All information on this page subject to change without advanced notice.
HIST 302 India and South Asia Since 1700s
TR 1200-0115p Amin, Sonia
CONTENT: This course will be taught by an esteemed visiting professor from Bangladesh who specializes in the modern cultural and gender history of Bengal. It will survey the main currents in the history of South Asia from the decline of the Mughal Empire in the 1700s to ongoing historical events in the region today, touching on some major themes such as poverty and development, globalization, and communalism. Starting with an introduction to modern South Asia beginning with the transition from Mughal rule to the British Empire, it will go up to Partition (1947) and the further break up of the state of Pakistan through the birth of Bangladesh. The first section will look at the practice and consequences of British imperialism, vis-à-vis the consolidation of empire and the reformative initiatives of the British in India. This will be followed by the Indian responses of collaboration and resistance. This deals with the encounter between colonialists and the Indians, engendering the modernist reform movement(s) and nationalism. Nationalism is to be viewed as a diverse force, not just the one represented by the mainstream Gandhian narrative. Finally, post-colonial South Asia will be approached politically through the failure of the Partition scheme (dream) through the disintegration of Pakistan, and socially and economically through the symptoms of poverty, disparity and communalism in the region. To strike a note of hope, however, some strengths of the enduring culture in the region will also be discussed. Six films, one an Oscar-winning feature film, two award-winning documentaries, and one by the famed director Ray, will form an integral part of the course. There will be one internationally acclaimed novel by a Bangladeshi writer.
REQUIREMENTS: To be announced.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Metcalf and Metcalf, A Concise History of Modern India; Spear, The History of India (Vol. 2); Sangari and Vaid, eds., Recasting Women: Essays in Colonial History; Anam, A Golden Age: A Novel
HIST 305 History of Southeast Asia
TR 1030-1145a Andaya, Leonard
CONTENT: The course examines the nature of the state and the evolution of society in Southeast Asia up to the end of the nineteenth century. This is the first semester of a two-semester survey of Southeast Asian history.
REQUIREMENTS: One mid-term test; one 8-10 page essay; one final examination.
REQUIRED TEXTS: To be announced.
HIST 309 East Asian Civilization
MW 0830-0945a Wang, Wensheng
CONTENT: This is an introductory course on East Asia civilizations from the earliest times to 1700 AD. It includes a broad survey of major political, social, and cultural developments in traditional China, Korea, and Japan. Students will look at several interrelated themes—origins of civilizations, the evolution of ruling class, interaction between aristocracy and bureaucracy, civil-military relationship, the appropriation of Buddhism and Confucianism, state control and social protest, and alien invasions. Students will use these problems as a prism through which to view three crucial and intertwined themes in East Asian history: state, society and ideology.
REQUIREMENTS: To be announced.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Ebrey, Walthall and Palais, East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History
HIST 321 History of Japan
MWF 0130-0220p Farris, Wayne
CONTENT: This course focuses on the social and economic history of Japan until 1700. Topics include the development of agriculture and the life of peasants, the rise of trade and urban centers, the birth of various industries such as ceramics, iron, silk, and fishing, family structure and the status of women, social classes both free and unfree, and the role of disease, famine, and war in population change. Every attempt will be made to place pre-modern Japan in an international context.
REQUIREMENTS: One mid-term and a comprehensive final (all essay). A paper to be decided in consultation with the instructor. There will be several class discussions and participation is an important element in the final grade.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Addis et al, eds., Traditional Japanese Arts and Culture, de Bary et al, Sources of Japanese Tradition, Vol. 1, 2nd ed., Keene, Anthology of Japanese Literature, Farris, Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History
HIST 337 European Intellectual History
(WI Focus)
MWF 0930-1020a Lauzon, Matt
CONTENT: Undergraduate seminar on great debates in Western thought. Discussion of primary source materials; the scientific revolution and Enlightenment.
REQUIREMENTS: To be announced.
REQUIRED TEXTS: To be announced.
HIST 339 Renaissance and Reformation
(WI Focus)
MWF 1030-1120a Romaniello, Matt
CONTENT: Between 1300 and 1600 European society transitioned from the traditions of the medieval Christian world to the potential opportunities and changes of a “modern” world. Cataclysmic events such as the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the era of exploration opened up both new avenues for experimentation but also violent reactions to these changes. Religion, education, politics, and culture transformed a variety of unexpected and challenging ways. By using a lens of sexuality, gender, and deviance, this class will explore the ways in which European society experienced the dramatic upheavals of the early modern era.
REQUIREMENTS: As a writing-focus course, much of the semester will be spent writing and revising four papers, in addition to the completion of a final exam covering the course material. The first paper will be focused on the development of early-modern European families. The second paper will explore the development of science during the Renaissance and the emergence of the "one-sex model." The third paper will cover the role of women in the Reformation and the violence that effected their lives. The fourth and final paper will discuss witchcraft as a lens for understanding the underlying tensions in European society.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Crawford, European Sexualities, 1400-1800; Bigolina, Urania: A Romance; de Jussie, The Short Chronicle: A Poor Clare's Account of the Reformation of Geneva; Ginzburg, The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century; Brown, Immodest Acts: The Life of a Lesbian Nun in Renaissance Italy
HIST 356 Survey of African History
TR 1030-1145a Njoroge, Njoroge
CONTENT: This course is a general survey of African history from the earliest times to the present. Its primary goal is to provide students with a general understanding of the major developments of African history as well as providing an historical framework for interpreting contemporary African societies and politics. The course will examine broad historical processes such as the rise of ancient Egypt and classical indigenous civilizations; state formation and empire building; the spread of Islam and Christianity; slavery and the Atlantic slave trade; European colonialism and imperialism; nationalism and the struggle for independence; and the current state of the African continent. The ultimate objective of this course is to introduce students to a general history of Africa and place Africa within the broader context of world history.
REQUIREMENTS: To be announced.
REQUIRED TEXTS: To be announced.
HIST 358 World of the Mekong
(WI Focus)
MWF 0130-0220p Kelley, Liam
CONTENT: This course is a survey of the histories of the various peoples (Lao, Tai, Hmong, Khmer, Vietnamese, etc.) who inhabit a broad region around the Mekong River stretching from what is today southwestern China to the Mekong delta in what is now southern Vietnam. The course will cover the history of this region and its people from the beginning of time to the present. However, the main focus of the course will be on the last 200 years, and in particular, on the various transformations (cultural, social, intellectual and political) that the people of this region have undergone in that period.
REQUIREMENTS: Papers based on readings.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Osborne, River Road to China: The Search for the Source of the Mekong, 1866-73, Pham, The Eaves of Heaven: A Life in Three Wars, Ung, First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers (P.S.)
HIST 373 American Thought and Culture
PRE: Instructor Approval
TR 0900-1015a Rapson, Dick
CONTENT: This description includes both halves of the yearlong sequence of History 373-374 (American Studies 343-344), though each course stands on its own and may be taken separately. The courses attempt to define the “climates of opinion” in America at different stages of our past. Consequently a wide range of material is dealt with, the intellectual aim being synthesis. An attempt is made to maximize the possibilities of discussion. Students can expect to attend lectures, hear music, watch movies, participate in several small discussion groups, etc. The first semester (373) moves from European antecedents of colonization to the early years of the 20th century. The second semester (374) concentrates on the more recent period. Students may take either semester, or they may take both in any sequence. Opportunities are offered for the student to fulfill the requirements of the course in a wide variety of ways. The course carries graduate credit, is limited to 20 students, and requires the permission of instructor to enroll.
REQUIREMENTS: Papers and book reports. No exams.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Collins, America’s Women: Four Hundred Years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines; Doctorow, Ragtime; Nash, From These Beginnings, Vol. 1, 7th ed.; Schlesinger, The Disuniting of America: Reflections on a Multicultural Society; Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything
HIST 396B Intro to History: Historiography
(WI Focus)
PRE: History Major
TR 1030-1145a Bertz, Ned
CONTENT: This course is designed to give students an introduction to the history of historiography and contemporary historical practices. The class will collectively work through some of the larger questions involved in the crafting of history across the past and present. The students will first study the history of historical writing, and then will be introduced to an array of various and often competing historiographical approaches. The course will delve into the theoretical, methodological, and ethical issues involved in the interpretation of historical sources and the practice of writing history by examining the development of a diverse range of disciplinary methods and practices. This will include an analysis of the blurry and contentious borders between history and other disciplines. Special attention will be paid to analyzing how history is differently valued and produced across time and cultures, including an understanding of the relationship between power and historical writing.
REQUIREMENTS: To be announced.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Arnold, History: A Very Short Introductio; Iggers, Wang, and Mukherjee, A Global History of Modern Historiography; Brundage, Going to the Sources: A Guide to Historical Research and Writing; Davis, The Return of Martin Guerre; Dening, The Death of William Gooch: A History’s Anthropology;
HIST 396B Intro to History: Historiography
(WI Focus)
PRE: History Major
M 0330-0600p Matteson, Kieko
CONTENT: This course will cover the fundamentals of current historiography. It will focus on assumptions, trends, and methodologies favored by contemporary historians in the United States. Students will analyze the process of historical interpretation and the various debates that different interpretations create.
REQUIREMENTS: Weekly oral presentations; four 3-5 page papers; take-home final exam.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions; White, Tropics of Discourse; Carr, What is History?; Nietzsche, The Use and Abuse of History; Hartman, Hegel: Reason in History; Marx, Communist Manifesto; Said, Orientalism