Course Descriptions
History
HIST 111 - Making Modern Europe
Curious about Brexit? Or the colonial origins of European racism? Ever wondered "why the French don't like headscarves"? Have you asked yourself what it might have been like to live on a continent divided by an Iron Curtain? Do you want to know more about the origins of Europe's migrant "crisis"? In this history-of-the-present course, you'll learn how to do historical detective work to better understand the world we live in today. Instead of a traditional European history survey with exams and lots of dates to memorize, think of this as "un-survey" course where the goal is to challenge and re-think traditional narratives about Europe's past. We'll focus on asking questions, delving into historical sources, and making arguments. We will devote ample class time to developing research and writing skills and we will work together to support each other as a community of scholars and fellow humans. This course fulfills the "post-1800" requirement for the history major. It counts towards the "Europe" geographic field and the "Colonization and Empire," "Gender," and "Race and Indigeneity" thematic fields.
Frequency: Alternate fall semesters.
HIST 113 - Time Travelers: Tourism in Global History
This course explores the history of tourism in the modern world from a global perspective. We will consider how tourists engaged with transnational processes like world war, decolonization, and global economic shifts that allowed for the slow and uneven democratization of leisure travel over the course of the twentieth century. We will also investigate the ways that racism and other forms of discrimination have become deeply embedded in global travel networks and infrastructure. Over the course of the semester we will "visit" a wide range of locales, traveling from the United States and its Pacific empire to Antigua, the Soviet Union, and Peru. As we "tour" the globe, we will contemplate a range of transportation options, including the role that cars, trains, and planes played in shaping the evolution of global tourism. Meets the global and/or comparative requirement for the history major and can count towards the "Colonization and Empire," "Race and Indigeneity," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
HIST 114 - History of Africa to 1800
A study of the history of Africa before 1800, this course covers the major themes relating to the development of African societies and cultures from the earliest times. Students will engage with themes of state-building, trade and religion as catalysts for change and learn how historians have reconstructed the history of early Africa. This course will provide students with knowledge of specific case studies from North, South, East, West, and Central Africa. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
HIST 115 - Africa Since 1800
This course is designed to introduce students to the history of Africa in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It examines major themes relating to change in the colonial period such as European conquest and imperialism, the development of the colonial economy, African responses to colonialism and the rise of nationalist movements that stimulated the movement towards independence. Students will examine these themes by applying them to case studies of specific geographic regions of the continent. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice" or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
HIST 121 - The Greek World
This course surveys the political, economic, and cultural development of the peoples of the ancient Greek world from the late Bronze Age through the Hellenistic era. Students will hone their critical thinking skills while working with translations of ancient literature, archaeological remains and works of art. The basic structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the interaction between physical landscape and historical change; rule by the one, the few and the many; the nature and development of literary and artistic genres; the economic, military, and/or cultural dimensions of empire; or the intersections of gender, sexuality, ethnicity, slave/free status and civic identity in the Greek world. Meets History Department pre-1800 requirement.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: CLAS 121
HIST 122 - The Roman World
This course introduces students to the Roman world, which at its height stretched from Britain to Iran, from Germany to Africa, and lasted well over a thousand years. Students will develop critical thinking skills while working with Roman literature in translation, art, architecture and other archaeological remains. The structure of the course is chronological, but we will examine major themes across time and space, which may include the development of Roman literature out of and in response to Greek culture; the effects of the civil wars and the resulting political change from a republic to a monarchy; the cultural, religious and/or military aspects of the Roman empire and its immediate aftermath; Roman conceptions of gender, sexuality, slave and free status, citizenship and/or ethnicity, and how these social categories were used to legitimize or exercise power. Meets History Department pre-1800 requirement.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: CLAS 122
HIST 125 - Influential Indians: A Biographical Approach to American Indian History
This course introduces students to American Indian history through the biographical studeis of famous (and not-so-famous) American Indians. From athletes to activists, warriors to writers, and political pundits to performers, American Indians were and are a driving force in shaping not only their worlds but the world around them. The historical and contemporary aspects of American Indians' political sovereignty, cultural preservation, and economic development underscore their agency and highlight their resistance to federal Indian policy. Using a variety of primary and secondary sources written by and about American Indians, students will develop their critical reading skills while fostering their historical research and writing abilities.
Frequency: Occasionally offered.
HIST 137 - From Confederation to Confederacy: US History from Independence to the Civil War
In the Plan of Union prepared during the 1754 "Albany Convention," Anglo-American colonists met to consider uniting as a loose confederation for their common defense and to ally with the Iroquois confederacy. That plan failed, but a later experiment in unity succeeded when the united colonies declared independence. Nevertheless, social, cultural, and ideological differences persisted, and the union formed in 1776 was tried and tested before finally fracturing with the secession of South Carolina, precipitating the Civil War. In the intervening years, Americans grappled with how they should govern themselves, who should be included in the polity, and how society should be organized. Reformers considered the controversial issues of women's rights, the role of Native Americans within the US, and the place of slavery in a nation founded on the precept that "All men are created equal." This course covers the periods of the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the early national and antebellum periods, before concluding with the Civil War. It also considers the global causes and consequences of the war and the rise of the new United States. We will also analyze the construction of the myth and historical memory of Alexander Hamilton, the founding father who has captured the imagination of people in the modern U.S. Through a study of the recent biography of Hamilton along with the music and stage production of Hamilton, we will consider both the biographical and mythical Alexander Hamilton in order to understand his era and our own. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Spring semester.
HIST 140 - Introduction to East Asian Civilization
This course introduces the cultures and societies of China, Japan and Korea from the earliest times to the present day. Primarily an introductory course for beginners in East Asian civilization, this course considers a variety of significant themes in religious, political, economic, social and cultural developments in the region. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Every fall.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 140
HIST 149 - First Encounters
This introductory course invites you to reflect on how past peoples have confronted the other and the alien. How do we behave in the intense moments of first encounters with substantially different people? What are the patterns, pitfalls or unspoken protocols? Case studies we will consider may include first meetings between Vikings, Spaniards, Englishmen, and Native Americans (1000, 1500s and 1620s), missionaries and native peoples in Canada and Africa (1600-1700), Dutch merchants and Chinese warlords (mid-1600s), Europeans and Australian aborigines (late 1700s), doctors and Goliath pygmies (early 1900s), and humans and extraterrestrials (1950-present). In revisiting these moments, we will practice four mainstays of academic conversation. We will read closely and critically, and often quickly and widely, for the purposes of scholarly analysis; we will respond to and make use of the work of others; we will draft and revise texts; and we will make our writing public. These skills are applicable across disciplines and outside of college, but this course focuses on them through the particular lens of History. Class assignments are designed for you to become familiar with the conventions followed by professional historians, culminating in a final assignment where you will present your own original interpretation of a firsthand report of encounter. For the History major, this counts towards the "Colonization & Empire," "Global/Comparative" and "pre-1800" thematic fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 154 - African Life Histories
In this course we will learn about African history through the stories that Africans themselves have told about their own lives. We will use oral history, songs of West Africa's griots; slave narratives; political autobiographies; theatre and film to explore the personal narration of lived experience. To guide our class discussions we will also consult scholarly essays about life history as a genre, to help us understand the methodology behind the production of these important texts. Class activities will include seminar discussions, writing workshops, a field trip and intermittent background lectures. Each student will carry out an individual research project on their topic of choice. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Offered annually.
HIST 164 - Global Health Histories
How can history help us understand the landscape of global public health today? This "history of the present course" will help you situate contemporary global health topics in a broader historical perspective and show you how skills from the "historian's toolkit" can be instrumental in helping us build better public health systems. "Global Health Histories" is organized around three topic-focused mini-units. Possible topics include: pandemics; disease control and eradication; racism and health; vaccines and vaccine hesitancy; health and colonialism; international and regional health organizations; Communist health systems; public health in film and literature; family and child health; and the intersections between public health and eugenics and/or population control. In the fourth unit, students will design and execute independent research projects on a topic of their choice. We will devote ample class to developing research and writing skills and we will work intentionally to build a supportive and inclusive scholarly community. We welcome Community and Global Health concentrators, including folks without previous history experience. For History majors, this course meets the global and/or comparative requirement and can count towards the following fields: "Race and Indigeneity;" or "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative."
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 168 - Introduction to Gender History
This is an introductory course that will use a global/comparative approach to introduce students to the ways that historians think about gender. We will examine historical narratives and theories by exploring scholarly monographs and articles, historical novels, podcast episodes, visual art, and debates on social media and in popular culture. This course will emphasize critical reading skills and will also introduce students to the basic tenets of historical research and writing. Meets the pre- and post-1800 requirements and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice."
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
HIST 170 - History of Childhood
This course examines the history of childhood and youth in the United States. The historical voices and perspectives of childhood that we study will pay close attention to the significance of race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, time periods, and social settings. Some questions we will consider relevant to the study of history: Do children have agency? What is the role of children as subjects in history? How has childhood been socially and historically constructed? Why are children such galvanizing social and political symbols? How is identity shaped in childhood and what impact does this have on adult society at certain historical moments?
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 170
HIST 180 - Going Global: The Experiment of World History
What broad patterns do we see repeated across human cultures and eras? How do current international concerns shape the way we perceive these patterns, and retell the past? This course is an introduction to the youngest and boldest experimenters in the discipline of history: global historians. We follow these trail-blazers to every corner of the planet and across the grandest expanses of time, all the way from the emergence of Homo sapiens to present day. Such a sweeping survey of human history invites us to look beyond chronological, national, cultural and geographic boundaries. It also forces us to sharply rethink the methodology of traditional historians. Throughout our critical survey of world history we will assess the usefulness (and potential outdatedness) of the concepts of civilization, empire, revolution, and global networks. This course fulfills the global/comparative requirement for the major. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Environment," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
HIST 181 - Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean
This course offers a general survey of the complex and heterogeneous region we somewhat reductively term Latin America. It follows a roughly chronological approach, beginning with the eve of encounter and continuing through the contemporary era. Discussions will consider themes such as the institution and legacy of colonialism, the search for new national identities, and the onset of modern racial and political strife. The course will emphasize the import of global economic, political, and cultural trends on the formation of the region. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Latin American/Caribbean" fields.
Frequency: Offered every year.
Cross-Listed as: LATI 181
HIST 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
HIST 201 - History of U.S. Feminisms
This is an introductory course about the history of U.S. feminism as it was articulated and experienced in the United States from roughly 1800-1970. We will focus on not only on the experience of those who worked for the cause of women's rights but also the ideologies at home and abroad that influenced feminist thought. In so doing, we will interrogate the myths about feminism and the backlash against it that are central to the history, culture, and politics of the United States. This course is especially concerned with the multiple and contradictory strains within feminism. Topics that the class will consider include: the roots of feminism as it took shape in the anti-slavery movement, the overlap of women's rights and the civil rights movement of the twentieth century, and the women's health movement, among others. Can count towards "Gender," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 201
HIST 209 - Civil Rights in the United States
The course examines the post-World War II Civil Rights Movement led by African Americans in the United States. In the class, students will analyze key people, issues, events, and debates within movement history, including, but not limited to, gender and leadership; struggles for civil rights in the south, west, and urban north; the impact of the Cold War on race relations; student activism; movement strategies; and the emergence of Black Power. Throughout the semester, students will read a wide variety of primary and secondary texts to illuminate the activities and life stories of individual participants as well as the broad historical forces that characterized this long era of insurgency. Can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 209
HIST 213 - Women in African History
The objective of this course is to explore the role that women have played in the development of African history and to understand the major issues that define their experience as women from this region of the world. This course introduces students to the ways in which gender is studied in African history and to the major "break-through" works on women in African history. An important component of this course is the study of life histories of women from various geographical regions of the continent. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 219 - In Motion: African Americans in the United States
In Motion is an introduction to modern African American History from slavery to contemporary times. In Motion emphasizes the idea that both African Americans and the stories of their lives in the United States are fluid, varied and continually being reinterpreted. Rather than a strict chronological survey, this course is organized thematically. Some of the important themes include movement/mobility/migration; work/labor; resistance to systems of oppression; gender/sexuality/culture/performance; politics/citizenship; and sites of (re)memory. While the course is geographically situated in the United States, we will also consider African American life, culture, thought and resistance in global perspectives. In this course, students will read important historical texts, both primary and secondary, engage in discussion, and write essays that ask them to critically engage the history of African Americans in the US. Can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 219
HIST 222 - Imagining the American West
The American West is central to the construction of America's identity and popular culture. The mythology of the American West, built on a narrow foundation of Euro-American settlement and conquest, is critical to understanding the role of the West in the national narrative of American history. Using a variety of materials, including films, art and photography, literature, and historical sources, this course will examine how writers, artists, actors, settlers, and government officials, among others, shaped the creation of the mythic West. This course will investigate what - and who - is and is not considered part of this mythology, as well as the ways in which these constructs attempted to make sense of the diverse populations converging in the West. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 222
HIST 224 - African American History Before 1865: Enslavement, Resistance, and Emancipation
The experiences of African-descended peoples in the Americas, both in slavery and freedom, varied enormously across geography and changed over time. Focusing on North America and the Caribbean before 1865, this course will highlight ways that people suffered under systems of slavery but also explore how they struggled against bondage, created new identities, and formulated a distinctive Black Protest Tradition. The course will interrogate the changing ways that race functioned legally, politically, and culturally before 1865. It will also examine the various ways that Africans in the Americas resisted legal enslavement through violence, political activism, and cultural creativity. Because this is a history course, we will examine the nature of sources, including archives, to consider how we know what we know about the past. Can count towards "Race and Indigeneity," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 224
HIST 225 - Native History to 1871
This course examines Native history to 1871 -- the year that Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations -- by considering the multifaceted histories and experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. By looking at Native interactions with (and resistance to) Spanish, French, British, and American explorers, settlers, missionaries, militaries, and government officials, this course argues that Native history is essential to understanding past as well as present issues. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered every year
Cross-Listed as: AMST 225
HIST 226 - American Indian History since 1871
This course examines Native history since 1871, the year Congress unilaterally chose to stop making treaties with Native nations. By focusing on Native sovereignty, resistance, and the exercise of treaty rights, this course highlights histories and contemporary experiences of Native people in what is now the United States. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered spring semester.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 226
HIST 228 - The Law, Economy, and Family in the Anglo-American Tradition
The meaning of "family" in North America changed significantly between 1600 and 1861, governed by the intersecting "many legalities" that included English common law and the multiple forms of dispute resolution practiced by indigenous, enslaved, and other European peoples. The emerging legal systems and economic structures shaped the lives of women and families while establishing the foundation for many of our current practices. Drawing on case studies and microhistories, this course explores how laws defined women's property rights, economic opportunity, public voice, reproduction, "race," and conditions of freedom. We will also examine how individuals manipulated and circumvented legal, economic, and social expectations along with the limits to those forms of resistance. Readings focus on primary and secondary sources, and students will have the opportunity to explore a relevant topic of their own choosing in a guided research project. Building on the foundations constructed by historians of women and gender, this course examines how legal traditions, economic systems, and ideologies about families delineated
opportunities for the region's diverse inhabitants between the early stages of European colonization and the outbreak of the United States Civil War. Can count towards "Gender," or "North America" fields.
opportunities for the region's diverse inhabitants between the early stages of European colonization and the outbreak of the United States Civil War. Can count towards "Gender," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 228
HIST 229 - Narrating Black Women's Resistance
This course examines traditions of 20th century African American women's activism and the ways in which they have changed over time. Too often, the narrative of the "strong black woman" infuses stories of African American women's resistance which, coupled with a culture of dissemblance, makes the inner workings of their lives difficult to imagine. This course, at its heart, seeks to uncover the motivations, both personal and political, behind African American women's activism. It also aims to address the ways in which African American women have responded to the pressing social, economic, and political needs of their diverse communities. The course also asks students to consider narrative, voice and audience in historical writing, paying particular attention to the ways in which black women's history has been written over the course of the twentieth century. Can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
HIST 232 - Immigration and Ethnicity in US History
An overview of U.S. history as seen through the experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Can count towards "North America" field.
Frequency: Occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 232
HIST 234 - U.S. Environmental History
People have always had to contend with the natural world, but only recently have historians begun to explore the changing relationships between people and their environment over time. In this course, we will examine the variety of ways that people in North America have shaped the environment, as well as how they have used, labored in, abused, conserved, protected, rearranged, polluted, cleaned, and thought about it. In addition, we will explore how various characteristics of the natural world have affected the broad patterns of human society, sometimes harming or hindering life and other times enabling rapid development and expansion. By bringing nature into the study of human history and the human past into the study of nature, we will begin to see the connections and interdependencies between the two that are often overlooked. Meets History's post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Environment," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered yearly.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 234
HIST 235 - Captives, Cannibals, and Capitalists in the Early Modern Atlantic World
This course explores cross-cultural encounters in the Americas that characterized the meetings of Europeans, Africans, and Americans in the early modern world between 1492 and 1763. During this period, the Atlantic Ocean and its adjacent land masses became critical locations for economic, biological, and cultural exchanges. This course focuses on the Americas as sites for discovery, mutual incomprehension, and exploitation. The course explores the ways that conquest, resistance, and strategic cooperation shaped peoples' "new worlds" on both sides of the Atlantic. It also considers how colonialism framed and was framed by scientific inquiry, religious beliefs, economic thought, and artistic expression. Students interrogate primary sources-written, visual and aural--that emerged from these encounters and the secondary literatures that have sought to make sense of them. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Africa and Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
HIST 236 - Consumer Nation: American Consumer Culture in the 20th Century
"Of all the strange beasts that have com slouching into the 20th century," writes James Twitchell, "none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism." In this course we will trace the various twists and turns of America's vigorous consumer culture across the twentieth century, examining its growing influence on American life, its implications for the environmental health of the world, and the many debates it has inspired. Meets History's post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Environment," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 236
HIST 244 - US Since 1945
This course examines the tumultuous changes that define the postwar era in U.S. society and culture. Themes of the course will vary depending on instructor. Topics may include: cultural tensions of the Cold War era, the civil rights movement and Black Power, the women-s movement, postwar prosperity, suburbanization, the Vietnam War, and the New Right. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Occasionally.
HIST 247 - A Historical Journey from Greek theater to the Restoration
This course explores the four significant periods of theater history (Classical, Medieval, Renaissance, and Restoration) through learning about the historical context, the design and architectural elements, the plays that defined the time and the playwrights who wrote them. Students will engage with script analysis of the plays through staged readings.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: THDA 267
HIST 250 - Science, Magic and Belief
Events of the distant European past continue to shape our modern attitudes towards religion, magic and science. How did people in the sixteenth- and seventeenth- century Atlantic world use these frameworks to make sense of the world around them? In this course we will journey back to the period of the "Scientific Revolution" to investigate how and why people began to distinguish sharply between the three systems. Who lost, and who profited, from this transition? What similarities between religion, magic and science persisted? To understand this turning point, we will compare contemporaneous cases of individuals who practiced magic, science and religion and ran afoul of authorities. Their trials highlight how the three spheres began to diverge. Cases we will consider might include the 1633 trial of Galileo, and the 1663 witchcraft trial of Tempel Anneke in Germany. Meets the pre-1800 and the global and/or comparative history requirements, and can count towards "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Every other year.
HIST 251 - Pirates, Translators, Missionaries
Why are cultural intermediaries often remembered as villains or traitors? This course calls the popular stereotype into question by focusing on four dramatic case studies of notorious but pivotal mediators who moved between the Spanish, Aztec, English, French, Kongolese and Portuguese empires of the early modern period. Among others, we will consider conflicting primary source accounts and current scholarship about the Dona Marina, the Mexica translator for the Army of Cortes; Nathaniel Courthope, and English profiteer who made a fortune peddling nutmeg between India and New York; two competing French pirates who sacked the South American port city of Cartagena de Indias twice in a single month; and Dona Beatriz, an Kongolese convert to Christianity who was burned at the stake for professing that she was possessed by the spirit of Saint Anthony. This diverse group of pirates, missionaries and translators walked a similar tightrope between worlds, both liberated and constrained by their border crossings. We will evaluate how gender, race, religion, and imperial loyalties affected the survival of this small group of interlopers, and how, in spite of this, they came to disproportionately influence events in the Atlantic world. This course fulfills both the global/comparative and pre-1800 requirements for the major. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Race and Indigeneity," or "Africa and Atlantic World" fields.
Frequency: Every other year.
HIST 252 - Conversion and Inquisition: Religious Change
What causes people to change their religious beliefs? How have societies handled those who do alter their spiritual attitudes? This course focuses on several dramatic case studies of men and women who self-consciously changed their religion during the turbulent period of imperial encounters between the mid-1500s and the 1700s. Among others, we will examine and interrogate reports of converts to Christianity including Jewish and Muslim prisoners of the Inquisition, captives of Mediterranean pirates, and the nearly canonized Mohawk convert Catherine Tekakwitha. We will consider how violence, national loyalties, gender, charisma, local power dynamics, environmental upheaval, and serendipity affected the choices and fates of these converts. This course fulfills both the global/comparative and pre-1800 requirements for the major. Meets the pre-1800, and the global and/or comparative history requirements, and can count towards "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Every other year.
HIST 256 - Transatlantic Slave Trade
This class examines the Atlantic commerce in enslaved Africans that took place between 1500 and 1800. We will explore, among other topics, transatlantic commerce, the process of turning captives into commodities, the gendered dimensions of the slave trade, onboard experiences, resistance to the trade, Africans in the Americas, and the abolitionist movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Students will read a range of primary and secondary sources in order to gain a more complex understanding of the trade and how it changed over time. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Africa & Atlantic World" fields within the History major.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 256
HIST 258 - Postwar Europe
This course will trace the history of European politics, culture, and society from the end of the Second World War to the present. We will explore topics such as postwar reconstruction and memory, the creation of the European Union, the Cold War, the disintegration of Europe's overseas empires, the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, and the ongoing challenges of responding to an increasingly diverse cultural landscape in Europe today. Throughout the course we will ask: In what ways is the history of postwar Europe a story of recovery, integration, and unification, and in what ways is it a story of a continent haunted by growing divisions between different cultures, political systems, and values? In order to answer these questions and to situate Europe within a broader global framework, we will explore a wide range of sources, including film, art, memoirs, journalistic accounts, political speeches, and government documents. Our exploration of these sources will be coupled with a reading of historian Tony Judt's "magisterial" account of Europe since 1945: Postwar. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Europe" fields.
Frequency: Offered annually.
HIST 259 - Women, Gender, and the Family in Contemporary Europe
This course will explore the ways in which the major events and processes in contemporary European history shaped the lives of women and families as well and the way that both individual women and women's movements have shaped the history of contemporary Europe. Much of our discussion will revolve around the themes of equality and inequality and their evolution over the course of the last two centuries. Our exploration will begin with the French Revolution in 1789 and end with the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe in the late twentieth century. We will focus on issues such as family policy, reproductive rights, labor, immigration, women's political representation, and LGBTQ equality in Europe. We will also explore the importance of children and childhood in the context of contemporary European society and the role that the state has played in shaping the lives of young people. Whenever possible, we will approach the topics at hand by exploring the voices of our historical actors themselves and we will consider the experiences of people from a wide range of identities. Can count towards "Gender," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Europe" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 259
HIST 260 - Rise/Fall of Tsarist Russia
This course examines the Russian empire (1689-1917) within a global historical narrative. We will explore the formation and collapse of the Russian empire, paying special attention to its role within larger world developments and the experience of the diverse peoples that populated its territory. Considering external and internal processes, we will examine the numerous challenges that the Russian Empire faced throughout two and a half centuries. Of particular significance are its relationship with the West, Russia's imperialism, and the issues of modernization. Can count towards History's "Europe" and "pre-1800" and "Race/Indigeneity" and "Colonization/Empire" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: RUSS 260
HIST 261 - Making History: Russian Cinema as Testimony, Propaganda, and Art
Through the study of Russian films starting from the silent era up to the present day, the course will explore how storytelling in cinema differs from that in history and fiction, as well as how power relations, technology, and aesthetics shaped cinematic depictions of major historical events in Russia and the Soviet Union, from medieval times to post-Soviet era. Students will view and analyze films that are among the essential Russian contributions to world cinema, by directors including Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Mikhalkov, and Sokurov. Course readings will draw upon film theory, history, fiction, and memoirs. We will use our readings to create a conceptual framework for examining the films as narratives about real events, as vehicles of propaganda, and as imaginative works of art. In addition to attending weekly film screenings and discussing the films and readings in class, students will give presentations on topics of their choice arranged in consultation with the instructor. Can count towards History's "Europe" field.
Frequency: Occasionally offered.
Cross-Listed as: RUSS 261
HIST 262 - Revolutionary Russia and the Soviet Union
A survey of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet history from the Russian Revolution to the present. Topics include the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Bolshevik rule and its tsarist heritage, Soviet "monocratic" society under Lenin and Stalin, dissent in the USSR, the "command economy" in the collapse of Communist political power, and national consciousness as an operative idea in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Can count toward History's "Europe" and "post-1800" and "Colonization/Empire" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: RUSS 262
HIST 265 - Europe in the Era of World War
Rather than approaching the history of Europe in wartime solely through the lens of military history or the history of international relations, this course will also delve into European culture, politics, and society in the period 1914-1945 and will explore the ways that both world wars profoundly changed the lives of Europeans living at the time, as well as the landscape of Europe itself. We will take a peripatetic approach, diving into different themes in different places and times. We will explore, for example, the lives of a young British nurse and a young German soldier during the First World War. We will grapple with the experiences of a concentration camp survivor during the Holocaust. We will think about the ways that critics of empire drew on the experiences of fascism in the twentieth century to build their case against colonialism. And finally, using more contemporary accounts and news coverage, we will consider the legacies of these two transformative wars and think about how they shape our conceptions of Europe and Europeans today. The class will strongly emphasize the development of research and writing skills. We will engage with a wide range of primary source material and students will conduct historical research on a topic of their choice, culminating in a major research paper that they will present as part of an in-class research conference. Can count towards "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Europe" or "Post-1800" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
HIST 266 - European Revolutions, 1789-1917
This course will provide an introduction to the study of history and to European politics, culture, and society in the long nineteenth century from the French Revolution in 1789 to the Russian Revolution in 1917. We will explore a multitude of different kinds of revolutions - including political revolutions, dramatic changes in class and social structure, evolving gender roles for men and women, and the establishment of new empires and nation states. This class will situate these vast changes in Europe in a broad global context and will consider the experiences of people with very different identities, ranging from women fighting for equal rights under the banner of the French Revolution to Russian peasants to African workers in the Belgian Congo. We will challenge traditional notions of what constitutes Europe and we will explore the various transnational connections that linked Europe to the rest of the world. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Europe" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
HIST 267 - Race and Immigration in Europe
This course will explore the way that questions of race have shaped European society and politics, as well as the ways that immigration has created the uneasily multi-cultural Europe that we know today. We will explore topics such as the origins of immigration policy in interwar Europe, anti-Semitism and the Holocaust, race and empire, post-colonial immigration from Africa and Asia, the place of Islam in European society, the emergence of anti-immigration political movements on the extreme right, and we will end the course with a discussion of the current migration crisis in Europe and the connections between European xenophobia and "Brexit." In addition to our readings of leading scholars in this field, we will engage with historical documents, literature, and film, as well as with contemporary European news coverage. Can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Europe" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 268 - American Indians in Public History: Museums and Memor
This course examines the historical and contemporary role of American Indians in public history and the often-contradictory goals of Native nations and museums. Many museums see themselves as the authorities on the proper storage, maintenance, and care of sacred items or cultural objects, while American Indian nations argue that the impositions of museum collectors and curators fail to acknowledge indigenous traditions and belief systems. We will investigate how American Indians work to regain control of sacred objects and, in turn, regain control of their history and the historical narrative through the repatriation of stolen items and objects, the implementation of decolonization practices in museums, and the growth of tribal museums. This course combines scholarly research and readings with field trips to exhibits at several local museums.
Frequency: Occasionally offered.
HIST 271 - Uses and Abuses: Drugs, Addiction and Recovery
After a brief but essential global history of drugs, this course will focus primarily on the 20th century to the present. We will examine histories of substance use and abuse, temperance and prohibition, the "War on Drugs," the shifting concept of addiction as a moral failing to addiction as a treatable disease, as well as study the history of the recovery movement and harm reduction. This course is not intended to be an exhaustive, comprehensive history of the subject-but it will provide you with a solid base from which to explore other aspects of this fascinating and contentious aspect of human history. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Fall semester.
Cross-Listed as: AMST 271
HIST 274 - The Great Tradition in China before 1840
A study of the culture and society of China from earliest times to the eighteenth century, when the impact of the West was strongly felt. The course will feature themes in Chinese history, including the birth of the Great Philosophers, the story of the Great Wall, the making and sustaining of the imperial system, the Silk Road and international trade and cultural exchange, the emergence of Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, Genghis Kahn and his Eurasian Empire, the splendid literary and artistic achievements, the Opium War and its impact on modern China. Lecture/discussion format. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 274
HIST 275 - The Rise of Modern China
A study of leading institutions and movements of nineteenth- and twentieth-century China. Major emphases include the impact of Western imperialism, intellectual and cultural changes, the transformation of peasant society through revolution, the rise of Mao Tse-Tung, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and the rise of China as a world power. Special attention will be given to China's international relations. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 275
HIST 276 - The Great Tradition in Japan before 1853
A survey of the major political, social, religious, intellectual, economic and artistic developments in Japan from earliest times to the opening of Japan in the 1850s. The course will revisit Japan's emperor system, Shintoism, feudalism, Samurai as a class, selective borrowing from China, Korea, and the West, and the background of Japan's rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration. Meets the pre-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 276
HIST 277 - The Rise of Modern Japan
Japan's rapid industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and its phenomenal rise as the number two economic power in the world after the devastation wrought by World War II, have led many scholars to declare Japan a model worthy of emulation by all "developing" nations. After an examination of feudal Japan, this course probes the nature and course of Japan's "amazing transformation" and analyzes the consequences of its strengths as a nation-state. Considerable study of Japanese art, literature, and religion will be undertaken and American attitudes toward the Japanese and their history will also be examined. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 277
HIST 281 - The Andes: Landscape and Power
This course explores the interaction between landscape and power in Andean history from the colonial period to the present day. The dramatic mountains have both shaped and have been shaped by sociopolitical relations, from the "vertical archipelagos" of ancient Andean peoples to the extractive economies of the Spanish and post-colonial Andean states. The course incorporates analytical perspectives from environmental, cultural, and urban history, alongside eyewitness accounts, to consider the relationship between the natural and built environments, on the one hand, and Andean racial and social identities, on the other. In selected years, this course will involve collaboration with contemporary Andean communities deploying oral history as a means of community and environmental preservation. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Environment," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Latin American/Caribbean" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 282 - Latin America: Art and Nation
This course presents an historical overview of the interaction between artists, the state, and national identity in Latin America. After an introduction to the import of images to crafting collective identities during the colonial era and the 19th century, we will focus on the 20th century. Topics to be discussed include the depiction of race, allegorical landscapes and architectures, the art of revolution, and countercultures. Multiple genres will be explored with an emphasis on the visual arts, architecture, and popular music. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Latin American/Caribbean" field.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: LATI 282
HIST 283 - Amazon: A Cultural History
This course traces depictions of the Amazon rainforest from the 16th century to the present with an emphasis on three central allegories - the Amazon as cultural crossroads; the Amazon as untapped economic resource; and the Amazon as a-historical paradise (or hell). Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Environment," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Latin American/Caribbean" fields.
Frequency: Every other year.
Cross-Listed as: LATI 283
HIST 284 - Imaging the Modern City
From c.1850-1950 the world's cities transformed as never before. Across the globe, these burgeoning metropolises were reconstituted as massive stages for the economic and cultural transformations of the day - the sites of industrialization, centralized planning, mass transport, and the locus of global migration. This course will trace the broader history of global urbanization during this period with an emphasis on how these processes were represented and imaged by nineteenth and twentieth-century urbanites. How was the modern city conceived as it transformed beyond all recognition? How did the global scope of the modern city impact these images? How were new technologies incorporated into this radical re-imagining of the modern city? And how did these images travel across the globe, themselves spurring further urbanization as they went? Geographically, the class introduces the radical transformation of urban morphology that began in mid-19th century European cities such as Manchester, London, Paris, Vienna and engages the transfer and reinterpretation of such processes on global cities from Kolkata to Moscow to Mexico City to Rio de Janeiro to Chicago and back, often to Paris. The class also engages classic and contemporary urban theory, artistic representations, and other narratives of the modern city. Meets the global and/or comparative history and the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Environment," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Cross-Listed as: INTL 284
HIST 285 - Cold War Latin America
During the Cold War, Latin America was a decidedly "hot zone." This course considers this phenomenon as a result of internal and external pressures, including political and socioeconomic instability, a deep tradition of revolutionary and socialist activism, and the region's conflictive relationship with the United States. The class examines dramatic moments of the Latin American Cold War, such as the overthrow of Jacobo Arbenz in Guatemala, the Cuban and Nicaraguan revolutions, and the Dirty Wars in Chile and Argentina. It also examines less heralded aspects of the Latin American Cold War, such as its important role in fostering transhemispheric solidarities, the creative possibilities of Cold War cultural production, the emergence of a youth counterculture, and the many attempts by Latin Americans across the political spectrum to reject the premise of the Cold War altogether. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Latin American/Caribbean" field.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: LATI 285
HIST 286 - Between Europe and Asia
What is Northern Eurasia? Who inhabited the territory of present-day Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic countries, the Caucasus, and parts of Central Asia? How did groups of diverse ethnic, religious, cultural, and economic backgrounds interact with one another? This course aims to answer these questions and explore the history of peoples and spaces in Northern Eurasia from the medieval period to the eighteenth century. Stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, Northern Eurasia has been a place of intensive cultural exchange for many centuries. During this time, various groups came into contact which resulted in trade, wars, and imperial rule. The complex history of relations among peoples is the subject of this course. Drawing on a variety of primary sources, literary works, and films, we will discuss such topics as Eurasian identities; indigenous peoples; ideas of Russianness and imperialism; the problem of state-building, and the formation of empires.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: RUSS 286
HIST 290 - History: Then and Now
This advanced course is required for majors. It examines the various forms of analysis used by historians through a study of different kinds of historical texts and sources. It provides an opportunity for students to develop the skills and habits of thinking essential to practicing the discipline of history. This course invites students to address some of the myriad questions and controversies that surround such historical concepts as "objectivity," "subjectivity," "truth," "epistemology," and thereby to develop a "philosophy" of history. At the same time, it stresses the acquisition of such historical tools as the use of written, oral, computer and media sources and the development of analytical writing skills. The subject matter for study changes each year. Recent themes of the course have been memory, empires, and class formation.
Frequency: Every year.
HIST 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
HIST 305 - Telling Queer and Trans Stories: Oral History as Method and Practice
Much about the mainstream narratives of queerness and gender transgression have been determined by powerful, cis-dominated institutions, still even to this day: the media, schools, police, the law, doctors and psychiatrists. These are institutions structured by a racialized, heteronormative gender binary, and for whom trans people pose a problem to be managed. Oral history offers the possibility for queer and trans people to tell their own stories, and, in doing so, give more nuanced, complex analysis of identity, activism, and of the intersectional operations of systems of power. Oral history also makes room for the complex interplay of joy, playfulness, grief, anxiety, and connection that makes queer and trans life so valuable. In this course, students will have hands-on experience building an archive of queer and trans oral histories in the context of the pandemic and uprisings for racial justice. In this community-engaged course we will work closely with the Tretter Transgender Oral History Project at the University of Minnesota, learning about oral history methodology, interview techniques, and having the opportunity to conduct oral history interviews and contribute to an online archive of queer and trans oral history. In particular, this semester, students will have the opportunity to work on an ongoing collaborative research project entitled "The Long Fire at Lake and Minnehaha," which uses oral history and archival research to grapple with the layers of history at the Lake/Minnehaha intersection in South Minneapolis, from the legacies of colonialism, to the intersecting systems of racialized capitalism that unevenly expose some members of the community to homelessness, policing, and violence, to the narratives of racialized gender that animate these struggles over space.
Frequency: Every year.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 305
HIST 315 - U.S. Imperialism from the Philippines to Viet Nam
In this discussion-based seminar, we will examine U.S. Global presence through the lenses of empire, diaspora, and transnationalism. We will look specifically at U.S. involvement in the Philippines and Viet Nam from 1898 to 1975 as moments of military occupation and cultural domination, as well as turning points for U.S. nation-building. What is "imperialism" and how is it different from "hegemony"? How did U.S. imperial adventures in Asia help to recreate a Western geographic imaginary of the "East"? How did they reshape or reconfigure "American" positions and identities? Under what circumstances were former imperial subjects allowed to generate racialized communities? To what extent are memories of U.S. conflicts in Asia cultivated, proliferated, twisted, or suppressed? What lessons can be garnered for the contemporary historical moment? Other topics for exploration include: internment, transracial adoption, commemorations of war, and anti-imperialist/anti-war movements. Can count towards History "Colonization and Empire," or "Asia" fields.
Frequency: Spring semester.
HIST 320 - Decolonization
The end of colonialism and the emergence of new independent states in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Middle East has been one of the most formative processes that has shaped the world we live in today. This research seminar will explore the process of decolonization in the twentieth century as the end of empire was negotiated between colonial states, former colonial subjects and citizens, international organizations, and a plethora of non-state actors. We will research and discuss several case studies of decolonization in different parts of the world, and we will especially emphasize the international dimensions and global interconnectedness that characterized the dismantling of imperial structures and regimes in the course of the twentieth century. Students will produce a twenty-page research paper using primary and secondary sources. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
HIST 340 - US Urban Environmental History
In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent-places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history. Meets the History post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Environment," or "North America" fields.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 340
HIST 343 - Imperial Nature: The United States and the Global Environment
Although the United States accounts for just five percent of the world's population, it consumes roughly twenty-five percent of the world's total energy, has the world's largest economy, and is the world's largest consumer and generator of waste. Relative to its size, its policies and actions have had a significantly disproportionate impact on global economic development and environmental health. Mixing broad themes and detailed case studies, this course will focus on the complex historical relationship between American actions and changes to the global environment. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the History post-1800, and the global and/or comparative history requirements, and can count towards "Environment," or "Law and Social Justice," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: ENVI 343
HIST 350 - Race, Gender, and Medicine
This seminar-style class examines the intersection of race, gender, and sexuality in the history of medicine and health in the U.S. Our diverse topics for study include eugenics, sexuality, midwifery, cultural/spiritual healing methods, pandemics, race- and gender-based ailments and medical experiments (such as the science and politics of the birth control pill and the infamous Tuskegee syphilis experiment), gender reassignment surgery, and sex-testing in the Olympics. This wide range of topics will prepare students to explore a research topic of their own choosing for a final paper. Can count towards "Gender," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice," or "North America" fields.
Frequency: Offered alternate years.
Cross-Listed as: WGSS 250
HIST 353 - Oceans in World History
Between 1450 and 1850, people started to venture farther outward into oceans that had previously been understood as dangerous and hostile environments. This course takes the Age of Sail as a starting point to track changes in human approaches to boundless waters. We will consider two questions in particular: How have oceans functioned as a means of global integration rather than division? How are historians using oceans to further the study of world (versus regional) history? Readings will cover and compare the Atlantic, pacific, and Indian Oceans, and address themes of diaspora, port cities, banditry, trade, and imperial encounters. Every other year. This course fulfills the global/comparative requirement for the history major. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirements, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Environment," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Every other year.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
HIST 367 - The Holocaust
This reading- and writing-intensive course will explore one of the most tragic and transformative events of the 20th century: The Holocaust. Over the course of the semester, we will ask: What made the Holocaust possible? In what ways did Nazi genocide in the 1940s build on previous centuries of religious and racial prejudice? What factors shaped the way that people experienced the Holocaust? Why did so many people collaborate and how can we understand resistance and survival as complex and multi-faceted experiences? How can employing a global or comparative historical approach expand our understanding of the Holocaust? And finally, in what ways did the Holocaust bring about a revolution in human rights? Whenever possible, we will explore these questions through the first-hand perspectives. In addition to our shared course material, students will engage in their own independent research and writing projects. Throughout the semester we will work together to foster a supportive intellectual community. Meets the global and/or comparative requirement for the history major and can count towards the "Law and Social Justice," "Race and Indigeneity," or "Global/Comparative" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): One previous History course.
HIST 374 - Listen Closely: Oral History Theory and Methods
What does the theory and practice of oral history have to offer in today's world of video chatting, social media, and the ability of anyone, anywhere to record and broadcast their own version of reality? What is oral history, exactly, and why is it important to formally record, transcribe, and preserve the memories and narratives of people involved in both historical and current events? This course provides students with a theoretical understanding of oral history as well as the opportunity to practice interviewing, transcribing, and interpreting events, memories, and narratives through a variety of projects.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 376 - Public History
This course introduces students to the ways history is being practiced in the public sphere. We will examine a wide array of topics that fall under the rubric of public history including the study of archives, museums, and oral histories. The course may also consider historical reenactment, commemoration, digital history, and the preservation of historical sites. As we explore these topics we will be asking larger questions about who practices history, the role of audience, and the relationship between history and memory. Can count towards "Public History" field.
Frequency: Offered infrequently.
HIST 377 - Rumors in History
Why and how are rumors formed? What kinds of media prolong their life? What gives rumors staying power even when they are publicly disproven? This course explores some precedents for fake news, revisiting earlier occasions in world history when fiction overshadowed reality to dramatic effect. Case studies covered in class may include upheaval due to rumors of children disappearing in the city of Paris in the 1700s; North American frontier myths that (still) wont die, including one about the distribution of germ-ridden blankets to Native Americans; Orson Welles infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast; and more recent twenty-first-century theories of thought contagion (ideas spreading like infections) and factfulness (conscientiously counteracting distortions in our perception). In the last part of this 300-level course, students will choose a rumor from a time period or region of their own interest and write and present a brief research paper about it. For the History major, this counts towards the "Global/Comparative" and "Public History" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
HIST 378 - War Crimes and Memory in East Asia
This course's main goal is to introduce evidence of the major crimes and atrocities during World War II in East Asia such as the Nanjing Massacre, biochemical warfare (Unit 731), the military sexual slavery ("comfort women") system, the forced labor system, and inhumane treatment of POWs. The course will also help students understand the contemporary geo-political and socio-economic forces that affect how East Asians and Westerners collectively remember and reconstruct World War II. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Law and Social Justice" fields.
Frequency: Offered occasionally.
Cross-Listed as: ASIA 378
HIST 381 - Transnational Latin Americas
This course examines critical and primary literatures concerning the transnational, hemispheric, Atlantic, and Pacific cultures that have intersected in Latin America since the early colonial era, with a particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Meets the post-1800 requirement, and can count towards "Colonization and Empire," or "Race and Indigeneity," or "Latin American/Caribbean" fields.
Frequency: Alternate years.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
HIST 382 - Remembering the Modern City
This class interrogates the role that memory and history have played in the formation of modern urban landscapes and identities during the 19th and 20th centuries. Besides introducing theoretical and global case studies, the course considers the layering of metahistorical significance upon sites in the Twin Cities and includes an archival research component. Meets the post-1800, and the global and/or comparative history requirements, and can count towards the Environment or Global/Comparative fields.
Frequency: Offered infrequently.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
HIST 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
Prerequisite(s): One 100- or 200- level history course or consent of instructor.
HIST 490 - Senior Seminar
The senior seminar is taught every fall on themes that cross chronological and geographic lines. Past themes have included Memory, Migration, Gender and Micro-History.
Frequency: Every fall.
HIST 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing.
HIST 601 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 602 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 603 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 604 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 611 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 612 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 613 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 614 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 621 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student's goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
HIST 622 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student's goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
HIST 623 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student's goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
HIST 624 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student's goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office.
HIST 631 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
HIST 632 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
HIST 633 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
HIST 634 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs.
HIST 641 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. The independent may be undertaken during a semester, during January, or during the summer.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 642 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. The independent may be undertaken during a semester, during January, or during the summer.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 643 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. The independent may be undertaken during a semester, during January, or during the summer.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.
HIST 644 - Honors Independent
Independent research, writing, or other preparation leading to the culmination of the senior honors project. The independent may be undertaken during a semester, during January, or during the summer.
Frequency: Every semester.
Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor and department chair.