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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
The course introduces students to the history of pre-colonial Africa and the global connections which different African societies sustained over centuries before colonization. By foregrounding local forms of technological innovation, empire building and international trade, the course invites students to explore contemporary representations of Africa which either portray pre-colonial Africa as unchanging or as disconnected from the rest of the world prior to the arrival of Europeans. The course also challenges students to consider what Africa means to them and what has shaped their perceptions of Africa. By exposing students to multiple perspectives and different forms of accounting for the past through the use novels, archival material, music, documentaries and journal articles, this course enables students to engage with Africa’s past in dynamic ways. Additionally, the course introduces students to the technical aspects of historical methods and writing. [GM1, SS, W]
The course examines concepts of health and healing in multiple cultural and social contexts in African societies from the ‘Pre-colonial’ period to contemporary times. Students will be exposed to a variety of medical knowledge systems and healing practices used by different communities across the continent and examine them on their own terms. The course will track how local conceptions of health and treatment change over time in response to shifting political and economic pressures brought about by ‘modernity,’ colonialism and nationalism. [SS]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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?
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
The course takes the position that football (soccer) is more than just a game, and invites students to consider and examine the cultural, social and political meanings which societies around the world have attached to the beautiful game. The class situates the global history of soccer in the context of themes which include industrialization, settler colonialism, race, segregation, empire, violence and corruption. As such, the class engages explicit political dimensions of soccer such as Catalan nationalist ambitions in Spain, which are often expressed in the Spanish derby, the El Classico between Barcelona (from the Catalan region) and Real Madrid (from Madrid). The class also explores how soccer became entangled in anti-apartheid and anti-colonial struggles across the African continent. Through class readings, discussions and documentary screenings, students will be expected to examine how dominant ideas about race, belonging, as well as social hierarchies have been negotiated on the field of play. The class foregrounds questions which seek to understand the role of sport in society, interrogating how soccer has not only mirrored society’s prejudices, but has often reproduced them. As such, students will be expected to participate in class discussions which engages with these and other questions. [GM1, SS, W]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
In this course, we will analyze the ways in which religious and ethnic identities related to food seem to blur in urban traditions linked to food production, consumption and tradition. We will consider contextualized social histories of several cities of the premodern and early modern Middle East (Baghdad, Cairo, Constantinople/Istanbul, Aleppo and Jerusalem) through the lens of food history in an attempt to better understand the ways in which people living in those cities experienced the worlds in which they lived. [GM1, GM2, SS, W]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
This course examines the histories of African, Latina/o/x, Indigenous, and Asian Americans from the colonial period to the present, focusing on the use of law as a tool to both enforce and combat racial and ethnic hierarchies and inequality in the U.S. Topics include slavery; Indian removal; evolving status of Puerto Ricans and Mexican Americans; Asian exclusion and internment; segregation; legal construction of whiteness; police violence; mass incarceration; and protests, resistance, and demands for equality. [GM1, SS, V, W]
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, W]
In this course, students will be introduced to the practice of studying medieval history as they approach an understanding of medieval Iberia (Spain) as part of the Islamic Mediterranean while they cultivate a critical approach to the study of the multi-ethnic and multi-religious society of medieval Spain, and explore the modes of coexistence between Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Students will engage in the scholarly debates surrounding the historical constructs of convivencia – crucial to understanding Spain’s past and will use the methods of literary studies, art history, religious studies, and history to explore Spain’s cultural heritage. [GM1, GM2, SS]
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]
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]
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]
This course examines how histories of borderlands and margins, emanating from empires and nation-states, turn them into simultaneous objects of desire and control, as well as colonization and resistance. Through the example of Kashmir—the most militarized zone in the world and disputed between India and Pakistan--we will critically parse through orientalist, nationalist, academic, and popular narratives about such regions. Building upon comparisons with similarly contested sites, the course will center a people’s understanding of history through an exploration of counter-historical narratives, literature, and documentary/film. [GM1, GM2, SS]
In this course we will trace Latin American migration to and within the United States over the course of the 20th Century. We will map the various turning points in the local and federal treatment of immigration to the U.S. and examine the shared and unique experiences of migrant groups from Mexico, the (Spanish-speaking) Caribbean, Central America, and South America. This course explores the complex historical, legal, and political issues that surround the phenomenon of migration. The first of the three main themes of this course, Moving, will provide a historical overview of the push/pull factors that have shaped Latin American migration. In the section on Mapping, we will trace legal and demographic dynamics of Latin American migration over time and place. During the final part of the course, entitled Telling, we will analyze memoirs and Testimonios that speak to diverse immigrant experiences. [H, GM1, GM2, W]
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]
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.
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.
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]
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]
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]
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.
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]