Graduate Course Descriptions

The History Department will offer the following 6000 and 7000/8000-level courses. The attached descriptions are designed to provide a clear conception of course content.  It should be noted that while 6000 courses also include undergraduate students (4000 level), a distinct set of reading, writing, and grading expectations is maintained for graduate students.

 

Summer 2026 - Online Course Descriptions

Online courses are fully online and completely asynchronous unless otherwise specified.

 

HIST 4299/6299 M50 (CRN 57663)
Topics in Global History: Global Human Rights
Dr. Selina Makana
WEB – Online

The 1945 United Nations Charter and the 1948 Universal Declaration on Human Rights (UDHR) were fundamental intellectual achievements, which set in motion the idea of universal, inalienable rights and freedoms for everyone, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. The UDHR, in particular, has not only shaped the dominant moral language of our time, but it has also become a source of inspiration to oppressed individuals and groups across the globe. This course traces the development of human rights discourse from the Enlightenment period to the present-day human rights revolution. We will explore human rights not only as theories embodied in texts, but as practices rooted in specific historical contexts. - Back.

 

HIST 7680 M50 (CRN 55860)
Modern US Cultural History
Dr. Cookie Woolner
WEB – Online

This course will explore classic and recent texts in modern U.S. cultural history. We will take a capacious approach to “culture” itself; in some cases, we’ll focus on culture in the sense of aesthetics: high and low, visual and textual, vernacular and commercial, and so forth. But at other moments, we’ll look at culture in the broader anthropological senses of customs, traditions, values, and localized meaning-making. Finally, we’ll explore the “cultural” as an evolving set of methodological approaches, many of which are now being applied to sources and subjects previously understood as the exclusive provinces of other historical subfields. The course has five primary objectives: 1) to introduce you to some of the most influential texts in U.S. cultural history, American Studies, and British cultural studies over the past half century; 2) to expose you to recent scholarship that is reshaping conventional wisdom in the field; 3) to teach you how to analyze a variety of cultural sources as historical evidence; 4) to sharpen your skills at integrating theoretical concepts from a wide range of cultural critics; 5) and to help you to define your own interests within the evolving subfield. Students will read one book or several articles each week, write a weekly reading response, take part in online discussion, and write a 15-20 page historiography paper on a topic of their choice in modern US cultural history. - Back.

 

Fall 2026 - On Campus Course Descriptions

 

HIST 4105/6105 001 (CRN 91736)
War in the Ancient World
Dr. Peter Brand
TR 9:40-11:05 am  MI 209

This class examines the origins, causes, and practice of war and organized violence and its impact on human societies from the beginning of human civilization down until the end of the Fourth Century CE in Egypt, the Ancient Near East and the larger Greek and Roman World. We will survey key themes, periods, technologies, strategies, political, and social and economic factors that shaped warfare and the interaction between the military, economy, and society by examining specific case studies and key ancient sources and events including:

• The chariot based empires of the Late Bronze Age through events like the famous Battles of Megiddo and Kadesh
• The Trojan War and the transition from the Bronze Age to Iron Age in Greece and Aegean Sea region
• The rise of Classical Greece and the influence of Hoplite warfare and naval forces on political and social conditions in Sparta's totalitarian militaristic state and Athen's budding democracy
• The Peloponnesian War and its devastating impact on Greek civilization
• The Macadonian Greek military revolution of the Hellenistic Empires of Alexander the Great and his successors
• The rise of the Roman Republic and its unique system of citizen soldiers and military organization and adaptability
• The Punic Wars and Rome's ascent as an imperial power
• The role of Patron Generals and Client Armies in the Civil Wars and the Fall of the Republic & Rise of the Emperors
• The Ultimate Fighting Machine: Rome's Imperial Legions

The format of the course will be reading intensive with weekly reading assignments and in-class discussions in a seminar format. A major part of your grade will be based on active participation in these live, in-class discussions.  - Back.

 

HIST 4440/6440 001 (CRN 98198)
French Revolution
Dr. Andrew Daily
MW  12:40-2:05  MI 203

The French Revolution occupies a unique place in modern European and global history. Those that lived through and participated in it recognized that they were living through a pivotal moment in human history. The revolutionaries themselves recognized their achievement and their break with everything that they had known. And even as the Revolution was still unfolding, intellectuals and political leaders from Philadelphia to London to Berlin bitterly debated what it represented for their world and the world to come. The French Revolution has been - and remains today - a lively source of debate and disagreement among observers. This course approaches the events of the late 18th century not as a singular Revolution, but as a set of French Revolutions. By reading, thinking, and writing about the debates around the French Revolution, this course introduces students to both the events and the interpretations of the French Revolution(s). - Back.

 

HIST 7011/8011 001 (CRN 80217/80253)
Philosophy and Theory of History
Dr. Beverly Tsacoyianis
W  2:30-5:30  MI 223

This seminar asks students to reflect on assumptions in historical discourse and on what such discourse can accomplish in mediating relationships between the past and the present as we research and write history. This course combines two related intellectual practices: historical theory (the different schools of, and approaches to, historical research and writing) and philosophy of history (the self-reflective critique of the assumptions in historical discourse and the questions about what it means to practice history). Our readings will survey topics in early modern and modern global, world, and comparative history connected to important approaches in the philosophy and theory of history including but not limited to the Annales School, Social History, Cultural History, History of Race and Racism, Women’s History, Gender History, Postcolonial History, Environmental History, History of Science, Political History, Intellectual History, Disability History, History of Sexuality, and the History of Capitalism. Students will write two book reviews, participate in class discussions, make two presentations on course readings (to upload to Canvas), and write a historiographic essay on significant research in a particular field of history. This seminar will be of interest to students of all historical fields and related academic disciplines seeking to develop theoretical or interdisciplinary models in their own areas of research. While a one-semester course cannot fully cover such a large field, our material will introduce students to some major historical approaches and themes with most case studies focused on the modern world. - Back.

 

HIST 7320/8320 001 (CRN 80227/80285)
Studies Ancient History: Ancient Egyptian Religion
Dr. Suzanne Onstine
T  2:30-5:30 pm     MI 223

The goal of the class is to explore various ideas about ancient Egyptian religion. We will discuss the basics (who’s who of gods, myths, etc.), theological beliefs about life and death, as well as the historiography of studying ancient Egyptian religion, and the importance of trying to understand a long-dead religion. By the end of the class you should be able to identify major tenets of belief, theological developments, some clear schools of thought in studying Egyptian religion, as well as an appreciation for the unknowable. - Back.

 

HIST 7680/8680 001 (CRN 80229/80287)
US post 1945 - Political History
Dr. Aram Goudsouzian
M 2:30-5:30  MI 223

This course is a graduate reading seminar that examines the major trends in post-1945 American political history, with a broad focus on the decline of the New Deal coalition and the rise of the New Right. It will engage with not only electoral and national politics, but also race, gender, space, and grassroots organization on both the right and left. - Back.

 

Fall 2026 - Online Course Descriptions

Online courses are fully online and completely asynchronous unless otherwise specified.

 

HIST 4161/6161 M50 (CRN 98188)
Socialism: A History
Dr. Andrei Znamenski
WEB – Online

Historical overview of socialism as a modern political religion from its inception in the early 19thcentury to the present. Global history approach, focused on the diversity of socialist experiences: Marxism, Anarchism, British Fabians, German and Swedish Social Democracy, Soviet Communism, National Socialism in Germany, Maoism in China, the Israeli kibbutzim, Tanzanian ujamaa, and the Western New Left. - Back.

 

HIST 4299/6299 M50 (CRN 95824)
Global topics: History of US and China
Dr. Yaowen Dong
WEB – Online

Will America and China go to war? Will China overtake America's global military, economic, and cultural leadership? How should we understand the current crisis between the two countries? To answer these questions, the course delves into the intricate web of connections spanning the Pacific Ocean, exploring the exchange of people, ideas, and materials between the United States and China from the 18th century to the present day. We will examine topics such as imperialism, war, migration, trade, ideology, cultural representations, etc. At the end of the course, students will be able to analyze and contextualize the current relationship between the US and China and make educated, historically rooted arguments about the two countries.  - Back.

 

HIST 4640/6640 M50 (CRN 85220)
New Nations: 1815-1850
Dr. Cristine Eisel
WEB-Online

This course covers 1815 through 1850 and introduces students to the political, economic, and social processes involved in state formation in North America. Students will examine the relationship between nation-states and citizenship, with an emphasis on often-competing American identities. This course will cover important historical themes that include revolutions in market, transportation, and technology; the growth of the institution of slavery; shifting political factions and popular dissent; and contests for power and resources. And yes, Andrew Jackson. - Back.

 

HIST 4680/6680 M50 (CRN 86875)
The Age of Tesla: The Emergence of Modern America
Dr. Caroline Peyton
WEB-Online

This course examines the origins of modern America during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. In less than forty years, American society, culture, and its economy experienced changes that were nothing short of revolutionary. From Nikola Tesla to George Eastman, technological wizards, daring entrepreneurs, and even ordinary laborers, helped usher in the modern age, creating new possibilities and new problems-all of which continue to matter today. - Back.

 

HIST 7101 M50 (CRN 90846)
Global Topics: War and Militarism
Dr. Selina Makana
WEB – Online

Wars and militarism are salient features of globalization. This course seeks to understand how militarism as a particular ideology has shaped the modern world from a transnational perspective. Using a broad array of sources, which include political manifestos and military doctrines; literary accounts, photo collections and diaries; cartoons and film, the course will explore political, economic, social, and cultural dimensions of wars from the twentieth century to the present day. How can we understand the relationship between gender and wars? How do different political regimes mobilize for the conduct of war, and how do their efforts resonate on the social and individual levels? How do wars transform individual lives and the social and political landscapes? How should historians engage with memories of wars, whether stories of victimization or claims about glorious pasts? Can wars be understood as a moral contest between good and evil, or is it rather a vicious or senseless exercise in universal destruction? - Back.

 

HIST 7440 M50 (CRN 85216)
Nations and Nationalism in Europe
Dr. Daniel Unowsky
WEB – Online

At least since the Third Estate declared itself the Nation of France, nationalism has proven a powerful force for social, cultural, and political change in Europe. Post-Cold war military conflicts and the electoral success of stridently nationalist parties in many European countries remind us that nationalism in its most exclusionary forms has not been consigned to the dustbin of history.
One course cannot provide comprehensive coverage of this vast and ever-expanding subject. The readings and discussions will, however, introduce you to this central topic in European and world history. We will open the semester with discussions of theoretical approaches to the study of nationalism. In subsequent weeks, we will consider important monographs and articles treating various aspects of specific nationalisms. Most of our readings focus on Great Britain, France, Germany, and East Central Europe from the French Revolution through the first half of the twentieth century. - Back.

 

HIST 7881 M50 (CRN 86888)
African American Historiography 19 century
Dr. Beverly Bond
WEB – Online

In this course, we will examine the nature of historiography, how historians tackle their subjects and sources, the question of objectivity in historical research and writing, and philosophical and methodological approaches in 19 century African American History. Course readings include seminal as well as recent scholarship organized around a range of topics including the nature of Historiography, Trends in Historical Research and Writing in African American history, Atlantic History, Slavery Studies, Civil War to Segregation, Late 19^th Century Migration, Urban Experiences, and African American/Native American Interactions. - Back.