HIST - History

HIST 105 - History of the Modern World

This course surveys modern world history from 1450 to the present. It focuses on global processes and regional particularities throughout the world (including the United States). Each instructor will choose several themes for students to engage with through targeted readings and class discussion in small sections. In addition, there is a weekly ''lab'' in which all students enrolled in the class will engage in large group activities like attending outside lectures or watching selected films.[SS]

HIST 113 - Jacksonian Democracy

This course examines the events and ideas of the Jacksonian era, focusing especially on the period from 1828 to 1845. We consider different explanations for the rise of Jacksonian Democracy and different perspectives on what Jacksonian Democracy meant. The course introduces students to the ways in which historians study and interpret past events. Students learn how historians analyze primary sources and develop their own analytical skills through intensive writing assignments. [SS, W]

HIST 114 - Food Histories in the Americas

What can food tell us about the past? In this writing-intensive history course, we will consider this question by focusing on two main themes: (1) the power dynamics and profit motives surrounding food production and consumption; and (2) the links between food, community, and identity. Like the foods we discuss, our historical analysis will traverse national boundaries with a particular geographic focus on the United States and Latin America. [GM1, GM2, SS, W]

HIST 115 - The Crusades

This course examines the history of the Crusades that dramatically shaped the relationship between Eastern Christianity, Islam and Western Christianity. The ideological, religious, political and economic factors that led to the Crusades will be treated, as well as the ways in which the consequences of the Crusades altered East-West relations. We will carefully study primary sources composed by Western Christian Crusaders, Byzantine (Eastern Christian) authors, Muslim philosophers and many others. [GM1, GM2, SS, W]

HIST 118 - The Cold War

The Cold War was a political contest between the USA and USSR that took on increasingly apocalyptic dimensions as the nuclear age developed. But the war also extended well beyond the political. It also framed discussions about cultures and economies, history and the future, and the nature of civilization. This course allows students to explore various aspects of this conflict through the study of primary sources from around the world and through their own writing. [SS, W]

HIST 119 - Race and Ethnicity in the United States

The story of American history has, in many ways, been the story of white supremacy. The struggles to invent, define, and control race and ethnicity in North America took place over centuries, and transformed governments, labor systems, and even environments. Students will read and debate historical scholarship on topics ranging from Indian empires to slavery, immigration, civil rights, and mass-incarceration. Students will also learn how to research, write, and revise a historical research paper. [GM1, SS, W]

HIST 120 - History in Pictures

This course is an introduction to the interpretation and analysis of visual sources of history. Visual artifacts will be treated as both objects that make arguments and claims, but also as artifacts that preserve evidence and can be used as data. Famous photographs in the history of documentation, such as Crimean War, ''Earth-View'', and the Abu-Ghraib photos will be analyzed as images that ''made history.'' We will also study photographs forensically, to ascertain true facts about the past. We will also mine photographs from magazines, newspapers, online collections and websites such as Flickr to analyze groups of images systematically. [SS, W]

HIST 121 - Partition of the Indian Subcontinent

One of the most violent and disruptive events of the 20th century, the Partition of the Indian subcontinent into the nation-states of India and Pakistan in 1947 continues to play a staggering role in the post-colonial histories of both countries. This course will go into the high politics of the Partition, its human costs, and its continued impact on everyday life through oral history. The course will also examine the impact of Partition in literature and cinema. [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 122 - European Race-Making from Columbus to Abolition

This course explores the development of race and racism in Europe, 1492-1807, by following things as they moved around the world. In this period of increased global contact, explorers, missionaries, consumers, laborers, and enslaved people used material objects to create or challenge racial hierarchies. Students will conduct their own research on the relationship between race and two early modern objects or images and will contribute their findings to an online exhibit. [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 123 - Magic + Miracles: Medieval Religion

Religion was central to nearly every aspect of life in the middle ages, c. 300-1500 AD. Using a range of visual and written evidence, students will explore the diversity of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious cultures in medieval Europe; examine how Christian leaders used religion to create categories of ''self'' and ''other''; and analyze the relationship between religion and other aspects of identity. They will write two research papers and contribute to a podcast. [GM1, SS, W]

HIST 201 - History of Ancient Greece

An investigation of the historical development of the city-states with their social, economic, and political institutions from 800-400 BCE. The course will also assess the Greeks' varied interactions with other peoples, their self-defining conflict with Persia, the rise of competing leagues, and the intellectual revolutions in classical Greece. An inter-disciplinary approach to understanding a world radically different from our own. Emphasis is placed on developing interpretations based on primary source evidence. [H, GM2]

HIST 202 - History of Ancient Rome

An investigation of how Rome grew from a small city-state to become a vast and complex state governing an empire. The course will assess various social, economic, and political institutions and structures while exploring how they fit into Rome's historical development. An inter-disciplinary approach to understanding historical processes in a world radically different from our own. Emphasis is placed on developing interpretations based on primary source evidence. [SS, GM1]

HIST 206 - The Politics and Practice of History

This course trains students in the skills, methods, philosophies, and practices of the discipline of history. Students learn how the practice of history has changed over time, the problems and potential of historical evidence, and the role history plays in forming structures of individual and collective awareness. Strong emphasis is placed on learning key research and analytical skills. Potential history majors should take this course in their sophomore year. Open to majors and non-majors. [SS]

HIST 207 - The Middle East (600-1200): The Islamic Enterprise

This course studies the Middle East from the 7th century through the early thirteenth. The goal of the course is to provide a survey of the political, social, and cultural movements of this region over the course of six hundred years. Questions that frame the course include: How did the political/social culture of Islam develop? What were the reactions to it? How did the expansion of new linguistic and cultural groups into areas of the Middle East affect the region? [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 208 - The Middle East (1200-1700): Arabs, Crusaders, Mongols, Turks and More

This course studies the Middle East from the 13th through the 17th century. The goal of the course is to provide a survey of the political, social, and cultural movements of this region over the course of five hundred years. This course will offer students an opportunity to learn a great deal about Islam, the fall and development of empires, and the importance of urban and social history. [SS]

HIST 209 - The Middle East (1700-2003): Empires, Nations, East'' and ''West''''

This course studies the Middle East from the 18th through early 20th century. The goal of the course is to provide a survey of the political, social and cultural movements of this region over the course of three hundred years. How do we define the Middle East? What role did Europe play in the early modern Middle East? What did ''modernizing'' leaders aim to do in Egypt, Iran and Turkey? What roles has the U.S. played in the Middle East since WWI?

HIST 212 - The Middle East in the Mind of America, America in the Mind of the Middle East

This course covers a century of political and cultural interactions between one country (the United States) and a large, culturally, linguistically, and politically diverse region (the Middle East). The class studies, in particular, the variety of ways in which individuals, institutions and administrations in the United States and the Middle East have perceived of and imagined one another through the lens of academic articles, mainstream press, speeches, literature, personal histories and the visual arts. The course will entail analysis of perceptions and misperceptions as historically construed cultural categories. [SS, GM1, W]

HIST 214 - Africa History: 1800-present

Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, we begin by exploring the impact of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa and move to the establishment of-and resistance to European colonial rule. We look at the impact of the two world wars on Africa as well as the rise in nationalism and movements for independence. In the post-colonial period, we explore Cold War politics in Africa, and address issues including the end of Apartheid South Africa. It is helpful but not necessary for students to have taken HIST 213. [GM2, SS]

HIST 215 - History of Technology

A study of technology from the irrigation cities of the ancient world through militarily financed systems of the late twentieth century. The course stresses the important role played by cultural influences in determining the nature, extent, and direction of technological development. Attention focuses on processes of invention and innovation and their impact on the growth of modern Western civilization. Open to B.A. and B.S. engineering majors without prerequisites. [SS]

HIST 216 - Modern South Africa

This course introduces students to the politics, cultures, and histories of South Africa. Beginning in the seventeenth century, themes in this class include the growth of regional African states, the arrival of European settlers, the mineral revolution of the late nineteenth century, and political activism during the twentieth century, involving such figures as Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela. Course materials will include novels, memoirs, and film, in addition to historical scholarship. [GM1, SS]

HIST 217 - Settler Colonialism in World History

This course addresses settler colonialism in world history from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. Examining case studies from North America, Africa, and Australia, this class focuses on the motivations for European expansion; indigenous response and resistance; and the legacies of settler colonialism today. Both comparisons and connections will be made between these three continents. Overall, students will engage with the role settler colonialism has had in the making of the modern world. [SS, GM2]

HIST 221 - Rome to Renaissance: Medieval Europe

This course explores the history of Europe, c. 300-1500. Students will examine how events such as the decline of the Roman Empire, Viking invasions, and the Black Death changed everyday life, with a focus on the experiences of peasants, women, and religious and ethnic ''others.'' They will analyze a range of primary sources, including memoirs, miracle stories, and tax records; dissect recent scholarly debates; and construct original historical arguments based on medieval texts. [GM1, SS]

HIST 222 - Reformation to Revolution: Early Modern Europe

During the early modern period, c. 1500-1800, European exploration and colonization transformed the ecology of planet Earth and created a new global economy. Religious wars and economic revolutions with Europe, meanwhile, changed the lives of people across the social hierarchy. Through class discussion and two research papers, students will closely analyze a range of primary sources in order to reveal how these developments created or ameliorated inequalities within and outside of Europe. [GM1, GM2, SS]

HIST 225 - From Revolution to European Union: Modern European History

For good and ill, Europe played a major role in shaping the modern world. Why did Europe give birth to human rights and modern democracy, but also dictatorship and genocide? How did Europe come to dominate the global south in the nineteenth century, and lose that dominance in the twentieth? This course explores these paradoxes and others as we trace the social, political, and cultural history of Europe from the French Revolution to the present. [GM2, SS]

HIST 226 - Sex in Modern Europe

This course takes a historical approach to the study of one of the most basic human practices: sex. We will focus on the history of sex and gender (the social organization of sexual difference) in modern Europe. We will trace how particular sexual behaviors have been practiced and/or prohibited, the ways that medical, moral and political authorities attempted to discipline sexuality, and the ways that gender affected political, social, and economic processes across the continent. [GM1, GM2, H, SS, V]

HIST 227 - Race and Migration in Modern Europe

Popular wisdom holds that Europe today faces a migration ''crisis'' that poses unprecedented challenges to European identity and security. In reality, the history of modern Europe has often been a history of human movement, and these movements have shaped what it means to be ''European.'' This course will introduce students to the intersecting historiographies of migration and race in modern Europe. It will also explore topics of empire, surveillance, sexuality, race, and religion. [SS, GM1, GM2]

HIST 231 - Capitalism Takes Command: U.S. History, 1840-1940

This course explores how, from 1840-1940, struggles among North Americans over questions of land, race, gender, labor, and ideology shaped the rise of modern capitalism and democracy in the United States. Topics include: Indian wars and western expansion, slavery and the Civil War, white supremacy and patriarchy, immigration and industrialization, the Progressive Movement, World War I, civil rights and the Ku Klux Klan; the Great Depression; and the New Deal. [GM1, SS]

HIST 232 - American Revolution and Civil War: A Political History

This course examines American political history in two crucial time periods: 1760-1789 and 1850-1880. The course provides students with a broad base of knowledge about the American Revolution and the Civil War, an understanding of how developments during the two eras defined the American political structure, and an awareness of the place of the American Revolution and the Civil War in historical memory. [SS, W]

HIST 235 - From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

Where did Black Lives Matter come from? Students will learn how our current moment was made possible by the successes and defeats of antiracist revolutionaries and the forces of racist counterrevolution from World War II to today. Topics will include Black communities, civil disobedience, ''White flight,'' Black power, policing, mass incarceration, and the Movement for Black lives. Students will also learn how inseparable these struggles have been from the histories of capitalism, empire, and gender. [GM1, SS]

HIST 236 - Recent America: The Great Depression - 2001

American politics from the Age of Roosevelt to the Age of Reagan. Topics include the New Deal; World War II and the home front; Truman and the Fair Deal; McCarthyism; corporate culture of the 1950s; the Civil Rights movement; the Great Society; the politics of protest; the quest for equality; the rise and decline of Reaganism. [SS]

Prerequisite
Sophomore standing or higher

HIST 238 - Global Stimulants: Histories of Coffee, Tea, and Yerba Mate

For more than five hundred years now, the desire for global stimulants has shaped patterns of colonialism, imperialism, labor, and social relations. Adopting a global history approach, this course will center the histories of three stimulating, caffeine-rich beverages-coffee, tea, and yerba mate. Our coursework will include an analysis of relevant secondary scholarship with primary historical source work, and will culminate in student-designed digital collections that feature a global stimulant. [GM2, SS]

HIST 241 - History, Art, and Culture of Russia and Eastern Europe

This course introduces students to the major issues addressed by scholars of Russia and Eastern Europe in a number of different disciplines: history, art, literature, government, economics, religious studies, and music. Each week, we treat a different era of history, reading literature, viewing slides, listening to music, and discussing social and political developments. Students will read the Great Russian writers, examine religious culture and architecture, and learn about life in Russia and Eastern Europe today. [H, SS]

HIST 243 - Imperial Russia

This course surveys 1,000 years of Russian history, from the founding of the first state in Kiev in the 9th century to the end of the Great Reforms in the 19th century. Students read primary documents, recent scholarship, and Russian literature in an effort to understand Russia's old regime. Topics addressed include Russia's position in Asia and Europe, the nature of the autocracy, the impact of serfdom, and attempts to create a public sphere. Lecture/discussion. [GM1, GM2, H, SS]

HIST 244 - Russia from Lenin to Putin

This course surveys Russia's history over the past century.Beginning with the years of war and revolution from 1914-1921, we continue with an appraisal of Stalin and Stalinism, a discussion of the Soviet experience in World War II, and a study of the years of ''mature socialism'' between 1953-1991. The course concludes with an examination of post-Soviet Russia and the nature of life, culture, and politics in Russia today. [GM1, GM2, H, SS]

HIST 245 - Latin America: The Colonial Period

This course examines the colonial era of a region now called Latin America. It will begin with the period preceding the arrival of Christopher Columbus and end with the early nineteenth-century wars of independence. Focusing on the interactions between Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans, we will explore the evolution of a number of multiethnic societies. We will consider how colonialism survived for three hundred years, why the system collapsed, and what legacies it left behind. [GM2, SS]

HIST 246 - Latin America: The National Period

This course examines the history of Latin America from the early nineteenth century until the present by exploring the social, political, cultural, ideological, and economic issues that surrounded the development of modern nation states. We will not attempt the impossible task of ''covering'' all of modern Latin American history. Instead, we will focus on revealing case studies that help us to better understand the historical trends, power dynamics, and regional diversity of the Americas. [GM2, SS]

HIST 248 - East Asia's Last Dynasties: Japan, Korea and China, 1600-1900

A comparative study of institution-building, economic life, and social history in China, Korea and Japan from 1600 to 1900. Themes include: impact of economic growth and urbanization on agrarian societies; the transition from empire to nation-state; and the interactions of China, Japan, Korea and the Western powers on the eve of dynastic collapse. [GM2, SS]

HIST 249 - 20th Century East Asia: Imperialism and Anti-Imperialism in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan

An historical analysis of how East Asia's four major states-China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan-modernized amidst forces of global integration and regional conflict between 1850 and 1945. Instead of ''reacting to the West,'' this course argues that the economies, polities, and national identities these four nations formed with reference to one another, in the context of Japanese imperialism and Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese anti-imperialism. [GM2, SS]

HIST 250 - Japan Goes to War 1895-1945

Japan's War against the United State (1941-1945) was the culmination of fifty years of empire-building in Asia. From the 1890s through the 1940s, Japan attempted to remold Asia as it exploited the labor and resources of its peoples. Concurrently, Japan became a nation of civilians and soldiers ever ready to bear the burdens imposed by permanent war mobilization. This course explores the causes, conduct, and consequences of these wars on the battlefield and home front. [H, GM1, GM2, SS, V]

HIST 251 - Muslim Girls (Run the World): Gender and Popular Culture from Prophetic Tradition to Arab Futurism

This interdisciplinary course takes up topics that are vital for students on college campuses today, including Islam, Islamaphobia, gender, youth, and popular culture. Taking an innovative approach that offers both a long view of Muslimah popular culture from the advent of Islam and a global perspective on the various iterations of gender and sexuality among Muslim communities, this course helps students unlearn common misconceptions and increase tolerance while honing skills in two important disciplines and learning how they speak to each other. [H, SS, GM2, V]

HIST 252 - Transformation of the American Environment

This course examines the relationship of environment (and environmental change) to American history. Topics include the impact of colonial settlement and 19th century industrial expansion on the environment; the effect of transportation technologies on land use; the conflict between environmental protection and conservation as exemplified in the progressive era battle over construction of Hetch Hetchy Dam in Yosemite National Park; and the origins of environmental movement of the 1960-70's. [SS]

HIST 258 - U.S. Constitutional History

This course analyzes the history of the U.S. Constitution from 1787 to the present. We focus primarily on two main topics in constitutional history: (1) federalism, property rights, and economic regulation and (2) civil rights and civil liberties. The main objective of the course is to provide students with a broad understanding of the changing role of the Constitution in American society and the ways in which the Supreme Court's interpretations have been shaped by social, economic, and political developments. Additionally, the course assignments and classroom exercises are designed to help students strengthen their ability to read written texts closely, think logically and analytically, and articulate their ideas clearly and persuasively. [SS]

HIST 261 - Slavery in the Americas

Brought to the Americas as part of the largest forced migration in history, the struggles of the millions of men, women, and children of African descent to live their lives and build new worlds in and against the institution of racial chattel slavery touched every corner of the Atlantic world. Students will explore the political lives of the enslaved, from the rise to the overthrow of plantation slavery, while honing their reading and writing skills. [SS, GM1, GM2, W]

HIST 266 - Modern South Asia

This course provides an overview of the history of modern South Asia from the colonial to the post-colonial period. This course will explore the end of Mughal rule, British colonialism, Indian responses to colonial rule, and the impact of colonialism in the region. We will cover the emergence of Indian nationalism, the Partition of the subcontinent, and the contemporary political dynamics of the three main countries (India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh). Special attention will be given to issues of gender, religion, communalism, and economic underdevelopment. [SS, GM2]

HIST 267 - The Mughal Empire in South Asia

This course covers the history of the Indian subcontinent from the Delhi Sultunate until the rise of British colonialism, a time period that is known for the emergence of Muslim rule in the subcontinent. Significant attention will focus on the Mughal Empire (1526-1858), which was at the time the largest of the Islamic empires in the world. The Mughals were at the crossroads of European colonialism, extensive trade networks, and exchanges across the Islamic world. Proceeding chronologically, we will cover some of the major political, social, religious and cultural developments. Students will be exposed to a set of primary sources written by a diverse array of people. Because the history of this period is deeply contested in the Indian subcontinent today, we will spend time discussing the implications of this history for the present, and how it challenges both colonialist and nationalist views of this period as one of stagnation and tyranny. [SS, GM2]

HIST 276 - Conquest: A History

This course will examine the global history of conquest from ancient times to the present. We will study conquests by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, Mauryans, Chinese, Romans, Mongols, Malinke, Aztecs, Incas, Songhai, Ottomans, Mughals, Spanish, British, Manchus, Asante, Russians, Americans, Japanese, and others throughout history. We will consider why they conquered, what their ideologies and justifications were, how they achieved and maintained their conquests, how the conquests fit with contemporary legal standards, and what the impacts of the conquests were. [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 280 - Internship in History

The department will arrange internships each semester for qualified juniors and seniors with such agencies as Historic Easton, the Canal Museum, Main Street Program - Easton, PA, Historic Bethlehem, etc. Written reports and conferences required. Enrollment limited by availability of acceptable projects.

HIST 290-291 - Independent Study

Qualified students may develop, in consultation with an instructor in the department, a single-semester course directed to a particular theme or topic of historical inquiry, providing practice in historical research and writing.

HIST 310 - Colloquium: Human Rights and Modern War

This is an intensive course focused on the ways that the language and practice of human rights have intersected with the practices and justifications of ''modern war.'' Increasing transnational ties by both states and non-state actors have allowed for the globalization both of rights talk and of the tools and techniques of organized violence. The course will focus both on 20th century genocides and on ''wars on terror'' in the US and Russia. [GM1, GM2, SS, V]

HIST 320 - Colloquium: Islam in the Modern World

The topic of Islam in the Modern World has garnered much scrutiny and debate. This course sheds a historical light on a number of important issues including the role of colonialism in reshaping and restructuring Muslim societies, the responses of Muslim thinkers to the challenges of colonial modernity, and nationalism and decolonization. We will discuss the rise of political Islam as an intellectual, social, and political phenomenon, using particular case studies from a number of regions. Through the work of Muslim thinkers and scholars of Islam, we will engage with contemporary debates on feminism, sexuality, Islamic economics, the Islam state, jihad, Muslims in the West, and the War on Terror. [GM2, W]

HIST 330 - Gender and Sexuality in Medieval Europe

Noble knights and fair ladies loom large in stereotypical depictions of the middle ages, but how did people in medieval Europe (c. 500-1500) really think about and experience gender and sexuality? In this intensive seminar, students will explore ongoing scholarly debates about a range of intersectional identities, including genderbending martyrs, celibate royals, and lesbian peasant women. Students will gain particular expertise in one scholarly field by writing an annotated bibliography, and will contribute to that field by writing a paper in which they analyze related sources from the middle ages. [GM1, SS]

HIST 340 - Advanced Seminar in South African History and Culture

This advanced seminar is designed for students for students who have already taken coursework in South African history or African history. It is expected that students will already have a strong background in the history, politics, and cultures of contemporary South Africa.

Prerequisite
HIST 216 or permission of the instructor

HIST 345 - Colloquium: Histories of Argentina (and its Neighbors)

This course explores the histories of Argentina and its neighbors during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  We will examine the dynamics of daily life and the construction of a sense of national and regional identities inflected with gender, class, racial, and regional markers. We also will discuss the production of historical knowledge—that is, the history of the many histories that have been written about Argentina and its neighbors in the River Plate. [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 350 - France from the Margins: History of Modern France

What does the history of modern France look like when we move away from the story that France has told about itself, as the country of human rights, to focus on its margins? Placing at its center women, slaves, colonial subjects, Jews, immigrants, and Muslims, among other marginalized groups, this course examines how these groups were subjects of French practices of exclusion and intervention, and how they challenged white supremacy, xenophobia, and sexism.  [SS, GM1, GM2, W]

Prerequisite
HIST 105 or HIST 206, or permission of instructor

HIST 354 - Seminar: 1968 - Year of Global Rebellion

1968 was a tumultuous year around the world. The Tet Offensive in Vietnam, the Prague Spring, the assassination of MLK, the Biafran War in Nigeria, the Olympic Games in Mexico City, and other events occupied the attention of global citizens increasingly connected by international social movements and satellite technology. Students will discuss these developments and write a substantial paper based on original primary source research that puts local events within a global framework. [GM2, SS, W]

Prerequisite
HIST 105 or HIST 206 or permission of instructor

HIST 355 - Global South Asia: Empire, Migration and Diaspora

This course examines how the region of South Asia has broadly interacted with, shaped, and been shaped by other parts of the modern world, and asks: How can we rethink and expand the history of regions in global history? It focuses on interregional and transnational connections through a focus on empire, oceans, race, slavery, labor flows, religious and intellectual exchange, migration, citizenship, decolonization and diaspora. This course explores the histories of South Asian diaspora communities in the Caribbean, East and South Africa, the Pacific, the United Kingdom and North America. Students will also research and write a primary-source based historical research paper. [GM2, SS, W]

HIST 359 - Abolitionist and Civil Rights Movements in Early American History

In this seminar, we will examine the strategies, tactics, and rhetoric used by early American activists who sought to abolish slavery, eliminate racial discrimination in criminal law and process, establish legal protections against racial violence, and obtain fundamental rights for African Americans. Assigned readings early in the semester will provide a broad foundation of knowledge about the topic from the perspectives of social, political, legal, religious, cultural, literary, and media history. The rest of the course will be devoted to researching and writing a substantial research paper. The assignments are designed to help you deepen your knowledge of early American history, learn about the history of movements for social change, improve your ability to read critically and think historically, acquire expertise in analyzing primary sources, and strengthen your research and writing skills. [SS, V, W]

HIST 365 - American Technological Development

The growth of American technology is examined from the Colonial era through the twentieth century. Topics include the proliferation of arms in the 17th century New England; the factory as system and community; interchangeable parts and the role of the military in technological development; the origins of ''Fordist'' mass production and the assembly line; issues of safety and government regulation of technology; and the business of early 20th century hydraulic design. [SS, W]

Prerequisite
HIST 215 or HIST 252, or permission of instructor

HIST 368 - Seminar in Latin American History

This seminar provides advanced students with an opportunity to conduct research on a subject of their choosing related to the specific theme of the course. In addition to reading and discussing secondary scholarship, students will routinely report the results for their research to the seminar and write a substantial seminar paper based primarily on their analysis of primary sources. Students with appropriate language skills are particularly encouraged to work with sources in their original languages. [GM2, SS, W]

Prerequisite
HIST 206 or permission of instructor

HIST 371 - Seminar: Native American History

Humans had been transforming the Americas and themselves for over 500 generations before Columbus ''discovered'' the New World. This course takes a long view of North American history by placing native people at its center. Students will read, research, and write about: native histories before European contact; how people of Indian, European, and African descent came together to create new, often violent worlds; and how native people have been written out of U.S. history. [SS, GM1, W]

HIST 373 - The Early Ottoman Empire: People(s), State and Society

This seminar offers an inter-disciplinary approach to the study of the rise and establishment of the early Ottoman Empire. Covering the rise of the early Ottoman state from the perspective of the mechanisms by which a small frontier principality became a world empire, it focuses intimately on the first centuries of the Ottoman enterprise such that a deeper understanding of the way in which empire is built can be understood. This course will examine the ways in which the Ottoman state centralized its resources and the populations it conquered. Using a wide array of primary sources, this course will also encourage students to engage with texts in order to encourage students to actively participate in the conversation on the rise and establishment of the Ottoman Empire. [GM1, GM2, SS, W]

Prerequisite
HIST 105, HIST 206

HIST 375 - Seminar in African History

Each year this course addresses a major topic in African History. The course may examine a particular time period in depth or it may focus on a theme in African history. In this seminar, students will read and discuss historical literature on the chosen topic, and they will write a research paper based on extensive use of primary sources. [W]

Prerequisite
HIST 214 or permission of instructor

HIST 495-496 - Thesis

Guided by a member of the staff, the student writes a thesis in a specialized field. If at the end of the first semester the student's project appears to have honors potential, the student may apply to pursue graduation with honors. Upon satisfactory completion of the essay, the student takes an oral examination on the thesis and its historical field. Signature of Department Head or Instructor required. [One W credit only upon completion of both 495 and 496]