| HIST 100 |
| Modern Britain since 1750 |
| This course surveys the profound and continuous ways in which Britain changed over the course of the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries: in terms of its boundaries, political system, population, economy, and culture. In 1750 ‘Britain’ refers to an agrarian state composed of three countries, with a powerful monarchy, limited democracy and a growing empire. By 1900 Britain has become a United Kingdom, a highly industrialised and urbanised state with a massive empire and a broadening democratic system; by 2000, it has ‘lost’ its empire but is profoundly globalised and democratic. Why, when and how did these changes happen? This class will be as interactive lectures with particular time will be set aside for class discussions and analysis of primary sources. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 102 |
| Europe Since 1715 |
| European history from 1715 to the present. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 104 |
| Europe in the 20th Century |
| This course will examine the upheavals of Europe's tumultuous 20th century. From the hopes of progress built on the advances of the 19th century came the destruction and despair of a century of revolution, war, genocide, oppression, and subsequent rebirth. This course will study the contours of Europe in 1914, the causes and consequences of the World War I, the weaknesses of liberal democracy in the interwar years, the allure of alternative political systems like Communism and Fascism, the outbreak of World War II and the Holocaust, attempts to rebuild Europe after the war and the creation of the social welfare state in Western Europe since 1945, and the course of events in Communist Eastern Europe culminating in the collapse of the Soviet Union. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 106 |
| Voices from the Past |
| Historians try to understand major events and how societies evolve, but we are ultimately interested in recovering the experiences of people who came before us By reading letters, memoirs, autobiographies, and trial records, historians have created a new kind of history called "micro-histories" that seek to reconstruct the lives of people from a range of societies and time periods. This seminar will introduce students to micro-histories and important historical voices. We will try to understand the lives of people from ancient Rome, medieval Europe, Renaissance Italy, Ottoman Turkey, and early modern Japan, among other times and places. By trying to understand these voices from the past, we can also learn how to make sense of our own lives. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 115 |
| History of the Greek World: c. 1500-200 BCE |
| This course covers the history of the Greek world—Greece, the Aegean islands, western Asia Minor, the Black Sea, and southern Italy and Sicily—in the period between the end of the Bronze Age and the arrival of the Romans (c. 1500-200 BCE). The emergence of the polis, the Greek city-state, as the predominant way to organize political, social, economic, religious, and cultural life, and the spread of these institutions, form the central foci of the course. There will be emphasis on the reading and interpretation of primary source material through lectures, discussions, and analytical writing. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 117 |
| Tokyo Story: From Fishing Village to Cosmopolitan Metropolis |
| This course explores the historical development of Tokyo, from its obscure, medieval origins to its present status as one of the world's most populous and cosmopolitan cities. In spite of being destroyed on average once every 30 years by fires, natural disasters, and war—or perhaps because of this—Tokyo has sprung eternal, constantly transforming itself within shifting political, economic, and cultural contexts. This course examines the constantly transforming urban landscape and its impact on the structure of the city and the lives of its inhabitants. Topics of particular interest include: the rise of capitalism and its impact on early-modern urbanization, the impact of Western-style modernization on the organization of urban life in the 19th and 20th centuries, labor migration and its impact on urban slums, the impact of the economic "high growth" years on Japanese urban lifestyles, and the rise of Tokyo as a symbol of post-modern urban culture. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 128 |
| Islamic World to 1517 |
| This course addresses all geographies with prominent Muslim political, religious, or social presences from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century through the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth. Major topics include the formation and contestation of Islamic religious and political authority; experiences of women, non-Muslims, and enslaved people; and currents in literature, art and architecture, the sciences, and urban life. Through a mix of scholarly articles and primary sources, special attention will be paid to the methodological challenges facing historians of this period. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 135 |
| War and Gender in Europe 1914-1945 |
| Between 1914 and 1945, Europe was destroyed, rebuilt and destroyed once more. All aspects of society were affected and changed by the wars, including the gender order. This course will examine the breaks, as well as the continuities, in the relationship between men and women over the course of two devastating World Wars. The wars forced women to take on jobs previously restricted to men, as well as navigate the challenges of the Home Front; meanwhile, men were tasked with reintegrating into society after facing the horrors of war, often returning to a home that was much different than the one they had left. Through memoirs, scholarly texts, and film, we will explore how the wars affected conceptions of both femininity and masculinity in Europe. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 200 |
| Hartford: Past and Present |
| Focusing on both Hartford and its region since the 1630s, this course explores key themes in American urban, social, economic, cultural, and political history, paying close attention to issues of race/ethnicity, gender/sexuality, class relations, religion, and urbanism. We first examine interactions between Native groups, English settlers, African slaves, and their descendants, from the Colonial Era to the Early Republic (1630s-1830s). We then explore urban cultures, abolitionism, European and African American migration, and Hartford's as a global financial and manufacturing center (1830s-1940s). Finally, from the 1940s to the present, topics include suburbanization, deindustrialization, racial segregation, Civil Rights movements, West Indian and Puerto Ricans migration, neoliberalism, globalization, and relations between Hartford and its suburbs. We also track Trinity College's history since 1823. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 201 |
| Early America |
| This course introduces students to major developments in the political, economic, and social history of North America from the sixteenth to the mid-nineteenth century. We will study indigenous sovereignty, encounters between Europeans and Native Americans, the founding of European colonies, the rise of the Atlantic slave trade, the Seven Years' War, the American Revolution, the spread of human enslavement, the War of 1812, Indian removal policy, U.S. wars with Native nations, westward expansion, the U.S.-Mexican War, abolitionism, and the Civil War. Students will be challenged to imagine American history within Atlantic and global contexts and to comprehend the expansiveness of Native American homelands and the shifting nature of North American borderlands. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 202 |
| Greek and Roman World |
| The last two decades have seen an explosion of work on the economy of the Greek and Roman world. New approaches, like the New Institutional Economics and Behavioral Economics, have provided historians with new tools and models to understand the market, the role of the state, and the interaction of social and cultural norms with economic activity. In this course we will explore this "new world" through readings of secondary literature and exploration of primary sources. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 203 |
| Urban Nightlife since 1964 |
| Dance music scenes and their urban spaces are social arenas in which discriminatory norms of sexism, homophobia, racism, class elitism and ethnocentrism can be subverted and transformed. Using studies of New York City, Chicago, Berlin, London, Philadelphia, and Rio de Janeiro, we examine urban nightlife's music scenes from the mid-1960s to the present, highlighting the roles played by the evolution of social liberation movements, capitalism and international migrations. We explore innovative research in Critical Race Studies, Queer Studies, Feminist Studies, and Urban Studies that has recast nightlife as far more than banal entertainment and debauchery, viewing it instead as a force propelling broader dynamics of cultural, political, and social change. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 204 |
| Central American Immigration to the US: History and Contemporary Situation |
| This course will survey the history of immigration patterns from the five countries of Central America to the U.S. between the early 19th century and the current decade in the context of Latin American history. The countries that will be surveyed are: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The methodological emphasis in the lectures will be comparative. (SOC) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 205 |
| U.S. Foreign Policy, the cold War & Latin America, 1945-2000 |
| The period between 1945 and 1990 is often known as the "Cold War" between the U.S. and Soviet Union, a time of bitter ideological rivalry that pitted strategies for global influence and hegemony between these Super Powers between adherents to capitalism and communism. For many regions of the rest of the world this supraconflict engulfed political systems, economic and social policy and cultural and intellectual resources and even life and death decision by governments and individuals. Latin America and the Caribbean, so near the U.S. was at the heart of the Cold War conflicts in ways that its legacies remain today. This course is about how this happened and why. (GLB) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 207 |
| Law and Government in Medieval England |
| This course will study the evolution of English law and government in the Middle Ages from the Norman Conquest to the Stuarts. It will emphasize key concepts of common law, the nature of English kingship, the development of Parliament, the status of particular groups in English society, the evolution of governmental power, as well as some comparative material from other medieval states. The course will be taught from primary source materials with supplementary readings from secondary scholarship. Qualifies for credit in the Formal Organizations minor. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 209 |
| African-American History |
| Moving chronologically, we will begin with the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade on the coast of West Africa that wrought the beginnings of African America and follow the stories of their descendants on these lands. As much we uncover from what roots and waters Black people emerge, we will also learn of how they have survived in a nation-state where their lifelessness is imminent. Over a span of four hundred years, they have made themselves. We will follow their courageous and deliberate formation of a rich cultural heritage, as well as their construction of a complex body of social and political ideas about the contradictory nature of American democracy and the position of Black people within it. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 210 |
| Paris: Capital of the Nineteenth Century |
| In this history of Paris we explore the revolutions in politics, culture and class which usher into being one of the most dynamic and influential spaces in European and world history. Topics include the revolutions of 1830 and 1848; the rebuilding of Paris during the Second Empire; and the invention of modern art by the Impressionists and their successors. We also discuss the Commune of 1871 (in Marx’s view, the first socialist revolution), the Dreyfus Affair (which brings anti-Semitism to the center stage of European politics), and the advent of the ‘New Woman’ whose dress and behavior crystallize a feminist challenge to the masculine politics of the age. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 211 |
| The Doctor-Patient Relationship |
| This course looks at the doctor-patient relationship as it has evolved over time, beginning in Western medicine with the ethical guidelines outlined by classical
Greek doctors in the Hippocratic Oath and ending with 21st-century concerns about the advantages and drawbacks of electronic medical records for doctor-patient communication. While considering the medical and legal concerns related to the quality of doctor-patient communications, we will examine approaches used in different historical periods for training doctors and helping them develop their capacities as effective listeners and communicators. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 212 |
| The Crusades and Medieval Society |
| An introductory survey of the political, social, military, and religious history of the Crusades. Using primary sources, the course will also examine how aspects of the Crusades reveal broader themes in medieval history, including: European identity, pilgrimage, religious violence, technological innovation, perceptions of non-Europeans, and the influence of the Crusades on early modern voyages of discovery. Lecture and discussion format. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 213 |
| Modern Jewish History |
| This course will examine major trends in Jewish history since 1789. There will be particular emphasis on Jewish society in Eastern Europe and the breakdown of orthodox hegemony. Topics will include the Haskalah, the Bund, the development of Zionism, the interwar period in Eastern Europe, the Holocaust, and the State of Israel. The approach will be primarily that of intellectual history with emphasis on the secular aspect of Jewish history. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 214 |
| Eastern Europe Since 1848 |
| “Eastern Europe” usually evokes images of grey buildings and Communist workers. But this points to only one historical moment of a region that has been a cosmopolitan empire, a site of new democracies, and the killing grounds of millions of Europeans. This course will explore the various “Eastern Europes” which have existed since 1848, starting with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With its dissolution after the First World War, we will follow the history of Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia from the interwar period, through the destruction and horror of World War II, the establishment of the Soviet Bloc and finally the fall of Communism. We will explore issues of nationalism, fascism and socialism in the Eastern European context. Readings will include contemporary novels, memoirs and film. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 215 |
| Latin American Cities |
| Topics include: urbanism, religion and power in the ancient civilizations of Mexico, Central America and the Andes; colonial-era urbanism, religion, slavery and politics (1520s-1810s); post-colonial nation-building, modernization, Europeanization and early radical politics (1820s-1920s); populist-era industrialization, urban growth, class conflicts, revolutionary politics, and authoritarianism (1930s-1970s); democratization, social movements, and exclusionary and progressive urbanism in the era of neoliberalism and globalization (1980s-present). Throughout the course, we pay particular attention to gender, sexual, racial and ethnic identities, as well as to both popular culture and the fine arts, using examples from Bahia, Buenos Aires, Bogotá, Brasilia, Caracas, Cusco, Havana, Lima, Mexico City, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, San Juan de Puerto Rico, São Paulo, and Santiago de Chile. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 216 |
| World War II |
| This is a survey of the political, military, social, cultural and economic aspects of the Second World War. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 219 |
| Planet Earth: Past, Present and Future |
| This course explores the effect of the natural world on human history and of humans on the natural world. Our focus is on the earth as a global system. We begin with a consideration of human and natural histories in deep time, well before the written record, and offer an argument for why those histories matter. We then examine how the historical past can be understood in the context of these planetary themes, reframing familiar events in ancient and modern history by highlighting major natural changes that accompanied them, such as the redistribution of plants and animals, the fluctuation of climate, and the development of planet-altering technologies. The course culminates in a consideration of the future planetary conditions that past and present actions may cause. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 220 |
| Possible Earths: Histories and Cultures of Environmental Thought |
| This seminar examines environmental thinking across histories and cultures in order to retrieve sources of hope and wisdom for a planetary future. Reading and discussion will foreground current humanity's vast inheritance when it comes to ways of existing in community with and knowing a living planet. Students will look critically at how texts, images, objects, and practices are historical evidence of the many ways humans have imagined natural communities and acted within them. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 221 |
| Science, Religion, and Nature in the Age of Galileo |
| The astronomer Galileo Galilei’s trial before the Roman Inquisition nearly four centuries ago endures as a symbol of the clash between science and religion. Undoubtedly, the rise of early modern science in 17th-century Europe provoked its share of battles, but was this the whole story? This course will lead students to consider the origin and extent of the apparently irreconcilable differences between world views. How wide was the rift between science and religion, especially before the Enlightenment? Students will be encouraged to explore this complex relationship in historical context, by weighing the coexistence of scientific curiosity and intense faith, and also by considering the religious response to the expanding horizons of knowledge. The course will highlight investigations of the heavens and the earth, thus seeking instructive comparisons between disciplines such as astronomy, botany, and geology. A number of broad themes will be the focus. These include the understanding of God and nature, authority (classical and scriptural) versus observation, the wide range of knowledge-making practices, the place of magic, and finally the influence of power and patronage. The class seeks to present a rich and exciting picture, looking forward as well to the influence of rational thinking and scientific inquiry on the making of modernity. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 222 |
| Japan from the Dawn of Human History to the 19th Century |
| This course provides a broad overview of the events and themes encountered in Japan’s early history, from the earliest archeological evidence of human habitation to the establishment of a stable political and social order under the Tokugawa bakufu (shogunate). The course will explore the role of diverse religious and cultural influences in shaping Japanese society and culture during the pre-modern era. Themes and topics of particular interest are the impact of Chinese civilization and the “indigenization” of imported traditions such as Buddhism and Confucianism, early political organization and the rise of the imperial clan, and civil war and the ascendance of the warrior class to political and cultural hegemony. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 223 |
| Modern Japan: 1850-1945 |
| Counts as one of the survey courses for the two-semester history sequence for the Asian Studies major.
This course examines the social, economic, and cultural transformations that occurred in Japan from its initial encounter with Western modernity through its rise to military superpower status in the first half of the 20th century. Students will gain a greater understanding of the problems that have shaped Japan, by exploring the challenges, conflicts, triumphs, and tragedies of modernization, industrialization, and nation-building as the Japanese experienced them in the 19th and 20th centuries. The course concludes with a detailed exploration of the road to the Pacific War and the social, political, and cultural effects of mobilization for total war followed by total defeat. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 224 |
| Postwar and Contemporary Japan |
| This course examines the history of Japan, from its destruction and defeat in WWII, through its rebirth and resurgence as a "miracle economy" in the context of the Cold War in East Asia, to its attainment of economic superpower status and its recent struggles with natural and man-made disasters, population decline, and preserving a "unique" cultural identity within a globalizing world. Through lectures, discussions, and readings from primary sources, scholarly works, and novels, we will explore how the Japanese people shaped and related to drastic cultural, social and economic changes since 1945, as Japan has occupied an increasingly important place in the emerging world system. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 226 |
| The Rise of Modern Russia |
| This course will examine the history of Russia from 1825 until the present. It will include the dilemmas of modernization and social stability in Tsarist Russia, the challenges of Empire and multinational populations, the impact of the intelligentsia and the causes of the revolutions of 1905 and 1917. We will then consider topics in the rise and fall of the USSR: Lenin, Stalin, World War II, the problems of de-Stalinization and the reasons that attempts to reform the Soviet system failed. The course will also make extensive use of literary materials. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 227 |
| World Histories of Wine |
| This seminar explores the history of wine, a new and growing research field in world history. We will consider how wine has been produced, traded, and consumed in both continental Europe and the “New World” since circa 1600. Topics will include: approaches to commodity history; wine, terroir and the construction of national identity; protection and global markets; technological change and modernisation; networks, trade and information exchanges; and the creation of consumers and experts. All students will write a major research paper and it is possible to gain additional course credit for Language Across the Curriculum by undertaking foreign-language research. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 228 |
| Islamic World to 1517 |
| This course addresses all geographies with prominent Muslim political, religious, or social presences from the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century through the rise of the Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth. Major topics include the formation and contestation of Islamic religious and political authority; experiences of women, non-Muslims, and enslaved people; and currents in literature, art and architecture, the sciences, and urban life. Through a mix of scholarly articles and primary sources, special attention will be paid to the methodological challenges facing historians of this period. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 232 |
| South Africa and the Anti-Apartheid Movement |
| The creation of the apartheid state in South Africa gave birth to a litany of sociopolitical movements aimed at dismantling a system of white minority rule. In what ways can a digital archive open up a window onto this rich and dynamic history of the anti-antiapartheid movement in South Africa between 1948 and 1994? This course will seek to answer this question by primarily utilizing Aluka's "Struggles for Freedom in Southern Africa", a collection of over 190,000 primary and secondary sources that shed considerable light on how marginalized peoples and communities sought to realize a democratic alternative to settler colonialism during the era of decolonization in Africa. Topics such as political leadership, nonviolent civil disobedience, coalition building, state repression, armed guerilla resistance, nationalism, international solidarity and truth and reconciliation will inform the ways in which we search for sources of historical evidence contained in Aluka's digital archive. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 236 |
| Understanding the History, Culture and Politics of Latin America & the Caribbean |
| This interdisciplinary course explores major historical themes and contemporary cultural and political topics related to Latin American and Caribbean societies and cultures. The goal is to give students a panoramic view of Latin America and the Caribbean and to introduce them to various issues that are explored more deeply in upper-division courses. We will address questions of demography and geography, basic historical periods and processes, particular anthropological and cultural debates, fundamental political and gender issues, sociological approaches to daily life, aesthetic and literary movements, and the regions' positions within the historical and contemporary world economy. Open to all students, this course is required of INTS majors with a Caribbean and Latin American Studies concentration. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 238 |
| Caribbean History |
| The location of the first encounter, conquest, and colonization of Native American peoples by Europeans, the Caribbean became a center of bitter rivalries between European imperial powers, and later in the 20th century a new, premiere location of the United States’ own imperial thrust. The Caribbean’s strategic location in relation to Atlantic Ocean trade routes and its tropical climate and fertile soils were key factors in shaping these imperial rivalries and the colonial and postcolonial societies that emerged in the region. The vast experience of African slavery, the later “indentured” migration of hundreds of thousands of Asians to some colonies, and the migration of similar numbers of Europeans (especially to the Hispanic Caribbean) have shaped deeply yet unevenly the nature of Caribbean societies since the 16th century, giving the Caribbean a complex multi-ethnic, yet also heavily “Western,” cultural landscape. This course will introduce students to these and other aspects of Caribbean history, from the pre-European era, through the epics of the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) and the Cuban Revolution of 1959, to the present. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 242 |
| History of China, Qing to Present |
| This second half of the China survey covers the period between the establishment of the multi-ethnic Qing empire to the present. As we go through the last four hundred years of Chinese history, we will consider several questions: How did the experience of the Qing, the last imperial dynasty, influence the trajectory of modern China? How did China grapple with modernity? Why is modern Chinese history marked with upheaval and revolution? How do the global and the local intertwine in the making of modern China? In the process, we will look at the kinds of historiographical debates that have animated scholarship, primarily in English, about early modern and modern China. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 250 |
| Money, Merchants and Culture |
| From the early days of barter economies to the modern world of stocks, hedge funds and bitcoin, money (and merchants, bankers and consumers) has been a driving force in history. The course will explore the varied aspects of money's evolution: the political meaning of coins in the ancient world; the impact of traders and merchants on the expansion of early cities, states and empires; attitudes towards the rewards and dangers of money in Christianity; the rise of merchant bankers like the Medici of Florence, the crucial importance of merchants from Venice and Genoa to the Crusades; how great wealth creates standards of luxury in fashion, food, and design that shape aristocratic and popular values; and the quasi-religious beliefs about the free market in the modern world. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
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| HIST 253 |
| African History: 1850 to the Contemporary Era |
| This course is the second part of a two-part introductory survey of African history. With a focus on "Black Africa" south of the Sahara, we will begin by exploring the impact of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade on Africa and move to the establishment of - and resistance to - European colonial rule. We will then look at the impact of the two World Wars on Africa as well as the rise in nationalism and movements for independence. In the postcolonial period, we will explore Cold War policies in Africa, and address issues including the end of apartheid in South Africa, the politics of foreign aid and military interventions, global health and resource wars. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 256 |
| Human Rights in Latin America and the Caribbean: A History |
| In the 1970s and 1980s, thousands of people were “disappeared,” tortured and murdered in Latin America and the Caribbean, mostly by military regimes and by para-military death-squads. The period is often characterized as perhaps the lowest point in the modern abuse of “Human Rights” in the region. This course explores how these central notions, the human and rights, have evolved in theory and in practice in the history of the Americas. The course begins with the 16th-century debates among the Spaniards over the “humanity” of Indians and enslaved Africans; it then covers distinguishing elements of the human and rights within the legal structures of the nations created after independence from Spain in the 1820s and before the more contemporary conceptions of human rights in the aftermath of the Holocaust and the crimes against humanity during WWII. Finally, the modern conception and practice of human rights defense and legal monitoring are explored in case studies in the region from the late 1940s to the 1980s. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 258 |
| The Islamic City: Places, Pasts and Problems |
| This course explores the great variety of cities founded, claimed, and inhabited by Muslims from the beginnings of Islam to the present day. While there is no such thing as a prototypical "Islamic city," this course grapples with questions of change and continuity in the organization of urban life among Muslims globally. Through a combination of lectures and discussions, we will situate cities in their historical contexts, examine their built environments, and consider the ways in which exchange, mobility, empire, revolution, and globalization have shaped urban space. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 260 |
| From the Civil Rights Movement to the Movement for Black Lives |
| Have we entered a new civil rights era? What are this new movement's goals? Who are these new activists and what political beliefs motivate them? How did we get here? This seminar tries to answer these questions by looking backward. Both the strategies and the political analyses of the Movement for Black Lives are rooted in the successes - and failures - of the civil rights movements of the past. We will study the twentieth century's "Long Civil Rights Movement" and consider both continuities and breaks between past and present struggles for racial justice. This course is not open to those who took a similar course at the 300 level. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 264 |
| Slavery in Middle East History |
| This discussion-based course will examine the history of slavery in the Middle East from the rise of Islam in the seventh century to the intensification of global capitalism and European colonialism in the nineteenth century. Reading and writing assignments will consider the varieties of slavery, the geographies of slaving, and the experiences of enslaved people. Major themes will be gender, sexuality, and race. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 267 |
| Unearthing Local Histories |
| We live in interesting times. This course invites you to explore an interesting moment either in the past or present in your home town (or wherever you are currently), and create a document that explores it from a local perspective. Using interviews, local newspapers and other available materials, you'll be constructing the story, rather than simply reporting it. The course will move you through each stage of the process, with the end product intended (if possible) to be a public, online document others can learn from. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 270 |
| Parliamentary Debate in History and Practice |
| This course introduces the history of debate in the British parliamentary tradition and the practice of debate as a collegiate extra-curricular activity. The course is a dynamic mix of lecture, seminar-style discussion and experiential learning. The course has three components: historical background to and analysis of the British parliamentary system, drawing on the emerging field of the history of rhetoric; primary source analysis of historical speeches and debates; applied sessions when students will draft and practice their own debates in teams. Written exercises include developing a ‘time-space case’ based in British history. Students will complete the course with a broader understanding of British political history, a deeper sensitivity to political rhetoric, and stronger oral and written argumentation and communication skills. No debate experience is necessary. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 272 |
| Pacific World |
| The Pacific Ocean has historically been regarded as a vast and prohibitive void rather than an avenue for integration. Yet over the last five centuries motions of people, commodities, and capital have created important relationships between the diverse societies situated on the "Pacific Rim." This course examines the history of trans-Pacific interactions from 1500 to the present. It takes the ocean itself as the principal framework of analysis in order to bring into focus large-scale processes -- migration, imperial expansion, cross-cultural trade, transfers of technology, cultural and religious exchange, and warfare and diplomacy. This "oceans connect" approach to world history brings these processes into sharp relief while also allowing for attention to the extraordinary diversity of cultures located within and around the Pacific. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 274 |
| Intro to Roman History - Imperial Transformations |
| The Roman Empire saw many changes during the six centuries between its foundation under Augustus and its transformation into the Byzantine Empire under Justinian. This course examines the ways that the empire changed in that time, in culture and religion, in territorial expansion and contraction, and in political forms. A major emphasis will be the diversity of the Roman experience during these centuries, as the empire grew to include Africans, Asians, and Europeans; Jews and Christians, as well as followers of traditional Roman religion; men and women; free and enslaved people. The course will finish with a discussion of the long transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 275 |
| Italian Fascism and Antifascism |
| In this course we will consider the dominant literary, cinematic, and cultural movements of the Fascist Ventennio, such as the poets of the avant-garde, futurism, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Alessandro Blasetti, and others. We will also consider the resistance to the Fascist project through the works of antifascist writers, poets, and filmmakers. Our approach will be necessarily interdisciplinary. While our focus will be on literary, cinematic, and cultural movements, texts will include those by prominent historians as well. This course will be taught in English, and all texts will be in English. Films will be offered with English subtitles. (GLB2) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 285 |
| Born in Blood: Violence and the Making of America |
| This course explores the formations and functions of violence in the United States from 1754 to 1900. It investigates government (federal, state, and local) and individuals-and the intersection of the government and the individual-regarding military bodies, access to weapons, and legal and extralegal violent activities. Using figures from the well-known (George Washington or Abraham Lincoln) to the lesser known (Hannah Dustan or Robert Smalls), the class questions the limits and boundaries of American violence according to race, class, and gender. In the end, students will debate whether violence belongs aside liberty, democracy, freedom, and equality in the pantheon of American political and cultural ideals. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 300 |
| History Workshop |
The Workshop seminar combines extensive readings on the topic of the seminar with a substantial research paper involving the use of primary source materials and original analysis. Prerequisite: At least one History Department course completed at Trinity. This course is primarily for History majors but permission of the instructor will allow other Trinity students interested to enroll. (HUM)
Prerequisite: C- or better in at least one History course completed at Trinity, or permission of instructor. |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 301 |
| Biography as History |
| This seminar deals with the theory, methodology and historiography of historical biography. We begin with varied readings on the theory, method and historiography of biography, and then transition to deep, critical analysis of substantial classic and contemporary biographies about personae who lived and died in different parts of the world. Students read biographies of political greats, revolutionaries, mystics, artists, poets, musicians and more. No expertise in historical analysis required, or any perquisite history courses. Students enrolled must love to read substantial books, and analyze them. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 302 |
| The Knight in History |
| The knight, a mounted warrior defined by his aristocratic lineage and prowess on the battlefield, was central to the society of medieval Europe. The knight began as a mounted servant in the retinue of a local strongman and evolved into the central figure of aristocratic society in the Middle Ages. The knight became the fulcrum of medieval chivalric culture, warfare, and politics. This seminar will study the changing role the knight played in medieval society by exploring a variety of primary sources, including literature, handbooks of knightly conduct, letters, sermons, chronicles and art. We will conclude by exploring how the image of the knight has survived in post-medieval culture. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 303 |
| Around the World: Basketball and Global Culture(s) Since 1891 |
| This seminar follows basketball "around the world" in order to trace how culture moves. Beginning with the game's roots in the 19th-century U.S., students will analyze how basketball was subsequently shared, adopted, and adapted to a variety of settings on every continent of the globe. Throughout, attention will remain on politics: that is, basketball's role within larger struggles around power, identity, and (inter)nationalism. It will become clear that, far from "just a game," basketball is a key cultural practice through which people and groups have come to understand themselves for over a century. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 304 |
| Renaissance Italy |
| This course explores the origin, distinctiveness, and importance of the Italian Renaissance. It is also about culture, society, and identity in the many “Italies” that existed before the modern period. Art, humanism, and the link between cultural patronage and political power will be a focus, as will the lives of 15th- and 16th-century women and men. Early lectures will trace the evolution of the Italian city-states, outlining the social and political conditions that fostered the cultural flowering of the 1400s and 1500s. We will consider Florence in the quattrocento, and subsequently shift to Rome in the High Renaissance. Later topics will include the papacy’s return to the Eternal City, the art of Michelangelo and Raphael, and the ambitions of the warlike and mercurial Pope Julius II. Italy was a politically fragmented peninsula characterized by cultural, linguistic, and regional differences. For this reason, other topics will include: the fortunes of Venice, the courts of lesser city-states like Mantua and Ferrara, the life of Alessandra Strozzi, and the exploits of the “lover and fighter” Benvenuto Cellini. We will also look at representations of the Renaissance in film.
(HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 305 |
| The Emperor Nero: Murder and Mayhem |
| In the lifetime of the Emperor Nero (who was in power 54-68 CE), Rome appears as a dark world of murder, mayhem, debauchery, and palace intrigue. Imperial authors including Suetonius, Tacitus, and Seneca offer compelling accounts of the trials and tribulations of the emerging imperial system. Topics to consider include the relationship between imperialism and corruption, the role of the emperor, the tension between republican ideals and autocratic realities, the problematic status of imperial women, and the historiographic and philosophical approaches of the authors. The course is taught in English and readings are in English for students taking CLCV 305/HIST 305. Students taking this course as LATN 305 will read selections from course texts in Latin. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 310 |
| Animal Histories |
| Humans are animals. Most histories are about us, the most prominent and impactful animals on this planet. But we have arrived at where we are today on the backs of other non-human animals whose histories are often taken for granted. This seminar puts the animal back into our histories. It looks at how humans have shaped the ecological and evolutionary paths of animals but also how animals have influenced the course of history as agents of empire, biotechnology, and culture. We will explore the interdisciplinary methods that scholars use to understand the complex interactions between human and non-human animals and students will have the opportunity to undertake a project in animal history. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 311 |
| Sense of Place in the Native Northeast |
| The coasts, rivers, fields, hills, villages, and cities of present-day Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia have been home for indigenous families, communities, and nations through numerous environmental, political, and economic transformations. Students will learn about the ways that Native nations of the Northeast, from Pequots to Mi'kmaqs, have adapted, recreated, and reaffirmed a deep connectedness to their homelands and territories, from the fifteenth century to the present. Fields trips to local sites and archives will facilitate original historical research. Primary sources to be assigned include autobiographies, travel narratives, war histories, maps, Native American stories, and dictionaries of indigenous place names, and secondary source readings will cover major themes in Native American studies, with special emphasis on sense of place. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 317 |
| Modern British Cultural History |
| This seminar will explore the ways in which British culture and society have been shaped by its past global empire, from the mid-eighteenth century through the present day. Some of our discussions will center around consumables like sugar, silk and rubber, to investigate how the Empire influenced what people ate, drank and wore. We will consider how Empire shaped public spaces through monuments, zoos and exhibitions, and how it inspired public debates about race, women, Christianity and civic responsibility. We will conclude by analyzing the effects of migration from former colonies to Britain and considering the legacy of the Empire in contemporary British life. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 318 |
| Gender and Sexuality in Middle Eastern History |
| Through theoretical readings, historical monographs, ethnographies, novels, and films, this course explores changing discourses of gender and sexuality among Muslims in the Middle East from the foundational period of Islam to the present. Major topics include attitudes toward the body, beauty, and desire; social and legal norms for marriage, divorce, and reproduction; intersections between gender, sexuality, imperialism, and nationalism; and contemporary debates about homosexuality and women's rights. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 320 |
| Global 1001 Nights |
| This seminar explores the history and global dissemination of the fantasy story collection known as the 1001 Nights. The recent success of movie adaptations of Aladdin is just one of the many waves of popularity that these stories have enjoyed over the centuries. We will begin with medieval story-telling and the circulation of the Nights in Arabic. We will then discuss its transformation into an international best-seller in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the context of British and French colonialism. Finally we will map its more recent reinventions in literature, film, and art across the globe. Key topics will include magic, gender, sexuality, race, empire, and orientalism. Students will undertake a final research project. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 321 |
| The Third Reich |
| This seminar will examine the political, social and cultural history of Nazi Germany. It will explore major historical controversies surrounding this period and also seek to define the place of Nazi Germany within German history as a whole. The seminar will study the impact of Nazism on the rest of Europe: the Holocaust, German occupation policy, economics and Nazi propaganda. The class will make extensive use of films and other documentary materials. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 322 |
| Race Gender and Testimony in Latin America and the Caribbean |
| This course delves into the racialized and gendered dimensions of power and resistance in Latin American and Caribbean history. Utilizing testimonios or testimony-a genre emerging from the struggles of marginalized communities in the late 20th century-we'll probe how poor, campesino and working people, especially from Black and Indigenous backgrounds, confronted systems like patriarchy, white supremacy, and capitalism. By centering non-elite and women's perspectives, we unearth diverse expressions of racial identity, the realities of poverty, and the gendered underpinnings of violence and dictatorship. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 325 |
| Italy and the Mediterranean |
| This seminar examines the history of Italian coasts from the Middle Ages up to the period of nineteenth-century national unification. The focus in the first instance will be the history of port cities as well as the coastal stretches that lay between urban centers of power and commerce. As the chronology shifts toward later periods, the historical investigation of shores will also develop comparisons to coastal cultures elsewhere in the world. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 326 |
| Disaster Archipelago: Volcanoes, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, and the Japanese |
| Japan is one of the most seismically active countries in the world. Throughout history, people have dealt with devastation from volcanic eruptions, frequent earthquakes, and killer tsunamis. This course explores the history of these catastrophes and their aftermaths from a variety of perspectives: economic, political, social, and cultural. How have the Japanese people coped with these disasters and attempted to prepare for them, in light of shifting political contexts and evolving knowledge of the geologic mechanisms involved? Students will explore and discuss a wide variety of primary and secondary sources on Japanese ways of appreciating and dealing with disasters past and present, including memoirs, novels, and films. The course will culminate with an in-depth examination of the march 2011 tsunami and its aftermath. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 329 |
| The Holocaust |
| This seminar will study major topics in the history of the Holocaust and focus on perpetrators, bystanders and victims. Special attention will be given to historiographical controversies. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 331 |
| Ngugi's Kenya: Narrative of African Decolonization |
| What can fiction teach us about modern African history? We will tackle this question by focusing on the history of Kenya in the 20th century captured in the literary works of Ngugi wa Thiong'o. Topics and themes that will be addressed include the nature of colonial conquest and the rise the white minority settler dominance, colonial and postcolonial education, nationalism and pan-Africanism, political economy, religion, gender, and ethnic identity formation, and armed resistance. Our goal is to not only critically examine Ngugi's cultural and political contributions to the making of Kenya, but also to better understand the possibilities and limits of African fiction as a mode of historiographical storytelling. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 333 |
| Knights and Samurai: Comparative Warrior Cultures |
| The knight and samurai are the iconic images of European and Japanese society before modernity. Both were as crucial to the historical transformations of their worlds as they are misunderstood today. The knight, a mounted warrior defined by aristocratic lineage, and the samurai, a skilled swordsman and archer supposedly guided by a moral code of conduct, embody the values and contradictions of medieval Europe and Japan. We will study their rise and decline through literature, commentaries on proper warrior conduct, chronicles, and art from both medieval Europe and Japan. We will explore conceptions of masculinity, femininity, and the individual in these societies, as well as issues of honor, violence, and warfare common to both worlds, and the afterlife of these warriors in the popular culture. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 335 |
| Chinese Environmental History |
| China's environment has changed tremendously over the course of its history just as the environment itself has shaped that history. In this seminar, we will explore how the environment influences temporal, spatial, and cultural patterns in Chinese history and how states and societies have sought to mold the environment to their needs and the consequences of their efforts. We will also look at the comparative and global dimensions of China's environmental history in order to illustrate how understanding the past is crucial to comprehending China's present-day ecological footprint and environmental problems. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 337 |
| 20th Century Balkan History |
| A part of Eastern Europe, but also not, the Balkans experienced the major
events of the 20th Century in their own way. This course will follow the
Balkans from the infamous assassination in 1914, through the founding of
Yugoslavia, World War II and Holocaust, the Third Way of Communism
under Tito, and finally the genocide and war that dissolved the country.
While the focus of the course will be on Yugoslavia, other Balkan nations
will also be discussed. Sources include scholarly texts, memoirs and film. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 338 |
| Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century |
| "Eastern Europe" usually conjures up images of grey block buildings and workers toiling under Communism. But this stereotype points to only one moment in the history of a region which has been at times a cosmopolitan empire, a site of new democracies, and the killing grounds of millions of Europeans. This course will explore the various "Eastern Europes" which have existed during the twentieth century, starting with the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With its dissolution after the First World War, we will follow the history of its successor states - Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia - as well as Yugoslavia from the interwar period, through the destruction and horror of World War II, the establishment of the Soviet Bloc and finally the fall of Communism. Along the way we will question and examine what exactly sets Eastern Europe apart from the rest of Europe. How are we to define the region? We will explore issues of nationalism, fascism and socialism in the Eastern European context. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 339 |
| Revolution, Intervention and Us Empire in Latin American and the Caribbean |
| Throughout the 20th century, revolutions throughout Latin America and the Caribbean shook the existing power structures. These upheavals, influenced significantly by campesino and worker movements, many of Indigenous and Black origins, challenged the status quo and the European-descended elites. From Mexico's 1910 revolution to Honduras's 2009 coup, the U.S. played a pivotal role, either through direct intervention or strategic influence, in determining the region's political landscape. This course zeroes in on Central America and the Caribbean, exploring how grassroots movements seized power, the ensuing reactions of the U.S. and local elites, and the lasting imprints these events left on the continent. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 340 |
| Sports and American Society |
| This seminar addresses sports as a central thread in the American cultural fabric of the 19th and 20th centuries. Emphasis is placed on the sports/society intersection, with particular attention to issues of identity, capitalism, power, ethics, and globalization. Analysis is guided by a variety of cultural “texts,” from films and magazine articles to the great spectacles (Olympics, World Cup, etc.) through which sports have exerted global reach. Discussion and debate is encouraged throughout; students must grapple with the political issues that have, from the beginning to the present, pervaded the sports world (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 342 |
| Global Histories of Sexuality |
| This course examines how notions of the body, gender, erotic desire, and sexuality have been organized over space and time. Beginning with the Mediterranean, Asia, and Latin America in the ancient and medieval periods, the course seeks to de-center discourses of Western sexual modernity. From the eighteenth century on, it considers how colonialism, racism, nationalism, and globalization have shaped modern sexualities, with particular attention to Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Writing assignments focus on how scholars use theory and evidence to explore the sexual past. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 344 |
| The 1980s |
| When we think of the 1980s, certain things might come to mind: synthesizer music, action movie heroes, bright clothes, side ponytails, and other pop-culture markers. Yet the decade also featured a number of crucial developments and conflicts, from the Cold War to the War on Drugs, that set much of the foundation for American life today. This course will address the U.S. in the 1980s through a wide lens, surveying popular culture, global interactions, and political struggles related to race, class, gender, sexuality, and religion. In the process, students will learn how a "gnarly" decade featured ongoing struggle over the conditions, and meanings, of the American nation. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 349 |
| Interwar Europe |
| Sometimes seen as simply a stepping stone between the First and Second World Wars, the decades between are actually a rich period worthy of separate study. The Interwar Period is one of rapid change, vibrant culture, and deadly politics. This course will cover the Continuum of Crisis following WWI, the establishment of new nation-states, the pro-natalist policies and the birth New Woman, and the rise of Communist and Fascist governments. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 350 |
| Race and Incarceration |
#BlackLivesMatter has brought the intersection of race and the criminal justice system into public conversation, but race has been intertwined with imprisonment since American colonization. This course begins with the ways slavery and African Americans were policed by the state, and the history of American prisons. After the Civil War, freed Black men and women sought equal rights and opportunities. In response, the justice system shifted to accommodate new forms of racial suppression. The course then considers this process, including civil rights activists' experiences with prisons, the War on Drugs' racial agenda, and Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow, which argued that the "prison-industrial complex" is the newest form of racial control. The course ends with current practices of, and challenges to, the criminal justice system. This course meets the Archival method requirement. (HUM)
This course is not open to first-year or sophomore students without instructor consent. |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 352 |
| Black Power/Red power: A "Long Movement" Approach to Black and Indigenous Social Movement History |
| Heeding recent scholars' calls to place Black Studies and Native American and Indigenous Studies in more active dialogue with each other, this seminar examines the Black Power and Red Power movements. Students will engage both primary and secondary sources, and attend to the ways in which these movements rejected the possibility of Black and Indigenous incorporation into the American polity and instead called for self-determination and political autonomy. Instead of limiting our consideration of Black Power and Red Power to the late 1960s and 1970s, we will take a "long movement" approach to thinking about these movements. Topics covered will include: sovereignty and self-determination, land and community control, revolutionary violence and self-defense, gender and sexuality; and solidarity. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 353 |
| The Rise and Fall of American Slavery |
| This course covers important themes and developments in the history of slavery in the United States. From origins in indigenous communities, colonization, and the black Atlantic, human bondage shaped (and continues to shape) the legal and social framework for generations of Americans. Readings feature voices from slaveholders to the enslaved, politicians and activists, as well as some of the best work done by recent historians. This course fulfills transnational approaches. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 354 |
| The Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| This course examines not only the military dimensions of the war years but also such topics as politics in the Union and the Confederacy, the presidential leadership of Lincoln and Jefferson Davis, women in the Union and Confederate war efforts, and the struggle over emancipation. The latter part of the course considers post-war political, social, and economic developments, including nearly four million African Americans' transition from slavery to freedom, the conflict over how to reconstruct the former Confederate states, the establishment of bi-racial governments in those states, and the eventual overthrow of Reconstruction by conservative white "Redeemers." Lectures and discussions. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 354 |
| Black American Women's History |
| In this course, through lectures, readings, and discussion - we will follow the lives of Black women in America - a people enslaved by European powers - and then held in the bellies of ships that would sojourn through and across the Atlantic Ocean. Upon arrival to North American soil, their stationing as nonhumans would be solidified. We will trace how this intersectional, racial and gendered status, has followed them through the generations. Centrally, we will tend to the ways and means by which Black women have endeavored to live free and make a way of out of no way. We will unearth the ways in which the margins are, as scholar bell hooks states, "a position and place of resistance." (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 356 |
| Germany and the Great War: Destruction, Myths, and Legacy |
| The outbreak of World War I marks the end of Germany's long nineteenth century and the beginning of a chaotic twentieth century. Its defeat in the war ushered in a period of remarkable social progress, scientific and artistic achievement, as well as unprecedented political instability, which led to some of the greatest tragedies of the twentieth century. This course will examine Germany's entry into the war to its defeat and aftermath. With focus on the totality of the experience of this war in German and Austro-Hungarian regions, we will explore important historical works, primary documents, novels, films, works of art and more. Taught in English. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 357 |
| Germany's Roaring 1920s: "Babylon Berlin" in the Context of the Weimar Republic |
| The recent Netflix series sensation Babylon Berlin (2017-) has sparked renewed international attention to Germany's Weimar Republic (1918-1933). Between two world wars, the Weimar era was a time of political crisis, social revolution, and cultural boom. Today, this period continues to draw much attention and it remains one of the most fascinating periods of twentieth-century European history. This course answers why this series is so popular, and dives deeper into Weimar Republic by looking at a variety of social and cultural issues from this era, including gender relations, political extremism, race, popular culture, and art. Using the series as an introduction to the Weimar period of German history, this course will include, among others,, historical works, literary texts, and films. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 358 |
| Seminar on Malcolm X |
| In this interdisciplinary seminar, we will seek to understand the making of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz, most popularly known as Malcolm X, one of Black America's most important political leaders of the 20th century. How did Malcolm X define 'world revolution'? To answer this overarching question, we will critically assess autobiographical and biographical texts and academic literature as well as speeches, travel diaries, music, film, and poetry. Our goal is to situate Malcolm X within a Black radical protest tradition by taking into consideration themes and ideas that are pertinent to the study of the worldwide African Diaspora. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 359 |
| Europe since 1945 |
| 1945 has been called Zero Hour - when time resets itself. The Second World War had left Europe in rubble. This course will explore the various ways Europe rebuilt and reformed itself after 1945. Special focus will be placed on the Capitalist West versus the Communist East, but we will also explore topics like popular culture, nationalism and terrorism. Texts will include scholarly articles, memoirs and films. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 361 |
| Public Memory and the Challenge of History in the Digital Age |
| This course explores the changing nature of public memory-the way human beings preserve, teach, and understand their pasts-in an age of revolutionary change in information technologies. Memory work tells a story about the past using the lens of the present. Digital tools, social media, and virtual reality are reshaping how we remember and interpret our community and national histories. In addition to studying the evolution of public memory, the course introduces students to cutting edge information technology to create, and reflect upon, public histories in the digital age. No prior experience with digital tools required or expected. Students will have the chance to learn new technologies to think with the ideas of the course and create public work. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 362 |
| The Samurai Warrior in History, Myth, and Reality |
| The samurai were as important for Japan’s historical and cultural transformation as they are misunderstood. This course aims at separating the myth from the reality of the samurai by examining the history of Japanese warriors and the culture they created, from their lowly origins in antiquity through their rise to hegemony during the 13th through 18th centuries, to their eventual disappearance as a distinct class in the 19th century. We will also examine the evolving image of the samurai warrior and his supposedly rigid moral code of conduct, as it appears in literature and film, from some of the earliest appearances of such images right up to today. Our purpose in examining these images of the samurai is not only to distinguish myth from reality, but also to explore the political purposes such images have been put to in legitimating samurai rule prior to the 20th century, and in informing Japanese views of themselves and non-Japanese views of Japan in the years since. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 363 |
| U.S. Empire and the Asia/Pacific Wars |
| U.S. military involvement in Asia and the Pacific Islands has impacted the experiences of Asian and Pacific Islander communities and their diaspora since the late nineteenth century. In this seminar, students study the history of the Asia/Pacific wars and investigate the consequences of U.S. militarism, empire, and settler colonialism in Asia and the Pacific Islands via individual research projects. Together we will examine historical narratives, government documents, and cultural texts (films, literature, musicals) to understand how U.S. wars in the Asia/Pacific region have informed notions of race, indigeneity, gender, and empire both at home and abroad. The course brings together scholarship from the fields of American Studies, Asian American Studies, Pacific Indigenous Studies, and East Asian Studies. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 366 |
| History of the Book |
| This course is designed to give students an extensive introduction to issues in the history of the book, including: the origins of writing, the transition from roll to codex, medieval literacy and book technology, the impact of printing, the nature of reading in early modern Europe, and the future of the book in the digital age. |
|
1.00 units, Lecture
|
| HIST 367 |
| Climate and History |
| This seminar explores how natural and anthropogenic climate change has shaped human history. We will look at how climate changes, how scholars are reconstructing past climate through interdisciplinary methods, and how changes in climate play a role in effecting political, social, cultural, and technological changes. Students will have the opportunity to undertake a project in historical climate reconstruction and determine its possible implications for how we understand history. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 368 |
| Gender and War in Twentieth Century Europe |
| Between 1914 and 1945, Europe was engulfed in what can be termed its "Second" Thirty Years War. The First and Second World Wars lay waste to Europe, changing and challenging every aspect of society, including the gender order. Women were asked to make sacrifices for their nations on the Home Front, as well as enter into realms of the public sphere which had previously been forbidden. Men who took up arms had to readjust to civilian life after years spent in battle. This course will examine how the First and Second World Wars affected both men and women - how notions of femininity and masculinity were challenged and renegotiated during and after the wars. Readings will include academic texts and contemporary sources. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 375 |
| Mythmaking the Italian Nation |
| This course will be dedicated to a study of the role that 19th century literary and cultural movements played in creating the myths necessary for defining an Italian nation, as well as later "revisionists" of the process of Italian state formation. Texts will include those by the pillars of Italian Romanticism: Foscolo, Manzoni, and Leopardi, as well as later "revisionist" writers like De Roberto, di Lampedusa, Sciascia, and Consolo. Our approach will be necessarily interdisciplinary. While our focus will be on literary and cultural movements, texts will include those by prominent historians as well. This course will be taught in English, and all texts will be in English. Films will be offered with English subtitles. (GLB2) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 376 |
| The French Revolution |
| An exploration of the Great French Revolution of 1789 that focuses on its social and political history, beginning with the Revolution’s origins in the crisis of the old regime and ending with its legacy in the nineteenth-century Europe. The course will grapple with the major historiographical debates, recently reinvigorated by an explosion of innovative scholarship on the Revolution. Topics to be examined include: the origins of the Revolution, the radicalization of the Revolution, counterrevolution, political culture and legitimacy, transformations in the civic order, the roles of different social actors (the bourgeoisie, nobles, artisans, peasants, women), the Thermidorian reaction, and the Napoleonic settlement. Students will be asked to evaluate competing interpretations and reach their own conclusions. The course will combine lecture and discussion of interpretive works and primary sources. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 380 |
| Sports, Identity, and Global Capitalism |
| Using transnational methods in American Studies, this course addresses the intersection of sports, global capitalism, and identity, with a focus on how capitalism (as a set of logics and processes) has shaped identity formation on fields, courts, and beyond. We will address such identity categories as nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and sexuality as (re)formed through sports. We will also examine how global-capitalist logic has shaped the experiences of athlete-laborers, fans, and even those who may seem to have little connection to the games. All of these processes take place in the form of spectacle, rendering mass-mediated sports a crucial purveyor, or "mirror," of social ideas. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 393 |
| The Past as Protest and Prophecy in Postwar Japanese Cinema |
| Through a variety of readings and film viewings, this course explores how Japanese directors from 1945 to the present have used the past as a setting in which to voice political and social commentary about contemporary Japan. We will explore films of a variety of genres -- including war films, samurai dramas, science fiction films, documentaries, avant-garde films, and anime -- created over the last 65 years by directors such as Fukasaku Kinji, Ichikawa Kon, Imamura Shohei, Kurosawa Akira, Mizoguchi Kenji, Oshima Nagisa, Suzuki Seijun, Tsuburaya Eiji, and others. The readings for the course will give students an appreciation of the historical settings that the films portray, the political and social contexts in which they were produced, and an understanding of each director’s political, social, and cinematic vision. These readings will allow us to discuss selected scenes of films viewed in our class meetings in a way that will highlight how postwar discourses of pacifism, internationalism, nationalism, and anti-colonialism are reflected in these cinematic works. (HUM) |
|
1.00 units, Seminar
|
| HIST 395 |
| History of the Alps |
| In the 1990s the European Union recognized the Alpine region as a distinct regional unit. This course is a history of that storied region extending from the Mediterranean to the Adriatic by way of Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and the Balkans. Topics include the ‘discovery’ of the Alps by European elites in the Age of Enlightenment; the Alps as archive of geological time and center of romantic science; the invention and commercialization of alpine sports; the appeal of the Alps as a place of retreat and healing, and their politicization by fascist Italy and Nazi Germany in the 1920s and 1930s respectively. We end with a consideration of the future of the region in the face of global warming and the promises of trans-nationalism. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 397 |
| History and Memory of Slavery on Campus |
| How long do the reverberations of slavery last, and how far do they travel? While debates on the memory and legacy of slavery take the national stage, colleges and universities are reckoning with how their own histories of slavery and exploitation may have shaped their pasts and presents. It is Trinity's turn for an honest accounting. Recent scholarship emphasizes slavery's many facets and its far-reaching tendrils. In this course, students will discover Trinity's and Hartford's place in slavery's vast social, cultural, economic, and political networks. Combining archival research and public humanities, we will create projects and archives commemorating Trinity's past, which our community will be able to use as we plot a course for a more equitable future. This course meets the Archival method requirement. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 399 |
| Independent Study |
| Submission of the special registration form, available on the Registrar’s Office website, is required for enrollment. (HUM) |
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1.00 units min / 2.00 units max, Independent Study
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| HIST 466 |
| Teaching Assistantship |
| Submission of the special registration form, available online, and the approval of the instructor are required for enrollment. Guidelines are available in the College Bulletin.
(0.5 - 1 course credit) |
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0.50 units min / 1.00 units max, Independent Study
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| HIST 490 |
| Research Assistantship |
| This course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to undertake substantial research work with a faculty member. Students need to complete a special registration form, available online, and have it signed by the supervising instructor. |
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1.00 units, Independent Study
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| HIST 498 |
| Senior Thesis/Research Seminar |
| A two-semester senior thesis including the required research seminar in the fall term. Permission of the instructor is required for Part I. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Seminar
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| HIST 499 |
| Senior Thesis/Continuation |
| This course is the second part of a two semester, two credit thesis. Submission of the special registration form and the approval of the thesis adviser and the director are required for enrollment. The registration form is required for each semester of this year-long thesis. (HUM) |
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1.00 units, Independent Study
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