantly, how members of different ethnic and religious groups sought to understand each other when traveling in foreign lands. The course as a whole will demonstrate that the pre-modern world was abuzz with life, perhaps challenging what you may have heart of history before 1500. You can furthermore expect a visually stunning course, as we will not only read primary source excerpts, but also interpret works of art and architecture. You will do a combination of response papers on primary sources, essay exams, and possibly quizzes.
115.02, 12570 MWF 12:00-12:50 ONLINE, Martin
Pre-Modern Travelers and their Worlds. In this course, we will interpret case studies in movements in Eurasia and Africa from roughly 3500 BCE to 1500 CE. We simply cannot cover every instance of travel in these roughly five- thousand years, but we will learn of how Eurasian nomads helped to establish Indo-European languages, what Romans valued in their leisure time, and perhaps most importantly, how members of different ethnic and religious groups sought to understand each other when traveling in foreign lands. The course as a whole will demonstrate that the pre-modern world was abuzz with life, perhaps challenging what you may have heart of history before 1500. You can furthermore expect a visually stunning course, as we will not only read primary source excerpts, but also interpret works of art and architecture. You will do a combination of response papers on primary sources, essay exams, and possibly quizzes.
115.03, 10617 MWF 11-11:50, Lary
History of Philosophical and Religious Ideas in the Ancient World. In this course, we will trace the evolution of key philosophical and religious ideas in the ancient world. The ideas will be treated historically and comparatively, and within the contexts out of which they arise. While we will address many ancient philosophies and religions in this course, the primary focus will be on three case studies: the empires of ancient Greece, ancient India, and ancient Persia. In ancient Greece, the history of philosophy from the pre-Socratics through the Hellenistic thinkers will be highlighted and placed within the cultural and political context. In ancient India, we will pay particular attention to the development of the competing yet symbiotic teachings of ancient Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Finally, our study of ancient Persia will begin with the history of ancient Zoroastrianism.
115.04, 11324 TR 4:00-5:15, Schaffer
Pre-Modern Maritime Piracy and Naval Conflict. This course will explore the roles maritime piracy and naval warfare played in shaping empires and kingdoms from Ancient Egypt to 16th-Century England. Piracy and naval conflict are topics often relegated to the modern era, but this class will explore how these issues transformed human civilizations and transformed empires in the premodern world.
115.05, 10618 MWF 12-12:50, Lary
History of Philosophical and Religious Ideas in the Ancient World. In this course, we will trace the evolution of key philosophical and religious ideas in the ancient world. The ideas will be treated historically and comparatively, and within the contexts out of which they arise. While we will address many ancient philosophies and religions in this course, the primary focus will be on three case studies: the empires of ancient Greece, ancient India, and ancient Persia. In ancient Greece, the history of philosophy from the pre-Socratics through the Hellenistic thinkers will be highlighted and placed within the cultural and political context. In ancient India, we will pay particular attention to the development of the competing yet symbiotic teachings of ancient Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. Finally, our study of ancient Persia will begin with the history of ancient Zoroastrianism.
115.06, 10619 MWF 11-11:50, Van Meer
A World of Inventions. This course explores the history of our world, from the first hunter-gatherer societies until the dawn of modernity in the 15th century, using the comparative method. The theme of this global history course is invention and technology. By contextualizing key inventions of the past, e.g. prehistoric cave paintings, early Egyptian and Chinese tombs, classical Greek and Roman (amphi)theaters, and medieval Byzantine and Islamic Domes, we will analyze how technological developments reflect the cultural/religious values, political power, and gender/social beliefs of their respective societies.
115.07, 10620 MWF 12-12:50, Van Meer
A World of Inventions. This course explores the history of our world, from the first hunter-gatherer societies until the dawn of modernity in the 15th century, using the comparative method. The theme of this global history course is invention and technology. By contextualizing key inventions of the past, e.g. prehistoric cave paintings, early Egyptian and Chinese tombs, classical Greek and Roman (amphi)theaters, and medieval Byzantine and Islamic Domes, we will analyze how technological developments reflect the cultural/religious values, political power, and gender/social beliefs of their respective societies.
115.08, 10621 MWF 11-11:50, Luquer
State and Religion. History 115 is a thematically-driven premodern history class, intended to hone analytical thinking and writing skills while exploring an important aspect of world history. The theme of this class is religion and state building---how the two have woven together in antiquity and through the middle ages to create distinctive cultures based on religion. We will focus on the development of origin stories that help the indigenous peoples of the world develop and answer the questions they had about their surroundings. We will also examine how these stories developed into polytheistic and then the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, after the fall of imperial Rome by the Carolingian empire and medieval humanists, as well as the changing landscape of religion and government through the end of the middle ages.
115.09, 10622 MWF 12-12:50, Luquer
State and Religion. History 115 is a thematically-driven premodern history class, intended to hone analytical thinking and writing skills while exploring an important aspect of world history. The theme of this class is religion and state building---how the two have woven together in antiquity and through the middle ages to create distinctive cultures based on religion. We will focus on the development of origin stories that help the indigenous peoples of the world develop and answer the questions they had about their surroundings. We will also examine how these stories developed into polytheistic and then the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, after the fall of imperial Rome by the Carolingian empire and medieval humanists, as well as the changing landscape of religion and government through the end of the middle ages.
115.10, 10623 MWF 8-8:50, Dingley
Maritime Cultures of the Indian Ocean World. From the Swahili city-states of the East African coast to the nomadic seafaring societies of the Southeast Asian archipelago, this course explores the cosmopolitan world of the Indian Ocean from antiquity through the rise of Islam to the arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. Our focus will be on the diasporic movement of people and plants, language and culture, religion and technology over two thousand years of maritime history, and the underlying environmental forces and institutional forms that helped make the Indian Ocean the most dynamic cultural crossroads of the pre-modern era.
115.11, 10624 MWF 9-9:50, Dingley
Maritime Cultures of the Indian Ocean World. From the Swahili city-states of the East African coast to the nomadic seafaring societies of the Southeast Asian archipelago, this course explores the cosmopolitan world of the Indian Ocean from antiquity through the rise of Islam to the arrival of the Portuguese in 1498. Our focus will be on the diasporic movement of people and plants, language and culture, religion and technology over two thousand years of maritime history, and the underlying environmental forces and institutional forms that helped make the Indian Ocean the most dynamic cultural crossroads of the pre-modern era.
115.12, 10625 MWF 10-10:50, Jestice
Inventions that Shaped the Premodern World. When human societies develop a need, sooner or later somebody comes along and invents a way to help, whether the problem is that there’s not enough flint to make desired tools or people want less effort in grinding their grain. This class is a big-picture look at the history of Eurasia, focusing on seminal technologies—where and why they were invented, how knowledge of them spread, and how the availability of that technology shaped societies.
115.13, 11884 ONLINE, Mayes
The Pre-Modern World: Byzantium. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, which geographically straddled Europe and Asia was one of the most advanced and complex civilizations to have existed. The Byzantine state spanned twelve centuries and three continents that linked the ancient with the modern world with core elements of Greek culture and Christian faith set in the framework of Imperial Rome. This course will examine cultural, social, and military history through the life of Byzantium and the influences on neighboring societies, and the birth of the Renaissance in Europe.
115.14, 11885 MWF 9:00-9:50, Reilley
Pre-Modern Disasters, Catastrophes, and Plagues. This course explores the history of our world, from the first hunter-gatherer societies in Mesopotamia until the dawn of modernity in the 15th century. The theme of this global history course is natural disasters. By contextualizing critical catastrophes of the past such as floods, earthquakes, plagues, and drought, we will analyze how environmental history and natural disasters influence and reflect cultural/religious values, political power, and gender/social beliefs of their respective societies.
115.15, 10626 TR 10:50-12:05, Piccione
History, Legend and Mythology. This course surveys the major civilizations of the ancient world through the lens of legend and mythology. Beginning with Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, it continues through the Minoans, Greeks and Romans (up to. AD 476). It focuseson the major myths and legends of these societies, including early creation mythologies, Egyptian and Mesopotamian legends of the gods and heroes, and legendary tales from Greece and Rome. Topics include the historical foundations of many of these legends, and the extent to which later legends of the Greeks and Romans were influenced by–or adapted from–earlier myths and legends of Egypt and the East. In this manner, the course explores not only what legends and mythology reveal about these historical civilizations, but also how those societies viewed themselves.
115.16, 10627 MW 2:00-3:15, Phillips
Dangerous Appetites. This course analyzes the relationship between culinary history from the earliest Mesopotamian societies to 1500. Food has played a crucial role in the creation of what we often call “globalism.” In fact, trade in rice and rum forged the first global trade networks and, along with them, helped shape the nature of western and slavery create empires of trade and sea power.We will examine how food, in different culture and at different times, has been used as a symbol of hospitality and of domination. We will look at how food shaped a variety of global culture’s understanding of itself and others. We will see how food initiated the first European drive for domination Africa, Asia and the Americans and changed, not only political arrangements, but ecosystems and disease environments as well.
115.17, 10628 MW 3:25-4:40, Phillips
Dangerous Appetites. This course analyzes the relationship between culinary history from the earliest Mesopotamian societies to 1500. Food has played a crucial role in the creation of what we often call “globalism.” In fact, trade in rice and rum forged the first global trade networks and, along with them, helped shape the nature of western and slavery create empires of trade and sea power.We will examine how food, in different culture and at different times, has been used as a symbol of hospitality and of domination. We will look at how food shaped a variety of global culture’s understanding of itself and others. We will see how food initiated the first European drive for domination Africa, Asia and the Americans and changed, not only political arrangements, but ecosystems and disease environments as well.
115.18, 11512 ONLINE, Mayes
The Pre-Modern World: Byzantium. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, which geographically straddled Europe and Asia was one of the most advanced and complex civilizations to have existed. The Byzantine state spanned twelve centuries and three continents that linked the ancient with the modern world with core elements of Greek culture and Christian faith set in the framework of Imperial Rome. This course will examine cultural, social, and military history through the life of Byzantium and the influences on neighboring societies, and the birth of the Renaissance in Europe.
115.19, 11910 MWF 10:00-10:50, Reilley
Pre-Modern Disasters, Catastrophes, and Plagues. This course explores the history of our world, from the first hunter-gatherer societies in Mesopotamia until the dawn of modernity in the 15th century. The theme of this global history course is natural disasters. By contextualizing critical catastrophes of the past such as floods, earthquakes, plagues, and drought, we will analyze how environmental history and natural disasters influence and reflect cultural/religious values, political power, and gender/social beliefs of their respective societies.
115.20, 10629 TR 9:25-10:40, Boucher
The Edge of the World. This course will survey the history of various societies from Antiquity to the late Middle Ages. While the material will help you develop a basic understanding of the pre-modern world and its history, the course will focus on the following question: How did various societies at the time imagine and describe regions located on their geographic periphery? As this class will show, pre-modern descriptions of distant lands often reveal more about the societies that produced them than about the places they intended to describe. Whether they were Ancient Greek poets or Medieval Irish monks, for instance, authors injected in these descriptions the values, anxieties, and fantasies that were common in their cultures of origin. As such, these texts provide revealing insights about past societies and the only means to appreciate them is to understand them in the historical and cultural context in which they were written.
115.21, 11586 ONLINE, Mayes
The Pre-Modern World: Byzantium. The Eastern Roman or Byzantine Empire, which geographically straddled Europe and Asia was one of the most advanced and complex civilizations to have existed. The Byzantine state spanned twelve centuries and three continents that linked the ancient with the modern world with core elements of Greek culture and Christian faith set in the framework of Imperial Rome. This course will examine cultural, social, and military history through the life of Byzantium and the influences on neighboring societies, and the birth of the Renaissance in Europe.
115.23, 11911 MWF 1:00-1:50, Reilley
Pre-Modern Disasters, Catastrophes, and Plagues. This course explores the history of our world, from the first hunter-gatherer societies in Mesopotamia until the dawn of modernity in the 15th century. The theme of this global history course is natural disasters. By contextualizing critical catastrophes of the past such as floods, earthquakes, plagues, and drought, we will analyze how environmental history and natural disasters influence and reflect cultural/religious values, political power, and gender/social beliefs of their respective societies.
115.24, 10629 TR 10:50-12:05, Boucher
The Edge of the World. This course will survey the history of various societies from Antiquity to the late Middle Ages. While the material will help you develop a basic understanding of the pre-modern world and its history, the course will focus on the following question: How did various societies at the time imagine and describe regions located on their geographic periphery? As this class will show, pre-modern descriptions of distant lands often reveal more about the societies that produced them than about the places they intended to describe. Whether they were Ancient Greek poets or Medieval Irish monks, for instance, authors injected in these descriptions the values, anxieties, and fantasies that were common in their cultures of origin. As such, these texts provide revealing insights about past societies and the only means to appreciate them is to understand them in the historical and cultural context in which they were written.
115.25, 10631 TR 12:15-1:30, Crosby
Development of Society and Ruling Classes in Antiquity. History 115 is designed to help students gain a better understanding of world civilization from antiquity to early middle ages. We will examine many topics which directly shaped western and world history, including art, the development of written language, impact of military conflicts, philosophical thoughts, impact of religion upon western society, territorial discoveries, and numerous attempts of societies at extending their cultural and political hegemony. Particular emphasis will be focused on the study of the evolution of society and the monarchy through the earliest forms of ruling systems, the culture, customs, and governing practices- from the development of the first city-states ruled by chieftains and religious deities, Pharaohs, Caesars, and kings and queens. Some examples of studies will be the Kingdom of Israel, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Franks, with meticulous attention focused on important rulers, the good, the bad and the insane, along with the evolution of the ruling caste/monarchy as a historical phenomena. Attention will also be paid to the emergence of an elite group of rulers, the treatment of women of all social castes, and patriarchal lines.
115.26, 11930 TR 8:00-9:15, Halvorson
Egypt and its Neighbors. 3000+ Years of the Ancient Egyptian World. This class will cover over three millennia of history in Egypt and the surrounding civilizations with which they interacted. Egypt in its heyday was a world power which influenced three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Travel back in time with an Egyptologist to study, in detail, one of the greatest civilizations of the pre-modern world.
115.27, 10632 TR 1:40-2:55, Crosby
Development of Society and Ruling Classes in Antiquity. History 115 is designed to help students gain a better understanding of world civilization from antiquity to early middle ages. We will examine many topics which directly shaped western and world history, including art, the development of written language, impact of military conflicts, philosophical thoughts, impact of religion upon western society, territorial discoveries, and numerous attempts of societies at extending their cultural and political hegemony. Particular emphasis will be focused on the study of the evolution of society and the monarchy through the earliest forms of ruling systems, the culture, customs, and governing practices- from the development of the first city-states ruled by chieftains and religious deities, Pharaohs, Caesars, and kings and queens. Some examples of studies will be the Kingdom of Israel, the Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, and the Franks, with meticulous attention focused on important rulers, the good, the bad and the insane, along with the evolution of the ruling caste/monarchy as a historical phenomena. Attention will also be paid to the emergence of an elite group of rulers, the treatment of women of all social castes, and patriarchal lines.
115.28, 10633 TR 9:25-10:40, Halvorson
Egypt and its Neighbors. 3000+ Years of the Ancient Egyptian World. This class will cover over three millennia of history in Egypt and the surrounding civilizations with which they interacted. Egypt in its heyday was a world power which influenced three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Travel back in time with an Egyptologist to study, in detail, one of the greatest civilizations of the pre-modern world.
115.29, 12581 TBD
Pre-Modern History.
115.30, 10947 TR 3:05-4:20, Halvorson
Egypt and its Neighbors. 3000+ Years of the Ancient Egyptian World. This class will cover over three millennia of history in Egypt and the surrounding civilizations with which they interacted. Egypt in its heyday was a world power which influenced three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Travel back in time with an Egyptologist to study, in detail, one of the greatest civilizations of the pre-modern world.
115.31, 13811 MWF 9:00-9:50 ONLINE, Martin
Pre-Modern Travelers and their Worlds. In this course, we will interpret case studies in movements in Eurasia and Africa from roughly 3500 BCE to 1500 CE. We simply cannot cover every instance of travel in these roughly five- thousand years, but we will learn of how Eurasian nomads helped to establish Indo-European languages, what Romans valued in their leisure time, and perhaps most importantly, how members of different ethnic and religious groups sought to understand each other when traveling in foreign lands. The course as a whole will demonstrate that the pre-modern world was abuzz with life, perhaps challenging what you may have heart of history before 1500. You can furthermore expect a visually stunning course, as we will not only read primary source excerpts, but also interpret works of art and architecture. You will do a combination of response papers on primary sources, essay exams, and possibly quizzes.
115.32, 13812 MWF 10:00-10:50 ONLINE, Martin
Pre-Modern Travelers and their Worlds. In this course, we will interpret case studies in movements in Eurasia and Africa from roughly 3500 BCE to 1500 CE. We simply cannot cover every instance of travel in these roughly five- thousand years, but we will learn of how Eurasian nomads helped to establish Indo-European languages, what Romans valued in their leisure time, and perhaps most importantly, how members of different ethnic and religious groups sought to understand each other when traveling in foreign lands. The course as a whole will demonstrate that the pre-modern world was abuzz with life, perhaps challenging what you may have heart of history before 1500. You can furthermore expect a visually stunning course, as we will not only read primary source excerpts, but also interpret works of art and architecture. You will do a combination of response papers on primary sources, essay exams, and possibly quizzes.
115.33, 10946 TR 12:40-1:55, Halvorson
Egypt and its Neighbors. 3000+ Years of the Ancient Egyptian World. This class will cover over three millennia of history in Egypt and the surrounding civilizations with which they interacted. Egypt in its heyday was a world power which influenced three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Travel back in time with an Egyptologist to study, in detail, one of the greatest civilizations of the pre-modern world.
115.34, 13831 MWF 10:00-10:50, Gaspar
Pre-Modern History. This pre-modern course surveys the relationship between the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and its neighboring rivals throughout the Medieval period, with special attention paid to the Latin West. Covering a series of case studies in the empire's often fraught relationship with its neighboring states, students will gain a comprehensive grasp of Byzantine political, religious, social, and military history and analyze themes, such as conflict, cooperation, exchange, and co-existence. Additionally, students will be able to contextualize Byzantium and its neighbors within a Mediterranean backdrop, by tracing the evolution of the Byzantine Empire as a regional hegemon to a declining empire that finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
115.35, 10902 TR 10:50-12:05, Halvorson
Egypt and its Neighbors. 3000+ Years of the Ancient Egyptian World. This class will cover over three millennia of history in Egypt and the surrounding civilizations with which they interacted. Egypt in its heyday was a world power which influenced three continents: Africa, Asia, and Europe. Travel back in time with an Egyptologist to study, in detail, one of the greatest civilizations of the pre-modern world.
115.36, 13832 MWF 12:00-12:50, Gaspar
Pre-Modern History. This pre-modern course surveys the relationship between the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire and its neighboring rivals throughout the Medieval period, with special attention paid to the Latin West. Covering a series of case studies in the empire's often fraught relationship with its neighboring states, students will gain a comprehensive grasp of Byzantine political, religious, social, and military history and analyze themes, such as conflict, cooperation, exchange, and co-existence. Additionally, students will be able to contextualize Byzantium and its neighbors within a Mediterranean backdrop, by tracing the evolution of the Byzantine Empire as a regional hegemon to a declining empire that finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
115.37, 11188 TR 10:50-12:05, Mikati
Intertwined Histories: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This course presents an historical survey of pre-modern civilizations and cultures through a study of the role played by religion in the rise and shaping of cultures and societies. The primary focus will be on the historical environment and central traditions of three of the main world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam and their near eastern environment from their inception to circa 1500 C.E.
115.41, 10948 TR 9:25-10:40, Mikati
Intertwined Histories: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This course presents an historical survey of pre-modern civilizations and cultures through a study of the role played by religion in the rise and shaping of cultures and societies. The primary focus will be on the historical environment and central traditions of three of the main world religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam and their near eastern environment from their inception to circa 1500 C.E.
Pre-Modern Maritime Piracy and Naval Conflict. This course will explore the roles maritime piracy and naval warfare played in shaping empires and kingdoms from Ancient Egypt to 16th-Century England. Piracy and naval conflict are topics often relegated to the modern era, but this class will explore how these issues transformed human civilizations and transformed empires in the premodern world.
116.02, 11187 TR 9:25-10:40, Cropper
The History of the Atlantic World, Climate Change, and the Anthropocene. This course focuses on the history of the Atlantic World and the Anthropocene from the fifteenth century to the present and will consider how broad historical processes of transformation and change, from the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution to the Great Acceleration and Climate Change, have catalyzed a new epoch in human and natural history: the Anthropocene. First, we will explore large-scale historical process, such as the dynamism of precolonial African states, interpretations of African slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, the Age of Revolutions, and European conquest and colonialism. Second, we will consider the rise of European industrial nations and explore the various causes and effects of industrialization from the nineteenth century to present day. In focusing specifically on energy and natural resources, we will trace the development of the fossil fuel economy from its British origins to present day. In doing so, we will consider how various populations of the Atlantic World have contributed to anthropogenic climate change, and how exponential economic growth and intensive energy use have triggered unprecedented processes of environmental change. Indeed, one of the primary objectives of this course is to reflect on what it means to be living in this new epoch of natural history and how we—as humans—have arrived at this point. By considering the challenging realities of the Anthropocene, from climate change to environmental degradation and mass extinction, students will consider Earth as a global ecosystem that is shaped by a variety of dynamic and interactive systems—both natural and anthropogenic.
116.03, 11461 MW 4:00-5:15 p.m., Jenkins
Empires in the Modern West. This class covers the history of the Modern West, focusing on the rise and fall of empires. Along the way we’ll discuss colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, capitalism and war—all the things that helped hasten both the rise and the fall of empires. The empire has been a dominant form of government in the western world for over 4000 years. In this class we’ll discuss why, and question whether that’s changed.
116.04, 11960 MWF 2:00-2:50, Griffin
Modern History. From the standpoint of the twenty-first century, slavery seems like an aberration, despite a growing awareness of the ways that slavery and its legacies continue to shape contemporary forms of exploitation and inequality. Yet for much of the last 500 years, enslaved labor was broadly accepted and widely deployed, not only in the United States and the European colonies of the Americas, but throughout the Early Modern world. While it is clear that American slavery grew simultaneously with the rise of democratic politics, independent nation-states, and capitalist economic systems in the West, the precise nature of slavery’s role in shaping these developments continues to be hotly contested.
This course will offer a comparative analysis of slavery and antislavery in the development of political institutions and ideologies associated with emerging democracy, while examining slavery’s links to empire, commerce, and capitalism in the Atlantic World and beyond. While our primary focus will be on the United States and the colonies of British North America, this course will compare the rise and spread of slavery and antislavery in these areas with related developments in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Throughout the semester, we will examine how slavery and the resistance to it impacted revolutions, independence movements, civil wars, and the formation of the modern nation states and political ideologies that we are familiar with today.
116.05, 11774 MW 5:30-6:45 p.m., Jenkins
Empires in the Modern West. This class covers the history of the Modern West, focusing on the rise and fall of empires. Along the way we’ll discuss colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, capitalism and war—all the things that helped hasten both the rise and the fall of empires. The empire has been a dominant form of government in the western world for over 4000 years. In this class we’ll discuss why, and question whether that’s changed.
116.06, 11775 TR 5:30-6:45 p.m., Jenkins
Empires in the Modern West. This class covers the history of the Modern West, focusing on the rise and fall of empires. Along the way we’ll discuss colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, capitalism and war—all the things that helped hasten both the rise and the fall of empires. The empire has been a dominant form of government in the western world for over 4000 years. In this class we’ll discuss why, and question whether that’s changed.
116.08, 10634 MWF 8-8:50, Lary
Ideologies in the Modern World. A close examination of the influence of ideologies frames this history of the modern world. Our starting point will be the French Revolution, beginning in 1789, as it unleashed dreams of fraternity, liberty and equality. Next, we will examine 19th century ideologies such as liberalism, nationalism, and socialism and their relationship to the unique economic, cultural and political contexts of that time. Lastly, we will study key 20th century ideologies such as communism and fascism, as well as more recent ideologies such as pan-Africanism and political Islam. Because this is a modern global history course, our focus is not on American history. The countries we will study in most detail are: former Belgian Congo, former Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, India and Pakistan, Iran, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Italy, Kenya, Russia, and former Yugoslavia.
116.09, 11886 MWF 10:00-10:50, Davila
Slavery and the Slave Trade. This course explores the issues of slavery and the slave trade in American history. Students will be introduced to historical thinking using primary sources, readings, and discussions. Students will grapple with the lasting impacts of slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, and the domestic slave trade to gain a deeper understanding of historical processes. This course will focus on answering several questions. What were the transatlantic and domestic slave trades, and how have they shaped the United States? How has race played into forms of oppression?
116.11, 11049 TR 9:25-10:40, Crosby
Monarchs and Revolutions in Modern Europe. History 116 will adopt a traditional approach to the study of Modern European history by examining different revolutions and the monarchs that were attributed to them- The English Revolution, Glorious Revolution, French Revolution to just name a few. The course will examine the institution of the monarchy as a historical phenomenon, with particular focus paid to individual rulers who were involved. The course will explore events that shaped the history of the continent and the world, as well as feature the many colorful and controversial figure heads of this time period. This course will also delve into the many facets of this institution-the culture, politics, evolving role of the monarchial system, crises, scandalous behavior, family feuds, powerful queens, warfare, upheavals, coups, and the absurd incompetence of those who have worn the crown.
116.12, 10635 MWF 9-9:50, Lary
Ideologies in the Modern World. A close examination of the influence of ideologies frames this history of the modern world. Our starting point will be the French Revolution, beginning in 1789, as it unleashed dreams of fraternity, liberty and equality. Next, we will examine 19th century ideologies such as liberalism, nationalism, and socialism and their relationship to the unique economic, cultural and political contexts of that time. Lastly, we will study key 20th century ideologies such as communism and fascism, as well as more recent ideologies such as pan-Africanism and political Islam. Because this is a modern global history course, our focus is not on American history. The countries we will study in most detail are: former Belgian Congo, former Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, India and Pakistan, Iran, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Italy, Kenya, Russia, and former Yugoslavia.
116.14, 10636 MWF 10-10:50, Gigova
FROM SUBJECT TO CITIZEN: Individual and State in Modern Europe. This course seeks a conversation about where we are as a society and how we got here. Through primary sources, lectures and discussions, we will explore the rights and duties of Westerners (for our purposes, Europeans) as they changed from subjects to citizens of their countries. Over the course of the semester we will explore the emergence and the changes in the meaning of citizenship. In the process we will ask: How have European society and state evolved over time? How has the relationship of individuals to the state changed in response? While our focus will be on Europe, we want to continually ask about the impact and consequences of its history on other parts of the world, including the United States.
116.15, 11887 MWF 11:00-11:50, Davila
Slavery and the Slave Trade. This course explores the issues of slavery and the slave trade in American history. Students will be introduced to historical thinking using primary sources, readings, and discussions. Students will grapple with the lasting impacts of slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, and the domestic slave trade to gain a deeper understanding of historical processes. This course will focus on answering several questions. What were the transatlantic and domestic slave trades, and how have they shaped the United States? How has race played into forms of oppression?
116.16, 12710 TBD
Modern History.
116.17, 10637 MW 2:00-3:15, Luquer
Revolutions in the Modern World. Over the course of the semester we as a class will be discussing the continuities and discontinuities of change and connection. We will start in the latter part of the Renaissance (ca. 1450) as Europe begins a new relationship with the greater world, while the European continent suffers from the divisions in religion and war as it enters the modern era. This course will follow the religious, social and political upheavals of the modern era. The material in this course includes the Protestant Reformation, the Age of Exploration and the Discovery of New Worlds, the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years War, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, both the American and French Revolutions, Imperialism and the Western World, the World Wars (I & II), the Cold War and the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.
116.19, 10638 MW 3:25-4:40, Luquer
Revolutions in the Modern World. Over the course of the semester we as a class will be discussing the continuities and discontinuities of change and connection. We will start in the latter part of the Renaissance (ca. 1450) as Europe begins a new relationship with the greater world, while the European continent suffers from the divisions in religion and war as it enters the modern era. This course will follow the religious, social and political upheavals of the modern era. The material in this course includes the Protestant Reformation, the Age of Exploration and the Discovery of New Worlds, the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years War, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, both the American and French Revolutions, Imperialism and the Western World, the World Wars (I & II), the Cold War and the late 20th and early 21st Centuries.
116.20, 10639 MWF 9-9:50, Tsahiridis
The American Wild West: Myths and Legacy. This course will examine the changing image of the American West from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to present-day U.S. and Mexico. Special attention will be given to the interactions between indigenous peoples, settler colonists, and nation-states in the North American borderlands, as well as the West's portrayal in folklore, art, and films to show how popular impressions have reflected both national and international attitudes and values.
116.21, 10640 MWF 10-10:50, Tsahiridis
The American Wild West: Myths and Legacy. This course will examine the changing image of the American West from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to present-day U.S. and Mexico. Special attention will be given to the interactions between indigenous peoples, settler colonists, and nation-states in the North American borderlands, as well as the West's portrayal in folklore, art, and films to show how popular impressions have reflected both national and international attitudes and values.
116.22, 11193 TR 10:50-12:05, Cropper
The History of the Atlantic World, Climate Change, and the Anthropocene. This course focuses on the history of the Atlantic World and the Anthropocene from the fifteenth century to the present and will consider how broad historical processes of transformation and change, from the Age of Exploration and the Industrial Revolution to the Great Acceleration and Climate Change, have catalyzed a new epoch in human and natural history: the Anthropocene. First, we will explore large-scale historical process, such as the dynamism of precolonial African states, interpretations of African slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, the Age of Revolutions, and European conquest and colonialism. Second, we will consider the rise of European industrial nations and explore the various causes and effects of industrialization from the nineteenth century to present day. In focusing specifically on energy and natural resources, we will trace the development of the fossil fuel economy from its British origins to present day. In doing so, we will consider how various populations of the Atlantic World have contributed to anthropogenic climate change, and how exponential economic growth and intensive energy use have triggered unprecedented processes of environmental change. Indeed, one of the primary objectives of this course is to reflect on what it means to be living in this new epoch of natural history and how we—as humans—have arrived at this point. By considering the challenging realities of the Anthropocene, from climate change to environmental degradation and mass extinction, students will consider Earth as a global ecosystem that is shaped by a variety of dynamic and interactive systems—both natural and anthropogenic.
116.23, 11908 MWF 1:00-1:50, Griffin
Modern History. From the standpoint of the twenty-first century, slavery seems like an aberration, despite a growing awareness of the ways that slavery and its legacies continue to shape contemporary forms of exploitation and inequality. Yet for much of the last 500 years, enslaved labor was broadly accepted and widely deployed, not only in the United States and the European colonies of the Americas, but throughout the Early Modern world. While it is clear that American slavery grew simultaneously with the rise of democratic politics, independent nation-states, and capitalist economic systems in the West, the precise nature of slavery’s role in shaping these developments continues to be hotly contested.
This course will offer a comparative analysis of slavery and antislavery in the development of political institutions and ideologies associated with emerging democracy, while examining slavery’s links to empire, commerce, and capitalism in the Atlantic World and beyond. While our primary focus will be on the United States and the colonies of British North America, this course will compare the rise and spread of slavery and antislavery in these areas with related developments in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Throughout the semester, we will examine how slavery and the resistance to it impacted revolutions, independence movements, civil wars, and the formation of the modern nation states and political ideologies that we are familiar with today.
116.24, 10641 MWF 12-12:50, Tsahiridis
The American Wild West: Myths and Legacy. This course will examine the changing image of the American West from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to present-day U.S. and Mexico. Special attention will be given to the interactions between indigenous peoples, settler colonists, and nation-states in the North American borderlands, as well as the West's portrayal in folklore, art, and films to show how popular impressions have reflected both national and international attitudes and values.
116.25, 12437 TBD
Modern History.
116.27, 11903 MWF 3:00-3:50, Davila
Slavery and the Slave Trade. This course explores the issues of slavery and the slave trade in American history. Students will be introduced to historical thinking using primary sources, readings, and discussions. Students will grapple with the lasting impacts of slavery, the transatlantic slave trade, and the domestic slave trade to gain a deeper understanding of historical processes. This course will focus on answering several questions. What were the transatlantic and domestic slave trades, and how have they shaped the United States? How has race played into forms of oppression?
116.28, 11904 TR 3:05-4:20, Crosby
Monarchs and Revolutions in Modern Europe. History 116 will adopt a traditional approach to the study of Modern European history by examining different revolutions and the monarchs that were attributed to them- The English Revolution, Glorious Revolution, French Revolution to just name a few. The course will examine the institution of the monarchy as a historical phenomenon, with particular focus paid to individual rulers who were involved. The course will explore events that shaped the history of the continent and the world, as well as feature the many colorful and controversial figure heads of this time period. This course will also delve into the many facets of this institution-the culture, politics, evolving role of the monarchial system, crises, scandalous behavior, family feuds, powerful queens, warfare, upheavals, coups, and the absurd incompetence of those who have worn the crown.
116.29, 11905 9:00-9:50, Griffin
Modern History. From the standpoint of the twenty-first century, slavery seems like an aberration, despite a growing awareness of the ways that slavery and its legacies continue to shape contemporary forms of exploitation and inequality. Yet for much of the last 500 years, enslaved labor was broadly accepted and widely deployed, not only in the United States and the European colonies of the Americas, but throughout the Early Modern world. While it is clear that American slavery grew simultaneously with the rise of democratic politics, independent nation-states, and capitalist economic systems in the West, the precise nature of slavery’s role in shaping these developments continues to be hotly contested.
This course will offer a comparative analysis of slavery and antislavery in the development of political institutions and ideologies associated with emerging democracy, while examining slavery’s links to empire, commerce, and capitalism in the Atlantic World and beyond. While our primary focus will be on the United States and the colonies of British North America, this course will compare the rise and spread of slavery and antislavery in these areas with related developments in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Throughout the semester, we will examine how slavery and the resistance to it impacted revolutions, independence movements, civil wars, and the formation of the modern nation states and political ideologies that we are familiar with today.
116.30, 11906 10:00-10:50, Griffin
Modern History. From the standpoint of the twenty-first century, slavery seems like an aberration, despite a growing awareness of the ways that slavery and its legacies continue to shape contemporary forms of exploitation and inequality. Yet for much of the last 500 years, enslaved labor was broadly accepted and widely deployed, not only in the United States and the European colonies of the Americas, but throughout the Early Modern world. While it is clear that American slavery grew simultaneously with the rise of democratic politics, independent nation-states, and capitalist economic systems in the West, the precise nature of slavery’s role in shaping these developments continues to be hotly contested.
This course will offer a comparative analysis of slavery and antislavery in the development of political institutions and ideologies associated with emerging democracy, while examining slavery’s links to empire, commerce, and capitalism in the Atlantic World and beyond. While our primary focus will be on the United States and the colonies of British North America, this course will compare the rise and spread of slavery and antislavery in these areas with related developments in Brazil, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Throughout the semester, we will examine how slavery and the resistance to it impacted revolutions, independence movements, civil wars, and the formation of the modern nation states and political ideologies that we are familiar with today.
116.31, 10852 MWF 11-11:50, Phillips
Industrial Revolutions: From Steam to the Atomic Age. This course will trace how technology changed the world between the Industrial Revolution and the end of the 20th century in Europe and the United States. How did inventions ranging from the steam engine to the cash register to the internet change people’s lives? What effect did these changes have on different groups, such as women and immigrants? How did they change gender roles? How did they change foreign policy and warfare? How did technology become a source of anxiety in the 20th century?
116.32, 11909 TR 12:15-1:30 and ONLINE, Ruggles
Modern History in Film and Public Memory. This survey class focuses on Modern World History, from 1500 to as present-day as possible, and focuses on history as film. Using film, the textbook, primary sources, and a secondary textbook, this class debates what constitutes a historical film through the eyes of historians. While this survey course covers a broad area of geography and chronology, the focus remains on history as film and how it provides the public with both historical and ahistorical information. Using a comparative method, the class will view multiple films, read about multiple cultures, and determine what Hollywood did well and where Hollywood adversely affects public memory of certain events, places, and people. The goal of this class is not only to learn about history throughout the modern world but also to become discerning scholars of Hollywood's often time fictionalized version of history while also gaining a better understanding of the challenges filmmakers and historians face when educating the public about historical events. Ultimately, the students will be better equipped to know "What is history?" as well as "what is a historical film?"
116.33, 11912 TR 11:40-2:55 and ONLINE, Ruggles
Modern History in Film and Public Memory. This survey class focuses on Modern World History, from 1500 to as present-day as possible, and focuses on history as film. Using film, the textbook, primary sources, and a secondary textbook, this class debates what constitutes a historical film through the eyes of historians. While this survey course covers a broad area of geography and chronology, the focus remains on history as film and how it provides the public with both historical and ahistorical information. Using a comparative method, the class will view multiple films, read about multiple cultures, and determine what Hollywood did well and where Hollywood adversely affects public memory of certain events, places, and people. The goal of this class is not only to learn about history throughout the modern world but also to become discerning scholars of Hollywood's often time fictionalized version of history while also gaining a better understanding of the challenges filmmakers and historians face when educating the public about historical events. Ultimately, the students will be better equipped to know "What is history?" as well as "what is a historical film?"
116.37, 10658 MWF 1-1:50, Tsahiridis
The American Wild West: Myths and Legacy. This course will examine the changing image of the American West from the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century to present-day U.S. and Mexico. Special attention will be given to the interactions between indigenous peoples, settler colonists, and nation-states in the North American borderlands, as well as the West's portrayal in folklore, art, and films to show how popular impressions have reflected both national and international attitudes and values.
116.38, 10884 MWF 12-12:50, Phillips
Industrial Revolutions: From Steam to the Atomic Age. This course will trace how technology changed the world between the Industrial Revolution and the end of the 20th century in Europe and the United States. How did inventions ranging from the steam engine to the cash register to the internet change people’s lives? What effect did these changes have on different groups, such as women and immigrants? How did they change gender roles? How did they change foreign policy and warfare? How did technology become a source of anxiety in the 20th century?
116.39, 10888 TR 12:15-1:30, Schaffer
Modern Piracy and Naval Conflict. This course examines global piracy and naval warfare from the 1500s-2000s, with a special focus on Anglo-American piracy/privateering and its intersection with imperial rivalries and colonization in the 1600s and 1700s. Warfare and maritime piracy not only transformed our world's past, but continue to impact the economic and political realities of modern nations as well.
116.40, 11048 TR 1:40-2:55, Schaffer
Modern Piracy and Naval Conflict. This course examines global piracy and naval warfare from the 1500s-2000s, with a special focus on Anglo-American piracy/privateering and its intersection with imperial rivalries and colonization in the 1600s and 1700s. Warfare and maritime piracy not only transformed our world's past, but continue to impact the economic and political realities of modern nations as well.
116.42, 13849 TR 5:30-6:45 PM, Stone
History of Violence in the Atlantic World.This course focuses on the Barbadian connection with colonial South Carolina. Specifically, the readings, lectures, and other assignments aim to uncover how enslaved Africans, Bardadians, and colonizers from England curated an era of mass violence, all for the primary motivation of profit and establishing a new colony in Carolina. This course approaches historical empathy, sensitive topics, and inclusive historiography. We will have guest speakers that will share their scholarship related to the course and their experiences as former history majors in the career field.
116.43, 13850 TR 7:00-8:15 PM, Jenkins
Empires in the Modern West. This class covers the history of the Modern West, focusing on the rise and fall of empires. Along the way we’ll discuss colonialism, nationalism, industrialization, capitalism and war—all the things that helped hasten both the rise and the fall of empires. The empire has been a dominant form of government in the western world for over 4000 years. In this class we’ll discuss why, and question whether that’s changed.
117.01, 13125 TR 12:15-1:30, Jones
Race and Religion in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Religious violence and toleration were pressing concerns in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, just as they are today. This course will explore how medieval conceptions of religion and access to rights were tied to the development of medieval society. Ideas about nation and race will be studied through examples of violence, toleration, and conversion, laying the foundations for long-term discussions about rights and tolerance. The ways that this history is used and misused in the modern world will also be examined as we separate fact from fiction. The course will begin with examples of conflict, coexistence, and resistance between and among Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages in Europe and the Mediterranean worlds, and continue through the consolidation of political rule, the European expulsions of Muslims and Jews, and the fracturing of Latin Christendom in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, culminating in the debates over the natural rights and self-determination of indigenous peoples and the enslaved in the New World. This course meets both the Pre-Modern History and the Global Race, Equity, and Inclusion General Education Requirements.
Pre-Modern History/Global Race, Equity, and Inclusion.
117.03, 13127 TBD
Pre-Modern History/Global Race, Equity, and Inclusion.
118.01, 13128 TR 1:40-2:55, Eaves
Slavery in the Americas. In this course, we will focus on one of the most important aspects of world history—slavery in the Atlantic World from its beginnings in the late 1400 to its abolition in the 1800s. With a broad regional scope, we will look at slavery and the slave trade on both sides of the Atlantic—in Africa, North and South America, and the Caribbean. Through the course, we will gain a better understanding of the significant role slavery, the trans-Atlantic slave trade, and abolitionist movements played in shaping the Atlantic world socially, culturally, politically, and economically. We will pay particular attention to themes such as slave taking, resistance, agency, labor, gender, and enslaved community and family, and the slave economy. As we live in Charleston, one of the most significant ports through which thousands of Africans forcibly entered the would-be United States, we will pay particular attention to slavery in the southern region of the US, but will gain an appreciation for how slavery looked throughout the Caribbean and Brazil.
118.02, 13129 MWF 11-11:50, Gordanier
Performing History and Identity in East Asia: From Confucianism to K-Pop (and beyond). In East Asia in the premodern and modern era, the performing arts were (and are) more than just entertainment. Music, dance, story, and acting were tools for building and shaping human identities through education, social networking, diplomacy, and religious ritual. But the arts could also, according to authorities, be dangerous vehicles for corruption, sedition, and debauchery. What makes performance so powerful? This course explores East Asian cultural and social history with a particular focus on China, Korea, and Japan in the modern era. Using the performing arts as a window into both everyday life and grand politics, we will investigate the ways people and states in this region have defined themselves and others in terms of class, gender, ethnicity, and eventually new racial categories. We will discover, too, how those definitions have changed over time: from the heights of premodern empires, through nineteenth-century foreign imperialism and the revolutions of the twentieth century, to our complex 21st-century global present.
118.03, 13130 ONLINE, Pennebaker
Oppression & Resistance in the Black Atlantic World. The history of the Black Atlantic World allows us to follow a people in motion. HIST 118 presents the African American experience as an experience of movement — a history of those who moved by force and by choice, and of those who moved others. Throughout this semester we will reflect on and analyze a range of sources and materials to explore the historical groundings and contemporary iterations of white supremacy, as well as the countless methods of Black resistance from the moment of globalization to the present. Rather than a tangent to the American story, we will treat Black history as the central strand in the creation, growth, dis- and reunification, industrialization, and urbanization of North American and Caribbean countries.
201.01, 10365 MWF 10-10:50, Smith
United States to 1865. The purpose of this course is to incorporate peoples’ actions into the context of early American history, beginning with Native American contact and concluding with the final shots of the Civil War. By weaving together the social, political, economic, and environmental aspects of the American experience, this course will seek to explain how and why particular people of various backgrounds crucially shaped a nation. In doing so, we will see how Native Americans, colonists, the enslaved, and United States citizens transformed the land and each other while developing an overall American identity. Ultimately, we will focus on the theme of freedom and answer the following question: what has freedom meant to Americans from initial settlement until the end of the Civil War, and how have those meanings changed over time? With a driving narrative of noteworthy and ordinary people, events, and institutions, this course will (hopefully) provide you with a concise, yet diverse, understanding of this nation’s evolution.
202.01, 12535 MWF 12-12:50, Smith
United States since 1865. We will incorporate peoples’ actions into the context of modern American history, beginning with the final shots of the Civil War and concluding in the present time. By weaving together the social, political, economic, and environmental aspects of the American experience, this course will seek to explain how and why particular people of various backgrounds crucially shaped a nation. In doing so, we will see how United States citizens and immigrants transformed the land and each other while developing an overall American identity. Ultimately, we will focus on the theme of freedom and answer the following question: what has freedom meant to Americans since the end of the Civil War, and how have those meanings changed over time? With a driving narrative of noteworthy and ordinary people, events, and institutions, this course will (hopefully) provide you with a concise, yet diverse, understanding of this nation’s evolution.
202.02, 13261 ONLINE, Ingram
United States since 1865. A general and thematic study of the culture, society and politics of the United States from the Civil War to the present.
210.01, 11513 TBD
Special Topic in U.S. History.
216.01, 11861 TR 9:25-10:40, Eaves
African American History to 1865. African American History to 1865 is designed to introduce students to the key people, events, and movements that shaped the African American experience in colonial North American and the United States to 1865. To that end, the course will explore the following topics: varieties of slavery; the development of racial slavery; enslaved and free black communities; the creation of African American culture and identity; gender; religion; resistance and protest; evolving notions of freedom; colonization; and abolition movements. The exploration of these themes will allow us to understand how Africans Americans carved out a place for themselves during the founding of America and contributed to the fabric of American politics, economics, and culture.
225.02, 13231 TR 10:50-12:05 and ONLINE, Ingram
History of the South since 1865. This course is an introduction to the study of the American South. Although we will study different events, people, and places from various angles throughout the semester, our survey of the South is grounded in the theme of southern “distinctiveness.” Why, after all, do westudy the history of the South as a separate subdiscipline? What is the South, exactly? How have the region’s defining characteristics changed over time? Nothing, of course, is distinct in isolation, so we will also situate the South within the context of American History ( and World History, too). At what points could we say that the South was more (or less) integrated into the (inter)national economy and the body politic? Do ideas about southern “distinctiveness” change during major events like wars, economic depressions, or political realignments?
231.01, 10529 TR 12:15-1:30, Gerrish
Ancient Greece
241.01, 11964 TR 10:50-12:05, Coy
Special Topic: Crime and Punishment in Early Modern Europe. This course will examine poverty, deviance, and criminality in early modern Europe, exploring how authorities sought to punish and control men and women deemed criminals and outcasts and how the targets of these official law enforcement efforts sought to resist.
241.02, 11780 TR 9:25-10:40, Jones
Special Topic: The Renaissance: Past, Present, & Future. This course is an examination of the Renaissance and its cultural, social, and political developments first in Italy and then throughout Europe. It will explicitly address the ways that the idea of the Renaissance and its iconography are integral to conceptions of modernity and periodization, with special focus on gender, race, and conceptions of progress. We will begin with the context of the thirteenth century, follow the geographically and socially expanding Renaissance through the seventeenth century, and explore its reverberations in the development of Western institutions and the modern world. Topics will include city-states and Renaissance kingdoms, humanism, Papal Rome, Renaissance art and architecture, women in the Renaissance, gender and race in Renaissance art, the policing of sexuality and morality, religion in the Renaissance and Reformation, warfare and persecution, technology and science, printing, and the relationship between Europe and the New World. Through these topics, this course will challenge modern assumptions about the Renaissance and explore what the Renaissance was on its own terms, highlighting the role this tension plays in our comprehension of both the past and the present.
241.03, 13269 MWF 1-1:50, Gibbs
Special Topic: The Holocaust
241.04, 11509 MWF 11-11:50, Gibbs
Special Topic: The Holocaust
250.01, 11597 MWF 12:00-12:50, Jestice
Special Topic: Ancient & Medieval Warfare. Many modern professional historians shy away from studying warfare, but of course war has shaped much of world history. This class will examine war in the premodern, mostly European world, before gunpowder came into widespread use and complicated everything. There’ll be plenty of battles in this class, but its focus will be “war & society studies,” in other words looking beyond the battlefield to how war has driven technological change, how the cost of war has led to economic development (or collapse), how various societies have shaped notions of masculinity (and femininity) in relation to warfare, and the role of warfare in state-building.
251.01, 13232 MWF 1:00-1:50, Gigova
Special Topic: The Modern City. Whether you worship or loathe the dynamism and miscellany of the modern city, it is undeniable that urban centers have affected society tremendously. This course will explore the growth of cities and urban culture in the West (focusing on Europe but also looking at developments across the Atlantic) from the 18th to 20th centuries. Using contemporary sources, films and scholarly writing, we will delve into the cornucopia of ways in which cities came to define the modern lifestyle as hubs of business and communications, trendsetters in culture, style and leisure, symbols of new architecture, and outdoor museums of history and memory.
255.01, 11980 MW 2:00-3:15, Delay
History of Reproduction in the Atlantic World. In this course, students examine pregnancy, childbirth, reproduction, and motherhood in comparative history. The focus is on Europe and the Americas since 1600, with particular attention paid to Britain and the British colonies and former colonies. Specific topics covered include experiences of pregnancy; midwifery and nursing; contraception, abortion, and infanticide; the medicalization of childbirth; and the relationship between motherhood and the modern state. Students will explore not only women’s experiences of reproduction but also the larger political, social, and cultural meanings of pregnancy, birth, and motherhood.
261.02, 11272 TR 1:40-2:55, Cropper
Special Topic: The Environmental History of Africa. Since the nineteenth century, African environments have been understood through stories of decline and degradation—establishing narratives of how Africans consistently destroyed their “pristine” and “Edenic” environments. To be sure, images of soil erosion, desiccation, deforestation, and famines have, in large part, shaped much of the way the world, and the West in particular, understand Africa. This course will consider an alternative perspective of Africa’s environment by focusing on the dynamic and complex processes of environmental change from the start of the nineteenth century to the present. We will draw on historical texts, novels, and films from multiple regions of the continent to explore how Africans understood, exploited, and managed their natural environments. By adopting an African “point of view,” this course will attempt to address some of the grave misconceptions that have lead so many to believe that Africa was, and continues to be, a “Dark Continent.” Furthermore, students will be encouraged to think critically about the meaning of “environmental crisis” and how that trope has served various political and cultural projects over time. But we will also seriously consider the ways in which human beings have, from the colonial period through the present day, taxed natural resources in ways that have produced profound short and long-term consequences.
261.02, 11764 TR 9:25-10:40, Ayalon
History of Israel.
270.01, 11598 TR 12:15-1:30, Piccione
Special Topic: Introduction to Ancient Egypt. This course is an essential primer in ancient Egyptian civilization and culture, including the accuracy of current popular perceptions of ancient Egypt, as well as its legacy and impact on the modern world. Using ancient Egyptian texts and archaeology as a basis, this course surveys the political and social history of ancient Egypt from its beginnings to the arrival of the Greeks the Great (5000-332 BC). Topics include: anthropological origins and ethnicities, political and historical development, geography, social institutions, pyramids, status of women, religion and magic, daily life activities, language and writing, science, technology, and medicine. The class will also consider how the modern west interprets Egypt as a major contributor to the development of western civilization, viewing itself in many ways as an heir of Egyptian culture, while at the same time it categorizes much of it as culturally alien and otherly.
272.01, 13233 MWF 11:00-11:50, Dingley
Pre-Colonial African History. An introduction to the pre-colonial history of sub-Saharan Africa. We will examine (among other topics): the rise of West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay, the spread of Islam in West and East Africa, the Bantu migrations, Central African kingship myths and Kongo political culture, Great Zimbabwe and its relation to Swahili city-states on the East African coast, Christian missionaries and Zulu expansion in southern Africa, the Atlantic Slave Trade, its abolition, and the re-creation of Africa in the Americas. The course also introduces students to key methods, primary sources, and theories for the study of pre-colonial Africa, including oral history, historical linguistics, archaeology, ethnography, and archival research.
299.01, 10522 MW 2:00-3:15, Jestice
Historian's Craft. The Historian's Craft. This is a topics-based course in which students deal with different types of historical materials and techniques to develop skills in research, writing, critical thinking, and oral presentation, focused on the discipline of history. Topics will vary and will selected by the professor.
299.02, 10607 TR 1:40-2:55, Mikati
Historian's Craft. The Historian's Craft. This is a topics-based course in which students deal with different types of historical materials and techniques to develop skills in research, writing, critical thinking, and oral presentation, focused on the discipline of history. Topics will vary and will selected by the professor.
310.01, 13234 TR 12:15-1:30, Johnson
Fire in Little Africa. The course will focus on the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 through the lens of the Motown hip-hop album of the same name. The album narrativizes the events leading up to and in the immediate aftermath of the massacre and was recorded to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the events in 2021. The course will be structured from three academic lenses: Literature, History, and Music. Students will consider 1) the relevance of the massacre to contemporary national conversations regarding reparations; 2) the historical impact of hip-hop as a form of narrative storytelling and a genre of protest; and 3) an interdisciplinary approach to issues of race, class, art, and historical memory.
310.02, 13235 MW 2:00-3:15, Walters
Special Topic: African Americans and Jews in the US History.
321.02, 13559 TR 12:15-1:30, Crabtree
Special Topic: Remembering & Forgetting: Race, Violence, and Memory in American History. This course explores competing cultural memories of enslavement and lynching to uncover the political commitments underlying these memories of violence. Students will critically analyze a variety of memory projects from memorials and memoirs to films, art, photographs, and literature to not only understand how racial violence has been inscribed onto US identity and culture, but to imagine new strategies to contend with these historical traumas.
350.01, 11617 TR 12:15-1:30, Ayalon
Special Topic: Arab Jews: History, Culture, Food.
361.01, 13237 MWF 10:00-10:50, Gordanier
Special Topic: Sex, Gender, and Society in China. What is "gender"—what does it mean to be a "man" or a "woman?" What is "sexuality?" What is "a family," and what is it for? In this class we will investigate the history of China from the Ming dynasty through the Qing Dynasty and the end of the imperial system—a period extending roughly from the 14th-20th centuries—through the lenses of gender, sexuality, and power. We will explore the possibilities of gender as a "category of analysis" to reveal new insights on subjects ranging from family and property to law, labor, crime, politics and, yes, sex and love; and we will consider how researching these histories might lead to new ways of thinking about gender and sexual identity in our own time and place. No prior coursework in Chinese or Asian Studies is required to succeed in this class.
410.01, 11963 TR 1:40-2:55, Boucher
Research Seminar: The American West. In this capstone seminar, students will write a research paper related to the History of the American West. In order to do so, they will gain a historiographical knowledge of the field; they will identify and analyze relevant primary and secondary sources; and they will develop an argument based on this evidence.
441.01, 13238 TR 12:15-1:30, Delay
Research Seminar: History of the Body. In this seminar, which is the capstone experience for History majors, advanced undergraduate students will conduct independent and original research projects focusing on the history of the body in modern European history. The history of the body is a timely topic that intersects with the histories of politics, religion, empire, sex, medicine, crime, and more. Throughout the semester, students will research and write 30–35 page seminar papers under the professor’s supervision; in these papers, students will be expected to develop and defend their own arguments and interpretations and will analyze both primary sources and historiography.