Courses

Courses

Fall 2005 Courses

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014. The Thirties
Daniel Levine T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55 Sills-Peucinian Room
Examines the Depression, the New Deal, American Communism, the formative years of the "New York Intellectuals," and the transformations in the American labor movement. In addition to a number of short writing assignments, a research paper is required.
023. Death in the Ancient World
Nicola Denzey M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 Kanbar Hall - 109
An interdisciplinary first year seminar on death in the ancient world. We will examine mortuary culture and ritual, the literature of consolation letters and eulogies, and evidence for changing attitudes toward death across cultures from ancient Egypt to the "cult of the saints" in the Early Christian Rome.
027. From Home Front to Frontline: Gender and War in the Twentieth Century
Jill Massino T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 Sills-109
Women have always been affected by war. The advent of total war in the 20th century, however, increased women's involvement in war considerably, with wide-ranging repercussions on politics, the economy, social relations, and family life. Sometimes these repercussions were challenging; other times they worked to reinforce more traditional roles and identities. Focusing on World Wars I and II, The Vietnam War, the war in Bosnia and ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and utilizing literature, memoirs, film and historical scholarship, this course explores war through the lens of gender, examining both women's and men's experiences. A central question will be how war shapes notions of masculinity and femininity. We will also explore what happens to gender roles after a war and consider whether women's increased participation in the military encourages greater equality between the sexes.
028. Seekers� Lives
Kidder Smith M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55 Sills-Peucinian Room
Employs the disciplines of history, religion, and textual studies to examine the autobiographies of contemplatives, past and present. Emphasis on Hinduism and Buddhism in India, Tibet, and Japan, with contrasts drawn from European Catholicism.
203. Magic, Mysteries, and Monuments in Ancient Greece
Irene Polinskaya T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Searles-126
Explores the world of ancient Greek polytheism. Introduces students to the main dimensions of Greek religious life: civic religion, such as community worship in public sanctuaries; magic, as practiced by individuals; mystery cults, as a worshipping practice open only to the initiated. Using literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence, the course examines such aspects of Greek religion as animal sacrifice, building of temples, votive dedications, oracles, athletic games and religious festivals, myth-making and myth-telling, and use of magic. Studies the aspects of religious life in relation to the social and political structures of the ancient Greek world. In addition to specific questions of ancient Greek worship, addresses some general conceptual questions of religious studies: how we know what we know about religion, what religion is, and how we construct it. All readings of ancient sources are done in translation.
211. Holocaust: History and Historiography
Susan Tananbaum T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55 Hubbard-22
Seminar. Explores several topics in the history of the Holocaust. Considers the European context and Jewish life in Europe on the eve of World War II. In particular, reviews historical debates in order to understand differing interpretations of the past. Topics include anti-Semitism, responses of surrounding populations, Jewish leadership, resistance, and the role of the Church.
214. History of the Late Roman Empire to the Early Middle Ages
Nicola Denzey M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55 Searles-217
A survey of the "Transformation of the Roman World" from the economic and social crises of the third century and the fall of Rome to the rise of Charlemagne, with special emphasis on late Roman historiography and the theme of continuities and change between center and periphery in interactions between Christians and pagans.
224. The Modern Middle East: The Arab-Israeli Conflict
Susan Tananbaum T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55 Kanbar Hall - 107
A historical overview of the Middle East during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with particular emphasis on the Arab-Israeli conflict. Focuses on the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, the role of Islam, British rule in the region, Palestine, Jewish and Arab nationalism, and the intifada, and ends with a discussion of peace initiatives.
226. The City as American History
Matthew Klingle M 1:00 - 2:25, W 1:00 - 2:25 Adams-103
Seminar. America is an urban nation today, yet Americans have had deeply ambivalent feelings toward the city over time. Explores the historical origins of that ambivalence by tracing several overarching themes in American urban history, from the seventeenth century to the present. Topics include race and class relations, labor, design and planning, gender and sexual identity, immigration, politics and policy, scientific and technological systems, violence and crime, religion and sectarian disputes, and environmental protection. Discussions revolve around these broad themes, as well as regional distinctions between American cities. Students write several short papers and one longer paper based upon primary and secondary sources.
227. City and Landscape in Modern Europe: London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin
Jill Pearlman T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 Druckenmiller-020
Evolution of the built environment in four European cities from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. A variety of factors � geography, natural resources, politics, industrialization, transportation, planning, and architectural design � are considered as determinants of city form. Topics include the shaping of capital cities, housing parks, public spaces, boulevards and streets, urban infrastructure, and environmental problems.
231. Social History of Colonial America, 1607�1763
Sarah McMahon M 1:00 - 2:25, W 1:00 - 2:25 Sills-109
A study of the founding and growth of the British colonies in North America. Explores the problems of creating a new society in a strange environment; the effects of various goals and expectations on the development of the thirteen colonies; the gradual transformation of European, Native American, and African cultures; and the later problems of colonial maturity and stability as the emerging American society outgrew the British imperial system.
235. Green Injustice: Environment and Equity in North American History
Matthew Klingle M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 Adams-103
Seminar. Examines the historical foundations of environmental racism and environmental justice in North America. Students investigate how tensions between inclusion and exclusion through time have blurred the boundaries between nature and culture. Explores such topics as the expulsion of Native Americans from public lands; agriculture and antebellum slavery; immigration, disease, and the rise of public health and urban planning; the impact of weeds and invasive species upon community relations in the West; the role of science and technology in defining environmental and social problems; class conflict and conservation policy; and the transnational dimensions of pollution.
243. The Civil Rights Movement
Daniel Levine T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55 Searles-315
Concentrates on the period from 1954 to 1970 and shows how various individuals and groups have been pressing for racial justice for decades. Special attention is paid to social action groups ranging from the NAACP to the SNCC, and to important individuals, both well known (Booker T. Washington) and less well known (John Doar). Readings mostly in primary sources. Extensive use of the PBS video series �Eyes on the Prize.�
245. Bearing the Untold Story: Gender, Race, and Ethnicity in the United States
Jennifer Scanlon M 8:00 - 9:25, W 8:00 - 9:25 Searles-217
Women of color are often ignored or pushed to the margins. There is a cost to that absence, obviously, for women of color. As Zora Neale Hurston put it, �There is no agony like bearing an untold story inside you.� There is also a cost to those who are not women of color, as women of color are encountered as objects, rather than subjects. Addresses the gaps and explores the histories and contemporary issues affecting women of color and their ethnic/racial communities in the United States.
254. Contemporary Argentina
Allen Wells T 1:00 - 2:25, TH 1:00 - 2:25 Hubbard-22
Intermediate Seminar. Texts, novels and films help unravel Argentina's history and culture. Topics examined include the image of the gaucho and national identity; the impact of immigration; Peronism; the tango; the Dirty War; and the elusive struggles for democracy, development and social justice.
255. Modern Latin America
Allen Wells T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Searles-215
Traces the principal economic, social, and political transformations in Latin America from the wars of independence to the present. Focuses on the national trajectories of Mexico, Cuba, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile, with some attention to the countries of Central America. Topics include colonial legacies and the aftermath of independence; the consolidation of nation-states and their insertion in the world economy; the evolution of land and labor systems; the politics of state-building, reform, and revolution; industrialization and class formation; military regimes and foreign intervention; and the emergence of social movements.
259. History of Sexuality, Gender and the Body in South Asia
Rachel Sturman T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55 CT-16 Harrison McCann
Intermediate Seminar. Explores changing conceptions of the body, sexuality and gender in South Asia, with a focus on modern formations since the late 18th c. Topics include: practices of female seclusion; ideas of purity, pollution, and the care of the self; religious renunciation and asceticism; the erotics of religious devotion; theories of desire; modern conjugality; and the emergence of a contemporary lesbian/gay/queer movement.
261. MODERN SOUTH ASIA, 1750 TO THE PRESENT
Rachel Sturman T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55 Searles-126
Chronological and thematic introduction to the history of South Asia from the rise of British imperial power to the present. Topics include the formation of the colonial state, economy and society; the emergence of anti-colonial nationalism; independence and the partition of the subcontinent; secularism and religious fundamentalisms; and democracy and inequality in post-colonial South Asia.
262. Village to Kingdom: Africa and the Atlantic World, 1400-1880
David Gordon M 8:00 - 9:25, W 8:00 - 9:25 Searles-215
A survey of historical developments before conquest by European powers, with a focus on west and central Africa. Political, social, and cultural changes that accompanied the intensification of Atlantic Ocean trade. The course revolves around a controversy in the study of Africa and the Atlantic World: What influence did Africans have on the making of the Atlantic World? In what ways did Africans participate in the Atlantic slave trade? How were African identities re-made across the Atlantic World and on the slave plantations of the Americas? The course ends by considering the contradictory effects of the abolition of the slave trade on Africa.
268. Asian-American History: 1850 to the Present
Connie Chiang M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55 CT-16 Whiteside Room
Surveys the history of Asian Americans from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Explores the changing experiences of Asian immigrants and Asian Americans within the larger context of American history. Major topics will include: immigration and migration, race relations, anti-Asian movements, labor issues, gender relations, family and community formation, resistance and civil rights, and representations of Asian Americans in American popular culture. Readings and course materials will include scholarly essays and books, primary documents, novels, memoirs, and films.
269. After Apartheid: Southern African History and Historiography
David Gordon M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 CT-2 South
Intermediate Seminar. An investigation into the varied representations and uses of the past in South Africa. A study of the rise and fall of apartheid and the changing academic and popular representations of the South African past. Themes of identity and memory from the perspective of South Africa�s various peoples, partly through reading biographies and memoirs, ranging from the life of Nelson Mandela to that of a struggling sharecropper. The course ends with the difficulties in developing a critical and conciliatory version of the past in post-apartheid South Africa during and after the much-discussed Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
273. A Social History of Shamanism in East Asia
Kidder Smith M 8:00 - 9:25, W 8:00 - 9:25 VAC-Kresge Auditorium
What kinds of societies foster shamanic practice? How do variant social structures give rise to analytically similar religious activity? Studies the cultures of Siberia, ancient China, medieval Japan, and premodern Tibet against the larger patterns of shamanic practices in other parts of the world.
279. HISTORICAL CONSTRUCTION OF SEXUALITY: THEMES IN EUROPEAN LESBIAN AND GAY HISTORY
Howard Solomon T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55 Hubbard-22
An historical survey of lesbians and gay men in European culture, and the changing relationships of heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality, with special attention to the period 1750-1980. Selected topics include: pre-eighteenth century patterns of same-sex behavior and identity; the impact of medicine, science and psychoanalysis upon theories of gender and sexuality; early homophile movements; normative masculinity and femininity pre-World War I; the relationship of race, class, and colonialism to lesbian and gay identity; homosexuals, democracy, and fascism during World War II; �Gay Liberation� from World War II to the AIDS epidemic.
283. The Origins of Japanese Culture and Civilization
Thomas Conlan T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25 Mass-Faculty Room
How do a culture, a state, and a society develop? Designed to introduce the culture and history of Japan by exploring how �Japan� came into existence, and to chart how patterns of Japanese civilization shifted through time. We try to reconstruct the tenor of life through translations of primary sources, and gain a greater appreciation of the unique and lasting cultural and political monuments of Japanese civilization.
286. Japan and the World
Thomas Conlan M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55 Searles-113
Seminar. Explores Japan�s relations with China, Korea, and Europe in premodern and modern contexts. Also explores larger issues of state identity and culture in East Asia.
311. Experiments in Totalitarianism: Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia
Kimberly Herrlinger T 1:00 - 3:55 Sills-209
Compares and contrasts the nature of society and culture under two of this century�s most �totalitarian� regimes � fascism under the Nazis in Germany, and socialism under the Bolsheviks in the Soviet Union. Prior course work in either modern Germany or Russia is strongly recommended, and students may focus their research project on either country, or a comparison of both.
332. Community in America, 1600�1900
Sarah McMahon T 1:00 - 3:55 CT-16 Harrison McCann
Explores the ideals of community in American history, focusing on change, continuity, and diversity in the social, economic, and cultural realities of community experience. Examines the formation of new communities on a �frontier� that moved westward from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific; the changing face of community that accompanied modernization, urbanization and immigration, and suburbanization; and the attempts to create alternative communities either separate from or contained within established communities.

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