Summer and Fall 2023
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 2023 - Online Course Descriptions
Online courses are fully online and completely asynchronous.
HIST 4640/6640 M50
New Nations, 1815-1850 – Dr. Christine 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 7101 M50
Studies in Global History: Black Atlantic – Dr. Andrew Daily
WEB – Online
Fall 2023 - On Campus Course Descriptions
HIST 4074/6074
Writing the Sixties – Dr. Aram Goudsouzian
TR – 1:00-2:25pm MI 209
The 1960s transformed the culture and politics of the United States. It set in motion the debates that continue to animate American life: the battle for racial justice, the quest for gender equity, the responsibility of government to its citizens, the role of the United States in the world, the nature of the environment, and the place of popular culture. In this course, we will read, contextualize, and analyze the perceptive, innovative nonfiction writers of the 1960s, giving us a powerful lens into a fascinating decade. - Back.
HIST 4853/6853
African American Women's History – Dr. Beverly Bond
TR – 11:20am-12:45pm MI 203
History is a complex and multifaceted subject and the study of people of African descent in the Americas, especially women, is often fraught with myth and misunderstanding. Since their initial arrival in the New World colonies in the 1500s and the 1600s, African American women have existed at intersections of ideas and laws relating to race, class, gender, and sexuality. In this course we will examine what this has meant for individual women as well as for African American womanhood in general. We will focus on the impact of slavery and segregation; economic and political activities; the migrations to the American West and to urban communities in the North and South; the development of African American religious, educational, social, and fraternal institutions; the tradition of female activism from the 19th into the 21st centuries; and the struggles for social, political, and economic rights. These topics will be examined by centering the experiences of African American women from the 17th through the 21st centuries. - Back.
HIST 7025/8025
Principles and Practices in History Education – Dr. Sarah Potter
W – 2:30-5:30pm MI 223
HIST 7320/8320
Ancient topics – Dr. Suzanne Onstine
T – 2:30-5 :30pm MI 223
HIST 7601/8601
US Historiography to 1877 – Dr. Brad Dixon
R – 2:30-5:30pm MI 223
This course explores history of Russia from early medieval times (the period of so-called Kievan Rus) to 1917, when, because of the Bolshevik revolution, a 300 years-old monarchy was toppled down. We are going to examine Russia as a “middle ground” Eurasian country, whose history, national identity, and political culture had been forged during intensive interactions between Eastern European and Asian cultures and civilizations. We will examine the rise of Russian autocratic tradition and serfdom, which heavily affected modern history of that country. We will also discuss the formation of the Russian Empire, attempts to modernize its rural peasant society, and, finally, the rise of nationalities and the development of the Russian revolutionary tradition by the turn of 1900. - Back.
Fall 2023 - Online Course Descriptions
Online courses are fully online and completely asynchronous.
HIST 4160/6160 M50
Russia to 1917 – Dr. Andrei Znamenski
WEB – Online
HIST 4294/6294 M50
Modern Japan – Dr. Catherine Phipps
WEB – Online
This course is designed to help you learn about the history of modern Japan and its
position in the world. We'll cover everything from Japan’s early modern era to current
events. Rather than treat the past and the present as two static end points, however,
we’ll explore their connections and consider how history informs the present and how
the present shapes what questions we ask of the past.
Using primary documents, novels, film, and websites, we’ll explore such themes as
economic & technological development, foreign relations & imperialism, race & gender,
the environment, and intercultural exchange. We’ll also develop skills in critical
thinking, writing, and source analysis. - Back.
HIST 4851/6851 M50
Women in American History – Dr. Christine Eisel
WEB – Online
In this course, we consider women’s experiences throughout American history, from the colonial period to modern times, with an emphasis on changes in women’s working, family, personal, and political lives. We will re-imagine US history by centering women’s stories, not as merely contributors to big events, but as historical agents whose fears, concerns, and desires shaped the past and how we understand it as scholars. Using a variety of selected primary and secondary sources, including monographs, essays, literature, and film, you will explore the ways in which women’s public and private lives intersected with, and were often defined by, changing ideals of gender, race, and class. - Back.
HIST 7060 M50
Gender historiography – Dr. Cookie Woolner
WEB – Online
HIST 7101 M50
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 7883 M50
African American topics – Dr. Susan O’Donovan
WEB – Online