History Department Courses Offered Fall 2015

History Department
Courses Offered Fall 2015
(This version was completed April 1, 2015)
PLEASE NOTE: THIS LIST OF COURSES IS SUBJECT TO
CHANGE. IT DOES NOT INCLUDE CAPS COURSES, JUST
GRADUATE COURSES AND UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
TAUGHT THROUGH CLA.
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Table of Contents
Introduction
3
History department requirements for the major and minor
4
Undergraduate history courses (FALL)
6-13
Graduate history courses (FALL)
14-16
Undergraduate history courses (SPRING, via Continuing Education)
History department faculty
TO BE ADDED
17-18
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Introduction
Dear Students:
Welcome to the History Department course schedule booklet for the Fall 2015 semester. Whether you are a graduate student, an undergraduate history major or minor, or simply
someone interested in taking history courses, we hope that the following descriptions will help
you plan your schedule for the fall. Please read the course descriptions carefully and think about
which of the courses described fit best with your interests and the other classes you have taken
and are taking; by the end of your time at UMass Boston, we hope that you will have explored a
range of historical epochs/ issues/ geographical areas and also have had the opportunity to focus
on some topics that have particular appeal to you.
You should plan to meet with your advisor as you think about what to take next semester. For majors, a meeting with your advisor is necessary in order to have your advising hold removed so that you can register for courses. Advisors will also help you shape your plan of study
into a unified and stimulating one, as well as one that meets all requirements. Every spring, when
the department chair reviews the transcripts of history majors hoping to graduate, he or she discovers students missing one or more of the courses required in order to earn a degree. Needless
to say, these are painful moments for all concerned. You are ultimately responsible for your own
progress toward graduation, but consulting an advisor can help you avoid such crises, while also
making your course of study more unified, interesting, and purposeful. If you do not know the
name of your advisor, consult the list posted in the department outside McCormack 4-629, or
email Liza McCahill, the current Undergraduate Program Director, at [email protected].
If you are not currently a history major but decide you would like to become one, the
necessary form for declaring the major can be secured in the Department Office, and you can
contact Professor McCahill to ask to be assigned a history advisor.
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History department requirements for the major
For students who declared a major in History since the spring 2009 semester:
Students must take a total of 12 courses (36 Credits/Units) as follows:
•
History 101
•
Three 200-level survey courses (200-level General Education courses do not meet this
requirement).
•
Four 300-level history courses
•
Two 400-level history courses, one of which must meet the capstone (Research & Methods – 480/481) requirement.
•
Two courses at or above the 100-level
At least one of these 12 courses must be a pre-1800 history course.
No course may be taken Pass/Fail.
Within the requirements listed above, students must take at least one course in each of the following subject areas:
o European History;
o Asian History (Japan, China, India, Vietnam or the Middle East);
o History of the Global South (Africa or Latin America);
o History of the United States
History department requirements for the minor (newly approved)
For students who declare a minor in history during or after the spring 2014 semester:
Students must take a total of 6 courses (18 Credits/Units) as follows:
•
History 101
•
Two 200-level survey courses
•
Thee electives, two of which must be at the 300 level or above.
Of the six courses taken to fulfill the requirements listed above, there must be at least one
course in two of the following four subject areas:
o European History;
o Asian History (Japan, China, India, Vietnam or the Middle East);
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o History of the Global South (Africa or Latin America);
o History of the United States
For students who declared a minor prior to the spring 2014 semester:
Students must take a total of 6 courses (18 Credits/Units) as follows:
•
2 semesters of History of Western Civilization (HIST 211 and HIST 212).
•
1 semester of History of the United States (HIST 265 and HIST 266).
•
3 electives, two of which must be at the 300-level or above.
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Undergraduate History Courses
History 101: Introduction to Historical Thinking and Analysis
Section 01: On Liberty’s Borderlands: Free People of Color in America and the Dimensions of
Black Freedom
TuTh 2:00PM - 3:15PM
Julie Winch
This course has three main goals. First, it introduces students to a segment of the American
population whose existence is often overlooked – “free people of color,” as they called themselves and as others called them. These were the men and women of African birth or descent
who occupied the contested “borderlands” between slavery and freedom. Our historical exploration starts in 1513, with the arrival of the Africans who came with the Spanish colonizers to the
shores of what is today the United States. It ends in 1865, with the passage of the Thirteenth
Amendment and the official abolition of slavery.
Second, ON LIBERTY’S BORDERLANDS is designed to teach students how to become savvy “history detectives.” We will use a wide range of primary sources and secondary works to delve into
the history of these largely forgotten “free people of color.” Law codes, census records, vital records, memoirs, newspapers, petitions, semi-autobiographical novels and much more tell us how
people of African descent struggled to achieve liberty. I will guide students through the “what,” “where” and “why” of these primary and secondary works and discuss with them on how to “interrogate” what we are reading.
Third, we need to learn
to ask searching questions about the past and consider how we can present that past most effectively in our own writing. We will try to glimpse through the eyes of people who experienced it
what it meant to be black and free over three and a half centuries of American history and in very
diverse geographical and cultural settings. Different “free people of color” experienced “liberty” very differently. Looking at the lives of individual women and men, we will consider what “liberty” meant for Americans who were not enslaved but seldom enjoyed the same degree of freedom that their white neighbors considered their birthright. Course requirements: 10 short (250word) appraisals of primary and secondary sources and a biographical essay of 5-8 pages
double space.
History 115L: Survey of Contemporary Asia
Section 01: MoWeFr 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Sana Haroon
This course is a broad introduction to the countries, religions and cultures of Asia. In this
class you will start to understand the diversity of the cultures and languages of Asia, and the history which has united this region and brought in into contact with the rest of the world. The first
part of the course looks at the major religions of Asia –Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam – which
gave rise to cultural and social exchange, travel, and the affected the political cultures of Asia.
Then, setting sail, we will voyage through the Indian Ocean and into the South China Sea. We
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think about trade that brought Europeans to Asia as explorers, merchants, and colonizers. We
will look at maps, artifacts and art, read travelers’ tales, and taste the spices and food that are the
testimony to the richness and diversity of Asia.
History 160L: East Asian Civilization to 1850
Section 01: TTH 4:00-5:15
Weili Ye
Diversity Area: International
Distribution Area II: World Cultures
This course examines the Chinese, Japanese and Korean pasts from the earliest times to the midnineteenth century. The first half of course focuses on intellectual and religious foundations of
East Asia that include Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. The second half looks at political,
social and cultural aspects of the three countries. Students will also be introduced to the fine arts
of East Asia by visiting the MFA. The format of the course will be a combination of lecture and
discussion.
History 171: Leeches to Lasers: Medicine and Health in the United States
Section 01: MoWeFr 9:00AM - 9:50AM
Diversity Area: United States
Conevery Valencius
“Leeches to Lasers: Medicine and Health in the United States” examines the rise of institutional
and professional structures in response to health needs and disease, as well as cultural responses
to epidemics, illness, and changing norms of well-being in American history.
This course is designed for science majors and those who intend to enter the health professions
as well as for history majors. This course requires the completion of ten in-class “course cards,”
one short paper, one mid-length final paper based on a primary source you will research in the
National Library of Medicine online database, and three mid-term exams (with an optional cumulative final that can replace the grade on any mid-term).
History 175: Comic Books in America: The History of Comic Books and American Society
since 1938
Section 01: MoWeFr 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Timothy Hacsi
Telling stories through pictures is much older than written languages; combining pictures and
words in what we now recognize as a comic strip or comic book form is more than a century old.
Beginning with Superman’s first appearance in print in 1938, comic books have been an increasingly important part of American culture, both shaping the culture through well- known characters and, far more often, reflecting or responding to political, economic, and social changes. We
will start with a brief look at pulp magazines and comic strips that influenced comic book artists
and writers, and then study in some detail the many different kinds of comics that have existed
over the past 75 years: superhero, science fiction, crime, horror, romance, and much more.
Course readings will include The Comic Book History of Comics, Marvel Firsts: The 1960s,
Maus, Watchmen, and Saga. There will be a midterm and a final, where you will have a choice
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of essay questions to answer, several 1-page writing assignments, and a 5-7 page paper comparing a comic from before 1960 with one after 2000, with the two comics you compare being your
choice. Throughout the semester we will also look at interactions between comics and the real
world including legal battles over control of Superman, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and
the Marvel canon of the 1960s largely created by Jack Kirby, the self-imposed censorship of
comics that came from the McCarthy Era, and effects of various business decisions on comics.
Oh, and we will look at a lot of comics in class.
History 211: Foundations of Western Civilization
Section 01:TuTh 9:30AM - 10:45AM
Olivia Weisser
Rather than skim 2,500 years of history, this course explores four themes spanning the 5th century BCE to the year 1700: the lives and work of women, religious beliefs and practices, the production and transmission of knowledge, and approaches to medicine and healing. These themes
foster an in-depth view of past worldviews and belief systems, and also offer a vision of change
over time. Course readings and in-class discussions center on primary source documents that
provide insights into ordinary lives and cultures, such as art, literature, artifacts, legal records,
and diaries.
History 212: Modern Western Civilization
Section 01: MWF 2:00-2:50 PM
STAFF
This course examines the major political, economic and cultural changes that have shaped Western society since the Enlightenment. The course also considers literature in the context of the
spirit of the age.
History 214: Modern World History
Section 01: TuTh 8:00AM - 9:15AM
STAFF
This course examines the history of modern Western industrial societies and the non- Western
world from 1800 to the present. Topics include the cultural foundations of the modern West,
China, India, the Middle East and Southwest Asia, and the interaction of the West and the nonWestern world during the colonial era, decolonization and post- colonial period.
History 224G: Revolutionaries
Section 01: MoWeFr 1:00PM - 1:50PM
David Hunt
This is a course about working people, about the ways they have accepted, rejected, modified,
and taken the lead in formulating revolutionary principles and programs. In the first half of the
semester, we will study the French Revolution and the advent of socialism in nineteenth-century
Europe. Subsequent units focus on the Russian Revolution and then on the Korean Revolution,
the partition of Korea and the separate paths followed by North and South Korea since the end of
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the Korean War. Readings include Timothy Tackett, When The King Took Flight; Marx and
Engels, The Communist Manifesto; Paul Faler, Mechanics and Manufacturers in the Early Industrial Revolution: Lynn, Massachusetts, 1780-1860; Lynne Viola, Peasant Rebels Under Stalin;
Esther Kingston-Mann, “Transforming Peasants in the Twentieth Century” (a survey essay on
20th-century peasants in Russia/Soviet Union); Bruce Cumings, Korea’s Place in the Sun. There
will be three formal papers, several informal writing assignments, and a final exam.
History 230L: Ancient Egypt
Section 02: MoWeFr 11:00AM - 11:50AM
Distribution Area: World Cultures
Kellee Barnard
This course examines the cultures of ancient Egypt from the period of its first political organization (c. 3200 BCE) until the death of its last true pharaoh, Queen Cleopatra VII, and the country’s first years as a Roman colony in the 1st century BCE. This span encompasses three separate “golden ages” of Egyptian history and culture, from the pyramid builders of the Old Kingdom through the Middle Kingdom renaissance to the expansionist era of the early New Kingdom, as well the later periods of disintegration and conquest under foreign domination and its
revival as a great Hellenistic Greek monarchy under the Ptolemaic rulers. The course will discuss the interpretation of archaeological evidence in addition to the problems associated with the
wide variety of textual sources— literature, economic records, royal inscriptions, tomb biographies of private persons, reliefs, paintings, and sculptures—on which our knowledge of ancient
Egyptian society is based.
History 249: Modern Middle East History
Section 01: TuTh 8:00-9:15 AM
STAFF
This course begins with an exploration of the early Ottoman Empire as a European and Middle
Eastern/West Asian state. It then turns to the transformation of this state in the context of European imperialism. Finally, it examines the construction of post-Ottoman borders, mandates, and
nation states. The first part of the term will focus on the period between 1299 and the First World
War. The second part will be devoted to twentieth and twenty-first century case studies. Although our framework of inquiry will be political and legal history broadly conceived, we will
read a variety of sources-including religious texts, philosophy, literature, and travelogues-to help
us understand the modern history of the region.
History 255L:
Section 01: TuTh 11:00 Am – 12:15 PM
STAFF
Diversity Area: International
This course presents, through both a broad comparative scope and closely-followed case studies,
the history of the Western Hemisphere from the beginning of human inhabitation to around
1800. Major themes include: social and political diversity in the ancient Americas; large civiliza9
tions, some well-known (Maya, Inca, Aztec) and others less so (Caral, Tupi, Mixtec); political
transformation, disease, and foreign invasion; Africans, Europeans, Asians, indigenous people
and their many New Worlds; order, disorder, and the making of “Latin” America; and, finally,
hemispheric rebellion and revolution.
Deleted 265, which we are not offering f2f.
History 266: American History since 1877
Distribution Area: Humanities
Section 01: MoWe 4:00PM - 5:15PM
Marilyn Morgan
This course examines major issues that comprise American history from 1877, the period
following the Reconstruction period that followed the Civil War until the contemporary era. We
shall pay particular attention to the development and evolution of a distinct American identity
throughout the twentieth century. We will study primary documents in conjunction with the textbook, as well as some representative literary works of the era. Students will be exposed to various types of history (social, cultural, intellectual, environmental, political, legal and economic)
and learn how factors, ranging from political leadership to trends in popular culture, contributed
to the formation American culture; and, we will explore how these factors have influenced interpretations of the past. This course will integrate the experience of leaders and prominent historical figures with the experience of typical, everyday citizens. After the course, students should
have developed an understanding of how America, as a place and an ideological idea, was created, how it has changed, and how it continues to evolve.
History 290G Staff MoWeFr 8:00-8:50 AM
History 290G: Globalization in Historical Perspective
History 302L: Roman History
Section 01: Mo 4:00PM - 6:45PM
Kellee Barnard
This course focuses on ancient Rome from Romulus to Constantine, from its foundations in the
8th century BC, through the rise of the Republic and the formation of one of the world’s greatest
empires, to its collapse and the triumph of Christianity ca. 300 AD. The history of Rome is the
story of how a small city-state grew with meteoric speed into a vast Empire stretching from Britain to the Middle East; and how it finally lost political and military control of its empire which
broke apart into what became the states of Medieval Europe. Because Rome has been so influential on Western institutions and culture, the Romans offer an invaluable perspective on the
modern world. Our aim in this course is to gain a fuller understanding of Rome - its similarities
to, and its differences from, us - in order to understand better who we are as modern descendants
of the Romans. We will reach this goal through reading and discussion of works written by the
ancient Romans and secondary works on Roman history.
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History 305: Later Middle Ages: Europe 1000-1450
Section 01: MoWeFr 11:00-11:50 AM
Maryann Brink
History 305, The Later Middle Ages, covers the development of Europe from about 1000CE until about 1450. While attention is given to the development of late medieval monarchies, the
course focuses on social, cultural and economic forces that were common to all of Europe. The
last part of the course looks at the events of the tumultuous 14th century -100 Years War, Plague,
Papal Schism- and examines their impact on emerging humanist thought.
History 357: The Vietnam War
Section 01: MoWeFr 10:00AM - 10:50AM
Wheatley W01-0041
David Hunt
This course covers the period from 1945 to 1975, with attention to the Vietnamese Revolution
and its American and Vietnamese adversaries. Topics include origins of the Cold War and U.S.
policy in Indochina; Vietnam’s peasant majority and its dealings with the Communist Party; society, economy, and ideology in the Saigon milieu; soldiers who fought in Vietnam and Vietnam
veterans; the anti-war movement and other developments on the U.S. home front. People are always saying that Americans do not remember or do not pay enough attention to what happened
in Vietnam. But at the same time our society is awash in bogus “lessons” drawn from the war,
proffered by newspaper editorialists and TV talking heads, political sloganeers and Hollywood
film makers. If you are looking for a more scholarly address to the topic, I hope this class will
satisfy your needs.
History 360L: Traditional China
Section 01: TuTH 12:30-1:45 pm
Weili Ye
This course examines Chinese history from the earliest time to the mid-19th century. The approach will be thematical that covers a broad range of intellectual, religious, social and political
histories of traditional China. The topics include intellectual foundation (Confucianism, Daoism
and Legalism), religion (with a focus on Buddhism), China and the world, women’s lives, and
rulers and “civil servants”.
History 375: The US Civil War and Reconstruction
Section 01:MoWeFr 12:00PM - 12:50PM
Conevery Valencius
A hundred and fifty years ago, one part of the United States tried to declare independence as a
separate nation. It almost succeeded. Why did the free people of the South declare war? How
did the rest of the Union resist? What were the legacies of war, emancipation, and Reconstruction? We will investigate how agriculture, racial slavery, economics, environments, foreign rela11
tions, naval war, field tactics, river commerce, factories, and diverse communities of Americans
shaped this wrenching upheaval. Through historical accounts, images, music, and discussion, we
will explore the causes of the Civil War of 1861-1865, its military and social course, and its consequences for a bloodied and re-made Union.
History 433: Mussolini
Section 01: ONLINE
Spencer di Scala
Benito Mussolini, the “first Fascist” and founder of the movement that became a worldwide
model, came to power eleven years before Adolf Hitler. Mussolini’s movement produced imitators, destabilized Europe, challenged democracy, foreshadowed the coming World War II, and
still influences politics, and stimulates debate. Ironically, despite the usual classification of fascism on the right of the political spectrum, before founding his movement Mussolini was a
prominent Italian radical Socialist revolutionary. This course will analyze Mussolini’s youth and
his career as a Socialist before seeking to explain his break from socialism and examining his
influence in the foundation and development of fascism, his fall in World War II, and his continuing influence.
History 481: Research and Methods
Section 01: Holocaust and Genocide
TuTh 11:00AM - 12:15PM
Paul Bookbinder
The word “holocaust” means complete destruction by burning; all matter is totally consumed by
flames. Although the word is of ancient Greek origin, it has become synonymous with the destruction of European Jews by the Germans during the Second World War. The crematoria of
Auschwitz brought the word “holocaust” to mind and in its sound the enormity of those days was
confirmed. The Holocaust was not inevitable, but it was very much an historical event with
traceable roots and, at least in part, analyzable causes. The Jews though the primary target, were
not the only victims of Nazi mass murder programs: Gypsies (Roma and Sinti), Jehovah’s Witnesses, male homosexuals, and Russian and Polish prisoners of war were victims as well. Our
course will explore the background, and the causes of the vents of the holocaust. We will look at
the victim, the perpetrators and other contemporary actors in this period. We will consider the
major historical interpretations and the current controversies about Holocaust research, writing,
and commemoration. We will look at documents from the period; interrogation reports, memoirs, correspondence, survivor testimony, and through our online capabilities material from the
holocaust museum and other research facilities.
History 487: Cooperative Education/Internship, History
Section 01: TBD
TBA
Staff
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If you are interested in organizing a history internship, please contact Professor Elizabeth McCahill or Professor Heidi Gengenbach.
History 488: Independent Reading
You may only sign up for an independent reading course after you have found an advisor and,
together, developed a syllabus.
History 489: Independent Reading
You may only sign up for an independent reading course after you have found an advisor and,
together, developed a syllabus.
History 490: Honors Thesis
Section 01:TBA
TBA
To be eligible to begin an honors thesis, you must have a 3.0 overall GPA and a 3.5 GPA in history. The honors thesis is a two semester project. In the first semester, you must take an upper
level course or an independent reading course with your advisor. Then, you must submit a thesis
proposal for approval by the Undergraduate Program Committee. You are only eligible to enroll
for History 490 after you have completed these initial stages of the thesis process. If you are interested in pursuing an honors thesis, please contact your potential advisor and the undergraduate
program director (currently Elizabeth McCahill.)
Graduate History Courses:
History 600: Research Seminar: The Immigrant Experience
Section 01: Tu 4:00PM - 6:45PM
Monica Lock
Americans have come to understand the United States as a “nation of immigrants” without understanding the United States’ immigrant past. Though public monuments like Ellis Island and
the Statue of Liberty embody European immigrants’ entry into the New World and the prospect
of a better life, this history is far more complex. This course, therefore, will ask students to interrogate immigrants’ experience in the United States. As a research and methods course, students
will learn to use primary sources and archival materials to research a specific topic related to the
immigrant experience. Throughout the course, students will go over the elements of successful
historical research, analysis, and documentation, culminating with the creation of a final 25-page
research paper. Central to the paper will be research questions related to the categories of race,
nationality, and citizenship and how they have shaped American policies and the lived experiences of immigrants themselves.
History 602L- Historical Sequence I: American Society and Political Culture: 1600-1865
Section 01: Tu 5:30PM - 8:15PM
Bonnie Miller
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This course follows the evolution of American culture, society, and politics from the colonial
period through the Civil War. The course combines critical analysis of primary documents, such
as diaries, letters, narratives, paintings, and novels, with discussion of some of the more recent
and innovative work in the fields of History and American Studies in the early American period.
The course will track the changes and continuities in beliefs, values, culture, and politics from
the perspective of different social groups, including elites, Native Americans, women, artists,
reformers, soldiers, workers, and slaves, with emphasis on themes of family life, gender roles,
national identity, resistance, expansion, and race. Topics include: conquest, contact and accommodation with “Indians”; the culture and politics of the American Revolution and Civil War; the
rise of the novel, newspaper, and photograph; the institution of slavery and the abolitionist
movement; the growth of cities and urban life; and the age of reform. Readings include: Daniel
Richter, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Patricia Cline Cohen, Drew Gilpin Faust, Colin Calloway, and
Walter Johnson.
History 620: Public History Colloquium: Public History and Popular Memory
Section 01: We 4:00PM - 6:45PM
Monica Lock
This course will introduce students to the study and practice of public history. During the course,
students will ponder the various intersections of public history and memory studies—how do
Americans remember the past and how do certain narratives of history get reproduced in the public sphere? Students will also be introduced to some public history methodologies like oral history, archiving, and preservation, helping them analyze how memory, identity politics, and place
affect and are affected by public history practices. This course is especially useful for students
who are interested in holding history jobs, either in academia or the public sphere.
HIST 671: Archival Internship
Section 01: TBD
TBA
Staff
History 676- Archival Administration and Introduction to Archives NOTE: The number
of this course may change to 670 and the title may change to Introduction to Archives and
Information Management
Section 01: Tu 7:00PM - 9:45PM
Marilyn Morgan
This seminar provides an introductory overview to the essential principles of the profession; the
management of archival resources; and the core work archivists do, including appraisal, acquisitions, preservation, arrangement, description, providing access, research services, and outreach.
The course also explores the history of manuscript collecting in the United States; discusses current issues and new technologies in the field; explores trends in archival processing and access;
and discusses theories that shape the nature of archival management. Students may gain some
hands-on experience with manuscript processing, open source collection management software,
and digital methodologies.
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History 681- Topics in European History: Contemporary Europe
Section 01: We 7:00PM - 9:45PM
Spencer Di Scala
World War II devastated Europe, but the continent came back with a flourish because of the economic and political changes instituted by European leaders. The European Economic Community (EEC) jumpstarted the economy so that the European Union (EU) has become the largest
trading bloc in the world and, at the same time, has tried to unite the continent politically. Lately, however, the “European project” has stalled so seriously that some observers believe that it will fall apart. This course will examine the issues roiling contemporary Europe, including economics, social welfare, immigration, and terrorism, along with developments in the
major countries in an attempt to assess where Europe is heading.
History 688: Oral History
Section 01: Mo 4:00PM - 6:45PM
Sana Haroon
The practice of oral history relies on the assumption that evidence about the past can be gathered
from testimonials of people in a living present. The practice of gathering those testimonies is nuanced and requires training. This course provides a basic training in the practice of oral history
interviews, it will provide an introduction to different sorts of community oral history projects,
creates the opportunity to engage with an active oral history project in order that students can
carry out interviews, introduces the practices of 'translation' of the interview into textual form,
and finally offers an opportunity to reflect on the organization of the oral history archive. This
course is strongly recommended for students with an interest in public history, oral history methodologies, and community history.
History 689: Archives and Public History Capstone
Section 01: TBA
Olivia Weisser
This course is for students in the Archives and Public History Tracks who choose to take the
Capstone route instead of a Thesis. In this course, those students will complete a substantial Archives or Public History project. Students will choose their topics and complete their projects
under the supervision of a faculty advisor. Pre-requisite: Permission of the instructor.
History 690: Thesis Preparation
Section 01: Mo 7:00PM - 9:45PM
Roberta Wollons
This is a course for advanced graduate students who have completed or nearly completed their
other course work and are preparing to write a thesis. (Students on the capstone track should not
take this course.) In this class they will read the historical literature related to their topics, identify the questions they intend to pursue, identify primary sources for their thesis, and write a thesis proposal for later submission to the department's graduate committee. While it is not necessary to know exactly what topic you will pursue on the first day of class, the more you have nar15
rowed down what you may want to study the better. Students should also either have a thesis advisor or have a good idea about who they expect to ask to act as their advisor.
History 696: Teaching History
Section 01: Tu 4:00PM - 6:45PM
Paul Bookbinder
History fascinates many people and the success of the History Channel and many popular books
are a testament to this popularity. “History buff” is a term that many people use to describe their
avid interest in the genre. In addition to its interest the study of history has much to offer in terms
of skills and methodology whose uses go far beyond the tools of a professional historian. The
ability to deal with documents, analyze arguments, organize facts, develop and test hypothesis
are among the widely applicable skills that students can learn from a study of history. Our course
will aim to provide guidance for the teacher in tapping this interest and fostering the skills.
Many graduate students embark on their first teaching assignment with no preparation and no
forum for thinking about or discussing teaching goals and strategies. Our course will provide
preparation and a forum for discussion. Our course will approach the teaching of history in a
number of ways. We will investigate the nature of historical thinking and writing and investigate
strategies, which work most effectively to insure that, an understanding of this thinking and writing can be shared with students. We will look at the use of art, literature and film and how technology can be utilized to aid in achieving our objectives. The development of assignments and
testing and grading issues will also be discussed. The nature versus nurture debate enters into a
discussion about the nature of teaching. Whatever one’s natural gifts all people can learn to become good teachers. There are no substitutes for enthusiasm and careful preparation, which go a
long way toward promoting good teaching. During the course of the semester each class member
will develop a series of lessons relevant to an introductory course in an area of their major interest and prepare a lesson from that area to present to the class. All of us will participate in and critique these lessons. Our class is aimed primarily at students who will be teaching assistants and
those hoping to teach at the junior college or four year college level.
History 696: Independent Study
History 698: Internship in Public History
History 699: Master of Arts Thesis
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History department faculty
Full-time Faculty + Areas of Interest
Paul Bookbinder, Ph.D. Brandeis University (the history of political violence, terrorism, German
history in the Weimar and Hitler eras).
Vincent Cannato, Ph.D. Columbia University (20th century political history, American urban
history and urban politics, and immigration and ethnic history).
Jonathan Chu, Ph.D. University of Washington (American colonial and legal history, American
Revolution).
Spencer DiScala, Ph.D. Columbia University, Graduate Program Director (modern Italian history, particularly Italian socialism, Italian and European history).
Heidi Gengenbach, Ph.D. University ofMinnesota (Social and environmental history of Africa,
especially east and southern Africa, gender and food security, rural livelihoods, humanitarian
intervention, oral history).
Timothy Hacsi, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania (History of American public policy, the history
of education, the history of poverty, charity, and welfare, social history, urban history).
Sana Haroon, Ph.D. School of Oriental and African Studies (Modern South Asian History, Islam
in South Asia, Pakistan and Afghanistan)
David Hunt, Ph.D. Harvard University (Vietnam, Vietnam War, French Revolution, peasant
studies, social history, early modern world).
Ben Johnson, Ph.D. University of Chicago (social and political history of Latin America, particularly Mexico, Brazilian and Caribbean history, comparative global histories of trade, conquest,
and colonialism).
Monica Lock, PhD. University of Southern California (public history, memory studies, immigration history, and American understandings of race and ethnicity).
Elizabeth McCahill, PhD. Princeton University (Renaissance cultural history, humanism, early
modern courts, early modern urban history) .
Ruth Miller, Ph.D. Princeton University (Middle Eastern history with a focus on the Ottoman
Empire, Turkey, and Islamic law, comparative histories of gender and sexuality).
Marilyn Morgan, Ph.D. University of Maine (American cultural history; social history, especially gender roles; popular culture; food; gender and sexuality)
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Conevery Bolton Valencius, Ph.D. Harvard University (Civil War and Reconstruction, history of
science and medicine, environmental history)
Olivia Weisser, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins University (history of medicine and science, early modern
Britain, women's and gender history, history of the body)
Julie Winch, Ph.D. Bryn Mawr College (African-American history, in both the United States and
the Caribbean; the Early American Republic, and maritime history).
Roberta Wollons, Ph.D. University of Chicago (American Progressive Era history, women’s history, and the history of education).
Weili Ye, Ph.D. Yale University, joint appointment History, East Asian Studies, and Women’s
Studies (twentieth century Chinese social, intellectual and cultural history; history of the Mao
(Zedong) era; history of the Chinese Revolution in the 20th century; history of women in China).
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