HSTY 113 Introduction to Modern World History. 3 Units. M/W/F 9:30-10:20
The history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in global context. Emphasis on the forces that have created or shaped the modern world: industrialization and technological change; political ideas and movements such as nationalism; European imperialism and decolonization; and the interplay of cultural values. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

 

HSTY 157. Women’s Histories in South Asia. 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2pm
This course traces the history of women in South Asia from pre-colonial times to the present. Themes explored in the course will include (but not be limited to): the historical transformations of institutions shaping women’s lives such as state, family, religious and legal traditions; the impact of colonialism, nationalism, and decolonization on women, as well as the history of women’s movements in various parts of South Asia. Offered as HSTY 157 and WGST 257. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

 

HSTY 170. Religion and Medicine in the Early Modern Period. 3 units. M/W/F 2:15-3:05
This course focuses on the development of religion and medicine in the early modern period. Owing largely to the spirit of expansion, in both the geographic and intellectual sense, Europeans questioned established truths and pushed the boundaries of knowledge. We shall examine how these movements in geographic and intellectual expansions–the Renaissance, the Age of Exploration, the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment–helped determine the trajectory of religion and medicine. We shall also investigate the medical traditions of select non-Western societies through the work of religious missionaries, who brought Christianity and Western medical practices to farflung places. In particular, we shall pay close attention to the dialogue not only between historical actors from different cultures, but also between their respective epistemologies to understand more deeply the influences they had on each other. At the end of the course, students will learn how religion and medicine responded to political, social and cultural forces, and appreciate their dynamism and capacity for change and adaptation.

 

HSTY 175. Jesuits in the Early Modern Period. 3 units. T/R 4:00-5:15
No other single religious order has captivated the imagination of early modern scholars quite like the Society of Jesus. From the order’s incorporation in 1540 until its suppression in 1773, the Jesuits, as the Society’s members are called, carved out a unique role for themselves not only in a changing Europe but also in an increasingly expanding world. In this course, we will learn the beginnings of the Society and how it responded to the early challenges of Protestantism and globalization. We will meet these religious men and, through their experiences, see the diversity of people and cultures in the early modern world. And finally, we will analyze and attempt to understand the circumstances that brought about the suppression of this religious order at the close of the eighteenth-century, and the consequences brought about by its dissolution.
The course is divided into four main themes: the early years; the missions; Jesuit topics; and, resistance and waning in the early modern period. It is designed to give students a deeper knowledge of Jesuit history and an introduction to the most relevant works of Jesuit scholars in recent years. This is a writing-intensive course. Students will complete a modified book or article review, a reflection paper and finally a research-based argumentative paper. There will be a midterm exam. Participation and active engagement are expected every session.

 

 

HSTY 217 The Secret History of Corporate America. 3 Units. T/R 11:30-12:45
The corporation is the most powerful economic institution of our time. How did it come to reign, and how does its power affect us economically, politically, and socially? This course will chart the history and impact of corporate capitalism. Topics will include the corporation’s impact on democracy, consumer culture, the environment, and even the university itself. If you have ever wondered why products are purposely designed to wear out (planned obsolescence), why unions are so powerless in America, why the military is as powerful as it is, why it takes special technology from the Diebold corporation to run a simple election, why broadcasting companies are allowed to profit by using the public airwaves for free, why it looks like there are a million publishers of books when in truth giant companies dominate 80 percent of the book market, why the perfect lawn is a marketing ploy to get consumers to buy a lot of chemical inputs, why universities, which are supposed to be bastions of independent thought, are now dominated by an army of administrators who run around talking about return on investment instead of figuring out how to create a culture where students can learn, then this is the course for you. The corporation has been harshly criticized as an amoral institution, indeed, as pathological in its pursuit of power and profit. The corporate form, however, did not start out that way. Students will be able to apply their own sense of moral reason to the dominant economic institution in the world today while also learning to express themselves better in written and oral mediums. Counts as a Communication Intensive course. Counts as a Moral & Ethical Reasoning course.

 

HSTY 230. Colonial Latin America.  3 Units. M 7:00-9:30pm
Colonial Latin American history is a period fraught with bloodshed, deadly disease, and the brutal enslavement of Africans and Indigenous peoples, yet was also a time of resistance, mobilization, and the flourishing of arts, culture, and unique hybrid religious practices. This course is an invitation to focus on primary sources and wrestle with the writing of colonial history throughout the last 500 years, with all its discrepancies, biases, and unanswered questions. We look especially at the role that women, Indigenous peoples, and Africans played in society–voices that have traditionally been silenced. How can we resurrect those voices? We ponder the construction of colonial society and conclude with how the wars of Independence fundamentally altered society.

 

HSTY 245 History of Capitalism. 3 Units. T 4:00-6:30pm
This course will explore the history of capitalism, from its origins to its recent past, from different angles. Themes under discussion will include, but not be limited to, industrialization, slavery, corporate capitalism, and neoliberalism. We will also study capitalism’s impact on gender, race, environment, education, and time. Counts for CAS Global & Cultural Diversity Requirement.

 

HSTY 259 Intro to Latina/o Studies. 3 Units. M/W 3:20-4:35
Interdisciplinary introduction to the basis for a Latina/o ethnicity through an exploration of commonalities and differences in the peoples of Latin American and Caribbean origin within the continental United States. Topics include methodological and theoretical formulations central to the field (e.g., racial, gender, and sexual formations, modes and relations of production and class, nation and transnation), history and contemporary issues of identity, family, community, immigration, and the potential for a pan-ethnic identity. Discussions will focus on major demographic, social, economic and political trends: historical roots of Latinas/os in the U.S.; the evolution of Latina/o ethnicity and identity; immigration and the formation of Latina/o communities; schooling and language usage; tendencies and determinants of socioeconomic and labor force status; discrimination, segregation and bias in contemporary America; racial and gender relations; and political behavior among Latinas/os. Offered as: ETHS 252B and HSTY 259. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.

 

HSTY 260. U.S. Slavery and Emancipation. 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2:00
This course focuses on the history of black representation in film and television in the United States. In this course, students will be introduced to some of the earliest representations of Black folks on the silver screen as well as learn about emergence of Black cinema (black films made for, by and about Black people) in the 20th century. Through this exploration, students will become acquainted with some of the most significant films, actors, and directors in African American history. This course will also teach students how to critically analyze how African American history has been depicted in modern and popular “historical” films. Students will be encouraged to employ the analysis skills and particularly critical theories of race, gender, and class to examine how filmmakers have presented, and too often distorted, historical events related to the Black experience in the United States. Finally, throughout the course, students will be encouraged to think about the ways in which films and television, both in the past and present, have contributed to the constructions of race and racial stereotypes in the United States. Films and documentaries will serve as some of the major “texts” of this course. Students will be screenings films both at home and in class. Offered as AFST 263 and ETHS 263 and HSTY 263. Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course.

 

HSTY 268 American Rebellion. 3 Units. M/W 4:50-6:05
This course will address the Perspective: Human Diversity and Commonality through an examination of rebellions in American history. We will assess slave revolts, mass strikes, and urban uprisings in relation to several theories of race, class, gender and social movements. Through our readings and my lectures, we will seek to understand the relationship between oppression and rebellion. We will investigate why some uprisings succeed and others fail and explain what violent acts of dissent and disobedience teach us about the political culture of the United States.

 

HSTY 271 Crime, Society, and Popular Culture in Early America. 3 units. T/R 2:30-3:45
Since the late seventeenth century, American readers have been endlessly fascinated by the subjects of crime and punishment-and especially by murders and other violent offenses committed in their own communities. Much as Americans today “consume” crime through movies, television, newspapers, magazines, mystery novels, “true crime” books, websites, podcasts, and popular music, so also did Americans of the 1670s through 1850s “consume” crime through a variety of popular genres, including execution sermons, criminal (auto)biographies, trial reports, and murder ballads. Since most convicted criminals in early America came from non-elite backgrounds (and often belonged to oppressed or otherwise subordinated social groups, including African Americans and Native Americans), such publications not only shed light on crime, punishment, the legal system, normative social values, power relations, and popular culture, but also provide historians with some of their most valuable sources on the day-to-day experiences of ordinary men and women. This seminar explores all of these topics. Each week, students will read topically-related clusters of early crime publications, usually in conjunction with relevant modern scholarship drawn from the fields of social history, legal history, psychology, criminology, and literary studies. The types of crimes explored include witchcraft, piracy, burglary, robbery, and various types of homicide, such as infanticide, familicide (men murdering their wives and children), and sexual homicide (or courtship murder). Each student will write several short analytical papers drawn from the shared readings and, at the end of the semester, complete an independent multi-modal, multi-draft research project.

 

HSTY 281 Early Islam: The History & Development of Islamic Civilization. 3 units. M 5:30-8:00.
This course explores the development of Islam from prophecy through the beginnings of the Empires perid. Using a combination of primary and secondary sources, we will trace the creation of the early community, the establishment of Islamic civilization, and the documentation that form the basis of the future creation of Islamic law. We also explore the impact of the development of Islamic history and law structures in the modern world, especially as they relate to diaspora communities, international law and finance, and humanitarian/nonprofit management.

 

HSTY 282 Modern Native American History. 3 Units. T/R 10-11:15

This course is the second half of the two-semester survey of Native American history. This course will introduce students to the modern American systems of inequality and racism and how Tribal nations and Native peoples have combated against or engaged with them. We will examine Federal assimilation and termination policies, Native responses to World Wars I & II, the Red Power Movement, Indigenous legal battles and lobbying, and the modern revitalization of Indian Country. This course will encourage students to think about the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and class regarding Indigenous resistance, survivance, and persistence.

 

HSTY 283 Gender and Sex in the Medieval Period. 3 units. T/R 11:30-12:45
This course introduces gender and sex in the medieval period as concepts to help us better understand the lives of medieval people. Through lectures, discussions, oral presentations and a research-based, argumentative paper, students will acquire a deep appreciation of how ideas on gender and sex developed and related with other aspects of life in medieval society. Topics will include constructions and understandings of gender, sexual proclivities, regulation of sexual activities, and select sexual practices.

 

HSTY 286 Jews in the Modern World. 3 units. M/W/F 10:35-11:25
This course examines the social, economic, political, and cultural development of the Jews in the modern world from the middle of the eighteenth century to the present. While particular emphasis will be on the Jews of Europe, we will examine the Jewish communities of the Middle East, pre-1948 Palestine, Israel, and the United States. Central themes of the course are the challenges to the traditional religious and social structures of pre-modern Jewry, migration, cultural innovation, and politicization.

 

HSTY 291 Rivers of Empire: Water and Environment in Chinese History. 3 units. T/R 2:30-3:45
This class examines how water shaped the making and unmaking of states, societies, and environments in China from antiquity to the present. Rivers and canals were not only vital arteries of agriculture and commerce but also sites of disaster, ecological change, and political power. This course traces the history of flood control, irrigation, and canal building; the role of droughts and climate shocks in famine and dynastic change; frontier water management in Inner Asia; the ecological consequences of war; and the rise of Maoist hydraulic megaprojects and contemporary debates on environmental authoritarianism. Through a combination of historical scholarship, primary sources, and creative assignments, students will learn to see water as both a material force and a political/cultural metaphor. Case studies range from the Yellow River and the Grand Canal to the Three Gorges Dam and the South–North Water Transfer Project, with comparative perspectives on the Ohio & Erie Canal and China’s transboundary rivers. Assignments encourage both analytical and imaginative approaches, culminating in a “water biography” that treats a river, canal, irrigation system, or dam as a historical actor with its own life story. The class also encourages local engagement with the water infrastructure in Cleveland. Students are encouraged to participate in Ohio & Erie Canal cleanups and/or paddle session with the Cleveland Dragon Boat Association.

 

HSTY 311 Seminar: Modern U.S. Historiography. 3 Units. T 5:30-8
This seminar examines the approaches that professional historians of the United States have taken to the writing of American history in the past fifty years, with emphasis on changes in historical concerns, master debates among historians, and contemporary interests. Topics covered include national politics and government, economic development, social history, the history of ethnicity, race, and gender, and foreign policy and international relations. Each student will read widely and will prepare a series of reports on selected books and authors. Offered as HSTY 311 and HSTY 411.

 

HSTY 333. Reading Capital.  3 Units. T/R 1:00-2:15
Since its first publication in German in 1867, and its appearance in English in 1886, Karl Marx’s Capital: A Critique of Political Economy, Volume I, has occupied a seminal position in European thought. Beginning with the presumptions of classical liberal political economy, Marx employed his technique of the materialist dialectic to unmask, in his view, the contradictions and structural limitations that the capitalist mode of production imposed upon capitalists and proletarians alike. Much mentioned, but seldom read, Volume I of Capital remains a crucial window into understanding the intellectual, economic, social, and cultural currents of the 19th century, and its impact extends into the 21st . This course consists of a close, directed reading of the entire text of this volume, combined with discussion, research, and coordinated exploration, so that students can bring this powerful critique to bear on their reading of history and economics in the modern era.

  

HSTY 334. Germany in the 19^th Century. 3 units. T/R 10:00-11:15
Examines the political, social, economic, and cultural history of Germany from the late eighteenth century to 1914. Explores the intellectual and social background to the rise of German liberalism and nationalism, the struggle with bureaucratic absolutism, the revolutions of 1848, industrial capitalism and the emergence of a class society, unification under Bismarck, the role of the state, culture, religion, and changes of mentality, the development of mass politics, and the coming of World War I.

 

HSTY 362/462. Who Do You Think You Are? 3 units. T/R 2:30-3:45
Who do you think you are? In the last decade genealogy as an area of interest has dramatically increased through access to commercialized programs like Ancestry.com and DNA testing corporations. This course seeks to help students learn how to utilize and develop critical thinking skills around the production of genealogical material. Like all historical inquiries, successful genealogical research requires an understanding of how to process primary sources and contextualize them within a larger historical framework. In this course we will focus on the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender impact what records are left behind, as well as how modern genealogical methods (including digital archives and DNA testing) have been influenced by them as well.
This course will help students understand genealogy as a field and methodology. This course will also have a practical element designed to help students begin researching their own family history, tracing their family across history. By the end of this course, students will have developed a deeper understanding of their family history and their place in world history and uncover the individual stories of their ancestors.

 

HSTY 367/467. Women in American History III. 3 units. W 2:15-4:45
This seminar course explores feminism and the impact of feminism in multicultural America from the end of the World War II to the end of the twentieth century. Over the course of the semester, we will explore a plurality of women’s experiences with feminism, including its limitations. We will cover such topics as Civil Rights, Second and Third Wave Feminism, Women’s Liberation, feminism and the media, family planning, and the conservative backlash.

 

HSTY 387. Childhood in America. 3 units. T/R 11:30-12:45
Children have been growing up in the United States since it was declared independent, in 1776, but how adults conceive of (and therefore legislate and interpret) children and childhood constantly changes to fit current circumstances. The experiences of children themselves have varied not only in terms of race, class, gender, and religion but also depending on specific events (i.e., coming of age during the Civil War versus the Civil Rights movement) or geography (i.e., growing up in rural Hawaii vs. urban New Jersey). We cannot cover all of those histories in one course, so this seminar course instead focuses on exploring the interplay of ideas about children and the expressed or historical experiences of children. When the puritans and plantations members (slave, bonded and free) came to the Atlantic shore, they brought with them particular ideas about what is meant to be a child, and to experience childhood. They encountered already established residents who also had ideas about childhood. How did those concepts adjust/meld/contrast over time, and how do we see those ideas reflected or reshaped by actual experiences? This course engages particular lines of inquiry: How and why do understanding about what is “natural” for children change over time? How do variables like race, class, gender, etc., uphold effects the manifesting of such concepts? What is the role of the state in children’s lives and how has that changed over time? What is the impact of mass culture on modern childhood?

 

HSTY 411 Seminar: Modern U.S. Historiography. 3 Units. T 5:30-8
This seminar examines the approaches that professional historians of the United States have taken to the writing of American history in the past fifty years, with emphasis on changes in historical concerns, master debates among historians, and contemporary interests. Topics covered include national politics and government, economic development, social history, the history of ethnicity, race, and gender, and foreign policy and international relations. Each student will read widely and will prepare a series of reports on selected books and authors. Offered as HSTY 311 and HSTY 411.

 

HSTY 479. Historical Research and Writing. 3 Units. M 2:15-4:30
Research seminar for graduate students. Intensive focus on processes of historical research and writing. Students produce a conference paper and a research paper based on primary sources on a topic of their own choosing. Prereq: Graduate standing or instructor permission.