DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY COURSE OFFERINGS
Spring 2024
HSTY 108 Introduction to Early American History. 3 Units. T/R 11:30-12:45
This course offers an introduction to American history through a thematic survey of colonial British North America and the early United States, from the first permanent English settlements of the early seventeenth century to the onset of the American Civil War. It focuses on (1) the emergence and development of contrasting social systems in the various colonies; (2) the causes and consequences of the American Revolution; and (3) the political, religious, and economic transformations of the period 1790 through 1860. Readings include a mix of primary sources (historical documents) and secondary sources (books and articles written by modern scholars). Students will examine a variety of historical methods and approaches but will particularly explore past social experiences and values through the personal (or autobiographical) writings of individual Americans of varying backgrounds. Particular attention will be paid to the experiences of women and African Americans. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.
HSTY 113 Introduction to Modern World History. 3 Units. M/W/F 9:30-10:25
The history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in a 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 132 Introduction to Modern East Asia. 3 Units. T/R 11:30-12:45
This course is an introduction to the histories of modern China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam from the “dawn of the global world” in the 17th century to the present. Taken together these regions make up the geographic and cultural unit commonly referred to as “East Asia.” Over the course of the term, we will investigate the usefulness of this concept of “East Asia” by examining its origins as well as the sometimes convergent, sometimes divergent relations between this region and the rest of the world. We will also challenge the stereotype of a monolithic and static East Asia and develop a critical understanding of the internal and external forces integrating and dividing this region. We will examine how international diplomatic, commercial, military, religious, and cultural relationships shaped the individual countries as well as their relationships with each other and the world. The course sweeps over large regions of time and space. It aims to put the contemporary discussion of globalization into a historical perspective by examining the long-lasting interactions of East Asian countries with each other and the rest of the world. These connections were economic, political, cultural, and psychological. Offered as HSTY 132 and Asia 132.
HSTY 157 Women’s Histories in South Asia. 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2:00
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 164 The History of London in London. TRAVEL ABROAD!!
Travel to London to learn the history of London. What was London like before it became the largest, most powerful city in the world? How was its growth and life affected by recurrent epidemics? What did it look like and how did it function as the world’s lynchpin in the 1800s? How did it fare under general bombardment in the Second World War? How did that devastation, and Britain’s decline after the war, shape the city we see today? Which communities have been cast as London’s “outsiders” across the centuries? Through instruction, reading, and exploration students will receive a broad overview of the ages-old history of London. Students will learn to think historically about London and any city: they’ll learn the questions of social history, learn to think about the connections between built- and non-human environments and get a grasp on varieties of local governance.
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 245 History of Capitalism. 3 Units. T 4:00-6:30
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 253 Bad Women: Asian American Feminisms and Cultural Production. 3 Units. W 7-9:30
In this intermediate-level course, students will learn about the political and social formation of Asian Americans through the perspective, experiences, and cultural production of Asian American women. The title takes inspiration from Ethnic Studies scholar Elaine H. Kim’s call to consider the cultural and social production of “bad women” in the Asian American community. She writes that “the unofficial Asian American history is replete with “bad women.” Considering this unofficial history—and its relationship to the targeted hate incidents today—this course will turn to Asian American feminist theories, practices, and cultural production that will challenge students to confront the concept of “badness” within Asian American history. This includes critiquing narratives of “proper” women, casting some of women’s experiences as acceptable, and others as shameful, dishonorable, and therefore disposable. With over 65% of hate incidents being reported today by Asian women and nonbinary individuals, the urgency to confront historical formation and representation is long overdue.
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 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 281 Early Islam: The History and Development of Islamic Civilizations and Law. 3 Units. T/R 1-2:15
History 281 explores the development of Islam from prophecy through the beginnings of the Empires period. 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 forms the basis of the future creation of Islamic law.
HSTY 282 Modern Native American History. 3 Units. T/R 2:30-3:45
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 294 History of Nature. 3 Units. MWF 10:35-11:25
What is nature, and what counts as natural? This course will examine the complicated and varied historical relationships between people and the natural world in the West. Like humans, nature, too, has a history, and its meanings, boundaries, and uses have changed dramatically over time. By studying those changes, we gain insight not merely into the world we inhabit and the ways that we have shaped it, for better or worse, but also into ourselves–our beliefs, values, and ambitions. The course will cover approaches to nature from the ancient Greeks to the modern Anthropocene. We will look at how nature has been understood over time not only through texts but also through art, objects, and film. The course will include visits to various local sites in order for us to pursue these themes in a hands-on way.
HSTY 303 History of Early Christianities: First-Fourth Centuries CE. 3 Units. T/R 10:00-11:15
Through primary source readings in translation, secondary source readings, written assignments, lectures, and in-class discussion, students will explore the development of diverse traditions of Christianity from the first through the fourth centuries CE. Emphasis is placed on the variety of early Christian views of salvation, religious authority, cosmology, and morality, as well as the changing relationship between Roman society and government and Christian individuals and traditions. Offered as HSTY 303 and RLGN 373. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course. Counts as a Human Diversity & Commonality course. Counts as an Understanding Global Perspectives course.
HSTY 311 Seminar: Modern U.S. Historiography. 3 Units. T 2:30-5:00
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 323 Fascism in America. 3 Units. M/W 3:20-4:35
In recent years, there has been a growing public discussion about the rise of fascist trends and movements in America. This course will explore the historical roots of this discussion, focusing on the period between the late nineteenth century and McCarthyism in the early 1950s. Using both primary and secondary sources, we will examine in class the origins and manifestations of fascist ideas in the American context, looking at topics such as government repression, racism, nativism, the rise of the surveillance state, red scares, and immigration persecution. Students will engage in thinking of the long history of undemocratic forces in America and their place in American culture, as well as how their legacies shape our political landscape today. Offered as HSTY 323 and HSTY 423.
HSTY 333 Reading Capital: Political Economy in the Age of Modern Industry 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2
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. Offered as HSTY 333 and HSTY 433. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course requirement.
HSTY 346 Guns, Germs, and Steel. 3 Units. T 7-9:30
Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel won the Pulitzer for non-fiction in 1998. Diamond, a physiologist, explains that Western Europe came to occupy and dominate large areas of the globe because of natural resources present in certain regions of the Old World since the end of the last Ice Age. Where a historian might look for answers in the written evidence left by historical individuals, Diamond examines ancient patterns of plant diffusion or the place of mountain ranges and deserts in the development of technologies. This seminar is about applying the history of a specific time and place namely North America from European contact to 1850 – to Diamond’s general environmental explanations and models. Placing Diamond’s broad explanations within specific historical contexts is revealing. A range of alternative methods, perspectives, primary sources from North America, and case studies (especially within environmental history) help develop a critical understanding of the complexities of European expansion into the New World. The course engages in an extended comparative exploration of the worldviews of different world cultures, most extensively comparing European worldviews with Native American, but also paying significant attention to Asian worldviews. The Native American cultures under consideration include those of both North and South America. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.
HSTY 353 Women in American History I. 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2:00
The images and realities of women’s social, political, and economic lives in early America. Uses primary documents and biographers to observe individuals and groups of women in relation to legal, religious, and social restrictions. Offered as HSTY 353, WGST 353, and HSTY 453. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.
HSTY 411 Seminar: Modern U.S. Historiography. 3 Units. T 2:30-5:00
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 423 Fascism in America. 3 Units. M/W 3:20-4:35
In recent years, there has been a growing public discussion about the rise of fascist trends and movements in America. This course will explore the historical roots of this discussion, focusing on the period between the late nineteenth century and McCarthyism in the early 1950s. Using both primary and secondary sources, we will examine in class the origins and manifestations of fascist ideas in the American context, looking at topics such as government repression, racism, nativism, the rise of the surveillance state, red scares, and immigration persecution. Students will engage in thinking of the long history of undemocratic forces in America and their place in American culture, as well as how their legacies shape our political landscape today. Offered as HSTY 323 and HSTY 423.
HSTY 453 Women in American History. 3 Units. M/W 12:45-2:00
The images and realities of women’s social, political, and economic lives in early America. Uses primary documents and biographers to observe individuals and groups of women in relation to legal, religious, and social restrictions. Offered as HSTY 353, WGST 353, and HSTY 453. Counts as a CAS Global & Cultural Diversity course.
HSTY 479 Historical Research and Writing. 3 Units. T 2:00-4:30
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.