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Majors must take two seminars (or their equivalent) in two different geographic areas: Asia, Europe, Latin America, Russia, or the U.S. Seminars with a broader geographic focus, such as HIS 328, can be sorted into one of these categories based on the focus of your research paper.
FALL 2002:
History 316.01: "The Civil Rights Crusade: Its Achievements, Limitations, and Historical Legacy." This seminar will examine the emergence, development, and demise of the civil rights movement from the founding of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) in 1942 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in 1968 and its aftermath. The texts, documents, documentaries, and Hollywood films will focus on leaders such as James Farmer, Jo Ann Robinson, King, Fannie Lou Hamer, Malcolm X, and Fred Shuttlesworth, but they will also explore the civil rights crusade as a mass movement that mobilized unprecedented numbers of black Americans at the local, regional, state, and national levels. The emphasis in the course will be on the movement itself and the perceptions and agitation of African Americans, but the national climate of opinion, the legacy of racial prejudice, and the response of the federal government to the movement will also receive attention. Besides looking at the mainstream movement and leaders, stud
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nts will be encouraged to examine the lives and times of previously neglected or secondary figures in the racial revolution of the 1950s and 1960s--Jackie Robinson, Lena Horne, Harry Belafonte, Maya Angelou, Sidney Poitier, Muhammad Ali, Shirley Chisholm, and Dick Gregory. Each student will lead at least one class discussion and will prepare a research paper based mainly on primary source research. The class will first focus on common readings and discussions, then shift to individual research and class reports. Prerequisites: History 112, 227, or permission of the instructor. 4 credits. Mr. Hietala.
History 339.01: "Dictatorship and Democracy in Modern Germany." Our joint readings in this seminar will introduce students to some of the major debates among historians regarding the causes of the collapse of the Weimar Republic, the mentality of the Nazis, the nature of the Third Reich, the Holocaust, and the causes of the success of democratic institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany. Students will then be asked to choose a research topic in one of these areas for detailed analysis in a substantial research paper that relates the opinions of the historians to the primary sources. A reading knowledge of German is very useful but not required, since a great many primary sources on Nazism and the Third Reich have been translated into English. Prerequisite: HIS 238 is the best preparation, but students who have taken either HIS 101 or HIS 239 may also enroll. 4 credits. Mr. Patch.
SPRING 2003:
History 323.01: "The Art of Biography." This seminar will explore the complex blend of objective and subjective elements which necessarily comprise the writing of biography. Using American biographies as our texts, we will examine problems related to sources, including the use of interviews, correspondence, diaries, the popular press, legal records, and, of course, autobiographies. In addition, we will trace trends in the theoretical literature, considering how shifts from psychoanalytic theory to post-structuralist and feminist theory have influenced both writers' and readers' approaches to biography. Students in this seminar will be asked to consider questions of ethics and literary style, as well as questions of logic and veracity, as they examine both the theory and the practice of biography. There will be an opportunity to experiment with the writing of biography. There will also be the opportunity to employ current theories of biography in writing a historiographical critique of the existing biog
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l literature on selected American subjects. PREREQUISITES: History 112 and one 200-level course in American history. 4 credits. Ms. Brown.
History 325.01: "Popular Politics in the United States, 1763-1877." Even before many of them could vote, Americans found many ways to make their opinions on political and social issues known and to affect the distribution of power in society as they defined for themselves what democracy meant. Students in this seminar will research and write significant papers exploring some aspect of popular politics between 1763 and 1877---how men and women of diverse races, classes, and backgrounds took actions to define American politics. Topics open for study will include: women’s rights meetings, benevolent societies, moral reform movements, anti-slavery petition drives, social protests, vigilante movements, parades and festivals, Union Leagues, early labor organizations, patriotic monuments, riots and rebellions, and civic celebrations. Prerequisite: History 111. Ms. Purcell.
History 33X. "Advanced study in the history of modern Great Britain or the British Empire." (The History Department has applied for authorization to hire a specialist in the history of modern Great Britain and the British Empire next year, who would be expected to teach a seminar relating to his or her research specialty in the spring of 2003.)
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.
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