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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 2005
History 311.01 "Politics in the Early American Republic." Students in this seminar will discover and debate recent developments in the study of political history by focusing intensely on one of its most exciting periods, the early American republic. During the years 1789-1820, the American political system first took shape as federal and state governments established themselves, as the country experienced its first era of party conflict, and as philosophical ideas about the structures of American power and concepts such as "republicanism" and "democracy" were put to the test. The seminar will analyze traditional topics of political interest in this period such as political party formation and interaction among the "founding fathers," and it will also explore the many ways that recent historians have broadened their view of politics to include such factors as political culture, female involvement in politics, and the politicization of everyday life. Students will write in-depth research papers on some
aspect of politics in the period. Prerequisites: History 111 and any 200-level American History course or permission of instructor. 4 credits. Ms. Purcell
History 327.01 "Labor in Twentieth-Century Latin America." During the twentieth century, Labor Movements helped transform many Latin American countries socially, politically, and economically. Organized workers have played key roles in the Mexican Revolution, the rise of Peronism, and the recent political triumphs of Brazil's Worker's Party. The common readings for the seminar will include some of the classic works and then move to more recent studies. These readings raise questions about the effect of employer paternalism on workers; the impact of special privileges on workers; and the role of women in the home, in the shop and in the union. In the second half of the course students will then write a major research paper on labor in twentieth-century Latin America. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required. Prerequisite: History 201, 202, or 204. 4 credits. Mr. Silva
History 330.01 "Religious Toleration and Violence in Europe, 1450-1800." This seminar will focus on relations between religious groups from the late Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. Europe has always been religiously divided between Christians, Jews and Muslims. After the Reformation, Christianity also became divided into disputing, often openly warring groups. A few people supported toleration and religious freedom, although religious violence continues today. The common readings will discuss the patterns of religious violence and toleration, the meaning of toleration for early modern Europeans, the obstacles for peaceful coexistence and the various strategies that people adopted to solve these problems. The first part of the course will examine the Spanish Inquisition, the Wars of Religion in France, the situation for Jews in central Europe, as well as Enlightenment solutions to the problems of religious conflict. Two short essays will be assigned in the first part of the course. Students will al
so select a research topic of their own that explains religious violence or the legal, political, philosophical and social preconditions for tolerance. They will also give an oral presentation of their research. Prerequisite: Either History 233, 234, Humanities 140, or permission of the instructor. 4 credits. Mr. Spohnholz
History 333.01 "The Civilizing Mission and Its Discontents." One of the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Britain was the unprecedented number of programs for moral and social improvement that grew out of middle-class values of progress and civilization. Victorians believed they could elevate the human condition through individual and collective reform; yet ironically, these lofty ideals often replicated the very social divisions and hierarchies they sought to transform and alienated the beneficiaries they sought to save. This seminar will examine the development of the "civilizing mission" through various arenas at home and abroad, including imperialism, missionary work, charity organizations, and public health programs. We will treat philanthropy as a cultural encounter that encompassed conflicting ideas of race, gender, sexuality, class, religion, and empire. Since benevolence movements carried the potential for both empowerment and subjugation, we will also consider how marginalized groups responded
to this growing imperative to civilize Britain and the world. The shared readings will facilitate students' development of a research project later in the course and will focus on primary sources such as novels, travel narratives, newspapers, missionary and charity propaganda, and self-improvement manuals, in addition to current scholarship. Prerequisite: History 105 or 236. 4 credits. Ms. Prevost
SPRING 2006
History 318.01"The Many Faces of the 'New' American Woman, 1880-1930." This seminar will examine the public image and lived experience of three cohorts of women: those who came of age in the 1880s, early 1900s, and 1920s. The goal of the seminar is to explore changes in both women's definition and the popular culture's definition of the "new" woman, and to analyze the ideological debates and social tensions that were manifest in the "new" woman. The "new" woman will be discussed in terms of change and persistence in education, sexuality, family life, professional life, and political life. Included will be the experiences of white women, African-American women, Mexican-American women, Asian-American women, heterosexual and homosexual women, wealthy, middle-class, and working-class women, private women and public women. These variegated female experiences will be placed in the context of a popular culture that sought to define the "new" woman. Common readings will prepare students to select thei
r own research topics to pursue in the second half of the semester. Prerequisite: History 222. 4 Credits. Ms. Brown
History 341.01 "Remembering Russia's Past: The Memoir in Russian History." The 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. Employing special studies from other disciplines and comparative historical analysis, seminar participants 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 History 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
History 375.01 "The East-Asian Discovery of Europe, 1520-1740." 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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