History Archive 2020-2021

CAS-101. CAS students only. SBS students by special permission. Restricted to the following majors: Art History, Asian Studies, Biology, Criminal Justice, Economics, English, French, Global Cultural Studies, History, Humanities, International Economics, Music History, Philosophy, Physics, Radiation Science, Sociology, Spanish, and Undeclared. Instructor consent required for all other majors.

1.00

This course engages students in the early stages of career planning. Students will explore their interests, skills, values, and strengths, which will allow them to begin setting appropriate goals for professional development. Once students understand themselves in relation to the world of work, they will learn how to research careers and employment paths that fit with their goals.

4.00

Explores history as an evolving academic discipline, a method of inquiry into the past, and a profession. Students learn historical thinking and research skills that enable them to frame a research question, identify and retrieve required sources, and make an argument about the ideas and actions of past peoples and societies. Required for history majors. Offered annually during Fall term.

4.00

An interdisciplinary introduction to Asian Studies will touch upon the history, politics, economics, philosophy, geography, arts, and cultures of Asia. Sample topics include political economy, religious and cultural exchanges, international relations, the Asian experience in America, and the role of Asia in the twenty-first century. Students will develop conceptual frameworks for exploring the subjects covered by the Asian Studies curriculum.

4.00

Presenting the major trends relevant to social, cultural, and economic transformations that can be seen in Asia today. Especially, students will explore the following trends: the Diaspora of the Chinese and Indian People; the hold of Traditional Religious Beliefs in a Modernizing Asia such as the influences of Buddhism and Islam; the preservation of Martial Values and in Militarism in Asia; Issues related to Gender and Sexuality; Pop Culture among young people in Asia.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history to 1500. Topics include: hunter-gathering, the migration of humans across the globe, transitions to food production, and the development of complex societies based on agriculture. Major early Eurasian civilizations (China, India, the Middle East, and Europe) are examined (alongside their interactions with Inner Asia and the Arabian Peninsula). So too are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history since 1500. Topics include: the outward expansion of Europe, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Age of Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, the creation of a great-power dominated global system, the two world wars, the Cold War, the Third World, globalization, climate change, and modern social and political movements.

4.00

Though we come from different walks of life and pursue different careers, we are all consumers. Today, an average American purchases more than 60 garments and discards about 70 pounds of textiles in landfills each year. There are also iPhones, lotions, baseball bats, appliances, cars, furniture, and everything else that stuffs our closet, garage and basement. This class explores the past 500 years history of consumption and asks how human beings evolved from an owners of a few items, often passed down by previous generations, to being rulers of an empire of things. We will investigate how economic, cultural, and political forces have shaped our relationships with "things" and how our consumption remakes our identity, culture, politics, and economy. In so doing, the course provides students an opportunity to reflect on the things that make us and on what we should make for a sustainable future.

4.00

Surveys American history from European colonization up through the era of the Civil War. Topics include interactions with Native Americans; slavery; the American Revolution; the founding of a new republic; social and economic developments in the early nineteenth century; expansion; party politics; sectional conflict; the Civil War and Reconstruction.

4.00

Surveys American history from the 1870s to the present. Topics include the new industrial order; farmer and worker protests; progressivism; America's emergence as a world power; the two World Wars; the Great Depression; the New Deal; the Cold War; post-World War II American society; the Civil rights movement; Vietnam; dissent and counterculture in the 1960s; the women's movement; economic, social, and political changes in the late-twentieth century; America's relationship to a globalized world.

Permission of instructor required.

1.00- 4.00

Requires approximately 14-15 hours of work per week in a history-related position, at a museum, historical society, or archive. Designed to introduce the student to the professional opportunities and responsibilities in the fields of public history or historic preservation. Interested students should consult the Internship Director, Professor Kathryn Lasdow,in advance. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor is required.

HST 200 and Instructor Permission

4

The Capstone Project is an opportunity for non-honors History majors to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have gained throughout their studies in History, including their internships. Students will undertake independent research that yields a well-designed product. These may include a research paper of no less than 20 pages, digital products such as an online exhibit, an oral history project, a walking tour of historic sites, lesson plans for use in middle-school or high school classrooms, etc. Students should consult with the course faculty to design a clear, explicit plan for project completion. Prerequisite: completion of HST 200 Gateway to the Past: the Historian's Craft before starting the Capstone Project.

Restricted to History majors who are CAS Honors students or other History majors with a 3.5 overall grade point average, and a 3.7 grade point average in History courses, admitted by application to the department by the end of the junior year.

1.00- 4.00

An individual program of reading, research, and writing on an approved topic, under the supervision of a full-time History faculty member. The completed thesis will be at least 20-25 pages reflecting original research. The qualifying student must have a 3.5 overall grade point average, and a 3.7 grade point average in History classes, must be recommended by two History faculty members, and must submit a writing sample of at least 5 pages to the Department chair by the end of their junior year. Normally taken for one credit in the Fall and three credits in Spring of the senior year.

4.00

Using literature and film to present aspects of the African American experience in the United States. By using film and literature it is possible to present the broad range of cultural styles, regional variations, class differences, gender issues, family structures and multiple viewpoints that make up the African American experience. Through lectures and in-class presentations a historical context will be provided for each of the films or texts that are used during the semester.

4.00

Using the documentary series, Eyes on the Prize, a History of the Civil Rights Movement, the class will present the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States during the 20th century. Each week of the class will be focused around one of the 14 parts of the series. The presentation of the film segment will be accompanied by readings of texts, articles and documents.

4.00

Examines the history of Africans in the United States from their arrival in the colonies to the Civil War and the end of legal slavery. Topics examined include: the development of the slave system, African-Americans, and the Declaration of Independence, and the abolition movement.

4.00

Examines African American history from the end of slavery to the twenty first century. Topics examined include: Emancipation and Reconstruction, Reconstruction and the Constitution, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, and African-Americans at the start of the twenty-first century.

4.00

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some are complete disasters. Find out why some Presidents have been consistently ranked as great, been enshrined on Mount Rushmore, and why others have not. Even the greatest have been subject to criticism and ridicule, and even the worst have had their triumphs. Explore the reasons for this, and come to understand the historical context in which different chief executives have acted.

4.00

The life and times of Alexander Hamilton--soldier, politician, financier, husband, father, philanderer, writer--through primary documents and biographical materials. We will uncover the world of the American founding and discover how we know what we know about the world that once was.

4.00

Explores the history of the United States from 1810 to 1910. Students study the growth of American institutions, the rise and effects of a market society, westward expansion and Indian affairs, the enlivening of U.S. civic ideals, debates over free labor and slavery, the causes and effects of the Civil War, post-Civil War redefinitions of citizenship, immigration, Progressivism, and the nation's entry on to the world stage.

4.00

Surveys the history of the U.S. as a world power. Examines officials' motives and methods, as well as influences on policy in the form of social and economic forces, interest groups, and foreign challenges. Explores public debates over America's role (as well as debates among historians and international relations theorists), and discusses the domestic and foreign impact of America's world role. Major events addressed include the two world wars, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the U.S. recent history of involvement in the Middle East.

4.00

Using music as a window this class explores the history of Black America as well as the history of all America. Through a combination of texts, videos, and recordings this class examines the music of Black America, from it's African roots to hip hop in the 21st century. This will be done in the context and communities in which black music was created and performed, and also in relationship to the wider world.

4.00

Addresses social, intellectual, and cultural developments as well as politics and economics; foreign relations (and their connection to the domestic scene) are also discussed. Topics include: the labor movement, civil rights, woman suffrage, progressivism, the rise of the U.S. as a world power, the First World War, the cultural and social crosscurrents of the nineteen-twenties, Fordism, new developments in advertising and industrial engineering, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II.

4.00

American history in the decades immediately following World War II. Topics include the origins of the Cold War, McCarthyism, the emergence of a consumer society, the growth of the suburbs, the Civil Rights movement, the new women's movement, Vietnam, and the political upheavals of the 1960s.

4.00

Examines the transformation of America in the decades since the early nineteen-seventies, taking up social, intellectual, and cultural developments as well as politics and economics; foreign relations (and their connection to the domestic scene) are also emphasized. Topics include: Watergate, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the end of the post-World War II economic boom, the culture wars, the rise of the New Right and decline of the New Deal order, the end of the cold War, America's growing involvement in the Middle East globalization, the impact and aftermath of 9/11, and the Great Recession of the early twenty-first century.

4.00

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) rose from relative poverty and obscurity to become one of the most powerful and successful men of his century. This course will examine the political, scientific, literary, and diplomatic cultures of the eighteenth century by focusing on Franklin's life, reading Franklin's Autobiography, and selections from his political, scientific, and satirical writings. Concentrations I, II.

4.00

Topics will include the Plains Indian Wars; ethnological aspects of Indian tribes; the pitfalls of Indian reform movements; Indian resistance to U.S. assimilation and reservation policies; the Indian New Deal; activism and the American Indian Movement; Indians' future prospects. Cultural Diversity A

4.00

Traces the roles, images and experiences of women in America from colonial times to 1865. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism legal status, labor activism and popular culture. With attention to ethnicity, race, class, age, region of residence, disability and sexual orientation, the course focuses primarily on the everyday lives of ordinary women.

4.00

Examines the social and cultural history of women in the United States from the close of the Civil War to the present. Using not only gender but also race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, region of residence, and sexual orientation as important categories of analysis, this course focuses on women's private and public lives. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, private lives, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism, legal status, labor activism, and popular culture.

4.00

Though the American colonies could claim victory in the Revolution, the war's end did not guarantee a unified national identity. People struggled to reconcile the promise of Revolution with the realities of daily life and politics in the new republic. This class explores the various voices competing to be heard on the national and international stage, from the political leaders who drafted founding documents, to the women who learned to "stand and speak" despite repeated demands for their silence. We will encounter stories of African-American men and women who called attention to the Revolution's unfulfilled commitment to freedom, and we will examine the struggles of the thousands of displaced Native peoples whose efforts for coexistence were marred by conflict and violence inflicted by an expansionist republic. We will also discuss the techniques and practices that historians of many stripes (educators, curators, preservationists, podcasters, journalists, etc.) use to tell these stories to an array of audiences today.

4.00

Explores the founding and settlement of North America; the social, economic, and political development of European colonies and their interactions with Native People; the social religious, and cultural world of early America; witchcraft, slavery, and warfare; the British-French struggle for control of the North American continent; and the background and causes of the American Revolution.

4.00

Investigates how Americans have understood and responded to health, illness, and death from the eighteenth century to the present. Examine interactions among patients, healers (orthodox and heterodox), the medical and scientific professions, business, and government. Explore the effects of scientific and technological advancements, industrialization, urbanization, immigration, war, and social movements on the nation's moral and political economies of health, and on evolving ideas about bodily integrity and autonomy, linked to historical relations of gender, race, class, and sexuality.

4.00

Examines the impact of organized reform movements on American history from the 1800s to the twenty first century. In each era presented, students will explore the various dynamics that impact reform.

4.00

Explores how Americans have understood the environment and their relationship to it through analysis of classic environmental texts, historical contexts, and societal perspectives. Analyzes how the environment has changed from pre-colonial times to the present and how these changes have been described through the lens of environmental history. Themes include differing viewpoints of European and indigenous peoples toward the natural environment, the impacts of the Western expansion on native species and landscapes, the rise of industrialism and its impacts on natural resources and ecosystems, and the rise of 20th century environmentalism.

4.00

Examines the history and culture of West Africa through its portrayal in literature and film. The specific countries that will be focused on are Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana and Nigeria. This class will also recognize the fact that borders are a modern, man-made element of the West African landscape serving to both separate people who have historically and traditionally seen themselves as connected, and to bring together people into a nation who have historically and traditionally seen themselves as distinct from one another.

4.00

In this course students meet community needs by engaging in service-learning outside the classroom.Immigration is one of the crucial topics of the 21st century. This course provides historical context for migration flows in Spain in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The syllabus follows a chronological overview of immigration history in Spain. Traditionally a country of emigrants, Spain became the EU country receiving the largest numbers of immigrants in 2018. Topics to be covered in class include Spain's unprecedented modernization in 40 years of democracy; immigration, Islamophobia and xenophobia; immigration and citizenship; family, gender and sexuality; refugees and asylum policy; globalization and migration; illegal immigrant rights; border walls, policing and illegal trafficking; deportation; integration and assimilation; the 2015 refugee crisis and its impact; emigration in Spain during the Great Recession; and the future of immigration in Spain. Immigration to Spain : Past, Present and Future includes an array primary and secondary sources together with documentary material relevant to these topics.

4.00

China, Japan, and Korea - East Asia's critical players - share many historical influences, but each has a distinct culture, and they competed with each other for much of the twentieth century, proud of their achievements but feeling threatened by their neighbors. Lectures interspersed with movies and documentaries to show how East Asia has developed in the past one-hundred-plus years.

4.00

In this course each student will select a topic about Asia that they wish to study. Virtually any topic, to be approved by the professor, is acceptable. The goal will be to write a five to seven page paper about that topic by the end of the course. As a class, we will work together through each step of the process of defining a topic, gathering materials about it, and organizing and reporting the final paper.

4.00

Introduces the peoples of Asia and the cultures they have created. Particular attention is paid to the lives of the common people in both historical and contemporary times. By understanding the richness and complexities of daily life in Asia, we will understand the continuities and discontinuities brought on by social, cultural, and economic changes. We will gain an appreciation of our fellow human beings in Asia.

4.00

Examines British politics, identities, and social issues since 1945 through the lens of popular culture, including film, television, comedy, and music. Topics will include postwar recovery, immigration and the "Windrush" generation, 1960s London, Margaret Thatcher, New Labour, the changing role of the monarchy, British history on TV, tabloid journalism, Scottish independence, and Brexit. Texts will include films like "The Crying Game" and "Love Actually," TV like "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "The Great British Bakeoff" and "The Crown," and of course, music - Sgt. Pepper, the Sex Pistols, and more.

4.00

Explores the history of the Mediterranean from the ancient times to the 20th century, with emphasis on the extraordinary interaction between the rich cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds of the peoples of Europe, Middle East, and North Africa.

4.00

Explores the condition of European women from 1800 to 1914. Readings focus primarily on women's experiences in France and Great Britain. Topics include: the effects of industrialization on the lives of working-class women; working and middle-class women's negotiation of marriage, work, and family life; the rise of feminism, women's greater participation in the public sphere, and conservative reaction to these changes in women's place in society; women and crime; Victorian ideas about female sexuality; the politics of class and gender in nineteenth-century European society.

4.00

Examines the changing place of women in European society since 1900. Topics include: women's suffrage and the political advances of the 1920s and 1930s; the revolution in sexual mores, birth control, and the rise of companionate marriage; women and the consumer economy; the anti-woman policies of Fascist Italy and Germany under National Socialism; liberation of women and retrenchment in the Soviet Union; World War II; feminism, sexual liberation, and women's political engagement since the 1960s; and, throughout the twentieth century, women's continuing negotiation of work and family responsibilities.

4.00

This course provides an overview of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), examining its causes, course, consequences and relevance in 21st Century Spain. It focuses on the end of the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic; causes of the War; Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and the War; the International Brigades and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; battles of the Civil War; Francoism; democracy and the pact of silence; Spain's memory wars.

4.00

This course offers an introduction to the Golden Age of Roman culture and power. Close readings of selections from major historians, poets, political thinkers, and philosophers will be examined in the context of Augustan Rome. Topics such as pietas, virtus, and gravitas, as well as the competing claims of public duty and private devotion, stoic maxim and erotic love lyric, will be discussed from the perspectives of writers such as Virgil, Livy, Tacitus, Horace, Catullus, and Lucretius. Cross-listed with ENG 490.

4.00

Explores the intellectual and cultural developments of the Renaissance, and of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in their social and political contexts. Topics include: Humanism, the rise of the city-state; art, and science; changes in family and social life; the causes of the Reformation (intellectual, social, technological); Calvinists, Lutherans, and Radical Reformers; Counter-Reformation and its political consequences; the Wars of Religion.

4.00

Explores the political, economic, social and cultural development of the urban experience in Europe in the 14-1700s. The history of the most important cities of the continent and Mediterranean, and their common path in business, urbanism, society and imperialism.

4.00

Presents a coherent account of the origin and history of Islam since its foundation in Arabia in the seventh century A.D. to the present. Analyzes the terms, events, characteristics, developments, movements, and institutions that have been part of the shaping of Islam. Ideological challenges and impact of Islam in the world today from both spiritual and political perspectives are examined.

4.00

An introduction to Periclean Athens, the golden age of classical Greek literature and thought. Close readings of selections from the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the dramatists Aeschylus and Euripides, the poetry of Pindar, and Plato's great work on politics, The Republic. Cross-listed with ENG 316.

4.00

Examines German and European preconditions; the VersaillesTreaty and the failure of the Weimar Republic; Hitler's ideas, collaborators and institutions; Nazi foreign and domestic policy; World War II and the concentration camps.

4.00

Examines politics, culture, and society, with a focus on the power of social inequality, national identity, war, and the politics of violence to shape the 20th-century European experience. Texts will include films, memoirs, novels, political speeches, caricature and other writings, as well as historical scholarship, to explore topics such as: Europe in 1900; World War I; social and economic dislocation in the 1920s and 1930s; modern sexuality and gender relations; the rise of Fascism and National Socialism; World War II and the Holocaust; colonialism, race, and the end of empire; the Cold War; modernization and Americanization since the 1960s; European Union; the collapse of Communism; the Balkan Wars; and since the 1990s, Europe's continuing engagement with the meaning of its past.

4

Outlines the history of Chinese martial arts in five movies, highlighting Chinese views of violence, personal loyalty, government, and justice.

4

Discusses the rise of China as the world's largest economy and its impact on our life through films, media, and history.

4.00

Explores the history of samurai and its cultural meaning for Japanese society. It examines not only how the samurai class developed into a major political force, but also how it has been represented by literatures and films in different eras.

4.00

Examines the outbreak, course, and the consequences of World War II stressing the global nature of this 20th-century military conflict. Topics will include: the rise of fascist regimes in Germany and Japan; origins and outbreak of the war; key battles in Europe, the Pacific, and Asia; Pearl Harbor; civilian life in Axis and Allied countries; collaboration and resistance in occupied territories; the Holocaust; racial implications of the war in the East as well as Europe; Anglo-American firebombing of Germany; the use of atomic weapons; and the politics of memory.

4.00

Surveys the most transcendental social, cultural, economic and political developments in the history of Spain from the Neolithic to the Early Modern Period. Examines the broad history of the nation and its peoples and placing emphasis on three central themes: diversity within the Iberian Peninsula, the region's social and geo-political structures, and the transformation of the Old Order of the ancient kingdoms into a modern, nation-state. Topics include: the Pre-historical period, Roman Hispania, the Medieval Kingdoms, Islamic Civilization, the Christian Reconquest, the Catholic Monarchy, Imperial Spain under the Habsburgs, and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire in the 17th century.

4.00

Examines the political, economic, and social history of Spain from 1700 to the present. Topics include: the War of Spanish Succession; the Bourbon state; the Enlightenment in Spain; the impact of the French Revolution; Spain in the Napoleonic Wars; the rise of liberalism, socialism, and anarchism; the crisis of 1898; the problems of modernization; the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime; the transition from dictatorship to democracy; Spain's international position today.

4.00

Explores the historical reality of pirates and piracy, focusing on the Golden Age years of 1650 to 1730, reasons why men (and some women) turned pirate, and why there has existed a continuing fascination with pirates for centuries. Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between pirates and New England. Students will read primary sources and accounts, secondary sources, and fictional presentations - both books and films - to better understand piracy, why it happened, and why it continues to fascinate.

Restricted to CAS Honors Students Only

4.00

Explores the historical reality of pirates and piracy, focusing on the Golden Age years of 1650 to 1730, reasons why men (and some women) turned pirate, and why there has existed a continuing fascination with pirates for centuries. Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between pirates and New England. Students will read primary sources and accounts, secondary sources, and fictional presentations - both books and films - to better understand piracy, why it happened, and why it continues to fascinate.

4.00

Examines the role of inequality in European society since 1750, with a focus on the effects of political, economic, and social change over the course of the nineteenth century. Before 1800, hierarchy was seen largely as a positive and appropriate aspect of European society - natural, and even reassuring. Starting with the French Revolution in 1789, inequality was increasing criticized, but new (and old) hierarchical structures were reinforced by the new industrial realities. How did attitudes of the increasingly powerful middle class - about social class, race, gender, and even sexuality - shape European society, promoting some forms of equality but not others? While this course focuses on Europe before 1914, we will also be reading and thinking about how inequality and hierarchy shapes our lives in the U.S. today, in the 21st century.

4

Examines the global dispersion of African people outside of the African continent. The history and culture of African descendant people and their communities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia will be included.

4.00

Explores the social and political development of European society between the two world wars, primarily through the literature, art, and films of the period. Topics include: the dissolution of pre-1914 middle class society; deviance and sexuality in the 1920s; the role of decadence in art and the Fascist response to deviance in life and art; women, workers, and the new technology; the rise of Fascism; political engagement and polarization throughout European society in the face of economic and social crisis.

4.00

Explores ideas about emotional life from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology as well as the evolution of emotion rules and prescriptions, focusing on western Europe and the United States since 1700. In the eighteenth century, emotions were seen as a positive influence on politics and public life, especially during the French Revolution. After the fall of Robespierre, the emotions were banished to the private sphere - so we will read both primary sources and recent scholarship on 19th- and 20th- century ideas about masculinity and femininity, romantic love and marriage, childrearing, and about what parents and children are supposed feel toward each other, how ideas about these subjects have changed over time, and whether our feelings change with them.

4.00

Explore the deep antipathy women have faced at nearly every turn in their struggles for civic and social inclusion. Anti-feminist denials of women's rights have taken the form of attacks on women's nature, bodies, and fitness for public life, tagging them with labels of otherness: opponents of women's rights deem them irrational, unnatural, traitors to society, even sexual deviants. This course will examine the dangers that women allegedly represent to social stability from the Enlightenment to the present day, as well as how women have fought back to assert their rights and independence.

4.00

Explores the key concepts and current practices of public history as an academic discipline and professional field in museums, libraries, archives, historical societies, historic houses, and preservation organizations. Examines the presentation and interpretation of history to popular audiences through documentaries, motion pictures, Web sites, and other forms of media. Topics covered will include curation, conservation, fundraising, educational and interpretive programming. Students will gain practical experience by participating in substantive, directed projects with partnering organizations.

Take CJN-152; CJN majors only.

4.00

Practical exposure to methods of production and production equipment of the media. Students are introduced to basic theoretical concepts, such as three-point lighting and white balancing, and apply those to their productions. Students create a variety of non-fiction videos in teams and/or by themselves.

4.00

Examines the way that African American history is presented through public history in the United States. This exploration will include monuments, memorials and historic sites that both focus on the African American experience and examine how they fit into the context of American history. Time will also be given to look at the use of films, architecture and archaeology. This will be done through reading texts, viewing of films and visiting local historic sites that explore public history and the African American experience from various geographical perspectives.

4.00

Explores the practices and ethics of oral history, a field of study and profession focused on collecting, preserving, and curating the memories of participants in past events. Addresses the use of oral history as historical evidence and a research methodology. Students will learn oral history techniques by conducting, recording, and evaluating their own interviews.

4.00

Introduces students to the nuts and bolts of collaborating effectively with community groups to research and document their local history. Their stories contain a wealth of details about the effects of large-scale historical developments on the lives of ordinary people and community formation. The class will investigate how the preservation of local history contributes to place making, the community-based planning of public spaces, and the historical construction of identity in a community.

4.00

An introduction to the use of information technologies to narrate, preserve, access, analyze, research, and publish interpretations of the past. Students will learn how historical content is produced, presented, and published in digital form; how to find and evaluate digital primary and secondary sources; and how to use basic computational techniques to work with digital resources. No programming experience is required.

4.00

From the ancient cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people to the iconic nineteenth-century street grid of Manhattan, Americans throughout history have built cities distinguished by architectural creativity. This course explores the design history of the buildings and landscapes of America's early cities, from the pre-contact period through the 1850s. Each week students will study a different early-American city to learn about the environmental, architectural, social, and political forces that shaped these places. They will also practice the techniques used by historians, preservationists, and urban planners to examine the built environment and to find traces of this history in today's cities.

4.00

Surveys the world of archives, differing types of manuscript collections, the ideas and values that inform archival practice, and the ways that archives shape our understanding of the past. Hands-on instruction will acquaint students with collection selection, appraisal, acquisition, arrangement and description, reference services and access, preservation and protection, outreach, advocacy, promotion, management, and professional ethical and legal responsibilities.

4.00

Explores American history through material objects - from colonial silver teapots to 1960s lava lamps. Students will investigate an object's purpose, how it was made and who made it, and interpret the object's cultural meanings for American history. Topics covered will include the decorative arts, vernacular architecture, archaeology, industrial design, ethnicity and gender, visual culture, and landscapes. Lectures and discussions will be complemented with visits to museums, historic houses, and other sites. Students will learn how to research and write about material cultures, placing objects or spaces in their historical context.

One History course

4.00

Boston from its foundation in 1630 to its development as a 21st century metropolis. From the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to cradle of the American Revolution, to a Yankee merchant capital, Brahmin cultural center,and immigrant melting pot. When offered in the hybrid format, this course will meet at the regularly-scheduled time, but lectures and other course materials will be available on the course Blackboard site in case you cannot attend.

4.00

Of the estimated 5,575 statues depicting historic figures in the United States, only 559 of them commemorate women, and this disparity is echoed around the world. What are we to make of the gap between the historical "monumental woman" and the physical structures that celebrate them? This class examines global efforts to memorialize important women through monuments, museums, and other public spaces. It will focus on how acts of memorialization produce public and collective memories about the past, and how these bring up issues of patriarchy, subjugation, inclusivity, and representation. We will explore the contradictions between women's empowerment and historical exploitation, expressed in things like pussy hats and other feminist gear, in artistic representations of the female form, in exploration of cultural difference, and in grass-roots and official forms of activism.

4.00

Introduces students to the Reconstruction era in American history, and uses Reconstruction as a bridge to look at enslavement, which preceded the era, and the issue of freedom during, and after the era. In the first half of the class students read from texts that will provide them with an understanding of slavery, emancipation and reconstruction. The second half of the class will utilize on-line collections of the Freedman's Bureau Papers to allow students to use documents to deepen their understanding of the Reconstruction era. The class will also provide a comparative approach by considering questions of citizenship in the 19th century for people of African descent in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. This course is identical to BLKST 469.

4.00

Explores German history since 1945 through film, newsreels and other archival footage, war memorials and museums, novels, published diaries, memoirs, and recent historical scholarship. Topics include the representation, in film and other texts, of: post-war rebuilding; the German Economic Miracle; divided Berlin; 1960s and 70s radical politics; coming to terms since 1945, with Germany's Nazi past and the Holocaust; coming to terms since 1990 with the Stasi and East German past; "Ostalgie" (nostalgia in the 21st century for some aspects of East German socialism); the multi-cultural society that is Germany today, with new Turkish, Greek, Russian, Arab, and even Israeli communities.

4.00

This course provides an introduction to a humanities approach to a range of media, including but not limited to film and television. The course helps students develop visual literacies, enriching their understanding of multiple forms of media. The class also explores how media texts are constructed for specific cultural, entertainment, informative and propaganda purposes.

4.00

An interdisciplinary introduction to Asian Studies will touch upon the history, politics, economics, philosophy, geography, arts, and cultures of Asia. Sample topics include political economy, religious and cultural exchanges, international relations, the Asian experience in America, and the role of Asia in the twenty-first century. Students will develop conceptual frameworks for exploring the subjects covered by the Asian Studies curriculum.

4.00

Presenting the major trends relevant to social, cultural, and economic transformations that can be seen in Asia today. Especially, students will explore the following trends: the Diaspora of the Chinese and Indian People; the hold of Traditional Religious Beliefs in a Modernizing Asia such as the influences of Buddhism and Islam; the preservation of Martial Values and in Militarism in Asia; Issues related to Gender and Sexuality; Pop Culture among young people in Asia.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history to 1500. Topics include: hunter-gathering, the migration of humans across the globe, transitions to food production, and the development of complex societies based on agriculture. Major early Eurasian civilizations (China, India, the Middle East, and Europe) are examined (alongside their interactions with Inner Asia and the Arabian Peninsula). So too are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history since 1500. Topics include: the outward expansion of Europe, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Age of Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, the creation of a great-power dominated global system, the two world wars, the Cold War, the Third World, globalization, climate change, and modern social and political movements.

4.00

Though we come from different walks of life and pursue different careers, we are all consumers. Today, an average American purchases more than 60 garments and discards about 70 pounds of textiles in landfills each year. There are also iPhones, lotions, baseball bats, appliances, cars, furniture, and everything else that stuffs our closet, garage and basement. This class explores the past 500 years history of consumption and asks how human beings evolved from an owners of a few items, often passed down by previous generations, to being rulers of an empire of things. We will investigate how economic, cultural, and political forces have shaped our relationships with "things" and how our consumption remakes our identity, culture, politics, and economy. In so doing, the course provides students an opportunity to reflect on the things that make us and on what we should make for a sustainable future.

4.00

Surveys American history from European colonization up through the era of the Civil War. Topics include interactions with Native Americans; slavery; the American Revolution; the founding of a new republic; social and economic developments in the early nineteenth century; expansion; party politics; sectional conflict; the Civil War and Reconstruction.

4.00

Surveys American history from the 1870s to the present. Topics include the new industrial order; farmer and worker protests; progressivism; America's emergence as a world power; the two World Wars; the Great Depression; the New Deal; the Cold War; post-World War II American society; the Civil rights movement; Vietnam; dissent and counterculture in the 1960s; the women's movement; economic, social, and political changes in the late-twentieth century; America's relationship to a globalized world.

4.00

An interdisciplinary introduction to Asian Studies will touch upon the history, politics, economics, philosophy, geography, arts, and cultures of Asia. Sample topics include political economy, religious and cultural exchanges, international relations, the Asian experience in America, and the role of Asia in the twenty-first century. Students will develop conceptual frameworks for exploring the subjects covered by the Asian Studies curriculum.

4.00

Surveys European culture, politics, and society from antiquity to the seventeenth century. Topics include: the Greek, Judaic, and Roman heritage; the rise of Christianity; feudal society in the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Reformation; the Scientific Revolution; and the development of absolutist and constitutional governments.

4.00

Surveys European culture, politics, and society from the Scientific Revolution to the present. Topics include: the development of absolutist and constitutional governments; the Enlightenment; the French Revolution; Industrialization and urbanization; nationalism and imperialism; World War I, World War II, and the Cold War; the decline of Europe as a world power.

4.00

Presenting the major trends relevant to social, cultural, and economic transformations that can be seen in Asia today. Especially, students will explore the following trends: the Diaspora of the Chinese and Indian People; the hold of Traditional Religious Beliefs in a Modernizing Asia such as the influences of Buddhism and Islam; the preservation of Martial Values and in Militarism in Asia; Issues related to Gender and Sexuality; Pop Culture among young people in Asia.

4.00

Discusses Chinese civilization from its origins to its recent rise as a world power. Spark students' interest in China and enable them to relate Chinese history and society to their lives and careers.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history to 1500. Topics include: hunter-gathering, the migration of humans across the globe, transitions to food production, and the development of complex societies based on agriculture. Major early Eurasian civilizations (China, India, the Middle East, and Europe) are examined (alongside their interactions with Inner Asia and the Arabian Peninsula). So too are Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas.

4.00

Explores the major themes of human history since 1500. Topics include: the outward expansion of Europe, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Age of Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, the creation of a great-power dominated global system, the two world wars, the Cold War, the Third World, globalization, climate change, and modern social and political movements.

4.00

This course introduces students to Chinese history from its origins to the present. In addition to standard textbooks, it uses movies extensively to illustrate the contemporary Chinese perceptions of their history and how these perceptions shape their sense of reality.

4.00

Though we come from different walks of life and pursue different careers, we are all consumers. Today, an average American purchases more than 60 garments and discards about 70 pounds of textiles in landfills each year. There are also iPhones, lotions, baseball bats, appliances, cars, furniture, and everything else that stuffs our closet, garage and basement. This class explores the past 500 years history of consumption and asks how human beings evolved from an owners of a few items, often passed down by previous generations, to being rulers of an empire of things. We will investigate how economic, cultural, and political forces have shaped our relationships with "things" and how our consumption remakes our identity, culture, politics, and economy. In so doing, the course provides students an opportunity to reflect on the things that make us and on what we should make for a sustainable future.

4.00

This is the first of the two-course series of Empires and Globalization in World History. Course discusses the origins and development of globalization and capitalism from the perspective of economic history. Major issues include the formation of the medieval trade system, the development of finance and capitalism in the early modern ages, and economic changes prior to the Industrial Revolution. The specific topics may change every year due to new academic developments and publications.

4.00

This is the second of the two-course series of Empires and Globalization in World History. Course discusses the origins and development of globalization and capitalism from the perspective of economic history. Major issues include state-making, wars, and the rivalry among early modern empires, economic development, the Industrial Revolution and the formation of the global trade system. The specific topics may change every year due to new academic developments and publications.

4.00

Surveys American history from European colonization up through the era of the Civil War. Topics include interactions with Native Americans; slavery; the American Revolution; the founding of a new republic; social and economic developments in the early nineteenth century; expansion; party politics; sectional conflict; the Civil War and Reconstruction.

4.00

Surveys American history from the 1870s to the present. Topics include the new industrial order; farmer and worker protests; progressivism; America's emergence as a world power; the two World Wars; the Great Depression; the New Deal; the Cold War; post-World War II American society; the Civil rights movement; Vietnam; dissent and counterculture in the 1960s; the women's movement; economic, social, and political changes in the late-twentieth century; America's relationship to a globalized world.

4.00

Explores history as an evolving academic discipline, a method of inquiry into the past, and a profession. Students learn historical thinking and research skills that enable them to frame a research question, identify and retrieve required sources, and make an argument about the ideas and actions of past peoples and societies. Required for history majors. Offered annually during Fall term.

4.00

In this course students meet community needs by engaging in service-learning outside the classroom.Immigration is one of the crucial topics of the 21st century. This course provides historical context for migration flows in Spain in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The syllabus follows a chronological overview of immigration history in Spain. Traditionally a country of emigrants, Spain became the EU country receiving the largest numbers of immigrants in 2018. Topics to be covered in class include Spain's unprecedented modernization in 40 years of democracy; immigration, Islamophobia and xenophobia; immigration and citizenship; family, gender and sexuality; refugees and asylum policy; globalization and migration; illegal immigrant rights; border walls, policing and illegal trafficking; deportation; integration and assimilation; the 2015 refugee crisis and its impact; emigration in Spain during the Great Recession; and the future of immigration in Spain. Immigration to Spain : Past, Present and Future includes an array primary and secondary sources together with documentary material relevant to these topics.

4.00

Using the documentary series, Eyes on the Prize, a History of the Civil Rights Movement, the class will present the history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States during the 20th century. Each week of the class will be focused around one of the 14 parts of the series. The presentation of the film segment will be accompanied by readings of texts, articles and documents.

4.00

Examines the way that African American history is presented through public history in the United States. This exploration will include monuments, memorials and historic sites that both focus on the African American experience and examine how they fit into the context of American history. Time will also be given to look at the use of films, architecture and archaeology. This will be done through reading texts, viewing of films and visiting local historic sites that explore public history and the African American experience from various geographical perspectives.

4.00

Explores the key concepts and current practices of public history as an academic discipline and professional field in museums, libraries, archives, historical societies, historic houses, and preservation organizations. Examines the presentation and interpretation of history to popular audiences through documentaries, motion pictures, Web sites, and other forms of media. Topics covered will include curation, conservation, fundraising, educational and interpretive programming. Students will gain practical experience by participating in substantive, directed projects with partnering organizations.

4.00

Explores the practices and ethics of oral history, a field of study and profession focused on collecting, preserving, and curating the memories of participants in past events. Addresses the use of oral history as historical evidence and a research methodology. Students will learn oral history techniques by conducting, recording, and evaluating their own interviews.

4.00

Introduces students to the nuts and bolts of collaborating effectively with community groups to research and document their local history. Their stories contain a wealth of details about the effects of large-scale historical developments on the lives of ordinary people and community formation. The class will investigate how the preservation of local history contributes to place making, the community-based planning of public spaces, and the historical construction of identity in a community.

4.00

An introduction to the use of information technologies to narrate, preserve, access, analyze, research, and publish interpretations of the past. Students will learn how historical content is produced, presented, and published in digital form; how to find and evaluate digital primary and secondary sources; and how to use basic computational techniques to work with digital resources. No programming experience is required.

4.00

China, Japan, and Korea - East Asia's critical players - share many historical influences, but each has a distinct culture, and they competed with each other for much of the twentieth century, proud of their achievements but feeling threatened by their neighbors. Lectures interspersed with movies and documentaries to show how East Asia has developed in the past one-hundred-plus years.

4.00

In this course each student will select a topic about Asia that they wish to study. Virtually any topic, to be approved by the professor, is acceptable. The goal will be to write a five to seven page paper about that topic by the end of the course. As a class, we will work together through each step of the process of defining a topic, gathering materials about it, and organizing and reporting the final paper.

4.00

Introduces the peoples of Asia and the cultures they have created. Particular attention is paid to the lives of the common people in both historical and contemporary times. By understanding the richness and complexities of daily life in Asia, we will understand the continuities and discontinuities brought on by social, cultural, and economic changes. We will gain an appreciation of our fellow human beings in Asia.

4.00

Examines British politics, identities, and social issues since 1945 through the lens of popular culture, including film, television, comedy, and music. Topics will include postwar recovery, immigration and the "Windrush" generation, 1960s London, Margaret Thatcher, New Labour, the changing role of the monarchy, British history on TV, tabloid journalism, Scottish independence, and Brexit. Texts will include films like "The Crying Game" and "Love Actually," TV like "Monty Python's Flying Circus," "The Great British Bakeoff" and "The Crown," and of course, music - Sgt. Pepper, the Sex Pistols, and more.

4.00

Explores the history of the Mediterranean from the ancient times to the 20th century, with emphasis on the extraordinary interaction between the rich cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds of the peoples of Europe, Middle East, and North Africa.

4.00

Examines the history of Africans in the United States from their arrival in the colonies to the Civil War and the end of legal slavery. Topics examined include: the development of the slave system, African-Americans, and the Declaration of Independence, and the abolition movement.

4.00

Examines African American history from the end of slavery to the twenty first century. Topics examined include: Emancipation and Reconstruction, Reconstruction and the Constitution, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, and African-Americans at the start of the twenty-first century.

4.00

Examines the age of the Enlightenment from the 1700s on, leading to and including the decline and fall of ancient regime France to the eruption of the French Revolution, with its various phases and aftermath. Napoleon's rise to power in 1799 and then dramatic fall in 1815 will provide an insightful study of this crucial stage in European history and its influence on the world. Social and intellectual history of the period reflected in literature and the arts is significant in this course. Consideration will be given to the impact of Enlightenment and revolutionary ideals in other parts of the world such as in the American British and French Atlantic colonies.

4.00

Explores the condition of European women from 1800 to 1914. Readings focus primarily on women's experiences in France and Great Britain. Topics include: the effects of industrialization on the lives of working-class women; working and middle-class women's negotiation of marriage, work, and family life; the rise of feminism, women's greater participation in the public sphere, and conservative reaction to these changes in women's place in society; women and crime; Victorian ideas about female sexuality; the politics of class and gender in nineteenth-century European society.

4.00

Examines the changing place of women in European society since 1900. Topics include: women's suffrage and the political advances of the 1920s and 1930s; the revolution in sexual mores, birth control, and the rise of companionate marriage; women and the consumer economy; the anti-woman policies of Fascist Italy and Germany under National Socialism; liberation of women and retrenchment in the Soviet Union; World War II; feminism, sexual liberation, and women's political engagement since the 1960s; and, throughout the twentieth century, women's continuing negotiation of work and family responsibilities.

4.00

This course provides an overview of the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), examining its causes, course, consequences and relevance in 21st Century Spain. It focuses on the end of the monarchy and the Second Spanish Republic; causes of the War; Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin and the War; the International Brigades and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade; battles of the Civil War; Francoism; democracy and the pact of silence; Spain's memory wars.

4.00

Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some are complete disasters. Find out why some Presidents have been consistently ranked as great, been enshrined on Mount Rushmore, and why others have not. Even the greatest have been subject to criticism and ridicule, and even the worst have had their triumphs. Explore the reasons for this, and come to understand the historical context in which different chief executives have acted.

4.00

The life and times of Alexander Hamilton--soldier, politician, financier, husband, father, philanderer, writer--through primary documents and biographical materials. We will uncover the world of the American founding and discover how we know what we know about the world that once was.

4.00

Explores the history of the United States from 1810 to 1910. Students study the growth of American institutions, the rise and effects of a market society, westward expansion and Indian affairs, the enlivening of U.S. civic ideals, debates over free labor and slavery, the causes and effects of the Civil War, post-Civil War redefinitions of citizenship, immigration, Progressivism, and the nation's entry on to the world stage.

4.00

Surveys the history of the U.S. as a world power. Examines officials' motives and methods, as well as influences on policy in the form of social and economic forces, interest groups, and foreign challenges. Explores public debates over America's role (as well as debates among historians and international relations theorists), and discusses the domestic and foreign impact of America's world role. Major events addressed include the two world wars, the Cold War, Vietnam, and the U.S. recent history of involvement in the Middle East.

4.00

From the ancient cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people to the iconic nineteenth-century street grid of Manhattan, Americans throughout history have built cities distinguished by architectural creativity. This course explores the design history of the buildings and landscapes of America's early cities, from the pre-contact period through the 1850s. Each week students will study a different early-American city to learn about the environmental, architectural, social, and political forces that shaped these places. They will also practice the techniques used by historians, preservationists, and urban planners to examine the built environment and to find traces of this history in today's cities.

CAS Honors students only.

4.00

From the ancient cliff dwellings of the Pueblo people to the iconic nineteenth-century street grid of Manhattan, Americans throughout history have built cities distinguished by architectural creativity. This course explores the design history of the buildings and landscapes of America's early cities, from the pre-contact period through the 1850s. Each week students will study a different early-American city to learn about the environmental, architectural, social, and political forces that shaped these places. They will also practice the techniques used by historians, preservationists, and urban planners to examine the built environment and to find traces of this history in today's cities. This is an Honors-level course.

4.00

This course offers an introduction to the Golden Age of Roman culture and power. Close readings of selections from major historians, poets, political thinkers, and philosophers will be examined in the context of Augustan Rome. Topics such as pietas, virtus, and gravitas, as well as the competing claims of public duty and private devotion, stoic maxim and erotic love lyric, will be discussed from the perspectives of writers such as Virgil, Livy, Tacitus, Horace, Catullus, and Lucretius. Cross-listed with ENG 490.

4.00

Explores the key concepts and current practices of public history as an academic discipline and professional field in museums, libraries, archives, historical societies, historic houses, and preservation organizations. Examines the presentation and interpretation of history to popular audiences through documentaries, motion pictures, Web sites, and other forms of media. Topics covered will include curation, conservation, fundraising, educational and interpretive programming. Students will gain practical experience by participating in substantive, directed projects with partnering organizations.

4.00

Explores the intellectual and cultural developments of the Renaissance, and of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in their social and political contexts. Topics include: Humanism, the rise of the city-state; art, and science; changes in family and social life; the causes of the Reformation (intellectual, social, technological); Calvinists, Lutherans, and Radical Reformers; Counter-Reformation and its political consequences; the Wars of Religion.

4.00

Explores the political, economic, social and cultural development of the urban experience in Europe in the 14-1700s. The history of the most important cities of the continent and Mediterranean, and their common path in business, urbanism, society and imperialism.

4.00

Using music as a window this class explores the history of Black America as well as the history of all America. Through a combination of texts, videos, and recordings this class examines the music of Black America, from it's African roots to hip hop in the 21st century. This will be done in the context and communities in which black music was created and performed, and also in relationship to the wider world.

4.00

Presents a coherent account of the origin and history of Islam since its foundation in Arabia in the seventh century A.D. to the present. Analyzes the terms, events, characteristics, developments, movements, and institutions that have been part of the shaping of Islam. Ideological challenges and impact of Islam in the world today from both spiritual and political perspectives are examined.

4.00

Addresses social, intellectual, and cultural developments as well as politics and economics; foreign relations (and their connection to the domestic scene) are also discussed. Topics include: the labor movement, civil rights, woman suffrage, progressivism, the rise of the U.S. as a world power, the First World War, the cultural and social crosscurrents of the nineteen-twenties, Fordism, new developments in advertising and industrial engineering, the Great Depression, the New Deal, and World War II.

4.00

American history in the decades immediately following World War II. Topics include the origins of the Cold War, McCarthyism, the emergence of a consumer society, the growth of the suburbs, the Civil Rights movement, the new women's movement, Vietnam, and the political upheavals of the 1960s.

4.00

Examines the transformation of America in the decades since the early nineteen-seventies, taking up social, intellectual, and cultural developments as well as politics and economics; foreign relations (and their connection to the domestic scene) are also emphasized. Topics include: Watergate, the aftermath of the Vietnam War, the end of the post-World War II economic boom, the culture wars, the rise of the New Right and decline of the New Deal order, the end of the cold War, America's growing involvement in the Middle East globalization, the impact and aftermath of 9/11, and the Great Recession of the early twenty-first century.

4.00

An introduction to Periclean Athens, the golden age of classical Greek literature and thought. Close readings of selections from the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, the dramatists Aeschylus and Euripides, the poetry of Pindar, and Plato's great work on politics, The Republic. Cross-listed with ENG 316.

4.00

Examines German and European preconditions; the VersaillesTreaty and the failure of the Weimar Republic; Hitler's ideas, collaborators and institutions; Nazi foreign and domestic policy; World War II and the concentration camps.

4.00

Examines politics, culture, and society, with a focus on the power of social inequality, national identity, war, and the politics of violence to shape the 20th-century European experience. Texts will include films, memoirs, novels, political speeches, caricature and other writings, as well as historical scholarship, to explore topics such as: Europe in 1900; World War I; social and economic dislocation in the 1920s and 1930s; modern sexuality and gender relations; the rise of Fascism and National Socialism; World War II and the Holocaust; colonialism, race, and the end of empire; the Cold War; modernization and Americanization since the 1960s; European Union; the collapse of Communism; the Balkan Wars; and since the 1990s, Europe's continuing engagement with the meaning of its past.

4.00

Discusses the rise of China as the world's largest economy and its impact on our life through films, media, and history.

4.00

Explores the history of samurai and its cultural meaning for Japanese society. It examines not only how the samurai class developed into a major political force, but also how it has been represented by literatures and films in different eras.

4.00

Examines the outbreak, course, and the consequences of World War II stressing the global nature of this 20th-century military conflict. Topics will include: the rise of fascist regimes in Germany and Japan; origins and outbreak of the war; key battles in Europe, the Pacific, and Asia; Pearl Harbor; civilian life in Axis and Allied countries; collaboration and resistance in occupied territories; the Holocaust; racial implications of the war in the East as well as Europe; Anglo-American firebombing of Germany; the use of atomic weapons; and the politics of memory.

4.00

Surveys the most transcendental social, cultural, economic and political developments in the history of Spain from the Neolithic to the Early Modern Period. Examines the broad history of the nation and its peoples and placing emphasis on three central themes: diversity within the Iberian Peninsula, the region's social and geo-political structures, and the transformation of the Old Order of the ancient kingdoms into a modern, nation-state. Topics include: the Pre-historical period, Roman Hispania, the Medieval Kingdoms, Islamic Civilization, the Christian Reconquest, the Catholic Monarchy, Imperial Spain under the Habsburgs, and the Crisis of the Spanish Empire in the 17th century.

4.00

Examines the political, economic, and social history of Spain from 1700 to the present. Topics include: the War of Spanish Succession; the Bourbon state; the Enlightenment in Spain; the impact of the French Revolution; Spain in the Napoleonic Wars; the rise of liberalism, socialism, and anarchism; the crisis of 1898; the problems of modernization; the Spanish Civil War and the Franco regime; the transition from dictatorship to democracy; Spain's international position today.

4.00

Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) rose from relative poverty and obscurity to become one of the most powerful and successful men of his century. This course will examine the political, scientific, literary, and diplomatic cultures of the eighteenth century by focusing on Franklin's life, reading Franklin's Autobiography, and selections from his political, scientific, and satirical writings. Concentrations I, II.

4.00

Examines the native people of North America before and after the European conquest. Native Americans' relations with one another and their reactions to the Europeans; European and Native American perceptions of one another; white Indians and noble savages; resistance and assimilation; the United States and Indian removal.

4.00

Topics will include the Plains Indian Wars; ethnological aspects of Indian tribes; the pitfalls of Indian reform movements; Indian resistance to U.S. assimilation and reservation policies; the Indian New Deal; activism and the American Indian Movement; Indians' future prospects. Cultural Diversity A

4.00

Explores the historical reality of pirates and piracy, focusing on the Golden Age years of 1650 to 1730, reasons why men (and some women) turned pirate, and why there has existed a continuing fascination with pirates for centuries. Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between pirates and New England. Students will read primary sources and accounts, secondary sources, and fictional presentations - both books and films - to better understand piracy, why it happened, and why it continues to fascinate.

Restricted to CAS Honors Students Only

4.00

Explores the historical reality of pirates and piracy, focusing on the Golden Age years of 1650 to 1730, reasons why men (and some women) turned pirate, and why there has existed a continuing fascination with pirates for centuries. Particular emphasis is placed on the interaction between pirates and New England. Students will read primary sources and accounts, secondary sources, and fictional presentations - both books and films - to better understand piracy, why it happened, and why it continues to fascinate.

4.00

Surveys the world of archives, differing types of manuscript collections, the ideas and values that inform archival practice, and the ways that archives shape our understanding of the past. Hands-on instruction will acquaint students with collection selection, appraisal, acquisition, arrangement and description, reference services and access, preservation and protection, outreach, advocacy, promotion, management, and professional ethical and legal responsibilities.

4.00

Explores American history through material objects - from colonial silver teapots to 1960s lava lamps. Students will investigate an object's purpose, how it was made and who made it, and interpret the object's cultural meanings for American history. Topics covered will include the decorative arts, vernacular architecture, archaeology, industrial design, ethnicity and gender, visual culture, and landscapes. Lectures and discussions will be complemented with visits to museums, historic houses, and other sites. Students will learn how to research and write about material cultures, placing objects or spaces in their historical context.

4.00

Traces the roles, images and experiences of women in America from colonial times to 1865. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism legal status, labor activism and popular culture. With attention to ethnicity, race, class, age, region of residence, disability and sexual orientation, the course focuses primarily on the everyday lives of ordinary women.

4.00

Examines the social and cultural history of women in the United States from the close of the Civil War to the present. Using not only gender but also race, ethnicity, class, age, disability, region of residence, and sexual orientation as important categories of analysis, this course focuses on women's private and public lives. Topics include the family, work, religion, education, health care, private lives, motherhood, sexuality, social and political activism, legal status, labor activism, and popular culture.

4.00

Though the American colonies could claim victory in the Revolution, the war's end did not guarantee a unified national identity. People struggled to reconcile the promise of Revolution with the realities of daily life and politics in the new republic. This class explores the various voices competing to be heard on the national and international stage, from the political leaders who drafted founding documents, to the women who learned to "stand and speak" despite repeated demands for their silence. We will encounter stories of African-American men and women who called attention to the Revolution's unfulfilled commitment to freedom, and we will examine the struggles of the thousands of displaced Native peoples whose efforts for coexistence were marred by conflict and violence inflicted by an expansionist republic. We will also discuss the techniques and practices that historians of many stripes (educators, curators, preservationists, podcasters, journalists, etc.) use to tell these stories to an array of audiences today.

4.00

Examines the role of inequality in European society since 1750, with a focus on the effects of political, economic, and social change over the course of the nineteenth century. Before 1800, hierarchy was seen largely as a positive and appropriate aspect of European society - natural, and even reassuring. Starting with the French Revolution in 1789, inequality was increasing criticized, but new (and old) hierarchical structures were reinforced by the new industrial realities. How did attitudes of the increasingly powerful middle class - about social class, race, gender, and even sexuality - shape European society, promoting some forms of equality but not others? While this course focuses on Europe before 1914, we will also be reading and thinking about how inequality and hierarchy shapes our lives in the U.S. today, in the 21st century.

4.00

Explores the founding and settlement of North America; the social, economic, and political development of European colonies and their interactions with Native People; the social religious, and cultural world of early America; witchcraft, slavery, and warfare; the British-French struggle for control of the North American continent; and the background and causes of the American Revolution.

4.00

Analyzes of the background, progress and results of the American Revolution. Emphasis on military aspects of the War for Independence, and on post-war efforts to establish a workable American government; to secure a union and not restrict individual liberty.

One History course

4.00

Boston from its foundation in 1630 to its development as a 21st century metropolis. From the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to cradle of the American Revolution, to a Yankee merchant capital, Brahmin cultural center,and immigrant melting pot. When offered in the hybrid format, this course will meet at the regularly-scheduled time, but lectures and other course materials will be available on the course Blackboard site in case you cannot attend.

4

Examines the global dispersion of African people outside of the African continent. The history and culture of African descendant people and their communities in the Americas, Europe, and Asia will be included.

4.00

Explores the social and political development of European society between the two world wars, primarily through the literature, art, and films of the period. Topics include: the dissolution of pre-1914 middle class society; deviance and sexuality in the 1920s; the role of decadence in art and the Fascist response to deviance in life and art; women, workers, and the new technology; the rise of Fascism; political engagement and polarization throughout European society in the face of economic and social crisis.

4.00

Of the estimated 5,575 statues depicting historic figures in the United States, only 559 of them commemorate women, and this disparity is echoed around the world. What are we to make of the gap between the historical "monumental woman" and the physical structures that celebrate them? This class examines global efforts to memorialize important women through monuments, museums, and other public spaces. It will focus on how acts of memorialization produce public and collective memories about the past, and how these bring up issues of patriarchy, subjugation, inclusivity, and representation. We will explore the contradictions between women's empowerment and historical exploitation, expressed in things like pussy hats and other feminist gear, in artistic representations of the female form, in exploration of cultural difference, and in grass-roots and official forms of activism.

CAS Honors students only.

4.00

Of the estimated 5,575 statues depicting historic figures in the United States, only 559 of them commemorate women, and this disparity is echoed around the world. What are we to make of the gap between the historical "monumental woman" and the physical structures that celebrate them? This class examines global efforts to memorialize important women through monuments, museums, and other public spaces. It will focus on how acts of memorialization produce public and collective memories about the past, and how these bring up issues of patriarchy, subjugation, inclusivity, and representation. We will explore the contradictions between women's empowerment and historical exploitation, expressed in things like pussy hats and other feminist gear, in artistic representations of the female form, in exploration of cultural difference, and in grass-roots and official forms of activism.

4.00

Introduces students to the Reconstruction era in American history, and uses Reconstruction as a bridge to look at enslavement, which preceded the era, and the issue of freedom during, and after the era. In the first half of the class students read from texts that will provide them with an understanding of slavery, emancipation and reconstruction. The second half of the class will utilize on-line collections of the Freedman's Bureau Papers to allow students to use documents to deepen their understanding of the Reconstruction era. The class will also provide a comparative approach by considering questions of citizenship in the 19th century for people of African descent in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. This course is identical to BLKST 469.

4.00

Investigates how Americans have understood and responded to health, illness, and death from the eighteenth century to the present. Examine interactions among patients, healers (orthodox and heterodox), the medical and scientific professions, business, and government. Explore the effects of scientific and technological advancements, industrialization, urbanization, immigration, war, and social movements on the nation's moral and political economies of health, and on evolving ideas about bodily integrity and autonomy, linked to historical relations of gender, race, class, and sexuality.

4.00

Explores ideas about emotional life from the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology as well as the evolution of emotion rules and prescriptions, focusing on western Europe and the United States since 1700. In the eighteenth century, emotions were seen as a positive influence on politics and public life, especially during the French Revolution. After the fall of Robespierre, the emotions were banished to the private sphere - so we will read both primary sources and recent scholarship on 19th- and 20th- century ideas about masculinity and femininity, romantic love and marriage, childrearing, and about what parents and children are supposed feel toward each other, how ideas about these subjects have changed over time, and whether our feelings change with them.

4.00

Explores German history since 1945 through film, newsreels and other archival footage, war memorials and museums, novels, published diaries, memoirs, and recent historical scholarship. Topics include the representation, in film and other texts, of: post-war rebuilding; the German Economic Miracle; divided Berlin; 1960s and 70s radical politics; coming to terms since 1945, with Germany's Nazi past and the Holocaust; coming to terms since 1990 with the Stasi and East German past; "Ostalgie" (nostalgia in the 21st century for some aspects of East German socialism); the multi-cultural society that is Germany today, with new Turkish, Greek, Russian, Arab, and even Israeli communities.

4.00

Examines the impact of organized reform movements on American history from the 1800s to the twenty first century. In each era presented, students will explore the various dynamics that impact reform.

An Independent Study form must be submitted to the CAS Dean's Office.

1.00- 4.00

By special arrangement, members of the History department will schedule seminars or individual discussion sessions with students interested in directed reading and research. Open to Juniors and Seniors with the permission of the instructor.

An Independent Study form must be submitted to the CAS Dean's Office. Junior status or above required.

1.00- 4.00

By special arrangement, members of the History department will schedule seminars or individual discussion sessions with students interested in directed reading and research. Open to Juniors and Seniors with the permission of the instructor.

Permission of instructor required.

1.00- 4.00

Requires approximately 14-15 hours of work per week in a history-related position, at a museum, historical society, or archive. Designed to introduce the student to the professional opportunities and responsibilities in the fields of public history or historic preservation. Interested students should consult the Internship Director, Professor Kathryn Lasdow,in advance. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor is required.

HST-200 and Instructor Permission

4.00

The Capstone Project is an opportunity for non-honors History majors to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have gained throughout their studies in History, including their internships. Students will undertake independent research that yields a well-designed product. These may include a research paper of no less than 20 pages, digital products such as an online exhibit, an oral history project, a walking tour of historic sites, lesson plans for use in middle-school or high school classrooms, etc. Students should consult with the course faculty to design a clear, explicit plan for project completion. Prerequisite: completion of HST 200 Gateway to the Past: the Historian's Craft before starting the Capstone Project.

Restricted to History majors who are CAS Honors students or other History majors with a 3.5 overall grade point average, and a 3.7 grade point average in History courses, admitted by application to the department by the end of the junior year.

1.00- 4.00

An individual program of reading, research, and writing on an approved topic, under the supervision of a full-time History faculty member. The completed thesis will be at least 20-25 pages reflecting original research. The qualifying student must have a 3.5 overall grade point average, and a 3.7 grade point average in History classes, must be recommended by two History faculty members, and must submit a writing sample of at least 5 pages to the Department chair by the end of their junior year. Normally taken for one credit in the Fall and three credits in Spring of the senior year.