HIST - History
The course offers students a critical approach to interpreting World history. A fast-paced survey of World history from 1500 to the present, it focuses on the major intellectual, religious, social, cultural, political, environmental and scientific developments that have influenced the course of World history. It looks at cross-cultural relations in the form of economic exchange, technology transfer, war and conquest, and international organizations.
The course is a fast-paced survey of Asian civilization in a global context from the emergence of Indian and Chinese civilizations to the events unfolding today. It follows the courses of political, social, cultural, religious, and economic development in East, South, and Southeast Asia.
The course is a fast-paced survey of European civilization. It focuses on the major intellectual, religious, social, cultural, political, environmental, and scientific developments that have influenced the course of European history.
This fast-paced survey covers the last 600 years in the political, social, economic, and cultural histories of Latin America. Special attention will be paid to the global context of this multi-ethnic and multi-lingual region.
This course offers students a critical approach to interpreting the history of the United States. A fast-paced survey of American history from the era of colonization to the present, it focuses on the major intellectual, religious, social, cultural, political, environmental, and scientific developments that have influenced the development of the United States.
This course offers students a critical approach to interpreting the history of Africa. A fast-paced survey of African history, it affords students a grounding in the major themes of African history. The course focuses on the major economic, social, and political institutions of Africa, past and present, and explores how historical developments assist comprehension of present-day Africa.
The course is open only to students in the Honors College. Special honors section of HIST 104H.
The course is open only to students in the Honors College. Special honors section of HIST 102H.
Required of all history and secondary education social studies majors. Recommended prior to upper-division course work. Examines methods of historical research and primary and secondary source analysis, inclusive of internet usage. Explores historiography and historical writing. Introduces students to issues in the philosophy of history.
This course explores the history and material culture of the ancient Greek world, from the Bronze Age Minoans to the end of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Key ideas will include Greek religion, hoplite warfare, the conflict with Persia and the development of Athenian democracy.
The course gives students a critical perspective on world civilizations from prehistory to 1500. It focuses on the major cultural, intellectual, scientific, geographic/environmental and religious developments of the world. The course emphasizes the critical assessment of primary documents and artifacts and the utilization of that material in the classroom.
Examines the history of medicine and epidemiology from ancient times through the twenty-first century. The course takes a comparative look at medical practices in Europe and around the globe and focuses heavily on the complex relationship between human societies and disease. The development of medical technologies and their impact are examined.
This course examines the series of conflicts between Western Europe and the Middle East from the 11th to the 14th century. It investigates the motives, process and outcomes of the invasion of the Middle East by European armies. It also addresses how this phenomenon has been understood in the past.
This is an examination of the Renaissance in both Italy and Northern Europe from the 14th to the 16th centuries emphasizing the new learning, humanism and the place of the individual as well as the political and artistic new achievements of the age.
The course covers the period between the late Middle Ages and the beginning of the modern era, roughly 1350-1715, exploring the Renaissance, the Reformation, and the Age of Exploration. There is emphasis on the culture of the period as contemporaries coped with depression, plague, religious change, and cultural encounters outside Europe.
The course explores the history and material culture of the Roman Republic from its foundation in the sixth century BCE through the civil wars of the first century BCE. This class will emphasize the political institutions of the Republic and its conquests throughout the Mediterranean world. It will also study the social and religious institutions that influenced Rome.
This course explores the history and material culture of the Roman Empire as it emerged from the ashes of the Roman Republic, through its transformation in later antiquity under the Christian emperors. It studies the emperor's ability to maintain peace and explores the ways in which religion, family, and entertainment shaped the daily life of the empire's inhabitants.
How did Christians go from being a tiny sect to the religion of the Roman Empire? Why did some Romans persecute Christians? Could someone be both a Jew and a Christian at the same time? This class explores the history and material culture of early Christianity from its origins in Jewish Palestine to its ascendancy as an imperial religion.
The course explores changes in the international system which arose in the wake of World War II and focuses on conflict and cooperation in selected regions of the developed and developing world.
This study-abroad course is an on-site immersion in history, archaeology, and art of Greece from the heroes of the Bronze Age to the military might of the Spartans, the architectural achievements of the Athenians, the transformations of the Romans and Byzantines, and ultimately the birth of modern Greece.
This course examines the history and archeology of the region that is today the modern state of Israel, a contested region from antiquity to today. It considers identity formation among ancient Israelites and Samaritans, along with the way that Jews, Christians, Muslims and the empires that ruled them, conceptualized the land.
This course explores the social and political history of early England, with an emphasis on the fall of the Romans, the Anglo-Saxon and Norman invasions, medieval social and cultural life, the evolution of feudal relationships, and the development of the English monarchy.
This course explores the development of Britain in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. Key themes include the evolution of English democracy, the rise and decline of the British empire, Britain's role in international affairs, and England's tenuous relationship with Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
This course explores the evolution and development of European states, institutions and cultures over the course of the twentieth century. Relations among European states--large and small--and their peoples are examined.
This course examines the expansion of European empires from the 15th through the 20th century. It explores the dynamics of imperialism and colonialism, including ideologies of conquest, trade and commerce, labor and slavery, cultural encounters, and racism and exploitation. It concludes with a review of decolonization and its consequences for our world.
The course is a survey of Russian history from the ninth to the end of the nineteenth century stressing the distinctiveness of Russian culture and institutions, the influence of the West, the multi-national character of the Empire, and the decline of the old regime.
The course is a survey of the formation and development of the USSR from the fall of the Russian monarchy and the revolutions of 1917 to the emergence of the Russian Federation after 1991.
This course examines the history of the area comprising the modern nation-states of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan from the early eighteenth century to the present day. Topics will include: precolonial states and societies, colonial rule and its impact, anticolonial nationalist and regional separatist movements; movements for gender and sexual equality; globalization and the environment.
The course is the history of China covering late Imperial China, the impact of Western imperialism, the Republican Period, and the establishment of the People's Republic.
This is the history of Japan since 1800. It covers the decline of the Tokugawa Shogunate, modern nation building in the Meiji period, domestic conflicts and war in the twentieth century, and the roots of Japan's economic prominence today.
The course examines the history and culture of Native American peoples from early contact with Europeans to present day. There is particular focus on ways that cultural interactions affected and transformed native peoples - their beliefs, societies, and political structures.
The course examines social, cultural, economic and political developments in North America from 1492 to the ratification of the Constitution of 1787. Course explores the role of class, gender, and race in the creation of an American culture.
The course explores America's transformation from a republic to a democracy by examining the political, economic, social and intellectual history of the United States' first half century.
This course examines American naval history and American naval theory from the colonial period to the present day. It analyzes the importance of American naval conflicts, developments in naval technology, and the social and political changes that shaped the U.S. Navy.
The course is a study of the Old South civilization from the colonial era to the Civil War, with particular emphasis on the frontier, slavery, the cotton kingdom, and southern cultural contributions.
The course is a study of the origins of the idea of secession and of the war, of the military, political, and economic contest between the Confederate and Federal governments, and finally of the long-range effects of the war as revealed in the failure of Reconstruction.
This class examines the history of U.S. immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries. The course strives to complicate the 'Melting Pot' metaphor in U.S. history by exploring the transnational quality of immigrants' lives, the way class, race, gender, and nationality have shaped the immigrant experience, and the role nation-states have played in managing immigration.
This course covers the Gilded Age and Progressive Era of U.S. history (1870s-1920s), a dynamic period characterized by industrialization, imperialism, international and internal migration, World War I, and a variety of social and political movements. This course explores these and other topics from an international perspective to consider how global processes influenced the U.S., and how the U.S. influenced the rest of the world in the late 19th and early 20th century.
The course covers the domestic and international history of the U.S. during the Roaring Twenties, The Great Depression, World War II.
The course is the history of the United States from the end of World War II to the end of the Cold War. The course focuses on domestic politics, social change, economic developments and international relations.
The course is an examination of Virginia's past from Jamestown to the present. The course emphasizes the colonial experience, Virginia's role in the new nation, the post-Civil War era and Virginia in the twentieth century.
The course examines the political, social and cultural revolutions which occurred in the United States from 1960 to 1974. Topics include the reforms of JFK and LBJ; the rise of conservatism; the impact of the baby boom generation; the civil rights, anti-war, and women's movements; the war in Indochina; and Watergate and the fall of Richard Nixon.
The course is designed to familiarize students with important concepts in the history of America's involvement in the Second World War. It surveys the significant events, personalities, and changes that occurred between 1941 and 1945, heavily focusing on America's three 'fronts': the European, the Pacific and the home front.
The course explores the various maritime influences in American history. Topics discussed include ocean exploration, navies and maritime conflicts, shipping and shipbuilding, marine resource extraction, rivers and canal transportation, maritime migration, water use, and other issues in maritime history from exploration to the present.
The course is a study of American military policy, 1763 to the present, in relation to its political, economic, and social implications.
The course examines African-American history from the African background through the Civil War. Emphasis is placed on an analysis of African-Americans' role in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the United States.
This course examines African-American history from Reconstruction to the present. Emphasis is placed on the analysis of African-Americans' role in the political, economic, social and cultural life of the United States.
The course examines the experiences of women in U.S. history from 1607 to the present, paying particular attention to influences of race, class, ethnicity and changing conceptions of gender.
This course explores the role of reform in shaping American history from the colonial era to the late 20th century. Topics addressed include rebellion as reform, the eras of reform, reform in modern America, and the role of conformity versus individualism.
The content varies according to the internship. Qualifies as a CAP experience.
The content varies according to practicum.
This course examines political, commercial and cultural developments in the Atlantic world from 1400 to 1900 in the context of the Atlantic slave trade. It provides students an understanding of the historical slave trade, including the roles of Europeans, Americans and Africans within the trade, the slave trade's impact on African economies and societies, the experiences of enslaved people, and the making of an African Diaspora.
This survey of Mexico's history since independence highlights the social, cultural and economic changes that accompanied four turning points in the political history of Mexico: the independence movement, the wars of the reform, the Revolution of 1910, and the trend toward democratization that began in the 1980s. Attention will be paid to the changing scope of Mexico's relations with the United States, and to comparisons of Mexico's experience with that of other Latin American countries.
This course surveys socio-economic and political change after about 1800 in the Caribbean Basin (Central America and the insular Caribbean), a region whose diverse colonial, ethnic, labor and migratory experiences will provide rich opportunities for comparative study. Plantation slavery and its legacies, independence movements, export-led economic growth, nationalism, social movements, revolution and great-power rivalries will be the major themes.
This survey of Latin America's relations with the United States since the early nineteenth century will seek to identify and account for changing patterns in what has been a highly asymmetrical power relationship. The emphasis will be on the outcomes of U.S. policy in the region, combining the study of broad trends (especially in economic and security policy since the 1890s) with a close analysis of three cases: Mexico, Cuba and Central America. The influence of the larger international environment on those relations will be considered.
Beginning with Spain's leading role in European expansion in the 15th and 16th centuries, this course explores the formation of the 300-year Spanish empire in America, the impact in both America and Europe of its encounter with native Americans, and the myriad colonial-era institutions that would shape the future of the Hispanic world.
This course surveys the political, social and cultural history of colonial and post-independent Africa. Major themes include colonization and resistance, anti-colonial movements, social and cultural transformations, urbanization and popular culture and post colonial challenges.
This course explores the history of African states, societies, and cultures from the earliest civilizations to the nineteenth century. Major themes include: trade, technology and state formation, power and authority in ancient and medieval Africa, women and gender, religious transformations, including the spread of Christianity and Islam, and cross-cultural encounters.
The course traces the development of modern science from the ancient Greeks to the 21st Century.
Geology and paleontology as technological systems during the industrial revolution of the nineteenth century, including global & local exploration, competing interpretations of empirical data, and the discovery that the earth itself had a history whose sources were inscribed in the very ground on which they walked. Readings include Darwin, Lyell, Humboldt, and others.
This course examines the role of technology and relevant science. Students examine the interaction between society and technology and investigate why technology is both a reflection of, and a shaping influence upon, "modern" culture and beyond.
This course explores the history of the Holocaust in France and Poland by taking students to key sites tied to the Holocaust in Europe. Students visit Paris and explore the history of pre-war Jewry and sites of deportation. Students travel to Poland and juxtapose the French and Polish experience and denial of the Holocaust. Public history in the museum setting is explored.
This course surveys French history during World War II, focusing on the fall of France, the German occupation, and the establishment of the Vichy collaborationist government. It explores the fate of French and foreign-born Jews under Vichy, deportation and resistance, and the issues of post-war memory and denial.
This course examines specific topics, eras, and themes of Jewish history. Specific titles will be listed in the on-line course schedule.
The course is a study of selected topics. These courses are open to both majors and nonmajors. History majors may take these courses to satisfy history concentration requirements. These courses will appear in the course schedule, and will be more fully described in information distributed to academic advisors.
The course is an advanced study of selected topics leading to production of a research paper. It is required of all history and secondary education social studies majors. This is a writing intensive course.
The course is an exploration of the content and meaning of wartime experiences within American society between 1898 and 1975. Emphasis is on comparing the levels of national, institutional and personal experiences of war as they affected people at home and in battle, and on considering the relationships between warmaking and social development at particular times.
The course examines the history of the region straddling the U.S. - Mexico border from the Spanish Conquest to the present day, focusing on issues of immigration, economic and political integration and the complicated nature of state-building in a transnational environment.
The course examines the social, cultural, political, legal and diplomatic history of Old Regime Europe, the rise of the territorial state, and challenges to its authority. In addition to events and sources contemporary to that age, students will be introduced to the most important interpretive theories that have emerged in the past generation on the Continent as well as in Britain and America.
The course focuses on the evolution of international politics, diplomacy, and social, cultural and economic structures in the development of empires, nations and industrialization in the evolution of the modern state system from 1815 to 1914. Explores the relationship among European powers and their relations with smaller states in Europe and spheres of influence throughout the world.
The course focuses on the evolution of international politics, diplomacy and social, cultural and economic structures in states territories, and international organizations since 1914. Emphasis on shifting European alingments since 1914, the two World Wars, the development of the bi-polar world and the development and evolution of international organizations.
This course will examine "The Great War" from its origins in the late nineteenth century to the Paris Peace Conference and from a variety of perspectives from battlefields and trenches to the home-front. It will also consider the impact of the war on society and its relevance to the contemporary world.
This seminar style course will introduce the principal writings and interpretations of the era of the American Revolution from the mid-eighteenth century to the ratification of the federal constitution of 1787. Besides exploring the relationship between the British Empire and its colonies, the course will look at the role of historical memory in understanding of the past.
During the early modern period, global processes of imperial, economic, and demographic expansion drew British North America into transnational networks that spanned the Atlantic Ocean and brought Europeans, Africans, and Americans together. This course will explore the Atlantic World as a place, a process, and a new field of historical inquiry.
The course is an examination of the ways historians have addressed specific issues in African-American history.
The course explores the history of Hampton Roads through student use of research materials.
This course analyzes, from a historical perspective, two core problems in Latin America's modern (since c. 1880) history: political authoritarianism and economic underdevelopment. The temporal and spatial dimensions of change are highlighted in discussions of patron-client political systems, military autonomy and impunity, social movements and revolution, export-oriented economic growth, industrialization, and the roles of national, ethnic and gender identities.
No world region matches Latin America in the frequency or extensive impacts of social revolution and social revolutionary movements from the 19th century to the present. A comparative approach to causation, process and outcome will govern the course, with special attention to the role of violence, ideology, international relations and socioeconomic structure.
The course is designed to enrich students' understanding of the political, economic, social and cultural forces that shaped Africa and continue to affect the lives of peoples throughout the continent. It will focus on the contributions of African people, ideas and materials to global history and the impacts of imperialism, decolonization and globalization in Africa.
This writing-intensive course for advanced undergraduates explores the international dimensions of historical problems selected by the instructor. It fulfills the Senior Seminar requirement for International Studies majors, who are expected to have senior standing.
The course examines the history of the public museum. It introduces museology, the profession of museum organization and management, focusing on design, outreach, artifact acquisition and preservation, and international museum standards. Museums as sites of historical research and teaching will receive special attention.
This course examines imperialism, globalization, cultural diffusion, modernization, and social movements through the aperture of global sport. It pays attention to how sports act as embodiments of cultural performance and enable culture and political influence, as well as resistance, from the ancient Greeks through the twentieth century.
This course introduces students to the theories and methods of oral history. Topics include the history and applications of history, memory and history, project design and collection, and how to interpret and present interviews. Students will also learn about the technologies and digital formats of oral history and apply them during final projects.
The course explores the history of the Holocaust through the medium of film as document, testimony, propaganda, artifact, artistic representation and projection of collective memory. Special attention is given to considering the medium of film from the viewpoint of the historian.
The course is an advanced study of selected topics designed for small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest which may not be offered regularly. These courses appear in the course schedule, and will be more fully described in information distributed to academic advisors.
Independent reading and study on a topic to be selected under the direction of an instructor. Conferences and papers as appropriate.
Independent reading and study on a topic to be selected under the direction of an instructor. Conferences and papers as appropriate.
The course is an advanced study of selected topics designed for small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest which may not be offered regularly. These courses appear in the course schedule, and will be more fully described in information distributed to academic advisors.
Analysis of the development of historical theories, principles and methods and their application to historical research and writing. Required of all graduate students in history.
This course offers an introduction to the principal writings and interpretations of American history from the period of European colonization of America to the beginning of the American Revolution. Readings and discussions focus on the development of American cultures and identities and on the formation of American social, political, and economic life.
An advanced course designed to familiarize students with the principal historiographical problems besetting the field of studies of the American Civil War and Reconstruction.
This course examines the history of immigration to the U.S., focusing particularly on the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It critiques the "melting pot" metaphor through key themes, including transnationalism; the influences of class, race, gender, and nationality; working class and race relations; formal and informal economies; and popular and consumer culture.
This course explores the history of food and drink in the U.S. and the world as a way to examine the cultural, social, and political meanings about and consequences of producing and consuming food. This course will explore an array of topics including food as an essential element of identities and power relations, commodity chains, eating trends, and global security.
This course is designed to familiarize students with the principal historiographical problems besetting the field of U.S. military history from the pre-Revolutionary period to the present day.
This course examines the historiography of the Long Civil Rights Movement, the struggle for civil rights stretching from the nineteenth century to the present day and encompassing multiple movements that sought to achieve the basic rights of citizenship for a number of different groups.
This course provides a historiographical survey of U.S. labor and working class history, focusing on the period after the Civil War. Work as a reflection of everyday life, class formation and class consciousness and the development of unions and other labor organizations are examined through a variety of different methodologies and in the contexts of citizenship and civil rights.
This course explores the Atlantic World as a place, a process, and a new field of historical inquiry. It examines the global processes of imperial, economic, and demographic expansion that drew British North America into transnational networks that spanned the Atlantic Ocean and brought European, African, and American inhabitants together.
The course explores the trans-Atlantic slave trade from its beginnings in the 15th century to its suppression in the 19th century. It examines the historical literature on Africa, the Atlantic slave trade and the New World to provide students with a general orientation to the broad context of the Atlantic slave trade.
This course examines the historiography of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. Key themes include the slow, uneven and often unsuccessful integration of the region into centralizing states in Mexico and the United States; the changing nature of migration and commerce across the international boundary; and the importance of violence and social conflict in shaping the region.
This course focuses on the social and cultural history of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Britain. It explores broad themes of social conflict, class divisions, race and racism, and gender dynamics presented in recent historiography . Topics include politics, culture, leisure, entertainment, arts, economy, and the impact of the Empire on Britain.
This course explores British imperialism and colonialism in the early modern and modern periods, from the Caribbean to Australia with emphasis on the "second British empire" of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Key themes will include: webs of power and communication, labor, gender, race, and colony/metropole relations.
This seminar delves into literary and archaeological sources to examine the development of ancient Greece in the archaic, classical and Hellenistic periods. It traces the development of Greece's vibrant culture, the struggles between Athens and Sparta, and the subsequent alliances forced by Phillip II and Alexander the Great.
Using historical texts and archaeological remains as sources, this course considers Ancient Rome from the city's mythological foundation stories to its decline in late Antiquity. It will study Roman history and historiography exploring topics including the economy, the military, women's roles, religion, art and architecture in the Republic and the Principate.
This seminar focuses on the development of Greco-Roman Palestine, from its encounter with Hellenism to its conquest by Rome, and ultimately to its transformation into the Christian Holy Land under the patronage of Constantine and Helen.
Research in Soviet archives in the past decade has enriched and enlarged the study of Stalin's era (1924-1953). This reading seminar samples new literature on traditional topics, such as Stalin's rise to power, methods of rule, and foreign policies, as well as scholarship in newly emerging fields. These areas include social history, gender and the family, cinema and popular culture, nationalities, patron-client relations, and the history of science.
The seminar explores recent maritime historiography and demonstrates how maritime history presents unique understandings of human history and also works within or redefines broader historical constructs. Students will analyze sources related to specific topics of maritime history.
This course examines the complex ways in which the French viewed the Atlantic Ocean and other bodies of water and the opportunities water travel provided them from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Emphasis is placed on the Atlantic as a zone of interaction and on the French global trading networks and the development of overseas empires.
This course examines the religious, political and civil strife as well as the ramifications of social change in sixteenth and seventeenth century Europe. Emphasis will be on religiosity and how early modern peoples understood and experienced religious life and how the "reformations" altered gender relations, sexual dynamics, everyday life, and intellectual thought in Western Europe.
This course introduces students to the interpretive methodologies of questions of "Enlightenment" and the French Revolution that drive much of the historiography in European intellectual history today.
This class examines how coastal societies around the North Atlantic have developed their use of fish stocks and other marine resources since the late medieval period and analyzes how and why over-fishing of nearly all major species took place and how international agreements sought to address the issue of sustainable, biological oceanic resources.
Students work to gain field experience with professionals in such areas as museum management, archives administration, historical editing, historical preservation, electronic records management, archaeology, or oral history. Students are supervised by graduate faculty members who assign academic reading and written work to contextualize and enhance the field experience. Individually arranged. Minimum of 120 hours.
This course examines the complex history of the Holocaust, beginning with the rise of anti-Semitism in the 1930s. It will explore issues of resistance and collaboration as well as ambivalence. It will also examine aspects of postwar Holocaust denial and the memory of the Holocaust as well as its representation in the historiography to the present.
This advanced seminar integrates the skills needed to pass the M.A. exam in history. Exercises include designing examination reading lists, learning the historiography of the exam fields, preparing for orals, and writing and evaluating a practice exam. This course is not open to students pursuing the thesis option.
This course prepares students transitioning from one degree option--examinations, portfolio, or thesis--to another.
This advanced seminar integrates the skills needed to construct the Portfolio Option for the M.A. in history. Exercises include conducting research and writing for a research paper, learning the historiography of a single examination field, preparing teaching materials, working on an applied history project, and preparing for the oral defense. This course is not open to students pursuing the thesis or examination option.
Through the work of historians around the world, this course examines the nature of events in the 1960s. It explores global commonalities and local particularities, focusing on the simultaneous and interrelated phenomena of anti-colonial struggle, youth activism, and culture of dissent. It also looks at the countervailing pressures and groups that emerged in opposition.
Instruction for students continuing with research and preparation for thesis, portfolio, or examinations.
The course is an advanced study of selected topics designed for small groups of qualified students to work on subjects of mutual interest which may not be offered regularly.
Individually arranged with appropriate professor and with permission of the graduate program director.
Individually arranged with appropriate professor and with the permission of the graduate program director.
3 credits.
3-9 credits.
This reading seminar will focus on the changes of the Chinese society since the beginning of the 20th century. It will examine the pivotal historical events that led to the Chinese revolution, which put Mao's Communist regime in power and has changed Chinese society ever since. While studying the history chronologically, students will identify issues and factors that affect the Chinese political system and society, and examine the legacies of Mao's revolution from social and individual perspectives. The course will also focus on political formation and transformation of the government, social structure and upheavals, economic reforms, and foreign policies. (cross listed with IS 718 and IS 818)
The advanced historical study of selected topics in international studies.
This course is a pass/fail course for master's students in their final semester. It may be taken to fulfill the registration requirement necessary for graduation. All master's students are required to be registered for at least one graduate credit hour in the semester of their graduation.
This course is a pass/fail course doctoral students may take to maintain active status after successfully passing the candidacy examination. All doctoral students are required to be registered for at least one graduate credit hour every semester until their graduation.