Upper Division Courses – Summer and Fall 2020
Summer On Campus Courses
The Department of History is not offering on campus courses during Summer 2020 as part of their ongoing commitment to limiting the spread of COVID-19.
Summer Online Courses
HIST 3881 African American History - TBA - Full Term
Web-Online
HIST 4851 U.S. Women's History - Dr. Cookie Woolner - Full Term
WEB-Online
This course deals with women's experiences in and contributions to society in early and modern American history. We will examine women's lives in the past from various viewpoints: social, economic, political, and cultural, focusing on both exceptional and everyday women. Students will be expected to complete a 8-10 page research paper using primary and secondary historical sources.
HIST 4277 Ottoman Empire - Dr. Beverly Tsacoyianis - Full Term
Web-Online
This online course examines the history of the Ottoman Empire through power point slides, discussion board posts, and brief video lectures of such topics as the origin of the geography, people, cultures, politics, administration, economy, and societies of the Ottoman Empire from its rise in the 13th century until its demise in 1922. We will consider conceptual problems of dealing with "empire" as a unit of analysis, as well as historical debates about narrative, perspective, and access to sources. In addition to two main historical studies, primary sources in translation, and academic articles in the field of history, there are interdisciplinary components on the analysis of film, historical fiction, and social science research. We will study the juxtaposition of several historical narratives: the political, the economic, the social, and the cultural, to provide a broad conceptualization of the medieval, early modern, and modern history of the Ottoman Empire. Specific themes include political structures, literary and artistic creations, war, travel, trade, imperialism, and modernization.
Fall On Campus Courses
* indicates honors seats available
HIST 3000 Special Topics in History: Chucalissa: A Global History of a Native Town*
- Dr. Brad Dixon
MW 12:40pm-2:05pm
Class will be held in Mitchell Hall. There will be one optional visit to Chucalissa
in Week 5.
When a group of Civilian Conservation Corps members began construction work near Memphis in the 1930s, they accidentally unearthed the remains of a Native American town concealed for nearly five centuries. Dubbed Chucalissa or, "abandoned house" in Choctaw, the town's history is entwined in a continuous fabric running from roughly 900 CE to the present day. In this course, students will delve into the history of Chucalissa in order to better understand the three worlds town has inhabited—of the Mississippian pyramid-builders, of historic Native peoples like the Chickasaws and Choctaws, and the modern world, where debates over archaeology, the treatment of human remains, and museum interpretations still rage. Students, working in close coordination with Chucalissa's staff, will design, research, and complete a special project that will enhance the interpretation and visitor experience at the site.
HIST 3001 Special Topics in History: History of Sexuality in 20th c North America*
- Dr. Isabel Machado
MWF 10:20am-11:15am
This course introduces students to the main issues, events, and transformations in US sexuality from 1900 to the present. We will study how the meaning and politics of sexuality have changed over time, the emergence of new categories of sexual identity, and the many intersections of sexuality, race, gender, and class. Students will also master the skills necessary to conduct an oral history interview, which they will use as a primary source to discuss a selected topic in the history of sexuality.
HIST 3035 Technology and Culture in American History - Dr. Caroline Peyton
MWF 11:30am-12:25pm
This course examines the intersections between the history of technology and American culture, with an emphasis upon the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. From the Edison/Tesla wars, to gaming consoles, or even domestic technologies like the stand mixer, this course explores the history of technology from many different vantage points, analyzing the processes of technological development, how social, cultural, and political forces shape technology, and why the history of technology matters in the context of American history.
HIST 3211 Colonial Latin America - Dr. Guiomar Duenas Vargas
TR 11:20am-12:45pm
This course examines the complex sociopolitical, religious, racial and cultural forces that shaped the life of Latin America during its long colonial period that stretched from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries. Special attention will be paid to the growth of the distinctive society that emerged from the intermixture of Amerindian, European and African peoples. Topics to be covered include (but are not confined to) indigenous traditions and the impact of conquest; demographic crisis; religion; race and ethnicity; slavery; gender and the family; colonial state and society; economy life of the colonies; and the independence crisis. The history of colonial Latin America was characterized by permanent political, social and ethnic conflicts. What were the causes and consequences of these conflicts on political governance, economic life, or the state and society? What explains the rise, perpetuation and repercussions of conflicts? In what way, did colonialism become the driving force of the region's volatile nature? This course will not only assess the role of the Iberian countries in forging the region's colonial history but also the input of the indigenous forces.
HIST 3881 African American History - Dr. Brian Kwoba
MWF 11:30am-12:45pm
This course is a one-semester general survey of African American history. It is taught with the intent to awaken and empower students through engaging with a range of under-appreciated moments, themes, and voices in Black history.
HIST 3905 Memphis History - Dr. Charles Crawford
W 1:30pm-4:30pm
History of Memphis. This course is a general review of the history of the Memphis site from the Native American era to the contemporary history of the city. One text book, one readings book and several trips to important historical sites will be included.
HIST 4020 Internship in History - Dr. Chrystal Goudsouzian
Check website for internship information, students must be approved and permitted
into this course
History Internships
HIST 4051 Special Topics in History: Writing in the Sixties* - Dr. Aram Goudsouzian
TR 1:00pm-2:25pm
As the 1960s transformed the culture and politics of the United States, perceptive and innovative writers shaped these transformations and our public memory of the decade. In this course, we will read great writers of the era and analyze their intellectual influences, writing processes, popular impacts, and meanings for understanding American life in this tumultuous decade.
HIST 4070 Conspiracy Theories in America - Dr. Scott Marler
PERMIT RESTRICTED, Contact Dr. Marler for permit spmarler@memphis.edu
MW 2:20pm-3:45pm
Most observers agree that conspiracy theories have become increasingly mainstream in the United States over the last half-century or so, especially (but not exclusively) on the political right. This course will seek to situate such popular folklore about power in historical contexts, demonstrating how fears of conspiracy and subversion have been a persistent theme in American culture dating back at least to the Revolutionary era. We will examine a variety of conspiracy scares—real and imagined, on both left and right—throughout U.S. history; but we will also aim to develop a better understanding of the social psychologies, latent functions, and authoritarian proclivities of what one historian famously termed "the paranoid style in American politics." A good background in U.S. history (esp. HIST2010 and 2020) and current affairs is recommended for this senior-level course, which will rely on vigorous, well-informed discussions in which your contributions are valued and necessary. Final grades are based on short writing assignments, quizzes, a research paper, class and online contributions, and attendance.
HIST 4161 History of Socialism - Dr. Andrei Znamenski
TR 2:40pm-4:05pm
Historical overview of Socialism as modernity' s secular creed from its emergence in the early 19th century to the present. Taking a global history approach, the course explores the diversity of socialist movements: Marxism, Anarchism, and Fabians to Social Democracy, Soviet Communism, Maoism, the Israeli kibbuzim movement, Tanzanian ujamma, Bolivarian socialism in Venezuela, and the Western New Left.
HIST 4272 Modern Middle East* - Dr. Beverly Tsacoyianis
TR 1:00pm-2:25pm
This upper-division combined undergraduate and graduate course examines the major political, social, and religious developments in the Middle East from the late 18th century to the present through lectures, small-group work, and class discussion. We will focus on the development of the region as its leaders, subjects, and citizens coped with the end of the Ottoman Empire, competing British and French imperial interests, the rise of nationalism and other political movements, and globalization. The course emphasizes the ways in which particular historical forces have led to the present crises in the region and will include topics such as: Orientalism, the Ottoman struggle to resist nationalist movements and Western imperial advances, the rise of Arab nationalism and Zionism, the formation and political mobilization of new social classes, changing gender relations, the rise of secularist, socialist, and Islamist movements, debates about modernity, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Students will read a general history of the region as well as historical accounts of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Lebanese Civil War, and the Iranian Revolution, and watch a film related to themes in the course.
HIST 4294 Modern Japan 1800 to Present - Dr. Catherine Phipps
MW 12:40pm-2:05pm
This course is designed to help you learn about the history of modern Japan as well as Japan's position in the world today. Using primary documents, novels, film, and websites, we'll explore such themes as economic and technological development, foreign relations, imperialism, gender, intercultural exchange. We'll also develop skills in such areas as critical thinking, writing, and source analysis, which are essential to success in your college career and beyond.
HIST 4322 The Roman World - Dr. Benjamin Graham
TR 9:40am-11:05am
A sweeping history of the city of Rome and its empire from foundation to the edge of decline and fall, c. 500 CE. Some dominant themes include Rome's conquest of Italy, the development of representative government, Mediterranean dominance, and the structures of the city's vast empire. Although Rome's state frames this course, careful attention will be given to the social and cultural life it engendered, with a focus on the Roman family, religious currents, and the impact of its colonial project.
HIST 4861 Parks, People, and Policy in U.S. History - Dr. Jim Fickle
TR 11:20am-12:45pm
Fall Online Courses
HIST 3301 Early Modern Europe - TBA
WEB-Online
HIST 3670 The Civil War and Reconstruction - Dr. Susan O'Donovan
WEB-Online
Memphis native, Shelby Foote, once exclaimed that "The Civil War defined us as what we are and it opened us to being what we became, good and bad... It was the crossroads of our being." But was it? Did the war and its aftermath change the nation forever? Is that what the historical evidence says? Take this class and decide for yourself.
HIST 3881 African American History – Dr. Beverly Bond
WEB-Online
A survey of African-American history from the beginnings of the trans-Atlantic slave trade to the present. It seeks to understand both the large historical processes that shape African-American history and the lived experiences of African American people.
HIST 4020 Internship in History – Dr. Chrystal Goudsouzian
WEB-Online
Check website for internship information, students must be approved and permitted
into this course
History Internships
HIST 4323 Egypt of the Pharaohs - Dr. Chrystal Goudsouzian
WEB-Online
In this course we will explore ancient Egyptian history and society from the origins of the Egyptian state up through the end of the New Kingdom. Through close study of both primary and secondary source material, we will work to build an understanding of Egyptian political, religious, and social structures through both chronological and thematic historical study. Not just the study of the pharaohs and their exploits, special attention will be paid to the realm of daily life including discussion of identity, class, labor, and leisure activities.
HIST 4386 Introduction to Museum Studies - TBA
WEB-Online
HIST 4630 North American Revolutions, 1754 - 1815 (previously listed as New Nation)
- Dr. Christine Eisel
WEB-Online
What was so revolutionary about early North America? Find out in this course while exploring the political, economic, and social causes and outcomes of conflicts in North America from 1754-1815. You will consider the lives of the indigenous peoples of North America as well as those of European and African descent as you study the origins and experiences of the American Revolution and what it meant to be both an American and a British subject.
HIST 4863 History of Childhood in America - TBA
WEB-Online