We live in the age of the "History Wars." Debates over the meaning of the past roil our contemporary politics and culture. Most of the fights, however, are based upon a misguided notion of history, one that believes the lessons of the past are clear, their conflicts revolved, and their meanings fixed and static. History, in this view, belongs solely to the past, and stays there. This course rejects that premise. 

The past is always with us, carried forward, called upon, coopted and reinvented in the present, for good and bad. In putting contemporary events into a historical perspective, “Ripped from the Headlines” aims to show how history continues to make the world all around us. Over the course of the semester, seven University of Rochester history professors will serve as tour guides in a history of the present. Over seven, two-class units, these specialists will deliver a lecture on a current event that is paired with a historical reading, podcast, or video to be discussed the following week. Students will not only gain an appreciation for deep historical context but will also receive an introduction to the work of professional historians.

Location

Hylan Building Room 203 (W 11:50AM - 12:40PM)

In this course we will survey the unique military, political, and economic history of ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the death of Alexander the Great. In addition, and more unusually, we will look at ancient Greece's rich cultural and social history.

Location

Dewey Room 2110E (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

We begin this course with an examination of Kievan Rus, which many different societies, including Russian, Ukrainian and Polish have viewed as their point of origin. We then discuss the period of Mongol rule in Russia (1200s and 1300s), the rise of the city of Moscow to a dominant position among the Russian principalities, and Muscovite society, politics, and economics in the 1500s and 1600s. We will examine the origins of Russian serfdom and Russian autocracy and Muscovite relations with other societies, including England, Poland and the Ottoman Empire. Other themes will include the role of witches in Muscovite society, everyday peasant life, and gender dynamics. About one half of class time will be lecture and most of the rest will be discussion of primary sources.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Students will follow current events in Russia through the internet, newspapers, magazines, and other sources (including satellite broadcasts when available). Along with a general attention to current events, each student will follow a particular area of interest (e.g. national identity, the market economy, politics, health issues, crime, culture, foreign policy) throughout the term, do background work on this topic and write it up towards the end of the term. Students who read Russian will be encouraged to use available sources in that language. This course is designed to (1) familiarize students with the most important issues facing Russia today and the historical/political/cultural context in which to place them; (2) to acquaint students with a variety of resources from the US, Russia, and a number of other countries and the different perspectives these sources may give on one and the same issue. Students write two short essays and one longer research paper.

Location

Lattimore Room 401 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

The first of a sequence of two, the course approaches 'The Divine Comedy' both as a poetic masterpiece and as an encyclopedia of medieval culture. Through a close textual analysis of 'Inferno,' and the first half of 'Purgatorio,' students learn how to approach Dantes poetry as a vehicle for thought, an instrument of self-discovery, and a way to understand and affect the historical reality. They also gain a perspective on the Biblical, Christian, and Classical traditions as they intersect with the multiple levels of Dantes concern, ranging from literature to history, from politics to government, from philosophy to theology. A visual component, including illustrations of the 'Comedy' and multiple artworks pertinent to the narrative, complements the course. Class format includes lectures, discussion, and a weekly recitation session. Intensive class participation is encouraged. Dante I can be taken independently from Dante II. No prerequisites. Freshmen are welcome. Part of the Dante Humanities Cluster.

Location

Gavett Hall Room 310 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course surveys the history of China from the late-nineteenth century to the twenty-first century. From the May Fourth Movement to the Cultural Revolution, Chinese society and culture underwent significant transformation as it was incorporated into the global capitalist system of nation-states.  By examining its modern experiences, students will analyze a variety of currents that shaped the everyday lives of people who strived to recreate China in their own vision.  The first part of the course examines the domestic and international dynamics that led to the downfall of the Qing imperial dynasty.  The second part focuses on Chinese efforts to establish a modern nation-state through the revolutionary politics of the Nationalist and Communist parties.  The third part examines Chinese society in the framework of communist revolution and the Cold War international system.

Location

Lechase Room 141 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

This class introduces the history of Japan from the late Tokugawa period in the 19th century to the present. How did Japan become a modern nation-state? How did it rise as an imperial power? And what was the political, cultural, and economic impact of modern Japan on the world? In this course, we will read a wide variety of sources that will help us view modern Japan through the vantage point of traditionally marginalized groups, including but not limited to workers, immigrants, women, survivors of the World War II, and ethnic minorities. 

Location

Gavett Hall Room 310 (MW 9:00AM - 10:15AM)

This course examines the complicated relationship between religion and society in China. It takes a sociological approach, emphasizing that religion should be studied as a social phenomena that closely interacts with the development of society at large. The focus is on contemporary times from the end of the 19th century through present. During this period of time, China experienced tremendous change. This course introduces how such change impacted on and was expressed through religion, religiosity, and religious politics.

Location

Hylan Building Room 102 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

Latinos now number more than 60 million people and represent one of the quickest population surges in the history of the American republic. But they include a diverse collection of nationalities and ethnic groups whose variety poses analytical challenges to historians and other scholars. Using a case study approach that will emphasize primary sources and monographs, we will analyze a variety of strategies through which recent historians have interpreted the relationship of Latinos to American society. We will ask whether it makes a difference to understand Latinos as immigrants with unique histories, products of empire resulting from American economic expansion, or sojourners with ongoing ties to Latin America. We will consider national differences between Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. And we will examine how scholars have interpreted the relationship of Latinos to America's other myriad peoples. Our ultimate concern will be to prepare students for further research and writing in the field.

Location

Meliora Room 219 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

This introductory survey focuses on the Spanish and Portuguese conquests and colonization of the region that we now know as Latin America. Contrary to popular belief, the Conquest was constantly negotiated. Indigenous and African rebels, French and Dutch pirates and religious minorities eroded the Iberian hold on this vast territory. Primary source readings are an important component to this class and will introduce you to the writings of Inca nobles, Spanish conquistadors, and free African merchants. As a result, our course focuses on the vibrant societies defined as much by their cultural mixture as by their inherent political, social and economic inequality. The course ends with a brief glimpse at the Latin American independence movements. No prior knowledge of Latin American history or Spanish/Portuguese language is necessary for this course.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (MW 11:50AM - 1:05PM)

Goooal! In this introductory course, we will use soccer (alias, calcio, futebol or football) as a lens to study global history, culture, identity, and politics from the nineteenth century to the present. The origins of football are contested, but its trajectory as a cultural export is not. European immigrants first introduced “the beautiful game” to Argentina in 1867, yet at the time soccer was viewed as a bizarre, violent, and foreign fad in South America and most of the world. This course will trace football’s trajectory through European, Latin American, and African societies and study how it has been used to fabricate national, regional and barrio identities, promote multi-racial societies (or not), and entertain the masses. We will also examine the sport’s role among immigrant populations in the United States and its complicated relationship with the FIFA World Cup, television, marketing, women’s history, and workers’ movements. For their final project, students will develop a research project on a topic of their choice.

Location

Dewey Room 2110E (MW 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This introductory course uses film and the film industry to understand several trends and elements central to Latin American society and culture in the twentieth century. Students will engage the tension of film's role in teaching history, and telling untold stories, alongside the medium's limitations. The class will be structured around five main themes: Latin America and the United States; Class, Race and Gender; Revolution and Repression; Underdevelopment and Informality; and (Im)migration. By the end of the course, students will have a strong introduction to modern Latin American history.

Location

Morey Room 504 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course will present an introductory survey of the history of African American life from the early-seventeenth century through the mid-nineteenth century. The course will focus largely on African American history in North America and the United States, but we will consider this history in the broader context of Black diasporic and Atlantic world history during this time. The history of the transatlantic slave trade and the development of slavery in the United States will be key to this course, but we will pay particular attention to considering how Black diasporic peoples attempted to determine and define their own lives in the context of American slavery. Examining the fundamental, ever-changing struggle between these two phenomena—American slavery and Black self-determination—will constitute the key focus of the course. Other key focuses of the course will include: histories of Black revolt in North America; Black cultural and intellectual life; the historical relationship between African American history and the development of the US nation-state; the relationship between slavery and Atlantic-world capitalism; and the history of abolition movements in the United States.

Location

Morey Room 501 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course is an introduction to Jewish religion and culture from ancient to modern times. Designed for students with little or no prior knowledge of Judaism, it will examine the formation, ruptures, and changes of Jewish tradition, identity, and culture beginning with the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), continuing through Rabbinic interpretations of law and lore, medieval Jewish thought, early modern Jewish mysticism, the Enlightenment and modern Jewish philosophy, up to contemporary American Jewish feminism. Because this course explores a large swath of the history of Judaism, its peoples, and ideas in various geographical contexts, we will continually question the claim that there exists a single, static, essential entity called “Judaism.” Paying close attention to changes in Jewish religious and cultural self-understanding and traditions across primary and secondary texts, we will instead investigate the possibility that there were and are multiple “Judaisms” just as there were and are multiple “Jews” living in different cultural, religious, and geographic settings throughout time.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 442 (MW 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course surveys the history of technology and its impacts on agriculture, communication, transportation, housing, health, war and society. Technology has been used to build empires and improve human societies, but also to destroy, enslave, and censor. Today we face limits on technology as well as new and seemingly boundless opportunities for the future. The unifying theme of the course is exploring and understanding the impact of technology on individuals and society.

Location

Goergen Hall Room 108 (MW 6:15PM - 7:30PM)

Description: Framed as a historical introduction to Islamic traditions, this course will explore the political, social, and intellectual histories of Islam as a global tradition from its emergence through the modern period. The goal of the course is to introduce students to the central texts, personalities, events, geographies, institutions, and schools of thought that make up Islamic histories. We will begin by tracing Islam’s political history as it spreads from the Arabian Peninsula and encounters diverse cultures and peoples, before moving on to discuss the development of intellectual sciences and social institutions. In the process of studying Islamic histories, the course will engage several critical issues in the academic study of Islam such as orientalism, authority and writing history, authenticity, and gendered representations of Muslim societies.

Location

Frederick Douglass Room 403 (MW 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

Were children dangerous in the 1800s? If you are interested in the answer, consider enrolling to explore history in a different way. Find out about America’s juvenile underclass and how society reacted to increasing numbers of orphans between 1800 and 1909. Students will engage with historical artifacts like orphan asylum record books, child indenture contracts, letters, and more, as the course is set to utilize resources found in Rare Books and Special Collections. The course also incorporates movie adaptations of nineteenth-century novels to encourage student discussion regarding popular representation of orphans and asylums. The aim of this course is that students not only find answers to larger historical questions, but that they depart with highly applicable research skills that continue to encourage curiosity and creativity. So, roll up your sleeves, and prepare yourself for your journey to become a historian this semester!

Location

Morey Room 205 (TR 4:50PM - 6:05PM)

Throughout time people have revolted against governing bodies and rulers, and the Middle Ages is no exception. In this course, we will use a variety of themes (good governance, heresy, economic stratification, and the daily lives of non-nobles) to contextualize the reasons for and the goals of rebellions such as the Jacquerie in France, the Ciompi Revolt in Florence, and the Peasants’ Revolt in England.

Location

Goergen Hall Room 110 (MWF 11:50AM - 12:40PM)

This First-year seminar introduces students to humanities research and digital media design as we study the life and activities of Frederick Douglass and Antebellum Rochester.  Students will work with primary source material to develop digital exhibits that relate aspects of Douglass's life to the public, mentored by historians, archivists, and digital media experts. As we do "hands-on history" set in Rochester, we will also consider Douglass's legacy and freedom struggles that still persist today.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 416 (TR 3:25PM - 4:40PM)

This course explores the social, cultural, and political history of the world’s first great modern metropolis: London. Like every History 200 seminar, it is designed as an introduction to historical practice--to what professional historians actually do. To that end, we take up a wide variety of primary source materials--textual and visual--to get at the history of London from the medieval to the modern periods. Special emphasis will be on London's emergence as the metropolitan center of the world's greatest empire. The main work of the seminar is an independent research project culminating in a substantial paper on a specific aspect of London's unique and tumultuous history. 

Location

Lechase Room 160 (TR 11:05AM - 12:20PM)

This course will consider some of the ways that scholars—as well as artists and activists—have attempted to address key problems in the study of Black life in the early Americas, and especially the early United States. Namely, how can one begin to tell the story and the legacy of a people whose lives have been so severely distorted and erased by primary historical records—records which were primarily composed by people invested in maintaining and reproducing Black enslavement? And to what extent should one trust those primary documents in telling the story of even the most powerful people and institutions in these societies? The course will be organized around key phenomena and themes in the history of slavery and early-Black Atlantic history, including: the transatlantic slave trade, Black revolts and revolutions, gender and sexuality, slavery and liberalism, the plantation and Atlantic capitalism, and emancipation. We will pay particular attention to how artists, activists, and scholars have informed one another in their approaches to studying these phenomena, and how they have challenged, drawn from, and changed traditional scholarly historical methodology. 

Location

Gavett Hall Room 312 (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course explores the origins and development of the rift between the Global North and Global South since the fifteenth century, with a focus on how ordinary women and men of the Global South reorganized their lives to meet the challenges and opportunities offered by the following developments in the Global North: the crisis in European feudalism, rise of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution, and the “new” imperialism of the late nineteenth century. The final section of the course discusses the worldwide impact of the Chinese and Russian Revolutions of the twentieth century.

Location

Morey Room 501 (MW 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course explores the relationship between changing perceptions of childhood and the development of social policies over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States. It asks questions such as: what is childhood and how is that determined, how and why certain children are allowed to experience a protected time of growth and discovery, while others do not, and how to perceptions of childhood impact social policy, which in turn shape how children and families experience this time in their lives.  Childhood is a social rather than biological category and examining its construction and political uses will be at the core of this seminar. How did race, class, gender, and health inequities impact the experience of children in the past? And how did these experiences compare to idealized visions of what childhood was designed to be, and for whom? How was social welfare policy formed around idealized views of children and how did these impact the actual lives of children and youth? How did developing concepts in the nascent fields of pediatrics and social welfare shape ideals of childhood? How did concerns about child protection, and tensions regarding the public or private responsibility for children’s well-being, shape the formation of social policy? We will attempt to answer these questions through in-depth historical readings and primary source analysis, building on the literature in the history of childhood and youth, which highlights the agency of children as policy actors, but also the challenges of writing a history of the voices and agency of children, although first person accounts were often not documented or preserved. This course will be built on various visions of children: the middle-class 19th century child; the enslaved child; the endangered infant and the focus on infant mortality; the chronically ill child; the gender non-conforming child; the delinquent child and the child in need of protection. Each one of these constructs of a child will be a focus of one to two sessions and will incorporate historical sources and primary source analysis.

Location

Dewey Room 2110D (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This course explores the relationship between changing perceptions of childhood and the development of social policies over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the United States. It asks questions such as: what is childhood and how is that determined, how and why certain children are allowed to experience a protected time of growth and discovery, while others do not, and how to perceptions of childhood impact social policy, which in turn shape how children and families experience this time in their lives.  Childhood is a social rather than biological category and examining its construction and political uses will be at the core of this seminar. How did race, class, gender, and health inequities impact the experience of children in the past? And how did these experiences compare to idealized visions of what childhood was designed to be, and for whom? How was social welfare policy formed around idealized views of children and how did these impact the actual lives of children and youth? How did developing concepts in the nascent fields of pediatrics and social welfare shape ideals of childhood? How did concerns about child protection, and tensions regarding the public or private responsibility for children’s well-being, shape the formation of social policy? We will attempt to answer these questions through in-depth historical readings and primary source analysis, building on the literature in the history of childhood and youth, which highlights the agency of children as policy actors, but also the challenges of writing a history of the voices and agency of children, although first person accounts were often not documented or preserved. This course will be built on various visions of children: the middle-class 19th century child; the enslaved child; the endangered infant and the focus on infant mortality; the chronically ill child; the gender non-conforming child; the delinquent child and the child in need of protection. Each one of these constructs of a child will be a focus of one to two sessions and will incorporate historical sources and primary source analysis.

Location

Dewey Room 2110D (TR 2:00PM - 3:15PM)

This junior seminar offers students the opportunity to research and discuss the operation and consequences of widespread corruption in the global economy and the complex historical processes economic, social, and political which help to explain the phenomenon. To make the seminar a well-focused course, discussion will focus on country-case studies (with about three selected individuals in each country) that help to demonstrate the general pattern of causes and effects. A major issue to consider, among other things, is the role of cut-throat competition among global corporations and the effects of their corrupt activities on the quality of governance.

Location

Online Room 1 (ASE) (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

The peoples of southern Africa’s fifteen states freed themselves from the yoke of European and settler colonialism in different ways. In some countries, Africans pursued, from the time of World War II, a nationalist agenda whose principal objectives were limited to political independence. In other colonies, however, frustrated nationalists became revolutionaries, determined to achieve both political and economic autonomy. With the support of peasants and workers, the radicalized leadership launched guerrilla wars that turned portions of southern Africa into bloody battlefields from the late 1960s to the fall of apartheid in 1994.

Location

Lechase Room 184 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

The peoples of southern Africa’s fifteen states freed themselves from the yoke of European and settler colonialism in different ways. In some countries, Africans pursued, from the time of World War II, a nationalist agenda whose principal objectives were limited to political independence. In other colonies, however, frustrated nationalists became revolutionaries, determined to achieve both political and economic autonomy. With the support of peasants and workers, the radicalized leadership launched guerrilla wars that turned portions of southern Africa into bloody battlefields from the late 1960s to the fall of apartheid in 1994.

Location

Lechase Room 184 (W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

In the context of the global economy, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is blessed with vast mineral resources and agricultural lands able to produce a wide variety of tropical products and foods. The country's large population is made up of talented and highly resourceful individuals, who are quick to respond to economic incentives. Thus, it is hard to understand why the country has one of the lowest per capita incomes in the world and why the country's economy occupies such a lowly position within the global economy. We focus on the historical development of socio-economic/political structures over time to explain why the giant of Africa continues to slumber. Some of the country's central problems, such as ethnic and religious contradictions, are similar in some way to those in the U.S. The solutions attempted by the governments of both countries, such as affirmative action, are also somewhat similar. We will conduct a comparative analysis of contemporary historical issues in the two countries.

Location

Online Room 1 (ASE) (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

Hear UR is a history-oriented podcast that takes on a subject related to the environmental history of Rochester. Over the course of this semester, this class researches, develops, and produces one season of episodes for Hear UR. Students divide into teams of three, where they take on the roles of Producer, Lead Researcher, or Engineer. Together they develop the subject matter of the season and episodes; locate primary sources to interpret; identify a body of secondary literature; draft and re-draft podcast scripts; master the use of microphones, recording studios, and audio editing software; create a website to host each episode, where they post a written article on the same topic, provide primary source images, additional links, and script; finally they organize and execute a public roll out of the season, using social and traditional media platforms, local public radio and television, and University communications.

Location

Hylan Building Room 203 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

Hear UR is a history-oriented podcast that takes on a subject related to the environmental history of Rochester. Over the course of this semester, this class researches, develops, and produces one season of episodes for Hear UR. Students divide into teams of three, where they take on the roles of Producer, Lead Researcher, or Engineer. Together they develop the subject matter of the season and episodes; locate primary sources to interpret; identify a body of secondary literature; draft and re-draft podcast scripts; master the use of microphones, recording studios, and audio editing software; create a website to host each episode, where they post a written article on the same topic, provide primary source images, additional links, and script; finally they organize and execute a public roll out of the season, using social and traditional media platforms, local public radio and television, and University communications.

Location

Hylan Building Room 203 (MW 10:25AM - 11:40AM)

“Be a man” or “He acted like a real man” – we hear these and similar phrases around us all the time, but what does it mean “to be a real man”? How do we define what masculinity is? Does our definition of masculinity differ from, say, the medieval or Victorian? If so, then how and why? Using primary and secondary sources, as well as film and other media, this seminar explores the historical development of the modern concept of masculinity, the strategies that are used to learn to be “men” (such as sports), and how modern ideas about masculinity affect gender relationships in general as well as men’s mental and physical health.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course explores life in colonial America and the sweeping political, cultural, social changes that occurred during lifetime of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). An internationally famous publisher, author, inventor, scientist, revolutionary, diplomat,  statesman, and quintessential "self-made man," Franklin is both the most distinguished and yet the most accessible of the Founding Fathers. His life sheds light on a wide range of topics that we will explore through readings, discussions and research. Students will research a specific chosen topic of interest related to Franklin's broad international world and develop this into an original primary source-based paper.

Location

Morey Room 501 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This course explores life in colonial America and the sweeping political, cultural, social changes that occurred during lifetime of Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). An internationally famous publisher, author, inventor, scientist, revolutionary, diplomat,  statesman, and quintessential "self-made man," Franklin is both the most distinguished and yet the most accessible of the Founding Fathers. His life sheds light on a wide range of topics that we will explore through readings, discussions and research. Students will research a specific chosen topic of interest related to Franklin's broad international world and develop this into an original primary source-based paper.

Location

Morey Room 501 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

This class centers African American religiosity—examining African religious retentions in America from the 17th century to the present. We will examine religious traditions of African Americans that include Voodoo, Black Hebrew Israelites, Moorish Movement, Five Percenters, Christianity, and the Nation of Islam.  Themes of liberation, humanity, nationhood, love, language, identity, and culture will be explored throughout the semester.

Location

Bausch & Lomb Room 270 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

In this course we will explore the nature and development of Greek and Roman economies, the ways in which these economies intersected with social and political structures, and the strategies of the men and women who lived in them. We will devote considerable attention to issues of methodology: what questions should we ask about ancient economic life, and with what evidence can we answer them? All sources will be read in English translation.

Location

Morey Room 502 (TR 12:30PM - 1:45PM)

There is a common assumption that religion and science are, and have been historically, in fierce conflict with one another. Popular science, the media, and to a certain extent, the history of science, have contributed to the view that religion and science represent antithetical domains of knowledge about or approaches to the world and its inhabitants. This course explores an array of issues, thinkers, and approaches in order to better understand the complexity of the interactions between religion and science, primarily in the modern Euro-American context but with reference to some non-Christian sources. Rather than approach religion and science from the standpoint of theological questions, this course will instead pay close attention to the dynamic histories of the meanings of the concepts religion and science themselves. Topics covered include early modern anatomy, astronomy, physics, Darwinian evolution and its effects, the scientific study of religion, and cognitive theories of religion.

Location

Lechase Room 103 (TR 9:40AM - 10:55AM)

The historical analysis of emotions – anger, fear, love, shame, joy and so on - has blossomed in the past twenty years. Arguing that emotions are at least partially defined culturally (in other words, that they are not universal biological reactions), historians have attempted to determine how past peoples understood and experienced emotions and how these understandings helped to shape historical events and processes. In this course, we’ll read a variety of materials, including theoretical treatises, case studies, and primary sources in order to answer a variety of questions, beginning with: what are emotions and how can they be studied historically? In doing so, we will explore a topic that is central to human experience, but which has received relatively little direct attention until recently.

Location

(W 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

This course will approach the tortured history of the 20th century by way of the life and writings of George Orwell.  Best known for his late dystopian novels 1984 and Animal Farm, Orwell wrote many other memorable books and essays commenting on the signal events of his time.  He experienced first hand (among other things): India, the British Empire, the Depression, the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, post-war austerity and affluence, and the Cold War.  And he wrote about them all with unrivaled clarity and force.  Students will immerse themselves in Orwell's life, work, and times and write a substantial research paper on a relevant topic of their own choice and design.

Location

(T 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Mexico and Brazil are countries with complex cultural, racial and ethnic histories. This advanced seminar will explore the process by which these two countries grappled with their diverse populations during the modern era and how policies and attitudes impacted citizens, residents and perceptions. The course will investigate the limitations that arose from Mexico’s pursuit of a “cosmic race” and how the myth of Brazil’s “racial democracy” was created and dispelled. We will use more modern Black migrations to these countries, for example Haitian communities in the twenty-first century, to debate the durability of these constructions and the limitations that arise from cross-country comparisons. The course will also challenge students to think theoretically regarding the salience of racial binaries. In addition to thought-provoking scholarly studies, students will read translated discourses from leading Mexican and Brazilian intellectuals and will generate their own final research papers.

Location

Meliora Room 218 (R 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

What ideas, values, and anxieties found expression in the United States during the twentieth century? This seminar will pursue that question by exploring fiction, social commentary, the visual arts, and music in relation to such developments as the conduct and aftermath of war; the emergence of modern consumer culture; changing gender roles; economic hardship and affluence; and technological innovation. Reading will emphasize primary sources. Students will write a research paper reflecting their particular interests.

Location

Rush Rhees Library Room 416 (M 2:00PM - 4:40PM)

Through intensive reading and discussion, we examine the politics and history of American cities. While we read scholarship drawing on the experiences of an array of cities--including Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New Haven, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Charlotte--our emphasis is on commonalities in the urban experience as well as on systematic differences. We analyze the relationship of cities to their hinterlands in the early stages of urban development, the rise of ethnic neighborhoods, suburbanization, industrialization, de-industrialization, housing and jobs, concentrated poverty, and population changes. Race, ethnicity, and class are central to this course, not only in understanding changes in neighborhoods but also in the nature of politics and governmental arrangements.

Location

Harkness Room 329 (T 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

Through intensive reading and discussion, we examine the politics and history of American cities. While we read scholarship drawing on the experiences of an array of cities--including Chicago, New York, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New Haven, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Charlotte--our emphasis is on commonalities in the urban experience as well as on systematic differences. We analyze the relationship of cities to their hinterlands in the early stages of urban development, the rise of ethnic neighborhoods, suburbanization, industrialization, de-industrialization, housing and jobs, concentrated poverty, and population changes. Race, ethnicity, and class are central to this course, not only in understanding changes in neighborhoods but also in the nature of politics and governmental arrangements.

Location

Harkness Room 329 (T 12:30PM - 3:15PM)

This Fall semester course (4.0 credits) is reserved for History seniors whose Honors proposal has been approved. (Approval process takes place during spring semester of junior year.) In HIST 389H students conduct independent Honors research under the supervision of their faculty advisor.  Students who successfully complete 389H will enroll in HIST 399H (2.0 credits with the Honors director) in the spring and continue their Honors research in HIST 393H (4.0 credits with their advisor). Students who have not demonstrated enough progress in HIST 389H will not advance to the spring sequence of Honors and will receive HIST 391W credit instead. ​

This Fall semester course (4.0 credits) is reserved for History seniors whose Honors proposal has been approved. (Approval process takes place during spring semester of junior year.) In HIST 389H students conduct independent Honors research under the supervision of their faculty advisor.  Students who successfully complete 389H will enroll in HIST 399H (2.0 credits with the Honors director) in the spring and continue their Honors research in HIST 393H (4.0 credits with their advisor). Students who have not demonstrated enough progress in HIST 389H will not advance to the spring sequence of Honors and will receive HIST 391W credit instead.

This Fall semester course (4.0 credits) is reserved for History seniors whose Honors proposal has been approved. (Approval process takes place during spring semester of junior year.) In HIST 389H students conduct independent Honors research under the supervision of their faculty advisor.  Students who successfully complete 389H will enroll in HIST 399H (2.0 credits with the Honors director) in the spring and continue their Honors research in HIST 393H (4.0 credits with their advisor). Students who have not demonstrated enough progress in HIST 389H will not advance to the spring sequence of Honors and will receive HIST 391W credit instead. ​

This Fall semester course (4.0 credits) is reserved for History seniors whose Honors proposal has been approved. (Approval process takes place during spring semester of junior year.) In HIST 389H students conduct independent Honors research under the supervision of their faculty advisor.  Students who successfully complete 389H will enroll in HIST 399H (2.0 credits with the Honors director) in the spring and continue their Honors research in HIST 393H (4.0 credits with their advisor). Students who have not demonstrated enough progress in HIST 389H will not advance to the spring sequence of Honors and will receive HIST 391W credit instead. ​

This Fall semester course (4.0 credits) is reserved for History seniors whose Honors proposal has been approved. (Approval process takes place during spring semester of junior year.) In HIST 389H students conduct independent Honors research under the supervision of their faculty advisor.  Students who successfully complete 389H will enroll in HIST 399H (2.0 credits with the Honors director) in the spring and continue their Honors research in HIST 393H (4.0 credits with their advisor). Students who have not demonstrated enough progress in HIST 389H will not advance to the spring sequence of Honors and will receive HIST 391W credit instead. ​

Individual instruction in the teaching of history under the supervision of a faculty member.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Designed for junior and senior students who wish to pursue an independent reading program with a professor; required for honors program participants. Upper-level writing credit awarded if students prepare and revise an extended essay.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Experience in an applied setting supervised on site. Approved and overseen by a University instructor.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.

Registration for Independent Study courses needs to be completed thru the instructions for online independent study registration.