Department of History

Spring 2004 Course Descriptions
400-700 Level

HIS 401 - Individual Study

Staff TBA

HIS 511A-01 - Seminar in African American History: Southern Slavery and Abolition

Jennison R 6-8:50

In the mid-nineteenth century, black and white abolitionists became more and more vocal in their opposition to slavery, attacking the institution as a moral evil and depicting slaveholders as cruel and abusive masters. In response, southern slaveholders and pro-slavery ideologues fought back, representing slavery as a benevolent institution and slaves as child-like dependents. This class will examine the dynamic interplay between pro-slavery and anti-slavery ideology in mid-nineteenth-century America.
Writing intensive and permission of the department required.

HIS 511A-02 - Seminar in Women's Activism in the United States since 1945

Levenstein W 6-8:50

The years after World War II witnessed some of the most influential social movements in United States history. This research seminar will examine women's participation in these events. Topics that will be covered include civil rights, women's liberation, the environmental movement, conservatism, and white supremacy. Students will produce an original research paper based on primary and secondary sources.

HIS 511B-01 - The Impact of the Normans: England, 1066-1204

Barton R 6-8:50

The conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy in 1066 was one of the most significant watershed moments of the Middle Ages. William's dramatic victory earned him a new nickname ("the Conqueror") and ushered in changes in almost every aspect of English society. The first goal of the course will thus be to make sense of the events of the conquest and the changes wrought by it. Through careful reading of primary and secondary sources, the class will establish a common base of knowledge concerning many of these important changes, including changes in government, law and administration, changes in social organization, changes in religious administration and practice, changes in language and culture, and changes in social roles, including gender categories.

The second goal of this course is the production of a research paper (15-25 pages in length) on some aspect of Anglo-Norman England. Early assignments - including a bibliography, a source critique, a critique of a modern historian, a thematic analysis, and an oral report - are designed to develop research skills; these assignments will be tailored towards the research interests of the students who take the class, and should help to provide both the background and the skills necessary for producing a research paper. No prior knowledge of medieval history is required for this course.

HIS 515 - American Diplomatic History of the 20th Century

Crawford MWF 1-1:50

Emphasis on most important crises and maing of basic policy decisions from Spanish American war to present.

HIS 518 - American Economic History, 1865-Present

Snowden R 2-4:45

Evolution of the American economy from the Civil War to the present. Emphasis on economic performance through time measured against the goals of full employment, price stability, and rapid growth.

HIS 522 - Early American History: Selected Topics

Calhoon MWF 10-10:50

Varying topics in early American history including settlemet, economic development, Puritanism, the Great Awakening, slavery, ethnicity, and pre-Revolutionary politics.

HIS 524 - Civil Rights: Social Struggle, Politics and Policies, 1940-1970

Jackson MW 2-3:15

This course will examine the latest, best writing on the "civil rights" movement of the 1950s and 1960s, and introduce you to several of the ongoing research challenges in the field. We will place the Movement in broader contexts: World War II, 1940s civil rights trade unionism, the Cold War; national politics and policies, from McCarthyism to the Civil Rights Acts to the War on Poverty to affirmative action; Northern and Southern movements, including Black Power and the "ghetto revolts" of the 1960s; white resistance movements; the contributions of black women and the impact of the Movement on other movements, such as feminism and the anti-war movement; the controversial impact of Martin Luther King's "symbolic" leadership and radicalism. We will spend several weeks on the pivotal campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, in April and May of 1963, grappling with its many issues and the vantage points of its many actors. Our texts include scholarship, biographies, memoirs, oral histories, documentary films and primary documents. Our purpose will be twofold: to view the freedom struggle from "below" and from "within" its many communal contexts; and to develop a more holistic sense of its impact on the national and international politics of human rights and economic justice.

HIS 547 - History Museum Curatorship: Collections Management

Zachman T 6-8:50

Professional practices in the care and management of historic site and history museum collections, including principles of collection development, object registration, cataloging, and preservation. (Same as IAR 547) Prior admission to a graduate program in history or interior design, or permission of instructor required.

HIS 548 - Architectural Conservation

Leimenstoll T 2-4:50

Overview of contemporary architectural conservation principles, practice and technology. A series of field exercises, group projects and investigation of an individual research topic expand upon lectures and readings. (Same as IAR 548) Prerequisite: IAR 332, 301, or permission of instructor.

HIS 564 - The Changing City: London, 1870-1914

Michaelsen TR 12:30-1:45

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there are in London all the pleasures that life can afford." -- Dr. Samuel Johnson, 18th-century author and essayist.

Over two hundred years after it was made, Johnson's observation remains peculiarly apt: London is still an endlessly fascinating city, one filled with all sorts of "dreadful delights." Possessed of a history which extends back to the early centuries AD, London has undergone a variety of identity shifts during the last two thousand years -- from the Roman outpost of Londinium, to the headquarters of the British empire, to a modern metropolis which rivals New York in its influence on global finance and culture. One of its most important periods of civic and cultural change occurred comparatively recently, however, as during the years 1870 - 1914, Londoners witnessed the rise of the powerful London County Council, began to confront the deepening social and cultural division between the East and West ends, and both supported and contested the major efforts undertaken by civic functionaries and philanthropists to reform and rebuild what they saw as an increasingly troubled city. These last few decades prior to the turn of the twentieth century also saw London's citizens grappling with the emergence of mass transport, modern department store-based consumerism, the media sensationalism surrounding the "Jack the Ripper" murders in Whitechapel, and, perhaps most critically, the blurring of the traditional social, cultural, and gender boundaries which shaped, and in turn, were shaped by, the events of these years.

In this course, students will be examining in detail some of the major social, political, and cultural issues and events which confronted fin-de-siècle Londoners. The course format will consist of group discussions of assigned readings selected from the work of historians (e.g. Judith Walkowitz, Erika Rappoport), along with a variety of primary source documents (e.g. George Gissing's In the Year of the Jubilee, Henry Mayhew's London Labour and the London Poor, and Robert Louis Stevenson's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde). Students will be expected to participate extensively in the discussions, and there will be several medium-length (5-7 pages) writing assignments.

HIS 624 - History of American Landscape and Architecture

Tolbert W 6-8:50

This course is designed as an advanced reading seminar in the history of American landscapes and architecture. Students will also go beyond our classroom reading and discussion to master the literature of architectural history through fieldwork and secondary source research on specific buildings and landscapes. The course will introduce students to the variety of methods developed by architectural and cultural historians to interpret buildings and landscapes as cultural artifacts with historically specific meanings that must be understood in particular context over time.

By the end of the semester students should be able to do the following:

• Explain major changes in the development of the American landscape from the colonial period through the mid-twentieth century.
• Evaluate and apply a variety of methods for using buildings and landscapes as primary source evidence to understand American history.
• Define particular architectural styles, use specialized architectural vocabulary/terminology, and explain the differences between vernacular and academic building traditions.
• Evaluate a particular landscape in historical context.

HIS 627 - Museum Historical Sites: Principle and Practice

Franz MW 4-5:15

Theory and practice of interpreting history to the public in the context of museums and historic sites. Topics covered include exhibit planning and technologies, living history, research methods, and audience evaluation.

HIS 690 - History Internship

Staff TBA

Field learning experience designed to extend information through courses and sharpen skills useful in an applied history career. Prerequisite- At least 12 hours in History M.A. program and permission from Department Head.

HIS 692 - Advanced Topics in History

Staff TBA

HIS 697 - Directed Reading

Staff TBA

HIS 699 - Thesis

Staff TBA

HIS 702 - Colloquium in American History since 1865

Link M 6-9:50

HIS 703 - Seminar in American History

Staff TBA

HIS 704 - Seminar in American History

Levenstein TBA

HIS 706 - Colloquium in European History from 1789

Mazgaj W 6-8:50

Interpretations of selected historical problems from the French Revolution to the present.

HIS 707 - Seminar in European History

Staff TBA

HIS 708 - Seminar in European History

Staff TBA