History Courses

Topics and themes related to the development and impact of Western civilization upon the human community. This subject is analyzed through an intensive examination of a specific historical theme, issue or period. (Credit, full course.) Staff

A general survey of the political, constitutional, economic, and social history of the United States. (Credit, full course.) Berebitsky, Register, Willis

A survey of the history of Italy from the fifth-century Gothic kingdoms through the age of Dante and Petrarch. This course explores the growth of independent city-states, such as Milan, Florence, Bologna, and Ferrara, the rise of the commercial empires of Venice and Genoa, and the role of Italian cities as a meeting ground for cultural, economic, artistic, and intellectual exchange in the Mediterranean. Particular attention is given to how the growth of papal power affected the peninsula and how Greek, Arab, Norman, German, French, and Spanish influences shaped a southern Italy distinct from the north. This course is offered Easter Semester of 2009 only. (Credit, full course.) Kumhera

A general survey of the political, constitutional, economic, and social history of England and the British Empire since the Anglo-Saxon conquest. (Credit, full course.) Perry

First semester: the formation of the Russian state; significant personalities such as Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great; and the rise of the revolutionary movement. Second semester: a study of the collapse of the monarchy; the causes of the Revolution; and the consolidation and growth of Soviet power under Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, and Brezhnev. The Gorbachev era and reasons for the collapse of the Soviet system are explored. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

An overview of European history in the early modern era, a period of transition from the medieval way of life to the recognizably modern. The course explores this dynamic age from the Renaissance through the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the age of exploration, the Religious Wars, absolutism and constitutionalism, the European witch-hunt, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. Issues addressed include the evolution of the nation-state, the quest for empire, and the rise of science, religious pluralism, and secular culture. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

A survey of urban life in Europe between 1400 and 1750. The course begins by examining how mercantile culture, religious and ritual life, and political and artistic patronage shaped the urban experience in Florence and Venice. It then proceeds north of the Alps and explores the ways in which German, English, and French urban life influenced and intersected with the development of Protestantism, the wars of religion, the English civil war, and the emergence of absolutism. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

Designed to provide an introduction to Asian history. First semester: the foundations of East Asian civilization: Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the flowering of Chinese culture. Second semester: a study of the European impact on Asia and the resultant rise of nationalism and communism. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

A survey of courtly life in Europe between 1450 and 1750. The course considers the role of the courtier, the ways in which art, drama, and ritual promoted the power of the monarch, the mechanics and implications of patronage, changing notions of monarchial authority, and the relation between courtly culture and civility. Special attention is paid to Spanish and English courtly culture in the sixteenth century and French courtly culture in the seventeenth century. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

This course encompasses both the established history of the southern African region c.1500-2004 and recent historiographical developments. As a result of this dual focus, the course highlights the production of southern African history, considering how, for whom, and why that history has been written. Topics include: the environment in history; the creation and interactions of racial groups; the mineral revolution and capitalist development; white domination, segregation, and apartheid; and political and popular resistance to these oppressive racial regimes. The course ends with the transition to majority rule, the role of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the democratic future of South Africa. (Credit, full course.) Levine

A survey of the history of Japan from earliest times to the present. Topics include early Chinese influence, Buddhism, the rise of feudalism, unification in the 15th century, the era of isolation, the intrusion of the west, the Meiji Restoration, the rise of Japan as a military power and World War II, and postwar recovery. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

Among the subjects addressed in this course are Mohammed, Islam, conquests undertaken during the caliphates, reasons for the breakup of Islamic civilization, Islam's subsequent revival by the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, the entrance of the Europeans into the Middle East, and the development of the Shia. (Credit, full course.) Staff

A contemporary history of the Middle East embracing such topics as Arab and Israeli politics, sources of the Arab/Israeli conflict, modernization in traditional societies, terrorism and counterterrorism, American foreign policy in the area, and Islamic revival. This continuation of History 217 may also be taken independently. (Credit, full course.) Staff

A historical introduction to the African continent from human origins until the imposition of European colonial control. Topics addressed include environmental constraints, relations between elites and peasants, the rise of states and empires, the emergence of diverse religious systems, artistic production, slavery and the slave trades, and the interchange between Africa and other parts of the world. (Credit, full course.) Levine

Analysis of the forces such as colonialism and economic development that have shaped the history of modern Africa. The focus of the course is on the diversity of African economic, political, cultural, and religious systems; the critical role of the African landscape in shaping social change; the high degree of interaction between Africa and the rest of the world; the creation of enduring stereotypes of Africans; the ambivalent legacy of independence movements; and recent developments including popular culture, epidemics, and mass migration. (Credit, full course.) Levine

A study of the mixture of Indian and Spanish civilizations. Concentration on sixteenth-century culture of Aztecs and Incas, the evolution of Spanish colonial empire, the historical background to strongman government, the art and architecture of the colonies, and the Independence Period 1810-25. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

A study of nation building and strongman government in the nineteenth century, the Mexican Revolution 1910-20, Argentina under Peron, and twentieth-century Brazil. Special emphasis on the roles of women and blacks. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This course offers a comparative perspective on the processes that led to the emergence of the Incas and the Aztecs. The course focuses on primary sources and texts from a variety of experts and scholars concerned with issues of state-building, self-sustained economy, warfare, aesthetics, rituals, religion, and culture. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This course surveys the history of the United States since World War II. It focuses on the nation's emergence as an international superpower and the domestic political and social upheavals that accompanied this development. (Credit, full course.) Register

Explores selected problems in the development of American ideas and social structures, 1789-1980. The first semester (1789 to 1877) examines the conflicts and tensions associated with the emergence of a democratic, capitalist society. The second semester (1877 to present) extends the questions posed during the first semester by focusing on development of industrial and consumer capitalism in the twentieth century. The course as a whole emphasizes the analysis and discussion of primary texts and pays close attention to issues of race, gender, and class. (Credit, full course.) Register, Roberson

This seminar is designed to introduce sophomores to the facts and conceptual processes of history by using Sewanee and its immediate surroundings as a case study. Students employ historical methods within a variety of interdisciplinary contexts drawing on insights from archaeology, geology, literary analysis, and sociology, as well as social, political, military, and intellectual history to comprehend both what has happened here and how it is variously understood. (Credit, full course.) Willis

A survey of the history of African-Americans from their arrival in the English colonies to the end of the Civil War. African-Americans' struggle with slavery and oppression provide the central theme, but the course addresses the various political, economic, social, and cultural conditions which contributed to the development of a unique African-American community. Particular attention is given to the development of such institutions within this community as family, religion, and education. (Credit, full course.) Roberson

A survey of the major topics and issues in African-American history from 1865 to the present: the era of emancipation, the turn-of-the-century nadir of race relations, black participation in both world wars, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights Movement, and various dimensions of contemporary black life. The course also explores some of the historiographical themes that have catalyzed current scholarship and analyzes diverse theories about the black experience in America. (Credit, full course.) Roberson

This course examines the complex intersection of race and sexuality in the United States since the nineteenth century. Students explore the roles that racial and sexual categories have played as mechanisms of social control. Special attention is paid to modes of racialized sexuality that transgress socially constructed norms. Selected readings focus on topics such as miscegenation, nineteenth-century sexology, eugenics, homosexuality, sex and the media, and the down low phenomenon. This course is offered Advent Semester of 2008 only. (Credit, full course.) Gallon

A survey of the history of American women which considers how women experienced colonization, American expansion, the industrial revolution, war, and changes in the culture's understanding of gender roles and the family. The course also explores how differences in race, ethnicity, and class affected women's experience. (Credit, full course.) Berebitsky

A survey of the major changes in American women's lives since the end of the last century, including increased access to education, movement into the labor market, and changes in reproductive behavior and in their role within the family. Special consideration is given to the movements for women's rights. (Credit, full course.) Berebitsky

An exploration of nineteenth- and twentieth-century women’s movements around the world. This global history provides the foundation of women’s widespread involvement today in such transnational movements as environmentalism and the defense of human rights. (Credit, full course.) Staff

This course surveys the roles and experiences of European women from the Enlightenment era to the present. With emphasis on individual lives and outlooks, the study illuminates women's quest for equality and dignity in the public sphere in Britain, France, and Germany. Themes covered include the development of feminist movements, modern feminism, and sexual liberation. (Credit, full course.) Staff

Although modern France is a product of the same tumultuous nineteenth- and twentieth-century developments experienced by the rest of Europe, the French reacted to the processes of industrialization, urbanization, and the democratization of politics, and the two world wars in their own fashion. This course considers in detail how France became “modern” and what the effects of this process were on different groups of individuals in French society. Readings center on primary documents. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

This course examines the methodology, practice and substance of European diplomacy from the outbreak of World War I to the present. Primary focus is on issues of international political stability broadly defined, so as to provide a solid basis for discussing other forms of international relations (e.g., cultural, economic, socio-political). Topics include the world wars, their origins, and their aftermaths; the construction (and destruction) of international organizations; the Cold War and post-1989 transitions; and the evolving and contested definition(s) of what it means to be European. This course is offered Advent Semester of 2008 only. (Credit, full course.) Prestia

This course offers a survey of the history of Southern Europe (Iberia, Italy, and the Balkans) in the twentieth century. Topics include the search for political stability and the politics of development; the rise of fascism and the authoritarian right; the trying decade of the 1940s and the Communist takeover of the Balkans; the Cold War; the economic miracles and the European Union; and the collapse of Yugoslavia. This course is offered Easter Semester of 2009 only. (Credit, full course.) Prestia

Issues and institutions in the development of American education from the seventeenth century to the present day. (Credit, full course.) Register

A study of critical environmental issues, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, with a focus on the increasing scarcity of renewable resources and the consequent rise of violent conflicts. (Credit, full course.) Staff

Selected topics in the history of Ancient Greece from the early Bronze Age to the death of Alexander. Emphasis on reading, papers, discussion. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

Selected topics in the history of Royal, Republican, and Imperial Rome. Emphasis on reading, papers, discussion. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

This course examines the centuries from c.300 to c.1100 in which the political and cultural traditions of what we now know as Europe were constructed on the foundations of the Classical and "barbarian" worlds. It focuses especially on how contemporaries imagined and attempted to create a specifically Christian society by the conversion of the pagan Roman empire and, later, the Germanic pagans of Western Europe — a process which culminates in the "church militant" of the First Crusade. A further unifying theme is the legacy of empire in the cultural and political life of the post-Roman West. Attention is also given to the role of women, especially royal women, in the creation of the Christian culture of the early Middle Ages. Reading and discussion of primary sources, including the visual arts, are central to this course. Seminar. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

Selected topics in the history of western Europe during the Middle Ages for the period c.1000 to c.1450. Emphasis on reading, papers, discussion. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

The history of Europe during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries, with emphasis on the Renaissance in Italy and in northern Europe and the emergence of Christian humanism. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

The history of Europe, principally in the sixteenth century, with attention to ideas and the interaction of religion and society; includes the Protestant and the Catholic Reformations and the beginning of the era of religious wars. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

The transformation of state and society from the Old Regime to the time of Napoleon. Emphasizes the causes and phases of Europe's first revolution, in France, 1750-1815. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

A study of the foreign and domestic policies of the principal states, problems arising from the Industrial Revolution, liberal democracy, nationalism, and socialism, and the origins of World War I. (Credit, full course.) Staff

The external and internal development of the principal states, revolution, fascism, the search for a system of collective security, World War II, the Cold War, the democratic welfare state, and the European unity movement. (Credit, full course.) Staff

A seminar in eighteenth-century English studies with emphasis on social and cultural development. (Credit, full course.) Perry

During the early modern period, the mutable sexual categories of the pre-modern world evolved into the definitions of masculinity and femininity recognizable today. In this seminar, students examine these transformations in cultural and social understandings of gender as they relate to the body, marriage and the family, and sexuality. Students also consider the fashioning of gender norms and related senses of self as well as the larger historigraphical issue of the use of gender as a tool of historical analysis. (Credit, full course.) Staff

A seminar on how the concepts of sainthood, witchcraft, and heresy changed and developed in the period of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. The course explores the Catholic definition of heresy, responses to individual heretics (including Martin Luther), and the spirituality of Counter Reformation saints. It considers the Protestant attack on the cult of the saints, the reasons why the witch hunt was particularly extreme in countries that embraced Protestantism, and how examples of “true” and “false” religion helped to shape Protestant and Catholic identities. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

This seminar course examines the presence of the African-American church in the lives of African Americans and in the history of the United States. From its creation as an “invisible institution” during slavery to its dynamic existence during the era of black emancipation to its crucial presence during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond, the black church has been a vital force in framing the contours of African-American culture and shaping religious life in America. This course explores how the church has functioned as a formative social and political institution within a racially fractured but continually changing civic landscape. This course has the attribute of American Studies (Credit, full course.) Roberson

This course examines the development of African-American thought from the mid-nineteenth century to the present and explores various cultural, spiritual and intellectual dimensions of African-American life. Emphasis is placed on political, religious and literary figures, including the works of Frederick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, Charles Chesnutt, Booker T. Washington, Henry McNeal Turner, Marcus Garvey, Zora Neal Hurston, Langston Hughes, Pauli Murray, Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Toni Morrison, and Cornel West. (Credit, full course.) Roberson

This class examines African-American Women's participation and critical role in religious life in America. It explores black women's place in the formation of revival culture, the creation of religious ritual, and the institutional establishment of the black churches. Further, it investigates black women's vital role in the dissemination of religious values within and between generations. Through biography and autobiography, this course addresses the ways in which black women have appropriated religious language and sensibility in constructing the narratives of their lives. In sum, it explores the myriad ways African-American women contested and critiqued their place in the church and the community, while simultaneously supporting and furthering black churches and promoting the health of religious life. (Credit, full course.) Roberson

An investigation of the ideas, policies, and programs that focused on finding a basis for religious unity among the divergent churches and religious points of view in Europe from about 1560 to 1648. Attention is given to the political and cultural as well as religious context of these developments. The chief focus is on Britain, France, and Germany. (Credit, full course.) Staff

This seminar studies British history from the passing of the Great Reform Bill to World War I, with special attention to cultural and political developments. (Credit, full course.) Perry

Addressing questions arising from contemporary debates over issues such as national character and historical memory, this seminar examines the lives of some English men and women; how individuals‚ identities have been shaped by wider social, cultural, religious, and political circumstance; and also how these same identities have been partly self-constructed. Course readings include biographies, autobiographies, and diaries from the medieval period to the late 20th century. (Credit, full course.) Perry

An exploration of Southern history through the lenses of biography, autobiography, and fiction. This seminar examines the careers of significant figures in the history and literature of the South from the antebellum era to the present. (Credit, full course.) Willis

This seminar explores both the perceptions and realities of the Depression-era South. Short lectures on the economic, political, and social conditions of the time serve as a foundation for extended attention to the literature, journalism, films, and academic movements of the era. (Credit, full course.) Willis

This seminar compares the warfare that accompanied colonial encounters in North America and southern Africa, from the first European contact through the early twentieth century. It focuses on wars fought in response to resistance by native peoples, and on the use of native allies in warfare between imperial foes as windows into the processes of acculturation, resistance, dispossession, and representation that characterized the colonial encounter as a whole. Texts range from traditional military history to religious, cultural, environmental, and comparative approaches to the topic. (Credit, full course.) Levine

A study of the development and challenges of early American nationalism. Students consider the growth of republican institutions and ideas during the colonial era, the causes and conduct of the American Revolution, and the initial tests of the young republic. (Credit, full course.) Willis

This seminar traces the evolution of organized, non-state violence from the French Revolution to the present. Topics covered include the development of the cell-based secret society, anarchist movements, extremist nationalism and ethnocentrism, violent political radicalism during the Cold War (including anti-colonial movements), and the rise of militant religious extremism. The course makes extensive use of mass media (especially television news) sources where available. This course is offered Easter Semester of 2009 only. (Credit, full course.) Prestia

An exploration of the Southern past from the earliest English settlements to the establishment of the Confederate States of America. This course charts the development of distinctive Southern political, economic, and social structures, examines the role of chattel slavery in shaping the region, and analyzes the causes of the war for Southern independence. (Credit, full course.) Willis

An examination of Southern history from the end of Reconstruction to the early victories of the Civil Rights Movement. Students explore the transformation of the plantation system; map the influence of the section's new industries and cities; trace the roles of race, class, and gender in Southern society; examine the political issues and structures that governed the region; and probe the culture that has defined the South. (Credit, full course.) Willis

An exploration of the modern urban experience in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas and a consideration of the social, cultural, and political transformations of world cities, including London and Paris, Cape Town and Algiers, Hong Kong and Shanghai, New York and Los Angeles, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

An examination of major issues and topics in the cultural history of the U.S. from the 1893 Columbian International Exposition to the implosion of the internet dot.com bonanza in 2000. To dissect and analyze the discourses of race, gender, class, and sexuality in American life, the class concentrates on texts and images from the periods under examination, with special attention to the production and consumption of popular culture. (Credit, full course.) Register

This course examines the history of African-American gender. Beginning with the arrival of Africans in North America, the course explores the changing definitions of African-American manhood and womanhood. In addition, the course closely examines African-American sexuality and its connection to gender as well as class. Selected readings present the voices of particular African Americans who reveal the public and private relationships that African-American men and women have forged. This course is offered Easter Semester of 2009 only. (Credit, full course.) Gallon

A seminar on the development of mass culture and popular amusements in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Particular attention is paid to the important roles of women in the invention of these new cultural forms and to social and economic tensions generated by the rise of a mass commercial culture. (Credit, full course.) Register

A seminar on the cultural history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the end of World War I, with emphasis on the problems of analyzing changes in politics, religion, labor and industrial production, retailing, amusement, and consumption. Underlying the class is special attention to transformations of gender relations and identities at the turn of the century. (Credit, full course.) Register

A seminar addressing how the political writings and the practice of political power in the sixteenth century challenged and redefined medieval theories and assumptions. Specific attention is given to the career and writing of Niccolo Machiavelli, the ideas of reformers Luther and Calvin on political authority, the works on legitimate resistance to authority produced in the French Religious Wars and the Dutch Revolt, the effect of the New World on European politics, and the daily machinations of diplomats and ambassadors in the courts of Europe. This course is offered Easter Semester of 2009 only. (Credit, full course.) Kumhera

A seminar addressing the intellectual, artistic, political, religious, and social history of the city of Rome between 1400 and 1600. The course considers the concept of cultural rebirth and parses the range of ways in which scholars, artists, and churchmen used antiquity as they sought to assert the power and authority of the Catholic Church. Particular attention is paid to the interplay between “high” and “popular” culture and the broader question of what cultural history is and how it can be utilized. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

Studies of important political, social, and intellectual movements in British History. (Credit, half to full course.) Staff

An examination of the political, social, and economic history of eighteenth-century Europe and of the Enlightenment as a distinctive and significant culture. Includes the extension of European power and influence in other parts of the world. Attention is also given to the ideas and events of the age in relation to the Revolutionary era that followed. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

A study of the development of socialism as an ideology in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among the major topics discussed are: utopian socialism, Marxism, anarchism, German social democracy, Russian Marxism, and Chinese Marxism. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

This seminar surveys the major topics and issues of the twentieth-century Civil Rights Movement in America. In addition to exploring the lives and roles of popular figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, and Jesse Jackson, the course examines the contributions of important but less prominent figures such as Charles Houston, Medger Evers, Ella Baker, Clifford Durr, and Septima Clark. Emphasis is placed on each phase of the movement, from the formation of the NAACP at the 1909 Niagara Conference to the legal strategy to overthrow racial segregation to the nonviolent protest of the 1950s and 60s and finally ending with the Black Power Movement. (Credit, full course.) Roberson

This course examines the Mexican Revolution (1910-1940), describing the ideologies and political programs of its rival leaders and forces. Emphasis is placed on analysis of the revolutionary movement as a mosaic of local uprisings, each with its own roots and objectives. The social origins of the participants, both followers and leaders, the causes of the insurrection, the objectives proclaimed by each faction, and the changes actually accomplished, are the main topics of discussion. The heterogeneity and ambiguity of the Mexican Revolution are explored by examining different approaches to the insurrection through biographies, novels, political theory, and historical account. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This discussion-based seminar examines women's experience from the mid-nineteenth century to the present. Topics include changes in understandings of motherhood and female sexuality, popular women's fiction, and representations of women in music, film, and television. (Credit, full course.) Berebitsky

A survey of Berlin through its history and architecture, its literature and film with emphasis on the twentieth century. The course is divided into five parts: Berlin's early history before WWI, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi period, Cold War Berlin (East and West), and modern Berlin after 1989. In addition to the history and architecture, major novels and films of the city are examined throughout the semester. This course is taught in English and may not be used in fulfillment of the foreign language requirement; however, it can count toward the German major if a term paper is presented in German. (Credit, full course.) Zachau

A consideration of some of the ways historians have dealt with historiographical issues. The books to be examined are all significant in the way they treat evidence, construct an interpretation of the past, and reflect ideas and values of the historians' own time. The emphasis in the course is on current historical methods and interpretations. Required of all junior majors. (Credit, full course.) Staff

An examination of the connection between Nazi ideology and German culture of the nineteen-thirties and forties. The course offers a discussion of artistic reactions to the Nazis among the German exile community, along with a discussion of literary works about the Nazis written after WWII. The course also offers an analysis of holocaust representations in art and literature. Included are examples from the works of Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht and Günter Grass, along with films screenings such as Triumph of the Will, Jacob the Liar and Europa Europa. The course is taught in English and does not fulfill the language requirement. (Credit, full course.) Zachau

An examination of the intellectual movement that first emerged in Italy in the fourteenth century and that played a central role in the European Renaissance. Topics include the rediscovery of the antique, civic humanism, Christian humanism, neoplatonism, and the impact of humanism on art, politics, science, and gender relations. Readings consist of original source material and include writings of Petrarch, Valla, Ficino, Machiavelli, Erasmus, More, and Montaigne. (Credit, full course.) McCahill

Through the reading of biographies, this course examines major topics in Latin American history. Important issues explored include: the Spanish conquest, the colonial experience, wars of independence, national projects, imperialism, and social revolutions. Among the historical actors whose lives are discussed and analyzed are: Hernan Cortez, Montezuma, Jose Baquijano y Carrillo, Simon Bolivar, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, William Grace, Emiliano Zapata, Eva Peron, and Fidel Castro. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

A seminar on the history of Latin American women from the seventeenth century to the present, examining the tension in Latin American countries concerning the role of women, their relationship to the family, and their desire for equality. The course explores controversies over the legal status of women, education, employment, and participation in political life. Students examine several theoretical approaches to gender studies together with specific case studies. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This seminar deals with the historical interaction of Latin America with the United States from 1898 to the present. Specific topics examined include U.S. views of Latin America, imperialism, economic nationalism, the Cuban Revolution, guerrilla warfare, the Chilean and Nicaraguan cases, and the drug problem. The course discusses the goals, perceptions, and actions of the United States and various Latin American governments during this period. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

A seminar designed to analyze a theme, period, or topic of significance in the development of Latin America from colonial times to the present. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This course introduces major themes in the history of women and gender in Asia, beginning with the exploration of gender relations in pre-modern Asia and ending with the liberation movement in the twentieth century. Main themes include gender as an analytical category and definitions of womanhood; women’s roles at home and outside the home; slavery and prostitution; liberation and revolution; and similarities and variations in the experience of women in Confucian and Muslim societies. This course is offered Advent Semester of 2008 only. (Credit, full course.) Teng

A seminar focusing on forms of resistance and accommodation of rural peoples in Latin American history — peasants, slaves, rural laborers, indigenous people and others — to the forces of cultural change and the impact of modernization over several centuries. Readings examine theories of the peasantry as a social group as well as forms and cases of rural collective action in Latin American history. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

An examination of significant developments in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russia. Topics may include: the peasant problem, the revolutionary movement, major personalities, 1917, Stalinization/de-Stalinization, and foreign policy. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

Selected topics in the history of England from the Roman conquest to the accession of Henry Tudor. Emphasis on reading, papers, discussion. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

A study of national projects in Latin America from 1810 to the present. Topics include Bolívar, the wars of independence, nineteenth-century visions of progress, Vasconcelos' concept of The Cosmic Race, and contemporary movements for the inclusion of women, blacks, Native Americans, gays, and other marginalized groups in a common Latin-American culture. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy, Spaccarelli

This course explores the place of Christian saints in the society and culture of the late Roman and medieval worlds. It analyzes changing ideals of sanctity and their relationship to broader social, religious and cultural developments. It also focuses on the varied functions of saints in society — as healers of physical ills, solvers of social problems, and symbols of political and religious "causes." Emphasis throughout is on the close relationship of religious ideals, ecclesiastical and secular politics, and social and cultural change. The course is a seminar with emphasis on reading, class participation, and papers. (Credit, full course.) Ridyard

A study of the rise of al-Andalus and the caliphate of Cordoba. The succeeding Taifa kingdoms, Almohad and Almoravid dynasties, and the Nasrid rule in Granada are studied as well as the Reconquest by the Christian kingdoms of the north. Special attention to the concepts of convivencia and mudejarismo. This course is part of the Sewanee Semester in Spain. (Credit, full course.) Cepeda / Chico

This seminar examines the role of ritual and worship in the religious and cultural history of England, ca.1530 to ca.1700. It begins with a look at the religious culture of pre-reformation England, then addresses the transformation of a traditional religion based on rituals into a religious system based as much on word as on rite. The course draws connections between these religious changes and the larger political, social, and cultural context in which they occurred. (Credit, full course.) Turrell

A study of the reigns of the Tudor monarchs with special attention to innovations in government; the humanist tradition; the English Reformation; and the influence of these factors on the political, religious, social, and cultural developments of the time. (Credit, full course.) Turrell

A study of the reigns of the Stuart monarchs and the mid-seventeenth century interregnum with special attention to the origins of the English Civil War and its impact on English ideas and institutions through the reign of Queen Anne. (Credit, full course.) Turrell

This seminar examines English Puritanism as a religious, cultural, and sometimes political movement from the Elizabethan settlement until the end of the seventeenth century. Topics covered include puritan piety, puritan social life, conflict over church rituals, and puritans' use of the media in their day, and the role of the puritans in the coming of the English civil wars. Students also look briefly at New England and Scotland as attempts to create a puritan paradise. (Credit, full course.) Turrell

A study of significant thinkers and events in the formation of the Anglican tradition from the English Reformation to the English Civil War and Restoration. Attention is also given to the pre-Reformation development of religious thought and practice in England. Writers from Thomas Cranmer to the Caroline Divines are considered in the contexts both of English and European history and of the intellectual currents of the period. (Credit, full course.) Lytle, Turrell

This seminar investigates how and why sexuality became the key to selfhood in modern Europe. Drawing on the tools of gender analysis and cultural history, students explore the ways in which political, socioeconomic and cultural tensions of particular historical moments were manifested in the sexuality of individuals. Students also examine a variety of primary sources from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries to consider how individuals defined themselves through sexuality and how definitions were imposed on them by a variety of institutions and authority figures. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

This course treats honor as a tool for understanding change and continuity in European society from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. Honor and shame are viewed as conduits that allow students to explore broader sexual, gender, class and political developments. Particular attention is given to ways in which honor functioned differently in the public ideologies and private lives of dominant and marginal social groups. This course also explores the relationship of violence to the cult of honor. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

An investigation of the ways historians read past crimes and scandals for evidence of broader social, political, and cultural anxieties and desires. Focusing less on details of incidents themselves than on the debates and public interpretation surrounding them, this seminar deals with crimes such as those committed by Jack the Ripper or French murderesses at the end of the nineteenth century. In addition to analyzing secondary sources dealing with crime and scandal, students scrutinize a variety of primary documents such as trial records, medical and judicial debates, scientific analyses of criminality, memoirs of notorious criminals, and detective novels. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

In recent centuries overseas explorations and investigations, journeys and migrations, and "exotic" advertising and tourism have defined the very nature of modernity. This course investigates the cultural frameworks of travel — the purposes, the interpretation of encounters, the interaction with peoples and landscapes — from 1800 to 1950. Through reading recent works of scholarship on imperial cultures and research in primary sources for European and American global exploration and travel, students learn how to analyze the discourses and practices that give meaning to experience. (Credit, full course.) McEvoy

This seminar explores the rise and significance of three crucial and interrelated phenomena in 20th-century South Africa. It examines the relationship between developments in science and the institutionalization of segregation, culminating in the ideology and practices of apartheid. The course further explores how popular culture both mirrored and shaped these changes in scientific understandings and political realities. By bringing together the histories of science, segregation, and popular culture, the seminar analyses the formation of the uniquely South African cultural racism that sustained apartheid state and society. (Credit, full course.) Levine

This seminar examines the introduction and dramatic expansion of Christianity and Islam throughout Africa from the pre-colonial era to the current day. Looking at both sides of the cultural interchange, the course pays attention to themes of indigenous religion, translation, resistance, syncretism, and the colonial invention of religion. While the seminar focuses on secondary sources and historiography, primary sources are also considered. (Credit, full course.) Levine

A survey of African environmental and agrarian history, focusing on the historical interrelationship between Africans and their environment. Topics include colonial misconceptions of Africans and their environment; key environmental factors in the development of African societies and the slave trade; agrarian history with its focus on agricultural production; colonial-era developments leading to food insecurity; the failure of large-scale “development” and modernization projects and ideologies; the creation of nature reserves; the denial of African hunting traditions, and the promotion of the “great white hunter” and safari culture. This seminar class emphasizes historiography, primary sources, and discussion. (Credit, full course.) Levine

This seminar investigates intertwined phenomena of great importance to African history, from the pre-colonial era to the early twentieth century. The course examines the various forms of unfree labor in Africa through the lens of comparative slavery studies and then explores Africa’s key slave trades: the Saharan, East Indian, and Trans-Atlantic. The course focuses on the internal African dynamics that shaped labor recruitment and participation in the slave trade, stressing African agency in the face of dynamic historical circumstances. (Credit, full course.) Levine

The focus of this course is the history of Vietnam since World War II, French colonialism, the development of the independence movement, the origins of U.S. involvement, and the escalation of the conflict in the 1960s. Vietnamese goals, American foreign policy, the anti-war movement, and the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon are topics of special interest. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

From 1750 to 1890, European men and women experienced a startling new world of political, socioeconomic, and technological change. Developments such as the Enlightenment, urbanization, feminism, the democratization of politics and the discovery of the unconscious radically altered the mindset of intellectuals and contributed to the creation of modern forms of consciousness and artistic innovation. Examining art, novels, poetry, philosophical tracts, and utopian visions as symbolic languages that reflect changing social relationships and experiences, the course illuminates the broader cultural and intellectual reactions to the processes of modernization. (Credit, full course.) Mansker

This seminar traces the origins, development, and expansion of various forms of fascism in Europe from 1919 to 1945. While the course pays particular attention to the Italian and German cases, students also learn about the historical development of other national variations within Europe. Other topics include how to define and analyze fascism as a political phenomenon; fascist constructions of modernity, race, gender, and the family; fascist aesthetics and art; and everyday life under fascism. This course is offered Advent Semester of 2008 only. (Credit, full course.) Prestia

A seminar addressing the rise and decline of the Italian city of Siena. Siena once rivaled Florence and boasted one of the most stable governments of the Renaissance, with bankers involved in economies throughout Europe, innovative artists, and renowned religious figures, such as Catherine and Bernardino. This course addresses how the Sienese experience conformed to and differed from experiences of other Renaissance Italian cities and how Siena’s history shaped the modern image of the city. Particular attention is paid to how medieval Siena’s government, economy, social structure, art, architecture, and religious environment influenced each other. This course is offered Advent Semester of 2008 only. (Credit, full course.) Kumhera

Selected problems in the development of European intellectual culture from 1890 to the present with special attention to writings illustrating culture from an irrationalist view of life. (Credit, half to full course.) Staff

This course examines the military, economic, political, and social upheaval of mid-nineteenth century America and considers the failure of antebellum political mechanisms, the growth of sectionalism, justifications for and against secession, the methods and implications of war, competing constitutional systems during the conflict, efforts to eradicate Southern separatism, and the lingering cultural implications of the nation's fratricidal dispute. Students employ the America's Civil War web site, as well as other media, in preparing for discussions, tests, and research papers. (Credit, full course.) Willis

This seminar investigates a variety of post-bellum transitions in the United States South, as the defeated slaveholding society reluctantly conceded to less restrictive forms of labor and limited civil equality. Unlike traditional treatments of the era — which focus on politics and end with conservative overthrow of Republican rule — this course also considers changing modes of economic and social life, and concludes with the establishment of the Solid South in 1902. (Credit, full course.) Willis

A study of the causes, events, and results of World War II. Topics discussed include: the legacy of World War I, rise of totalitarianism, diplomacy of the 1930s, battles and strategies of the war, the Holocaust, and origins of the Cold War. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

This course focuses on Southeast Asia. Students investigate each country’s unique history and traditions. For Vietnam and Cambodia, they examine the legacy of foreign intervention, including the impact of Chinese control, French colonialism, and American involvement. For Thailand they look at the traditions of monarchy and the attempts to maintain independence while surrounded by colonialism. In all cases the course connects history and culture in order to provide a context for understanding the development of traditional theatre. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

This course focuses on ancient and traditional China. Students discuss the rise of the dynastic system, unification under the First Emperor (including building of the Great Wall and the tomb of the Emperor), the development of the philosophies and religions of China (Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism), and historical events under the Han, T’ang, Sung, Mongol, Ming and Manchu dynasties. This historical survey provides the basis for our understanding of the development of Chinese culture. (Credit, full course.) Goldberg

The seminar has two functions: first, it serves as the classroom setting in which senior history majors are guided as they conduct the independent research for and complete the writing of their senior honors thesis; second, it operates as a workshop that assists honors candidates in the preparation of the thesis by engaging them in the larger scholarly enterprise of reading and reviewing each other’s work. Toward these ends, members of the history department and scholars from other colleges and universities share their work with and seek the critical engagement of the honors students. The class concludes with an oral presentation of each student’s research to the history faculty. Permission of the department chair is required for registration. (Credit, full course.) Staff