Fall 2023
History 314.01 “The U.S. Civil War: History and Memory”
Students in this seminar will complete major research projects about the U.S. Civil War and/or its presence in public memory. The Civil War was a major watershed event, and students will study a number of important recent trends and debates in its historiography before defining their own topics of research. We will consider new approaches to analyzing the military, economic, social, gender, and racial dimensions of the war as well as topics such as popular culture, geography, immigration, and transnational history. In addition to studying the war itself, students will also consider how Civil War commemorations continued to shape U.S. history and culture during Reconstruction and beyond. Prerequisites: HIS 100 course and one 200-level U.S. History course. 4 credits. Purcell
History 32x.01 “Order and Disorder in Early Modern Europe” (to be announced)
Prerequisites: HIS 100 course and either HIS 232, HIS 233, or HIS 283. 4 credits. Chou
Spring 2024
History 336.01 “The Metropolis”
This seminar takes as its starting point the phenomenon of radical urbanization in the 19th and 20th centuries. Through the lens of comparative case studies in and beyond Europe, we consider the unintended consequences of these unprecedented and unpredictable growth spurts. How did life in cities upend traditional social roles and rules? What kinds of new possibilities — physical, psychological, imaginative — did previously isolated and often marginalized people explore? How did city dwellers build new communities and create new identities? Working collaboratively, students develop research projects centered in any urban context(s) since the 18th century. Prerequisites: HIS 100 course and one 200-level history course. 4 credits. Maynard
History 374.01 “Law/Society in Chinese History”
This undergraduate seminar is open to students who are interested in Chinese law or law and society from comparative perspectives. During this seminar, we will:
- explore the latest themes on Chinese law and society discussed by recent scholarship in English
- know how to read Chinese law codes and legal cases from late imperial times
- develop research projects using both primary and secondary sources.
Students whose research focuses on geographical regions other than China are encouraged to conduct original research in their working languages and geographical fields, with the option of to use China as a point of comparison. Prerequisites: HIS-100 and one of the following: HIS-275, 277, 377, 195 Classical Asia, 295 Classical Asia, Modern China: History from the Margins, Kungfu Panda Chi Env History. X. CHEN