Department of History Fall 2017 Courses
Faculty Members Rachel Applebaum Assistant Modern Russia; Modern Central/Eastern Europe Virginia G. Drachman Modern America, Women in the U.S., Medicine and Society in the U.S. David Ekbladh Associate U.S. in the World, International History, Modern U.S. History Leila Fawaz Middle East Kendra Field Assistant Nineteenth-century U.S., African American, Native American Elizabeth Foster Associate Modern France in the World, Colonial West Africa Ayesha Jalal South Asia, the Muslim World Gary P. Leupp Japan Kris Manjapra Associate Modern South Asia, Modern Germany, Intellectual History Beatrice F. Manz, Department Chair Middle East and Inner Asia Steven P. Marrone Medieval, Early Modern Europe Ina Baghdiantz McCabe Armenia and Cross-Cultural World Jeanne Marie Penvenne Africa David Proctor Senior Lecturer Late Antique & Medieval Western Europe, Byzantium, Southeastern Europe, Papal- Imperial relations Alisha Rankin Associate Early Modern Europe James Rice Visiting Early American, Native American and environmental history Hugh Roberts North African and Middle Eastern History, North Africa, Middle East Reed Ueda Industrial and Urban U.S., Immigration Peter Winn Latin American Man Xu Assistant Chinese history Lecturers Robert Cross Part-Time Lecturer European History Kerri Greenidge Part-Time Lecturer African-American History Asher Orkaby Part-Time Lecturer Middle Eastern History
Fall 2017 History Department Course Listings Foundations Seminars (High Demand, Open to undergraduates only.) Course # Course Title 91 Foundation Seminars, Africa: Seeking Gendered Perspectives: Historiography, Theory & Methods in African History (0+ M 8:30 11:30 am) Penvenne 93 Foundation Seminars, North America: Coney Island to the Hollywood Sign (1 T 9 11:30 am) Ueda 96 Foundation Seminars, Europe: Magic and Witchcraft in Medieval and Early Modern Europe (6 T 1:30 4:00 pm) Marrone Research Seminars (High Demand, Graduate Students by special permission only.) Course # Course Title 190 Research Seminar, World/Transregional: The Global 1930s (7 W 1:30 4:00 pm) Ekbladh 193 Research Seminar, North America: Tufts in American History (8 R 1:30 4:00 pm) Drachman 196 Research Seminar, Europe: Science and Religion in Early Modern Europe (1 T 9:00 11:30 am) Rankin 198 Senior Thesis Colloquium (2 Wed 9-11:30 am) Penvenne Survey Courses (Open to undergraduates only.) Course # Course Title 2 Globalization (I+ M/W 3-4:15 pm) Winn 11 Worlds to Make: The Global History of International Development (E+ M/W 10:30 11:45 am) Ekbladh 14 Historical Perspectives On Contemporary Crises In Africa Since 1850 (G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm) Penvenne 22 The Changing American Nation: 19 th & 20 th Centuries ( 0 M 9 11:30 am) Ueda 24 Revolutionary America, 1763-1815 (H+ T/R 1:30 2:45 pm) Rice 31 Rise of the Modern Woman (G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm) Drachman 40 History of Pre-Modern China (D+ T/R 10:30 11:45 am) Xu 46 Modern South Asia (G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm) Jalal 53 Europe to 1815 (G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm) Proctor 55 Europe In The Early Middle Ages (J M 4:30 5:20 pm; L T/R 4:30 5:20 pm) Marrone 58 The Byzantines And Their World (K+ M/W 4:30 5:45 pm) Proctor 66 Spain And Its Empire (L+ T/R 4:30 5:45 pm) Cross 70 Middle East to World War I (I+ M/W 3:00-4:15pm) Orkaby Thematic Courses (Open to undergraduates and graduate students.) Course # Course Title 128 The Civil Rights Movement (F+ T/R 12:00 1:15 pm) Greenidge 138 Confucianism from China to the Modern World ((7 W 1:30 4:00 pm) Xu 159 French Revolution (J+ T/R 3:00 4:15 pm) Cross 170 Advanced Special Topics, World/Transregional: Environmental Humanities: Environmental History (2 W 9:00 11:30 am) Rice 175 Islam and the West (Fletcher Course T 3:20 5:20 pm) Jalal Course # Course Title 200 Historiography (1 T 9:00 11:30 am) Graduate Courses (Open to graduate students only.) 203 History and Memory Colloquium (6+ T 1:20 4:20 pm) Winn 209 War and Society in the Middle East in Historical Perspective (Fletcher Course R - 3:20-5:20pm) Fawaz Baghdiantz- McCabe
Foundations Seminars HIST. 91 Foundation Seminars, Africa: Seeking Gendered Perspectives: Historiography, Theory & Methods in African History Jeanne Penvenne Block 0+ M 8:30 11:30 am This course explores history as a gendered phenomenon, a process, a construction and an interpretation of past experience. It begins with the confirmation that people create, experience, and assign meaning to history as agents and interpreters of change. Individual and group experience is partially shaped by perspectives of social location, including age, gender, class, nationality, ethnicity, ability and race. This course will wrestle with the overall problematic of experiencing and interpreting history, but will pay special attention to gender in twentieth and twenty-first century Southern Africa. The course features small group discussions, lectures, films, scholarly readings, performance, literature, primary sources, and historians use of new media. HIST. 93 Foundation Seminars, North America: Coney Island to the Hollywood Sign Reed Ueda Block 1 T 9:00 11:30 am Comparisons between communities in the industrializing north and the globalizing west of the twentieth century. Exploration of inter-regional cultural continuity and innovation. HIST. 96 Foundation Seminars, Europe: Magic and Witchcraft in Medieval and Early Modern Europe Steven Marrone Block 6 T 1:30 4:00 pm Interest in magic and fear of witches rose dramatically in Europe in the period from 1100 to 1700. So great was the resultant social tension that it produced the European Witch Hunt of the 16th and 17th centuries. This course will examine this phenomenon by close reading of five seminal books on its history, leading to five critical papers on the historiographical strategies of each book. Research Seminars HIST. 190 Research Seminar, World/Transregional: The Global 1930s David Ekbladh Block 7 W 1:30 4:00 pm The 1930s were a tumultuous period that saw the collapse of world order and the rise of a set of unsettling regimes and ideologies. The course will cultivate student research on how the chronic, worldwide economic Depression impacted political, social, and cultural life. We will explore how new views reshaped assumptions about the individual and his or her role in society and how old ideologies were demolished or were fundamentally refashioned to contend with new realities. Many assumptions about the role of the state in everyday life, basic economic questions, and what constituted prosperity and individual well-being were reconsidered in manners that still shape discussion today. Even the way critical issues were discussed in the public at large were refashioned by revolutionary technologies such as radio and novel ways people interacted with it. The United States serves as one point of entry (but not the sole) for the exploration of the nature of an era of global crisis and conflict. The primary goal of the course is for students to produce a detailed research project on a topic related to the period. First we will look at how historians frame international issues. Second we will lay out research programs to answer a historical question. Third, we will write up, critique, revise, and present our research projects. As historians do, we will present our work in various forms: both a written paper and an oral presentation of your research and conclusions.
Research Seminars (continued) HIST. 193 - Research Seminar, North America: Tufts in American History Virginia Drachman Block 8 R 1:30 4:00 pm The Tufts archives in Tisch Library will be our laboratory as we focus on topics related to campus life in the second half of the 20th century, including dating, sororities and fraternities, the student movement in the 1960s, the women s movement, and sports and Title IX. Individual research projects will be based on primary sources available in the Tufts archives. HIST. 196 -Research Seminar, Europe: Science and Religion in Early Modern Europe Alisha Rankin Block 1 T 9:00 11:30 am Did religion inhibit scientific activities in early modern Europe? Or did it help foment scientific engagement? What effect did Martin Luther s break from the Catholic Church have on the development of science? How was science used in religious imperialism? How important was the condemnation of Galileo? This research seminar focuses on the interplay between science and religion from ca. 1450-1700. We will examine a few specific cases, e.g. the trial of Galileo; the role of Copernicanism in the Catholic Church s calendar reform; the witchcraft accusations against Johannes Kepler s mother; the university reforms put forth by Luther s disciple Philip Melanchthon; the religious fanaticism of Isaac Newton; and the merging of religion and science in the conquest of the New World. In each session we will also discuss sources, historical methodology, and research strategies. Students will then choose a topic of research on which to write an extensive paper. HIS 198 Senior Thesis Colloquium Jeanne Marie Penvenne Block 2 W 9:00 11:30 am A workshop in the methodological, historiographical, and practical skills involved in writing a senior honors thesis. Provides both a structure for thesis writers to make significant progress with research and writing in the fall semester and a forum for discussion of student drafts. Survey Courses HIST. 2 - Globalization Peter Winn Block I+ M/W 3:00-4:15 pm Five centuries of globalization, including the age of reconnaissance, the Columbian Exchange, the industrial revolution, and the globalization of economies, technologies, war, politics, and popular culture in the 20th century. Includes resistance and alternatives to globalization.
Survey Courses (continued) HIST. 11 - Worlds to Make: The Global History of International Development David Ekbladh Block E+ M/W 10:30 11:45 am Historical exploration of the global evolution of the concept of international development from the 19th century to the present. A core theme will be an examination how the concept has been used by colonial powers, nation states, newly independent nations, and nongovernmental actors to further their agendas. Focus will be placed on the ideologies that often drove development projects and how development could often be a means for powers to compete with each other and extend their influence. Discuss multiple approaches to development and that it was a site of contestation for those subject to development agendas. Attention will also be placed on the unintended consequences of development as well as the environmental, social, and cultural costs. HIST. 14 - Historical Perspectives On Contemporary Crises In Africa Since 1850 Jeanne Penvenne Block G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm African history and culture from the nineteenth century to the present, relating environmental, technical, and social innovations and constraints to change through time. Themes include intensified contact between Africans and Europeans, conquest, colonial experiences, African strategies to reclaim authority and the developing role of women and youth in shaping production, investment, and social choices in contemporary Africa. HIST. 22 -The Changing American Nation: 19th & 20th Centuries (Cross-listed as AMER 44) Reed Ueda Block 0 M 9:00 11:30 am Population, society, and politics in U.S. History. Evolution from a former colony in the Atlantic World to a trans-continental industrialized urban nation - a globalized country on the Pacific Rim. HIST. 24 -Revolutionary America, 1763-1815 James Rice Block H+ T/R 1:30 2:45 pm Creation of a new, republican nation out of a monarchical empire. American society's place within the British Empire. Western expansion and the Seven Years War. Political origins of revolution; social effects of resistance and war; loyalism, slavery, international diplomacy; radical and conservative aspects of revolution; the Articles of Confederation; post-revolutionary political struggles and social change; origins of the Federal Constitution. HIST. 31 - Rise of the Modern Woman (Cross-listed as AMER 31) Virginia Drachman Block G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm Women s struggles for equality in American society from the 19th century through World War II. Examination of women s drive for suffrage and political rights, access to higher education, and entry into medicine, law, and business. Focus on the tension between equality and equity and origins of tension between private and public life. Attention to diversity, including race, class, and ethnicity, in women s experiences.
Survey Courses (continued) HIST. 40 History of Pre-Modern China Man Xu Block D+ T/R 10:30 11:45 pm An introduction to aspects of the traditional society and culture of China from its mythological and archaeological origins to the end of the 16th century, examining important and fascinating developments in Chinese history, literature, philosophy, religion, and culture. An emphasis on learning how to read critically primary texts as well as visual and material sources. HIST. 46 - Modern South Asia Ayesha Jalal Block G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm Society, economy, and politics in South Asia (mainly present-day India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh) from c. 1000 to c. 2000. India's ancient heritage, Indo-Islamic society and culture, the Mughal empire, eighteenth-century regional states, the establishment of British dominion, social and religious reforms, nationalism before and after Gandhi, and partition of India and recent developments. Significant use of audiovisual material. HIST. 53 -Europe to 1815 David Proctor Block G+ M/W 1:30 2:45 pm Eastern and Western Europe from the decline of the Roman Empire in the West through the medieval era into early modern times, ending with a thorough examination of the background of the French Revolution and Napoleon. The religious, secular, economic, social, political, and diplomatic processes which have had a lasting impact on modern European institutions and developments. HIST. 55 - Europe In The Early Middle Ages Steven Marrone Block J + L M, T/R 4:30 5:20 pm Western Europe and the Mediterranean world from the late Roman Empire to the middle of the eleventh century. The decline of classical society and the emergence of a distinctively medieval world. Topics: the propagation of Christianity, the appearance and early transformation of Western European kingship, the spread of manorialism and the development of a feudal system, the creation of knighthood and serfdom, the flowering of monasticism, and the production of early medieval art and literature. HIST. 58 - The Byzantines And Their World (Cross-listed as CLS 39) David Proctor Block K+ M/W 4:30 5:45 pm Examination of the history of the Byzantine Empire with emphasis on Byzantine interaction with and influence on the civilizations of Western, Eastern and Southeastern Europe, Armenia and the Middle East. Special attention to the influence of religion, art and ideas of political authority in the development of Byzantine civilization and the continuation of the Empire's legacy.
Survey Courses (continued) HIST. 66 -Spain And Its Empire Robert Cross Block L+ T/R 4:30 5:45 pm Spanish history from late middle ages to mid-eighteenth century. Major topics include religious pluralism and religious conflict in Spain, the era of overseas expansion, indigenous resistance and adaptation to conquest, American silver and early globalization, slavery and freedom in the Americas, and Spain s era of imperial decline and resurgence in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Readings include primary sources and scholarly studies. HIST 0070 - Middle East to World War I Asher Orkaby Block I+ M/W 3:00-4:15PM The Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire from the late eighteenth century until the eve of World War I, with focus on Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq. The political and socioeconomic characteristics of the Middle East prior to the nineteenth century and their transformation in the nineteenth century under new worldwide regional circumstances; the impact of modern Europe in the age of multinational empires. Thematic Courses HIST. 128 The Civil Rights Movement Kerri Greenidge Block F+ T/R 12:00 1:15 pm Examines the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States and its impact on race relations, politics, society, and culture. Topics discussed during the semester include debates over non-violence vs. self-defense; integration vs. separatism; protest vs. politics; Martin Luther King vs. Malcolm X. The movement's geographic, racial, and ideological diversity will also be explored, as will the evolution from civil rights to Black Power. HIST. 138 -Confucianism from China to the Modern World Man Xu Block 7 W 1:30 4:00 pm An interdisciplinary study of Confucianism from its ambiguous and complex origin to the twenty-first century. Ancient Confucian philosophy and Neo-Confucianism in China, East Asia, and the world from the perspectives of intellectual, social and cultural history. Confucianism and family structure, gender, capitalism, modernity, and globalization. HIST. 159 French Revolution Robert Cross Block J+ T/R 3:00 4:15 pm The Revolution of 1789 in France and its impact in Europe and beyond, from the fall of the Old Regime to the rise of Napoleon. A critical, ionic event in world history, the French Revolution marks the birth of modern political culture and citizenship, transforming the way the French viewed themselves and their role in the world. Revolutionary debates on human rights, individual liberty, representative democracy, and social equality in the global context of revolutions in North America and Haiti. The course will make use of primary sources and engage the rich historiography of this era.
Thematic Courses (continued) HIST. 170 -Advanced Special Topics, World/Transregional: Environmental Humanities: Environmental History (Cross-listed as ENV110) James Rice Block 2 W 9:00 11:30 am This course focuses on the ever-changing, historical relationships between humans and non-human nature. Because environmental history is inherently interdisciplinary, course materials include literary and visual sources as well as non-fiction, and we'll incorporate theoretical approaches and insights from across the humanities and social sciences. Core topics range from place-based knowledge, land ethics, indigenous knowledge, and traditional ecological knowledge, to social change, gender, justice, narrative conventions, and connections with science and technology. People throughout the world write and care deeply about the environment, and course texts will reflect this diversity. The class is very much discussion-based. No pre-requisites. LA Distribution Humanities HIST. 175 -Islam and the West Ayesha Jalal Fletcher Course T 3:20 5:20 pm Going beyond the simplistic notion of a great civilization divide, this course lends historical depth and comparative context to the currently vexed relationship between Islam and the West. It puts both categories 'Islam' and 'the West' under the spotlight of searching analysis. After providing some essential background, the course concentrates on the colonial and post-colonial encounter between Muslim and Western societies and polities. It does so with particular but not exclusive reference to the South Asian subcontinent. Organized along both historical and thematic lines, the course studies both the domains of culture and politics, thought and practice, in their interaction in order to elucidate the aspects of dialogue, tension and confrontation between the worlds of Islam and the West. Graduate Courses HIST. 200 - Historiography Ina Baghdiantz-McCabe Block 1 T 9:00 11:30 am An analysis of the nature and functions of history, its relation to other disciplines, the basic principles of historical method, bibliography, and the techniques of historical research and writing in connection with which at least one paper is prepared. Major interpretations and theories of historical change are also considered. HIST. 203 History & Memory Colloqium Peter Winn Block 6+ T 1:20 4:20 pm This colloquium explores the emerging field of History and Memory, tracing its origins in France in the social psychology of Maurice Halbwachs and the history of Pierre Nora and its transformation in the shadow of the Holocaust and Hiroshima. The course then goes on to explore: the transformation of individual memories into collective memory; mistaken and mythic memory; race and gendered memory; denial and deliberate forgetting; truth, justice and reconciliation; truth commissions, trials and reparations; commemorations from July 4th to 9/11; and the transmission of memory through pedagogy and popular culture, memorials and museums. The work in the course readings, reports and a final paper will be customized so that students can apply the insights and approaches of the course to their geographic and thematic areas of interest. Permission of Instructor Required.
HIST 0209 - War and Society in the Middle East in Historical Perspective Leila Fawaz Fletcher Course R - 3:20-5:20pm (Cross-listed as DHP H261) World War I and its settlement shaped the modern Middle East. The end of the Ottoman Empire and the emergence of successor states in search of internal ideology and regional influence have characterized the region to this day. This course addresses both the Middle East and the broader topic of struggle and survival during cataclysmic events such as a world war. It is a research based class in which students will learn how to better research conflict and how to develop a thematic approach to the study of conflict given the many perspectives of those affected by it. The course will also discuss the ways in which a conflict can transform a region.