Pre-1500 Courses
- HIST 100: Western Thought to 1600
- HIST 110: World History Before 1500
- HIST 180: History of Western Science and Technology I
Non-Western Courses
- HIST 110: World History Before 1500
- HIST 116: History of Japan
- HIST 117: Science and Society in Modern China
- HIST 120: Colonial Latin America
- HIST 220: Capitalism and Alternatives in Latin America
- HIST 247: Empire, Race, and the Phillippines
- HIST 250: Introduction to South Asian History and Culture
- HIST 345: China in the 19th Century
- HIST 450-01: Race, Religion, and Nation in East Asia
Integrative Experiences
- HIST 394EI: Human Energy and Rights in Eurasia
- HIST 394PI: History and Its Publics
Junior Year Writing Courses
- HIST 450-01: Race, Religion, and Nation in East Asia
- HIST 450-02: Ancient World in Popular Media
- HIST 450-03: Biography
- HIST 450-04: China and the US
HIST 100 Western Thought to 1600 (HS)
Dan Gordon
TuTh 10:10-11am, Friday discussions
The Western intellectual tradition continues to shape the way that Americans think about the world and their place in it. This course introduces students to key developments in the intellectual, cultural, and religious history of the West from ancient Greece to the Italian Renaissance. We will focus on foundational texts, like
Homer's Iliad and the Bible. We will learn about the ideas and debates these texts have bequeathed to Western culture. A major theme running through the course will be the role of women in the Western thought. History 100 is a Historical Studies (HS) general education course. This course introduces students to important skills in the discipline of history: the ability to decipher old texts, to combine different sources into a unified interpretation, to compare and contrast cultures, to write clearly, to provide proper footnotes, and more.
HIST 110 World History Before 1500 (HS DG)
Jessica Keene
MW 9:05-9:55am, Friday discussions (Team Based Learning course)
The goal of the course is to introduce the methods and approaches of historical study and to understand the development of key aspects of pre-modern world history. The course examines human interaction in specific situations emerging through time, including the development of significant social, political, or economic institutions or ideologies. Students are exposed to historically important events, developments, and processes as a way of teaching them to understand the present and direct their futures as well as gain an awareness of and appreciation for an historical perspective. The readings include a variety of primary and secondary sources in order to better analyze and understand the diversity of global norms and values and the way they change over time. The course work emphasizes the development of critical thinking and writing skills. Assignments include multiple written assignments and engagement with the course materials and topics. This course fulfills the non-western and pre-1500 requirement for history majors and the historical studies (HS) and global diversity (DG) portion of the General Education program. 4 credits.
HIST 116 History of Japan (HS DG)
Garrett Washington
MW 1:25-2:15pm, Friday discussion
This survey class is a journey through the social, cultural, political, economic and religious developments in Japan since 1800. We’ll go from the 18th-century kabuki stage and the samurai castle to the military barracks and factory floor behind Japanese imperialism to the crowded trains and hip-hop-filled streets of Harajuku in 21st-century Tokyo. We will examine how much Japan has changed, but also much about the lines of continuity that run from the past to the present through a textbook and a few short scholarly pieces. The course also aims to humanize the history of the Japanese people through first-hand accounts ranging from diary, letter, newspaper, play, and novel excerpts to government documents, comic books, paintings, photos, and other sources. You will leave this course equipped with the information and tools needed to acknowledge and understand the vividness and complexity of Japan, its position in East Asia and the world, and its special relationship with the United States. Beyond studying our topic, however, you will also develop important critical thinking and analytical writing skills that will help you to reflect and communicate more effectively in general.
HIST 117 Science and Society in Modern China (HS DG)
Sigrid Schmalzer
MW 12:20-1:10pm, Friday discussion
Science has meant many things in modern Chinese history. It has been pursued as a force for sovereignty, enlightenment, civilization, modernity, economic development, social transformation, political liberation, state authority, democracy, populism, individual opportunity, international solidarity, global power, and more. This course will explore how science has shaped modern Chinese history and the roles played by scientists in supporting and challenging the state. It will also examine how specific social, cultural, and political contexts have shaped the practice and policy of science in China, and how the specific visions for science that have emerged there have influenced and inspired people within the country and around the world. Throughout the course, we will be attuned to the effects of power relations on the history of science in China, including the Chinese state's geopolitical maneuverings in the contexts of colonialism and the Cold War, revolutionary challenges to ivory-tower elitism, and scientists' struggles to find their voices within and against the state.
HIST 120 Colonial Latin America (HS DG)
Heidi Scott
TuTh 10:00-10:50, Friday discussions
This course surveys the history of colonial Latin America, examining the encounters between Iberians, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, and African peoples over the course of three centuries. The class explores the reciprocal effects of this contact. What effects did the conquest have on the peoples, cultures, environments, and demography of the Americas? What were the characteristics of the societies, cultures, and environments that emerged from this ongoing process of contact, conflict, and colonialism? We examine, among other themes, experiences and portrayals of conquest, the formation of colonial communities, the role of the Catholic Church, slavery and the formation of racialized caste systems, everyday life in colonial society, and the collapse of empire in the early nineteenth century. Opposing viewpoints and historiographical debates set the tone for at least some lectures and discussions. We make frequent use of textual and visual primary source materials throughout the semester. Assignments for the course include a midterm exam, an assignment based on the analysis of historical sources, a book review, and active participation.
HIST 141 European History 1815-Present (HS)
Jon Olsen
MW 11:15-12:05pm, Friday discussion
In this course we will explore the period of European history from 1815 to the present. We will look at political, social, cultural, and economic developments and relate them to longer trends and future implications. In particular, we are going to explore the changing concept of national identity, of what it means to be “European,” and how different ideologies have come and gone from the continent. We will also explore how the relationship between the rulers and the citizens evolved and changed over the course of two centuries.
This class will be primarily lecture-based and supplemented by readings by leading historians and primary documents. You will be asked to attend a discussion section each Friday during the semester to take a deeper dive into examining those readings and documents. We ask that you always read the assigned reading prior to attending the class. For lectures, this prior reading will allow you to focus on what is different in the lecture and in your discussion you will be able to better participate.
HIST 150 US History to 1876 (HS DG)
Sarah Cornell
Section 1: Asynchronous online lectures, Friday in-person discussions
Section 2: MW 9:05-9:55, Friday discussions
This course surveys the history of the United States to the end of Reconstruction. Through readings, lectures, and discussions we will examine the social, cultural, and political histories of the peoples living within what is now the United States. Focusing on the aspirations, tribulations, and experiences of a large cast of historical actors, we will explore the multiple ways in which notions of belonging, liberty, equality, and Americanness were shaped and reshaped from the 16th to the 19th century.
HIST 151 US Survey, Reconstruction to Present (HS)
Instructor TBD
TuTh 10:00-10:50am, Friday discussions
This course will provide students with an understanding of American political, social, and economic history from the period of Reconstruction in the late 19th century through the late 20th century. The course explores politics and culture, as well as the interactions of race, class, and gender in U.S. history. Particular attention will be paid to struggles for justice, African American history, and women’s history. Primary source readings will be emphasized.
HIST 170 Indigenous Peoples of North America (HS DU)
Alice Nash
TuTh 4:00-4:50pm, Friday discussions
This course is an introduction to the history of Indigenous peoples within the present-day borders of the U.S.A. and Canada. While we will only be able to cover a few culture groups in any depth, the major themes of the course relate to all groups: colonization, trade, land loss, sovereignty, religion and missionaries, treaties, war and peace, and identity. Another theme that runs throughout the course is the tension between history as understood and experienced by Indigenous peoples versus mainstream narratives “about” them. Throughout, we will consider how history bears on the present day.
HIST 180 Western Science and Technology I (HS)
Hadi Jorati MW
9:05-9:55am, Friday discussions
Science and technology are important aspects of the modern world. Where did they start? How did they develop? This course approaches the history of science and technology in the Western world by focusing on three aspects: (1) the origins and development of Greek natural philosophy, seen as a part of Greek culture and society; (2) the encounter of Roman, Islamic, and medieval European civilizations with Greek natural philosophy and its transformation in those new settings, especially medieval Europe; and (3) the so-called “Scientific Revolution” of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and the place of craft (technical) knowledge in it.
HIST 204 Ancient Rome (HS)
Tim Hart
TuTh 4:00-5:15pm
This course, which satisfies the GenEd requirement for Historical Studies (HS), is a survey of Roman history covering over a millennium, from the city’s earliest beginnings in the 6th century BCE until the emergence of its political heirs during the 5th through 7th centuries CE. In this course you will learn about the major social processes and events that shaped the Mediterranean world into a single political entity for the first - and only - time in history. While this course follows a roughly chronological path, your journey through Roman history will be guided by three enduring, thematic questions:
- What did it mean to be a Roman, over time? What characteristics/beliefs did Romans consider crucial to their identity? How did Romans think about and identify non-Romans? What were the social and political duties of a Roman citizen? What were the benefits? How could one become a Roman? Could someone stop being a Roman?
- How do we know what we know about the Romans? What kinds of evidence do we use to reconstruct the Roman past? How do we understand and evaluate ancient texts and other types of evidence? How have modern scholars and others thought about the Romans? What does it mean to be an historian?
- Why is the Roman Empire important? What, if anything, set the Romans apart from other ancient societies? Why was the “Roman project” so successful for so long? What factors ultimately led to the collapse of the imperial system? How does the legacy of Rome impact our contemporary world?
As we discuss topics such as Rome’s transition from republic to empire, the administration of a Mediterranean empire, the impact of Christianity, and the so-called “barbarian invasions,” you will read a wide range of ancient texts, and develop skills in critical analysis and written expression. This course requires no prior knowledge and is open to all.
HIST 220 Capitalism and Alternatives in Latin America (HS DG)
Kevin Young
TuTh 10:00-10:50am, Friday discussions
Why have poverty and inequality been so persistent in Latin American history? What strategies have different people proposed to deal with these problems, and with what consequences? In attempting to answer these questions, we will survey the major periods in Latin American and Caribbean economic development, focusing on the last 150 years. Recurring issues will include natural resource extraction, industrialization, labor conditions and class hierarchy, control of the workplace, environmental impacts, the “segmentation” of the workforce along racial, gender, and other hierarchies, the role of the state in the economy, foreign intervention, and the relationship of democracy to the economy. We will pay close attention to the relationship between the economy and political power, social movements, and the non-human environment. This is not an economics course, but rather a course on how people have thought about, and tried to influence, the economy. No prior training in economics or Latin American history is necessary.
HIST 222B Data: From the Library of Alexandria to the Internet (HS)
Asheesh Siddique
MW 10:10-11:00am, Friday discussions
What is data? How has it been created, used, and stored in human history? What forms have humans invented in order to circulate and share it with others? And what values have societies invested in data? Challenging the idea that data is value neutral and historically static, this course will explore these questions through a history of the politics of information and its technological manifestations in societies mainly, but not exclusively located in the landmass that came to be called Europe and in the north Atlantic world. A recurring theme in the course will be the relationship between the claims that people make to political power; and the accounts that they give of how data should be created, circulated, interpreted, and controlled. How has this relationship changed over time, and how has it been inflected by changes in the nature of politics and new technological developments?
HIST 225H Christianity (Honors, HS DG)
Susan Ware
MW 2:30-3:45pm
This course is an intensive honors class studying the Christian tradition through an historical lens. The course is ordered chronologically, following the religion as it spread from a local persecuted minority to the world's largest religion. Map quizzes will reinforce the geography of that expansion, and themes will include: Jesus in the Mediterranean world, internal tensions, defining the faith, alliances with political forces, effects on cultures encountered. Art and architecture will illustrate expressions of the faith.
HIST 242H American Family in Historical Perspectives (Honors, HS DU)
Martha Yoder
TuTh 2:30-3:45pm
An historical, cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary approach to the study of families in America. We will examine the histories of various groups, exploring how these experiences have resulted in different family dynamics. We will then take up the question of the continuing relevance of race, ethnicity, and social class to families in America today and to the discussion of family in American politics.
HIST 247 Empire, Race, and the Phillippines (HS DG)
Richard Chu
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
What is an empire? Is the United States an empire? If so, what makes it and how did it become an empire? What is colonialism? How is it different from colonization? These are just some of the questions we are dealing with throughout the semester. We are going to learn about the concept of “empire” (and all its related themes and topics such as colonialism, globalization, race, etc.) through the lens of Philippine colonial (and neocolonial) history. This course therefore provides you with a chance to learn about not only the way empires are created and operate but also the culture and history of a non-U.S./non-Western country.
Why the Philippines? Due to its long colonial past, the Philippines is in a unique position to give us an idea of how colonialism worked/works. The country was colonized three times (!), first by Spain (1565-1898), then the U.S. (1898-1946), and finally by Japan (1942-1945) (with a brief interlude by the British from 1762-1764). Furthermore, although it was the U.S.’ largest overseas and formal colony, little has been taught about this history of U.S. colonization of the country, hence, creating a gap in our understanding of U.S. history.
HIST 250 Introduction to South Asian History and Culture (HS DG)
Priyanka Srivastava
MW 9:05-9:55am, Friday discussions
What makes the Indian subcontinent a distinctive global region? Its diverse religious, philosophical, and lingual traditions? Architectural splendor? The caste system and gender relations? This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the Indus Valley Civilization until 1700 CE, focusing on the ideas, encounters, and exchanges that have formed this dynamic region. While developing a chronological perspective on the history of pre-colonial South Asia (the Indian subcontinent), this course will encourage you to look beyond the modern nation-state boundaries in order to gain a firm understanding of the region's shared political and cultural past. Course themes will include social and cultural developments in early India; the heterodox sects of Buddhism and Jainism; the rise of kingdoms and empires; the historical context of the growth of classical Hinduism; Indian subcontinent in the growing world system of Islam; architecture and other forms of visual and material cultures in medieval India; and the creation of a distinct Indo-Islamic culture in the Indian subcontinent. Texts and readings will draw upon recent secondary research as well as historical and literary primary source material.
HIST 264 History of US Health Care and Medicine (HS DU)
Emily Hamilton
MW 11:15-12:05, Friday discussions
This course investigates the social meaning of medicine, health care, and disease in the U.S. from 1600 to the present. Major topics will include: the evolution of beliefs about the body; medical and social responses to infectious and chronic disease; the rise of medical science and medical organizations; the development of medical technologies; and the role of public and government institutions in promoting health practices and disease treatments. To explore the human experience of medicine, readings will address the experience of being ill, the delivery of compassionate care, the nature of the relationship between practitioner and patient, and ethics. Throughout the semester, the class will link medicine to broad issues in American history by examining:
- the effects of class, race, gender, age, sexual orientation, lifestyle, and geographic region on health and medical care
- cultural and religious diversity in medical expression
- the intersections of politics, science/technology, consumerism, social movements, industry, the economy, and health care
- the role of the marketplace in shaping professional identities, patient expectations, and outcomes
- the training of medical practitioners, their role, and image
- media and health activism as influencers in individual and public health 7. the global nature and politics of disease and medicine
Course materials will include recent scholarly literature in the history of medicine, writings by physicians and patients, historical documents, films, websites, audio interviews, and artifact studies.
HIST 269 American War in Vietnam (HS)
Chris Appy
MW 9:05-9:55am, Friday discussions
This four-credit multidisciplinary Gen Ed course examines the American War in Vietnam from its origins in U.S. support for the French reconquest of Indochina after World War II until the “Fall of Saigon” to Communist forces in 1975. Through a variety of sources (including government documents, fiction, historical analysis, speeches, journalism, and documentary film), we will explore the reasons for U.S. intervention in Vietnam, the key political and military policies, the experiences of combatants and civilians on all sides, the war’s divisive political and moral controversies, and the myths and legacies that have shaped postwar politics and public memory.
HIST 270ST Indigenous History for STEM
Alice Nash
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
Native American & Indigenous Studies (NAIS) is an emerging field that centers Indigenous perspectives and protocols. The NAIS framework of this class introduces students to the history of Indigenous peoples in the U.S. with explicit connections to topics that are relevant for STEM majors. Discussions will include the impact of racism and ongoing colonization in the academy and in the world; the difference between knowledge and wisdom; and how to decolonize and indigenize STEM.
HIST 275 The Craft of History
Section 1: Dan Gordon, TuTh 11:30am-12:45pm
Section 2: Alon Confino, Wednesdays 2:30-5:00pm
This course provides history majors with an introduction to the philosophy of history, historical methodology, and general schools of historiography. We will consider how historians inside and outside the academy pose questions, and how they find, select, evaluate, interpret, and analyze evidence in order to propose answers to those questions. Finally, we will reflect as well upon questions about the purposes and goals of both studying and writing history.
HIST 290NE The Ancient Near East and Egypt
Timothy Hart
TuTh 1:00-2:15
Hist. 290NE explores the history of the Ancient Near East and Egypt from the development of agriculture and settled society (c. 9000 BCE) to the rise of the Achaemenid Persian empire (c. 500 BCE). The societies that developed along the Nile and in the so-called Fertile Crescent of Mesopotamia and the Levant gave rise to some of the world’s earliest cities, invented writing systems used for bureaucracy, business, and literature, and created religions and principles of law with far-reaching influence. Covering the major civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt, this class is for any student interested in the process of state formation, and also offers crucial background for those intending to pursue future study of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean or the later societies of Persia and the Islamic world.
[NOTE, THIS CLASS IS NOT YET VISIBLE IN SPIRE BUT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN]
HIST 290STA Women and the Law – History of Sex & Gender Discrimination
Jennifer Nye
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
This course examines the legal status of women in the United States, focusing specifically on the 20th and 21st centuries. How has the law used gender, sex, sexuality, and race to legally enforce inequality between women and men (and among women)? We will examine the legal arguments feminists have used to advocate for legal change and how these arguments have changed over time, paying specific attention to debates about whether to make legal arguments based on formal equality, substantive equality, liberty, or privacy. We will also consider the pros and cons of using the law to advocate for social justice. Specific issues that may be covered include the civil and political participation of women (voting, jury service), employment discrimination, intimate relationships, reproduction, contraception and abortion, violence against women, women as criminal defendants, and women as law students, lawyers, and judges. Prior law-law related coursework helpful, but not required. This course counts as an additional course for the Five College Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice Certificate. Please note: this is not a History gen ed course. [NOTE, THIS CLASS IS NOT YET VISIBLE IN SPIRE BUT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN]
HIST 317 Russian Revolution
Audrey Altstadt
TuTh 10:00-11:15am
In this class, we will study revolutionary thought and the Russian revolutions of 1905 and 1917. We will examine the intellectual framework, and the political, economic, and social conditions that led to these revolutions starting in late imperial Russia. Class time will be used for discussion and analysis in addition to lectures. In addition to documents in translation and one academic book on the Russian Revolution, we will read an early Soviet dystopian novel.
HIST 323 Modern German History
Andrew Donson
TuTh 8:30-9:45am
This course surveys the troubled history of the modern German nation-state. It traces how the loose federation of German monarchies and duchies coalesced in the late nineteenth century into a European powerhouse. Topics include absolutism, the old regime, the Enlightenment, the Napoleonic occupation, the 1848 revolution, unification and rule under Bismarck, German Jews before 1914, mass politics under Wilhelm II, the First World War, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi dictatorship, the Second World War and the Holocaust, the divided Germanys, and the Federal Republic since 1989.
This course fulfills the 4-credit general-education requirements with designations HS and DG (historical studies and global diversity). As an HS course, it covers a broad period of history, from eighteenth century to the present. It also helps students develop their critical thinking by teaching how to read a variety of primarysource texts, including ethnologies, statistics, memoirs, diaries, speeches, letters, monographs, newspaper articles, and political-party programs. It develops writing skills through five short papers and weekly writing assignments. Finally, and most of it all, the course teaches the main skill of the historian: the ability to place events and ideas in their historical context and draw conclusions about causes and consequences.
As a DG course, it introduces you to the viewpoints of a variety of people, such as socialists, reformers, aristocrats, workers, scholars, liberals, and conservatives. In their papers, you have to synthesize at least six primary sources to show multiple perspectives or change over time. The course pays special attention to the underprivileged, including workers, women, Catholics, and Jews.
HIST 345 China in the 19th Century
Stephen Platt
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
The rise and spectacular fall of China’s last dynasty, the Qing (1644-1911), with particular emphasis on the social, economic, intellectual and military forces that transformed China from an empire into a modern nation in the decades leading up to the 1911 Revolution. Our subjects will include secret societies, restoration scholars, gunboat diplomacy, imperial decadence, new-text Confucian visions, clandestine missionaries, treaty-port translators and student revolutionaries. No prior exposure to Chinese history is assumed.
HIST 361 American Revolution
Asheesh Siddique
TuTh 10:00-11:15am
Between 1763 and the 1790s, a quarrelsome assemblage of British North American colonies took issue with British imperial rule, declared independence, named themselves the United States of America, fought a long war (in which they enlisted the support of European monarchies with American colonies of their own), and managed to establish the first, but not the last, republic of the western hemisphere.1 While many popular narratives about "the founding of the American nation" continue to focus on a selection of one-dimensional characters and events to offer comforting stories of binary confrontations and ineluctable outcomes ("freedom", "democracy", etc.), we will seek to understand how a multitude of historical actors of varied social, economic, religious, and ethnic backgrounds (from founding fathers to enslaved mothers) experienced and shaped the political, military, and constitutional struggles of the Revolutionary Era. To do so, we will read and discuss a variety of scholarly works and primary sources, and explore a number of broad and more focused questions and issues. How did the Seven Years' War both reinforce and undermine the relations between Great Britain and its North American colonies? Did the increasing Anglicization of colonial North American societies and politics paradoxically cause the Revolution? How were colonists from very different economic, ethnic, and religious backgrounds able to overcome their differences and create a common cause capable of galvanizing resistance against British imperial policies? What about those who resisted that resistance? Was the Declaration of Independence the only logical outcome of the imperial crisis between Great Britain and the colonies? What did the Declaration declare? What were the main factors contributing to the victory of American forces against the most powerful army and navy in the world? Was the Revolutionary
War a global war? How did the experiences, aspirations, and actions of Indigenous Peoples, AfricanAmericans, Euro-Americans, men and women, shape the course of the Revolution? How did territorial expansion constitute one of the major stakes of the Revolution? What was “American” about the political culture and political institutions of the Revolutionary Era? How was the significance of the Revolution contested after the War? What prompted the adoption of the Constitution? Was the adoption of the Constitution a reactionary backlash against the aspirations of “ordinary” Americans? What were the repercussions of the Revolution on other American empires? How did the Haitian and French Revolutions shape the social and political landscapes of the early American Republic?
HIST 364 Gender & Race in US Social Policy
Libby Sharrow
TuTh 11:30-12:45
What are the problems associated with developing equitable and just policy? Why does social policy in the United States continue to be marked by tensions between the principle of equality and the reality of inequalities in social, political, and economic realms? How do cultural assumptions about social difference come to be reflected in social policy? How might policy subvert or reinforce these differences and inequalities?
This class examines the politics of social policy in the United States, particularly those regarding gender, race, and class. We will examine a wide range of social policies, focusing on those affecting groups such as: women, racial and ethnic minorities, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and low-income people. We look at primarily empirical scholarship, while asking questions about how political culture, interest groups, social movements, government institutions and other factors influence U.S. social policy.
Students should be well-versed in the operations of American political institutions and would be best prepared for this class by having already enrolled in POLISCI 101 or 181. There is no formal pre-requisite. This is an upper level course on U.S. Social Policy and presumes that students have knowledge of the basic operations and interactions of the U.S. Congress, the president and executive bureaucracy, and the judicial system.
HIST 390STC Rape Law: Gender, Race, and (In)Justice
Jennifer Nye
TuTh 10:00-11:30am
The history of the legal response to rape has often resulted in injustice for both the victim/survivor and the alleged perpetrator. This course will examine the evolution of the U.S. legal system’s treatment of rape, paying particular attention to the movement against lynching in the post-civil war era, the rise of the feminist antirape movement in the 1970s, the student movement against campus sexual assault, and how the #MeToo movement may influence legal responses. Through an analysis of court cases, legislation, and other texts, we will consider the role sexual violence has played in maintaining gender and racialized power relationships. We will examine how and why such violence evolved from a property crime against men to a bodily integrity crime against women, including who is worthy of the law’s “protection” and who is subject to the law’s “punishment.” We will explore issues such as: rape as a form of racialized and imperial violence, especially against black and Native American women; the criminal legal treatment of rape and the evolution of the legal concepts of force, resistance, and consent; and civil responses to rape under the Violence Against Women Act and Title IX. We’ll also look at the international law responses to rape as a weapon of war. Finally, we’ll think about how the legal responses, or non-responses, to rape have differed over time depending on factors such as the race/ethnicity, income level, immigration status, sexual orientation/gender identity, age, and marital status/relationship status of the victim/survivor and the perpetrator. Finally, we’ll consider how the legal system can or should respond to rape, particularly in this age of mass criminalization and mass incarceration, and whether restorative justice responses might be preferable. Prior law-law related coursework helpful, but not required. Please note: this is not a History gen ed course.
[NOTE, THIS CLASS IS NOT YET VISIBLE IN SPIRE BUT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN]
HIST 390STA Utopias and Dystopias
Kevin Young
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
Another world is possible! Social movements everywhere have adopted this slogan in recent decades. Activists in the more distant past were often guided by the same belief. As they struggled to survive in the face of tyranny and oppression, many also fought to develop new revolutionary systems based on principles like equity, autonomy, inclusiveness, and environmental sustainability. This course examines some of these struggles and how their protagonists tried to create a better future. Case studies will include Black and Indigenous liberation movements in U.S. history, revolutions in Latin America and Asia, radical working-class movements in Europe, and even some examples from Massachusetts. We will also look at how some “revolutionary” visions have gone wrong, contributing to the oppression of certain groups. Finally, we will consider some radical visions that were ugly and horrific from the start, such as Nazism.
[NOTE, THIS CLASS IS NOT YET VISIBLE IN SPIRE BUT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN]
HIST 390STB Science, Technology, and War in 20th Century US and Europe
Emily Hamilton
MWF 10:10-11:00am
This course will examine the nexus of science, technology, and war in the 20th century United States and Europe. This course will cover topics such as the development and use of chemical and biological warfare; scientific, political, medical, and philosophical implications of nuclear technology; the Manhattan Project and Big Science; Nazi science; Soviet agriculture; Cold War technology and the Space Race; missile technology; and psychological research and the military. As a unifying theme we will consider the impact of technological determinism and the centrality of science and technology in wartime politics and practice. Readings will consist of primary and secondary sources as well as historical and contemporary films. Requirements will include writing several short papers as well as a longer historiographical essay.
HIST 394PI History and Its Publics (Integrative Experience Gen Ed)
Instructor TBD
TuTh 10:00-11:15am
Public historians--whether they work in museums, archives, historic sites, historic preservation firms or agencies, federal offices or elsewhere--take historical insight cultivated in traditional academic arenas and apply them in a wide range of public settings. That complex work raises a wide range of questions, from the nature of scholarly expertise itself, to historical power issues inherent as archivists, preservationists and curators make choices about what is, and is not, preserved, to the practical matters that shape "applied history." This hands-on introductory course explores the distinct challenges and rewards of "putting history to work in the world."
HIST 394EI Human Energy and Rights in Eurasia (Integrative Experience Gen Ed)
Audrey Altstadt
TuTh 1:00-2:15pm
Our topic is the politics and impact of energy (especially oil and gas) on democratization and human rights in the Caspian basin in historical and current strategic context. This course will address pluralistic perspectives and awareness of cultural difference and one's self as learner; effective oral and written communication; effective collaborative work; creative and analytical thinking and problem solving; application of methods of analysis to real world problems, and evaluating the consequences and implications of choices and actions. Assignments will be written and oral including evaluation of readings and two role-playing exercises. This is an Integrative Experience course (IE) which fulfills the requirement for graduation.
HIST 450-01 Race, Religion, and Nation in East Asia
Garrett Washington
MW 2:30-3:45pm
What roles has religion played in defining national and racial identity in East Asia? Come examine the arrival, development, and impacts of religions and religious institutions in the formation of ideas about race in East Asia. Our topics will range from the European Society of Jesus in the 16th and 17th centuries to American and
German missionaries in the 19th century East Asia to colonized Korea’s experience with Japanese Shinto, Japanese Protestantism, and American Protestantism to China’s Muslim minority. We will use excerpts from historical textbooks, diaries, newspapers, journals, magazines, scholarly articles and novels to examine the racial contours and the intellectual and cultural repercussions of these cross-cultural encounters. The course is specifically designed to equip students with the tools necessary to prepare and execute a short researchbased history paper.
HIST 450-02 Ancient World in Popular Media
Tim Hart
TuTh 2:30-3:45pm
From the hit video game, Hades, to Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, we have a seemingly- endless fascination with the cultures of the ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Even if you’ve never taken a class on ancient history, you almost certainly have some level of familiarity with these “classical” civilizations through film, literature, and digital media. In this junior-year writing seminar, we will explore how Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans are represented in a range of popular media. These long- dead societies are very much still with us in 2022, but we view them through a dizzying array of lenses that tell us as much about the orientations and preoccupations of our own society as they do about the culture and worldviews of the likes of Cleopatra or Herodotus.
This course is a Junior-Year Writing Seminar, which means that we will use our historical topic – representations of the ancient world in modern popular media – as a vehicle to develop advanced skills in historical writing and research. By engaging directly with a range of films, stories, and games, as well as the ancient texts they are based on, you will develop a toolkit for written expression which will serve you well in the future, wherever your professional life might take you. To accomplish this course’s twin goals, we will usually spend one session each week discussing historical matters, and one conducting a writing workshop. During the second half of the course, you will begin work on a research project. Time will be devoted in class to this project, although we will continue to also discuss aspects of our historical topic.
HIST 450-03 Biography
Andrew Donson
TuTh 11:30-12:45pm
This junior year writing seminar focuses on the work of writing biographies. Our textbook is The Elements of Style. Expect to understand all its rules of usage and principles of composition. Good writing—by scientists, historians, or novelists—is clear, concise, specific, and coherent. It begins when you have something to say. In this course, you tell a story using primary sources, adding secondary sources for contextualization. We hope Special Collections at the UMass Library will let some students use personal papers—letters, diaries, protocols, etc.—from their archives. Some students will have to rely on obituaries, newspaper articles, interviews, or other adaptations to in the era of Covid.
[NOTE, THIS CLASS IS NOT YET VISIBLE IN SPIRE BUT IS SCHEDULED TO RUN]
HIST 450-04 China and the US
Stephen Platt
TuTh 10:00-11:15am
This writing seminar will explore cultural and political relations between China and the United States from the nineteenth century to the present. Readings will include travel narratives, missionary and diplomatic accounts, popular press coverage and other sources that bring to life what China has meant to Americans, and what America has meant to Chinese, over the course of the last two centuries. Short regular writing assignments will lead up to a longer research paper at the end of the course.