FALL 2003
History 341. "Remembering Russia's Past: The Memoir in Russian History."
This seminar will begin with a careful reading and analysis of a handful of memoirs from imperial and Soviet Russia, from women and men, from noble and worker. In reading these personal histories, we will consider the virtues and limitations of memoirs, and the extent to which they conform to a "genre," and thereby either illumine or obstruct our sense of the past. The major project for each seminar participant will be a detailed analysis of one important memoir of the student's choosing, drawing upon our common readings and discussions in order to appraise the usefulness to the historian of that particular account. Students who have completed either HIS 241 or 242 will find that background beneficial, but any upper-division history student may enroll with the instructor's permission. 4 credits. Mr. Kaiser.
SPRING 2004
History 322.01: Daughters of Zion: Women, Power, and American Religions, 1815-1915.
This seminar will draw on the recent explosion in historical literature on Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish women in order to examine the ways in which organized religion was a site for patriarchal control of women as well as a place for female empowerment and even feminist expression. Beginning with the Second Great Awakening and the abolition movement and proceeding up through the Social Gospel movement, this seminar will offer students an opportunity to consider the complex and unique ways in which the church and the synagogue both elevated and subordinated its female members. It will also offer a venue in which students can explore the work and words of male and female clergy and male and female laity as they struggled over questions of women's nature, women's place, and women's power in American society between 1815 and 1915. PREREQUISITES: HIS 111 or 112, and HIS 222. 4 credits. Ms. Brown
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. 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 an historical context to consider how popular culture created or changed power dynamics in American society. Prerequisite: History 111 Plus any 200-level American History course or permission of instructor. 4 credits. Ms. Purcell
History 329.01. "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 an overview of US?Latin American relations from the Monroe Doctrine to the Bay of Pigs. We will then concentrate on the crucial period between World war I and World War 11 when the United States and Latin America redefined their relationship. Students will then write a research paper using primary documents available here at Grinnell. These papers could focus on any one of a number of issues that were central to US?Latin American relations in the interwar period such as hemispheric security, economic affairs, fascism, and socialism. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required. Prerequisite: a 200?level history course on Latin America or the United States. 4 credits. Mr. Silva
History 375.01. "The East-Asian Discovery of Europe, 1520-1830."
This course will examine the first series of full contacts between Europe and East Asia during the three centuries following the Chinese purchase of a cannon from the Portuguese in 1520. It will focus on the patterns of cultural penetration of the Europeans as well as on the East-Asian responses to Christianity, military technology, and international trade. Readings will include first-hand accounts of mutual perceptions of the European and the East?Asian peoples. Prerequisite: History 275, 276, 277, or 278. 4 credits. Mr. Hsieh.
