Fall 2019
History 309.01 “Latin America and the United States”
As the saying goes, Latin America lies too far from God and too close to the United States. This proximity has affected Latin American economics, demographics, culture, and politics. The seminar will begin with common readings. This year those common readings will focus on US attempts–both official and unofficial–to democratize and modernize the region. Students will then write a research paper using primary documents. These papers could focus on anyone of a number of issues that were central to US-Latin American relations such as hemispheric security, economic affairs, democracy, and socialism. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and either HIS 201 or 202. 4 credits. Silva
History 326.01 “History of Nineteenth-Century American Popular Culture”
Students in this seminar will examine the creation and expansion of American popular culture in the nineteenth century as they focus on diverse cultural forms: dime novels, newspapers, music, sports, cartoons, material culture, theater, minstrel shows, magazines, etc. Transnational elements of U.S. popular culture will also be explored. The seminar will focus particularly on how ideas and structures of race, class, and gender were changed and reinforced by American popular culture. Research papers will analyze popular culture in a historical context to consider how popular culture created or changed power dynamics in American society. Students in this course will also work on methods and sources in digital history. Prerequisites: History 100 and one 200-level American History course or permission of instructor. 4 credits. Purcell
History 336.01 “The European Metropolis”
This seminar takes as its starting point the explosion of large cities in Europe from the mid-nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries. We examine these new spaces, filled with unprecedented population density and diversity, by considering the ways in which denizens of London, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin (and occasionally elsewhere) grappled with the idea and the experience of the metropolis. Our analysis includes political developments, social theory, the visual and performing arts, film, literature, architecture, consumer culture, and music. Individual student research papers centered upon one or more metropolitan context(s) in Europe and/or elsewhere may draw upon course themes including community and alienation, the fluidity of the self, spectacle and entertainment, disease and criminality, gender, and class. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and HIS 236, 237, 238, 239, or 241. 4 credits. Maynard
Spring 2020
History 325.01 “American Indian Reservations”
This course examines the history of American Indian reservations from the late-nineteenth century to the present. The common readings will introduce students to the origins and major historical problems of reservation history, especially the tricky task of defining the relationship between American Indian reservations and the United States. Specifically, we will examine the end of treaty-making between the United States and Indian tribes, allotment of Indian land, federal assimilation programs, boarding schools, the meaning of U.S. citizenship for Native peoples, and the opportunities and challenges of casinos. Prerequisites: Any HIS 100 course and one 200-level history course. 4 credits. Lacson
History 330.01 “The Politics of Food in Early Modern England”
Through an examination of the conflicts surrounding the purchase, consumption, and production of food, as well as the processes by which food became politicized, classed, and gendered, this class offers a chronological and thematic look at the 'century of revolutions' in England beginning with Elizabeth I's ‘second reign’ in 1590 and ending with the Act of Union in 1707. Over the course of the semester, we will utilize case studies about food to explore how an early modern 'moral economy' and an ideology of governance centered on the person of the monarch gave way to a modern, commercialized economy and parliamentary politics. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and HIS 232, 233, 234, or 295 (Global Cultural Encounters). 4 credits. Chou
History 378.01 “U.S.-East Asian Relations”
Civilizations do not clash; empires do. This seminar explores the history of U.S.-East Asian relations from the nineteenth century to the present day, beginning with the U.S. entrance into Asia as a colonial power and end with the legacy of the Cold War. It juxtapose the perspectives, interests, and arguments of U.S. and East Asian actors to understand this social, political and cultural history. This seminar focuses on the global dimension of U.S.-Asian interactions: how did transnational and international forces between U.S. and Asian societies and governments shape key dynamics of the global twentieth century? Why was there unprecedented support for U.S. overseas expansion in this period? And how did U.S. and Asian migrants, lobbyists, NGOs and other private actors develop a sustained impact on global politics? Prerequisites: HIS 100 and one 200-level Asian history course. 4 credits. Lou