History 601: European Historiography
Jon Olsen | Monday, 2:30pm-5:00pm
This course is designed to introduce students to diverse trends in the twentieth century historiography of Europe. The course attempts to provide students an introduction to the wide varieties of ways of approaching European history and to cultivate in students an openness to different methodological and theoretical approaches as well as the necessary skills to read and evaluate such writing at the graduate level. As an organizing theme, we will look at the relationship between individual, regional, and national identities within the context of broader historical processes and structures. At the heart of this exploration is the consideration of multiple narratives, perspectives, and interpretations that comprise any historical account. We will explore topics that range from the nature of the French Revolution to the German “Historians’ Debate” over whether or not Germany developed along a “special path.” To do so, we will examine competing models of social and cultural history, microstoria, consumer society, imperialism, gender, and culture.
History 665: Writing History
Stephen Platt | Wednesday, 2:30pm-5:00pm
History is an art as well as a social science, and this seminar gives graduate students a chance to focus on their development as writers as well as scholars. The writing of History is a unique kind of art—imaginative without being imaginary—and as long as we stay within the strictures of what our sources contain, we have great leeway to be creative with form, structure, voice, and other ostensibly “literary” aspects of our work. Which is to say, History allows us much of the freedom of writing literature, without the burden of having to make things up. This course is predicated on the belief that there is no need to choose between writing for academic or general audiences—if done well, writing for the one audience does not mean alienating the other, it simply ensures a broader readership for your work. During the semester, along with reading and discussing various models of creative historical writing,
students will hone their own writing and editing skills as they develop individual projects and comment on the work of their classmates. The course is designed to meet the requirements of a
600-level seminar, but some students, with consent of the instructor, will be able to enroll in the course at the 700 level, depending on the nature of their proposed semester-long project.
History 6XX: Theories and Methods of Oral History
Samuel Redman | Tuesday, 2:30 - 5:00pm
Oral history is an approach to documenting and interpreting the past through the recording of first-hand accounts of lived histories. In this class, we will explore the many varieties of oral history through in-depth readings about the theoretical and methodological issues related to first-hand testimony about the past. Exploring the evolving place of the oral history interview within historical methodology, we will consider how and why academic historians have traditionally dismissed oral histories as evidence in favor of archival evidence. In recent years, however, both the accuracy and hegemony of traditional archives have been called into question and historians have become increasingly interested in the subject of memory as a framework for thinking about the past. For these reasons, historians are now realizing anew the power of spoken testimonies as sources for understanding the past, and as such these sources are the focus of this semester’s study.
As a class, we will explore how memory and identity are changing historical categories, the products of historic events and often of conscious human decision. The most important aspect of the class—the greatest value that it has to offer—is that each student will conduct primary research and in the process conduct a related oral history interviewing. This interview will be the basis of an academic paper the students will write for the class.
Course discussion will consider the interviewing process, the nature of memory, and interpreting oral history sources. We will also look at different forms of presentation of oral history materials, including television, documentary film, and on the web.
History 691E: History and the Climate Emergency
Heidi Scott | Tuesday, 2:30 - 5:00pm
What does accelerating climate change mean for the discipline of history? How should historians, as scholars who study the past, respond to anthropogenic climate change and the broader ecological emergency that define the contemporary world? In this course, we study how these concerns are increasingly reflected in historians’ research, writing, and debate.
The climate emergency provides a point of departure for the course. However, we also examine historians’ engagement with the Anthropocene, a concept that identifies modern humanity as a major planetary force, one that is transforming earth’s physical systems in ways that imperil life on earth. How has this concept been embraced and challenged by historians and other historical interpreters, and what alternatives have been proposed? In what ways are historians’ approaches to long-established areas of inquiry such as colonialism, empire, and capitalism being shaped by ecological crisis? We also explore themes that, in the context of this crisis, have attracted
growing attention from historians, including resource extraction, extinction, and nonhuman histories, and consider possible future directions. The geographical scope of the course is global. Although we focus primarily on modern and early modern times, there is also some consideration of earlier time periods. Work for this course includes short writing assignments, oral presentations, and a longer essay that is developed and written as the course progresses.
The following course is an undergraduate course in which seats have also been reserved for graduate students with an interest in this topic. Graduate enrollment is capped at 8 for this course.
History 692W: Witchcraft, Magic, and Science
Brian Ogilvie | Tuesday & Thursday, 2:30 - 3:45pm
Modern science emerged in the late sixteenth and seventeenth century. Yet the period from 1550 to 1650 also saw widespread interest in occult powers and natural magic, and it was the height of
the “witch craze” in Europe, a period in which about fifty thousand Europeans, most of them women, were tried and executed for the crime of diabolical witchcraft. Are these trends contradictory or complementary? Historians have disagreed vehemently about whether the new science was opposed to the Renaissance interest in the occult, demonology, natural magic, and witchcraft, or whether these were complementary aspects of the intense study of the natural world that characterized early modern science. This course will address these questions on the basis of intensive study of the primary sources and selected readings from modern historians of
science, European culture, and occult knowledge. Though our focus will be on early modern Europe, we will look to the High Middle Ages for the origins of many European concepts of demonic and occult powers and the origins of modern notions of scientific explanation. On the most fundamental level, this course is about the history of reason and rationality: what did it mean to approach a problem reasonably, and what—if anything—did modern science add to the
ways in which human beings justify their claims to know something? This is a combined honors undergraduate and graduate course. Graduate students will be expected to do more in-depth research and write longer papers than undergraduates.
Additional Options
Taking Undergraduate Courses for Graduate Credit
Under the University Numbering System, M.A. students wishing to enroll in an upper-level undergraduate course may do so under the special topics number, History 597, with signed permission from the faculty member teaching the course (turn this in to Mary Lashway in Herter 615) and also with the understanding that instructors will require additional work of graduate students in those courses. Check SPIRE for the listings of undergraduate courses.
There are forms available in Herter 615 describing the additional work to be performed for graduate credit; these must be signed by the instructor. Students will be responsible for discussing the course requirements with instructors. Please see the Mary Lashway about registration to ensure that a grade will be submitted for you at the end of the semester. Only two 597 courses may count as topics courses towards completion of the MA degree.
Independent Studies
Students may enroll in independent studies as either History 696 (reading independent study) or History 796 (research/writing independent study) with a faculty member overseeing the plan of study. To enroll in History 696 or 796 pick up an independent study form from Mary Lashway in Herter 615. This form must be filled out including name, student number, course number (696 or 796), credits, a detailed description of the plan of work for the independent study (e.g. research paper, book reviews, historiography, essays, etc.), and signed by the professor overseeing the independent study. After it has been filled out and signed it needs to be returned to Mary Lashway to be entered on Spire. Only two independent studies may be counted towards completion of the MA degree.
Enrollment Information
The history department welcomes graduate students from across campus to enroll in our graduate classes. Advanced undergraduates are invited to inquire about enrolling in graduate courses. Such enrollment depends on the permission of individual instructors who should be contacted directly. Questions can also be directed to the Graduate Program Coordinator, Mary Lashway, at @email.
History graduate students may take two courses outside the department for degree credit. Check SPIRE to see graduate course offerings beyond our department. Students often find relevant courses in Anthropology; English; the W.E. B. Du Bois Department of African American Studies; Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning; Public Policy; Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies, and other programs around campus.