HIST - History Course Descriptions

Focus on the methods that have shaped the conceptualization and writing of professional history over the past few decades. Methods studied may include those of the Marxists, the French Annales school, social-scientific history, anthropological history, historical sociology, the history of material culture and consumption, the history of nationalism and cosmopolitanism, global and transnational history, environmental history. Area readings will vary with instructor.

The cultural legacy of the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Hebrew and Hellenic civilizations in classical antiquity.

Classical antiquity from the conquests of Alexander the Great to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.

Using original works (in translation), the course examines early modern European conceptions of love, culture, politics and destiny in the context of major social, intellectual and artistic developments of the period; humanism and the formation of the state; individualism in life, letters and arts.

The rapid transformation of political, legal and social institutions, as well as of attitudes and ideas under the pressure of war, revolution and economic change. The crisis of the Old Regime; development and spread of the Revolution; the Napoleonic system and its legacy.

The political triumphs of the middle classes and their troubled hegemony; the factory system, free trade parliamentarians; the transformation of 1848; the Second Empire; Italian and German unifications; movements of reform; democratic currents; socialism; the new imperialism.

Political, social, economic, and intellectual developments in fin de siécle Europe, the coming of the First World War, the War and Peace, the Russian Revolution, Italian Fascism, the Weimar Republic and Nazism, the Democracies between the wars, the diplomacy of appeasement, the Second World War, the Cold War and Détente, and the emergence of East and West Europe as vital forces in the world today.

European discovery and exploration of America; origins and peopling of the English colonies; colonial life; imperial innovations and American protest; the Revolution.

Republicanism and the democratization of politics, industrialization of an American working class, social reform and the making of the middle class, westward expansion and the removal of the Native Americans, sectional conflict and slave culture.

The causes and consequences of the American Civil War, focusing especially on the reasons for sectional conflict, emancipation, the role of Abraham Lincoln, the conflict over Reconstruction and the new status of emancipated slaves.

The political, economic and social phases of the development of the United States from Reconstruction to the First World War. Populism and Progressivism; the industrialization of society and the emergence of the labor movement.

America and World War I, the roaring twenties, the Depression and New Deal, Roosevelt's leadership, World War II, and the beginnings of the Cold War.

Topical and chronological treatment of the American immigration experience, with emphasis on the ghetto, culture and community, patterns of work, social mobility, assimilation, the relation of class and ethnicity, and America's reception of immigrants. Comparative analysis of different ethnic groups.

The post-slavery experience of African-Americans: the creation and destruction of a black peasantry, the growth of a black working class, and the resulting change in black politics and culture.

Examines the basic features of English Common Law, then shifts to America to explore how our nation (1) dealt with this inheritance and (2) formed its own legal structure. A broad range of topics, with emphasis upon eighteenth and nineteenth century legal developments.

Several problems in the history and culture of New York City: slavery and the city's origins as a multi-ethnic mercantile community, post-revolutionary commercial port; rise of working class; the Harlem Renaissance; social welfare and planning in the twentieth century. Emphasis on reading in original sources.

A study of the impact and meaning of colonial rule in Latin America and the Caribbean, focusing on the interaction between European goals and institutions, and indigenous American and African strategies of socio-cultural survival.

Contemporary economic, social and political problems of Latin America and the Caribbean studied in historical perspective. Themes include: foreign economic and political intervention; labor systems and patterns of land ownership; class, ethnic and racial relations; the politics of reform, revolution and authoritarianism.

The early formation of the Chinese State, the intellectual foundation that has sustained its long history, the shaping of the Confucian way of life, and the cultural sophistication and its decline on the eve of the modern world.

Change and continuity in the Chinese tradition across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The encounter with the West, social and political disruptions, efforts to industrialize, and especially the evolution and outcome of the Chinese revolution will be stressed.

Japanese history from its origins to the nineteenth century, i.e., the "classic" Heian period, "medieval" Kamakura to Sengoku periods and the "early modern" Tokugawa world. Topics: Japan's contacts and borrowings from other civilizations, especially China; Shinto and Buddhism; women and the family; the rise and transformation of bushi or warriors; artistic traditions.

Survey of the building of the modern Japanese state, society and economy from 1868 to the present, with focus on continuity and change, the social costs of rapid industrialization and the emergence of Japan in the global economy.

The history and culture of Indian civilization before modern times; major emphasis will be on its formation and classical age, its continuity and change, and the coming of Islam.

Surveys the elements which have shaped the characteristic institutions of India; the disintegration of the Mogul empire and the rise of the British to dominance; political, economic, cultural, and social developments during the British period and the changes wrought by the republic.

A social history of Africa from the nineteenth century to the present, with emphasis on state formation, impact of the slave trade, and resistance to colonialism.

The rise of Islam and Arab conquests of the Middle East and North Africa through the Crusades and Mongol invasion. Covers the period 600 to 1500, focusing on politics, culture, and society.

A study of major modern revolutions, stressing the literature and problems of each, for the purpose of learning to what extent they follow similar patterns. New and unusual insights for historical inquiry, prompted by a comparative approach.

The meaning, origin, development, and growing significance of nationalism in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Nationalism discussed as (1) a stabilizing and destabilizing factor, (2) a challenge to multi-national empires, and (3) a major factor in the anti-colonial movements.

The building of empires during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in the name of national and international principles as well as economic and political interests. The extension of power over weaker regions by England and France, the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R. and China. Rivalries among imperial powers.

Comparison of several instances of systematic mass killings, including Armenians, European Jews, Kurds, American Indians, and Hereros and Hutus in Africa. Emphasis on historical circumstances, national sentiment, the state apparatus, and the contemporary implications of genocide.

The eighteenth century's project of applying reason to experience and to the improvement of social existence. Main topics: retrieval of exotic cultures; meditation on happiness and pleasure; problem of luxury; discovery of the market; secular society and its history; the French Revolution; reform and violence.

Emphasis on overall trends as well as specific national developments in Western Europe. After considering the Versailles Peace Conference, attention directed to Western Europe between the two World Wars: the Weimar Republic, France, British economic and imperial problems, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, and the small states. The remote and immediate causes, events and results of World War II are treated, as well as developments since 1945.

Hitler, Nazism and Nazi Germany. Topics include: social, political and economic preconditions to the Nazi takeover; anti-Semitism; cultural and artistic policies of Nazi Germany; the churches; the film industry; varieties of resistance; concentration camps; the conquest of Europe; mass murder; fall of the Third Reich.

The commercialization of culture in Nineteenth century U.S. through an examination of historical artifacts. These objects, such as silk portraits, popular prints and books, and vernacular houses. Studies in the context of historical change, using theories of material culture.

Treats the growth of Latin America's world contacts, with special emphasis on the twentieth century and the Latin American viewpoint. Economic, political, religious, social, and diplomatic matters considered.

From the mineral revolution, 1871 to the present. Focus on the special forces that created modern South Africa, with special attention to the creation of the Black working class, the decline/collapse of the Black peasantry, the evolution of the privileged white working class and Afrikaner ideology, the introduction of East Indian and Chinese labor, and the evolution of social movements of women, workers, squatters, and peasants to resist the apartheid system.

Research in selected case studies of imperialist contacts and conflicts; patterns of control; native acquiescence and discontent; achievements and failures.

Sequence of directed readings and tutorials, available only with the Chair's permission. Interested students should inquire, usually after having completed 15 credits.

Students electing to complete the thesis option will prepare it under the guidance of a faculty advisor. Completion of the comprehensive exam and the foreign language requirement is advisable prior to starting work on the thesis.