Fall 2021
History 324.01 “Illicit Medicine”
In the U.S., laws and licensing bodies have regulated medicine since the early nineteenth century. Looking at examples of medicinal practices and products that have been or currently are considered “illicit” permits us to see how this regulation has been shaped by broader cultural, social, and political factors. This seminar examines the histories of illicit medicines in the United States as windows into national – and sometimes global – history. Students will complete a substantial research project using a combination of primary and secondary sources. Prerequisites: any 200-level history course OR permission of instructor. Priority will be given to students who have taken at least one of the following: HIS 223, ANT 210, SOC 265. 4 credits. Lewis
History 334.01 “Decolonization”
In the decades following the Second World War, more than a quarter of the world’s land mass and population were converted from colonies into nation states with surprising speed. But did the end of empire constitute a meaningful transformation or merely the change of a flag? And was the transfer of power as orderly as the imperial powers liked to claim? In this seminar we will explore some of the debates surrounding the timing, causality, character, and consequences of decolonization and consider how historical actors impacted and were impacted by the changing relationship of metropolitan centers and colonial peripheries. Common texts and student research projects will focus on the political, social, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of decolonization in British Africa and South Asia, as well as in Britain itself; students with relevant background may also pursue a topic related to another national/geographic context. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and either HIS 236, 261, 262, 266, or 295 (Gender Relations in South Asia). 4 credits. Prevost
Spring 2022
History 327.01 “The Civil Rights Movement”
This seminar offers students an opportunity to research and write about the Civil Rights era. Students will be introduced to recent scholarship that will compel them to re-think fundamental aspects of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States: when it took place, who participated, what it was over, and how the Civil Rights Movement continues to inform modern life in the United States. By the end of the semester, students will have produced a research paper based on a combination of primary and secondary sources (20-25 pages). Prerequisites: Any HIS 100 course and one 200-level history course. 4 credits. Lacson
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. Through the lens of case studies in London, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin, we consider how individuals and communities grappled with the idea and the experience of the metropolis. Our investigations examine political developments, social theory, the visual and literary arts, and consumer culture as we consider themes such as community and alienation, the fluidity of the self, spectacle and entertainment, disease and criminality, race, gender, class, and sexuality. Students develop individual research projects centered in a metropolitan context(s) in or beyond Europe on any theme connected to the class. Prerequisites: Any HIS 100 course and one 200-level history course. 4 credits. Maynard
History 37X.01 “Human Rights in Asia”
TBA. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and one 200-level course focused on Asian history. Luo