Fall 2012 Course Descriptions
500-700 Level
SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE! Always check the University online schedule for the latest changes.
HIS 508 - Latin American History: "Independence and Decolonization in the Americas"
80727
T 3:30-6:20
Julia Gaffield
Prerequisite: one course in Latin American history or permission of instructor.
After centuries of colonialism in the Americas, the late 18th and early 19th centuries saw a burst of independence movements. This course begins with the American and Haitian Revolutions and continues to the twentieth century in order to think about independence and decolonization in a comparative framework. What alternatives were there to colonialism? Diverse movements throughout the 19th and 20th centuries created independent republics, empires, federations, and overseas departments. Using both primary and secondary sources, students will learn why different entities emerged and we will explore connections between these movements. The readings for this course will all be electronic.
HIS 511A - Seminar in Historical Research and Writing, U.S. History: "Crisis to Crisis: Cold War, Civil Rights, and Urban Revolt, 1961-1969"
80728 R 3:30-6:20
Tom Jackson
Writing and Speaking Intensive. Prerequisite of one 300-level Research Intensive (RI) history course. Capstone course for History majors. Written permission required.
During the 1960s, the United States seemed to be propelled from crisis to crisis, at home and abroad. In fact this marked a period of remarkable social change and a turning point in America's role in the world and competition for global predominance with the Soviet Union. This course will focus on popular movements, politics, and foreign policy in the United States between 1961 and 1969, with special attention to the "watershed years" 1963-1965. Looking at US history in a compressed time span will allow the class to explore and interpret a range of issues captured in diverse primary and secondary sources. Since the goal is to write a coherent paper with a developed point of view, each student will proceed through a series of assignments. Undergraduates will write a 20-25 page paper.
HIS 511B - Seminar in Historical Research and Writing: "Self and Society in Early Modern Europe, 1350-1700"
80733 M 3:30-6:20
Jodi Bilinkoff
Writing and Speaking Intensive. Prerequisite of one 300-level Research Intensive (RI) history course. Capstone course for History majors. Written permission required.
In this course we will examine biographical and autobiographical texts, which were produced in abundance in Europe and its colonies in the period between 1350 and 1700. At the heart of our inquiry will be what scholars call "the construction of identities," how individuals perceive and present their own lives, or the lives of others. We will read and discuss together some representative texts from the period and identify analytical categories such as class, gender, and religious orientation. Students will then choose a text or group of texts to investigate and contextualize on their own.
HIS 511C - Seminar in Historical Research and Writing: "Town and Country in the Medieval Islamic World"
80735
T 3:30-6:20
Asa Eger
Writing and Speaking Intensive. Prerequisite of one 300-level Research Intensive (RI) history course. Capstone course for History majors. Written permission required.
At a time when western Europe was cut off from the rest of the Mediterranean world in a post-Roman insular "Dark Ages," the Medieval Islamic world, from the 8th to 12th centuries reached a thriving pinnacle of civilization. The Islamic lands included a complex system of cities and subsidiary towns, innovative new agricultural and industrial technologies, and far-flung trading networks from the Mediterranean Sea to East Asia. It is precisely the unifying force and openness of Islamic culture superimposed over these vastly different geographies from Spain to Central Asia that allowed for an expansive yet inter-connected framework of economic and social exchanges. Over the course of several stages, you will produce a final research paper on a topic of your choosing which draws upon a synthesis of your historical and archaeological research with secondary sources. No prior knowledge of Islamic history is required for the course.
HIS 543 - Historic Preservation: Principles and Practices
80737
T 2:00-4:50
Jo Leimenstoll (Interior Architecture)
Prerequisite of IAR 221, IAR 222, or permission of instructor.
Change in historic preservation theory and practice since the 1800s with emphasis on preservation of built environment and development of philosophical approach for designers to contemporary preservation projects. (Same as IAR 543)
HIS 547 - History Museum Curatorship: Collections Management
10212 T 6:30-9:20
Jon Zachman
Professional practices in the care and management of historic site and history museum collections, including priniciples of collection development, object registration, cataloging, and preservation. Same as IAR 547. Prerequisite: Admission to a graduate program in history or interior architecture, or written permission of instructor.
HIS 551 - Gender and History Selected Topics: "Feminist Politics in Recent U.S. History"
80739
W 3:30-6:20
Lisa Levenstein
In the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, women from diverse backgrounds altered the course of U.S. history. This course will ask what it meant to engage in feminist politics by exploring issues ranging from reproductive justice, welfare rights, and domestic violence to lesbian rights, maternity leave, and racial equality. We will examine both coalitions and discord among different groups of women and trace the evolution of conservative opposition to feminist organizing.
HIS 575 - Modern Russian History: "Readings in Soviet History"
80740
W 3:30-6:20
Jeff Jones
This course will examine the historiography of the Soviet period from the Stalin era to the collapse of the USSR. The class is divided into three parts: 1) The Stalin era; 2) The Thaw and early Brezhnev period; 3) Stagnation and the late Soviet period. We will focus in particular on the Stalinist purges; World War II and postwar reconstruction; the Khrushchev era; and the Soviet-Afghan War.
HIS 589 - Experimental Course: "Peripheries of Empire: Ireland and India"
83916
M 3:30-6:20
Jill Bender
India is nearly fifty times the size of Ireland. And, its population is more than 1 billion people. Ireland, on the other hand, has a population of less than 5 million. Despite the obvious differences between contemporary Ireland and India, the two countries also share a history shaped by British imperial rule. This course will explore the shared colonial experiences of India and Ireland from the mid-nineteenth century to the late-twentieth century. Particular themes will include: famine, nationalism, military involvement, violence, and partition.
Prerequisite for all 600-level History courses: Admission to a graduate program in history or interior architecture, or written permission of instructor.
HIS 625 - Preservation, Planning, and Law
80742
W 3:00-5:50
Autumn Michael (Interior Architecture)
An examination and analysis of the relationship of government programs and policies, community and regional planning strategies, and legal case precedents to the field of historic preservation. Same as IAR 625.
HIS 627 - Museum and Historic Site Interpretation: Principles and Practice
80743
W 3:30-6:20
Benjamin Filene
This seminar explores the relationship between history and public audiences, focusing on the theory and practice of telling stories through museums and historic sites. It introduces students to the tools that public historians use to interpret the past, explores key dilemmas in public interpretation and community collaboration, and examines contemporary models for how best to reach audiences in ways that make history meaningful. Topics include learning theory, audience evaluation, oral history, photography and material culture, living history, historic houses, and exhibits. The course will culminate in a local history project, produced by the students for a public venue. Same as IAR 627.
HIS 628 - ID and Eval. of the Hist. Built Environment
CRN TBA
M 3:30-6:20
Heather Fearnbach
Methods, techniques, and theories of researching, analyzing, documenting, and evaluating the historic built environment. Includes architectural survey field methods, documentation techniques, archival research, and approaches to evaluating historic significance. Same as IAR 628.
HIS 633 - Community History Practicum
84044
MW 2:00-3:15
Benjamin Filene
Prerequisite: HIS/IAR 626
In this hands-on course, students work collaboratively and engage community partners as they research, design, and complete public projects—previously planned in HIS/IAR 626—that engage audiences in local/regional history. These projects involve original research in both primary and secondary printed sources and, as well, draw on a range of sources that drive public history work, including public records, oral interviews, images, and artifacts. Final products may involve exhibitions, public markers, web-based products, programs (tours, festivals), curricula or other formats that engage public audiences in issues and stories emerging from the past around us.
This course is restricted to graduate students in History and Interior Architecture who have completed HIS/IAR 626 (The Practice of Public History) unless permission is granted by instructor.
See the M.A. FAQ for more information about the following:
HIS 690 - Internship
HIS 692 - Advanced Topics
HIS 697 - Independent Study
HIS 699 - Thesis
Prerequisite for all 700-level History courses: Admission to a graduate program in history.
HIS 701 - Colloquium in US History to 1865
701-01 Mark Elliott R 6:30-9:20
80763
701-02 Phyllis Hunter W 6:30-9:20
80764
This required graduate course exposes students to the major historiographical trends and debates on topics in US history before 1865. By the end, students should have mastered the principal historical interpretations of American history before 1865.
HIS 703 - Seminar in US History
80765
Time/Location TBA
TBA Staff
Research and writing on selected topics in American history.
HIS 705 - Colloquium in European History to 1789
80766
R 3:30-6:20
Richard Barton
This course comprises the first half of the Graduate Colloquium in European History. Our imagined task is a huge, even impossible one: we are tasked with trying to make sense of the methods, techniques, and approaches used by historians who study Europe from Rome to the French Revolution. Obviously we cannot do justice to every period and/or every topic, and our approach must inevitably be somewhat episodic. Rather than follow a haphazard and incomplete chronology through this vast span of time, I have organized the course methodologically. In essence we are going to examine some of those methods, techniques, and approaches rather than a series of events, periods, or persons. We will accomplish this task, of course, by reading and evaluating sample works of historians who work in that given style, method, or approach. Peter Burke's edited volume, New Perspectives on Historical Writing, will provide a quasi-textbook or roadmap for our endeavor, as it comprises specially-commissioned chapters on many of the approaches and sub-disciplines that we will examine. Please note that I have tried to balance the temporal focus of the works we will read: my design is that about half of our readings will come from the medieval period and half from the early modern period.
HIS 707 - Seminar in European History
80767
Location/Time TBA
TBA Staff
Research and writing on selected topics in European history.
HIS 710 - Colloquium in the Atlantic World
80768
M 6:30-9:20
Julia Gaffield
This course introduces graduate students to the variety of approaches and themes that comprise one of the newest and fastest-growing fields in our discipline. The Atlantic World provides a useful conceptual and methodological framework in which to analyze the development of European empires, the creation of American colonial societies, and the emergence of trans-imperial exchange networks in the early modern period (roughly 1400-1800) and beyond. We will read a selection of major works which have defined the field, identify different perspectives and approaches, and trace the development of the historiography. We will also consider the challenges involved in comparative, cross-cultural historical research, and the limits of an Atlantic approach. Students will critically analyze the strengths and weaknesses of an Atlantic perspective as it applies to their specific research and teaching interests.
HIS 712 - Slavery in the Americas
80770
R 3:30-6:20
Watson Jennison
Comparative analysis of slavery and race relations in South and Central America, the Caribbean, British North America, and the United States, 1501-1888.
HIS 724 - Selected Topics in 20th Century US History: "U.S. Gender and Women's History"
80772 M 3:30-6:20
Lisa Levenstein
This course will explore the state of the field of twentieth century U.S. women's and gender history. Topics we will examine include labor, politics, culture, foreign policy, sexuality, business, race, ethnicity, immigration, law, culture, feminism, and the state. The course is aimed at both specialists and newcomers to the field.
HIS 740 - Selected Topics in European History: "Seminar on the Enlightenment"
80773
T 6:30-9:20Cristina Bejan
What was the Enlightenment? Through reading primary and secondary sources, the student will gain a fuller historical, cultural and philosophical understanding of the important European intellectual movement.
200-400 Level Courses, Fall 2012 | Advising Center | Courses
