Fall 2026 Courses
Welcome to the fall 2026 semester! This is a great moment to plan and declare your History major, minor, or cluster. The BA in history is a flexible major that consists of 10 courses, although many students exceed that number. The history minor requires six courses. The department also offers 16 options for the 3-course clusters in history. Visit the Declaring a major or minor page for more information.
History students also have considerable research opportunities through the HOUR Program, the honors program, and other initiatives.
First- and Second-Year Students
Students in the Class of 2030 and 2029 should enroll in HIST 200: Gateway to History. This course is required for the History major and serves as an introduction to historical practice. Gateway courses explore what professional historians actually do and how they do it.
In fall 2026, we are offering two Gateway courses:
- Deviants in Medieval History
- The European City
HIST 200: Gateway to History: Deviants in Medieval Europe with Professor Laura Smaller, M/W 2-3:15 p.m.
HIST 200 is an introduction to historical practice—what professional historians actually do. It is a requirement for history majors, but we encourage all interested undergraduates to enroll.
This section focuses upon the concept of deviance in medieval European society, studying the process of identifying persons as "deviants" because of their religious beliefs, sexual preferences, alleged witchcraft, or presumed status as werewolves. Along the way we will discuss the various ways in which historians have approached this topic and will engage with key primary sources. Readings will address the question of whether the persecution of "deviants" began only in the twelfth century as part of the process of centralizing power in church and state. We will consider the relationship between persecution and power, as we ponder why certain groups were singled out for persecution. And we will askwhat Europeans really were afraid of when they labeled certain groups as "deviant."
HIST 200: Gateway to History: The European City with Visiting Professor Jonathon Catlin, T /R 11:05 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
This course examines the European city as a crucible of modern culture, politics, thought, and social experience, focusing on three emblematic capitals: Vienna, Berlin, and Paris.
Integrating urban history with intellectual and cultural analysis, we will explore how cities both fostered and were transformed by movements such as modernism, liberalism, socialism, psychoanalysis, existentialism, and women’s and queer liberation. Topics will include urban planning and modernization, art and architecture, and the vibrant social worlds of boulevards, cafes, and cabarets. Working with texts, images, and primary sources, students will develop foundational skills in historical interpretation, research, and writing.
Third- and Fourth-Year Students
Students in the Class of 2028 and 2027 should pursue writing-intensive “W” courses and work on completing their focus area. All majors are required to take two “W” courses, one of which must be at the 300-level.
Transfer students interested in the major or minor should schedule a meeting to talk with Prof. Thomas Fleischman, director of undergraduate studies, by emailing thomas.fleischman@rochester.edu.
Suggested Fall 2026 Courses
HIST 124: Everyday Life in Medieval Europe with Professor Tess Wingard, T /R 9:40-10:55 a.m.
Moving past outdated stereotypes of the Middle Ages as dark, dirty and dangerous, what was life for medieval people actually like? This course explores how people lived, worked, and died in medieval England from the eleventh to the twelfth centuries. We will investigate topics such as family life, labor and servitude, popular revolt, and migration. We will examine the sources that social historians have used to reconstruct these issues; how scholarly interpretations of medieval life have evolved since the inception of the field; and how medievalists have drawn on techniques from disciplines including anthropology, demography. In studying this course, students will develop familiarity with key transferable concepts and methodologies in the field of social history.
HIST 222/222W: Cultural History of 20th Century Mexico with Professor Ruben Flores, M/W 10:25-11:40 a.m.
This course will consider Mexico’s rich and vibrant cultural history beginning with the Mexican Revolution (1910-20) and ending with contemporary globalization (post-1994). Among the topics to be considered are Mexico’s mid-century challenge to US power as it was expressed in art, literature, and film; the question of forming a national identity between 1930 and 1960; and the cultural expressions of discontent against the national state after 1968. We will pay close attention to the work of national figures who expressed Mexico’s internal racial, class, and gender hierarchies, including Carlos Monsivis, Elena Poniatowska, and Fernando Bentez. And we will examine the current resurgence of Mexican literature and film on the world stage as Mexico’s artists have responded to the inequalities, migrations, and violence of contemporary globalization
HIST 250/455: Digital Paleography Spanish with Professor Pablo Sierra, T /R 11:05 a.m.-12:20 p.m.
How to read, analyze, and transcribe Spanish writing from the 1500s-1700s in this interactive two-credit course (class meets once a week). Paleography is an essential skill for deciphering primary sources whether they were produced in Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico or the Philippines. This course prepares students for historical research in digital databases, physical archives and specialized libraries. We will collectively transcribe, analyze and annotate a group document to familiarize ourselves with ancient Spanish. For your final project you will analyze a digitized primary source of your own choice. Students should have a strong background in Spanish (or Portuguese).
No HIST pre-requisites necessary.
HIST 170: African-American History I to 1900 with Professor Melanie Chambliss, T/R 11:05am-12:20pm
After a brief review of the primary features of pre-European African society, we will examine the affect of the 'Middle Passage' -- the transportation of enslaved Africans to the Western Hemisphere. We will then focus on the process of 'Americanization'; as the Africans became African-Americans. The struggle for freedom and citizenship will conclude our survey. The main course readings will be a representative sample of African-American autobiographies, and short selections from a secondary text. Using the autobiographies as historical source material, we will produce a brief history of the values and cultural practices of Africans in America, and the ways in which African-Americans adapted to and shaped American life and society.
HIST 318W/418: Gender and Sexuality in the Late Medieval World with Professor Tess Wingard, R 2-4:40 p.m.
This course examines the histories of gender and sexuality in Europe from the eleventh to the sixteenth centuries. We will investigate topics such as marriage, rape and consent, sex work, queer and transgender histories, and the role of sex in the development of medieval constructions of race. To explore these themes, we will critically analyze a diverse range of primary sources in translation, including chronicles, legal records, scientific texts, and personal letters. We will survey how scholarly interpretations of medieval gender and sexuality have evolved since the 1980s and how medievalists have brought the period into conversation with fields such feminist history, queer theory, trans studies, critical race theory, and histories of law and science.
HIST 278/W: bell hooks: Writer and Theorist with Professor Melanie Chambliss, T/R 3:25-4:40 p.m.
bell hooks published her landmark book Ain't I a Woman in 1981, and with it, she became one of the most prominent voices to emerge from the Black feminist movement. hooks challenged intersecting oppressions throughout her versatile canon. She authored more than two dozen books with topics ranging from classism to education, history, movies, literature, and love. hooks gravitated towards popular culture because she wanted to connect with larger audiences while still maintaining her critical voice. Scholars and readers are now starting to assess this prolific writer's legacy after hooks died in 2021. In this course, we will read hooks's work as a lens for examining larger themes within Black women's intellectual history. We will also explore nineteenth- and twentieth-century Black women writers-hooks's peers and foremothers-as we ask questions about hooks's intellectual lineage, revolutionary vision, populist approach, and lasting legacy.
HIST 189: Wives, Witches, and Wenches: Women in American History with Professor Brianna Theobald, M/W 2-3:15 p.m.
This course surveys American history through the words and work of women. Well-known historical events and developments--including but not limited to the Revolutionary War, the abolition of slavery, the Great Depression, and the protest movements of the 1960s--look different when considered from the perspective of women. The course will further examine how social categories such as race, class, sexuality, and religion have shaped women's historical experiences. Broad in chronological scope, this course is not intended to be comprehensive. Rather, we will utilize primary and secondary sources to delve into important historical moments and to explore questions about the practice and politics of studying women's history.
HIST 239/W: Everyday Totalitarianism with Professor Matt Lenoe, M/W 11:50am-1:05pm
In this course we will compare everyday life in the Soviet Union under Stalin, Nazi Germany, and Fascist Italy. Topics we will discuss include the extent and location of popular support for these regimes, ordinary people's survival strategies, mass consumption, state efforts to manipulate family life and their success or failure, and gender roles. We will also analyze the concept of 'totalitarianism' and discuss its value (or lack thereof) as a heuristic device.