Catalog
History
Professors Creighton and Jones; Associate Professors Hall, Jensen, and Melvin (chair); Assistant Professors Chaney and Shaw; Lecturers Bigelow, Otin, and Shin
History has been defined as the collective memory of things said and done, arranged in a meaningful pattern. Such knowledge of the past supplies context, perspective, and clarity in a diverse and changing world. The members of the history department offer widely differing views of the history of a broad variety of peoples, yet they agree that the study of the past provides meaning in the present and informed choices for the future.
The study of history teaches an appreciation of both change and continuity, the critical examination of evidence, the construction of arguments, and the articulation of conclusions. In addition to teaching and to graduate studies in history and law, majors find careers in related fields such as work in museums and archives, public service, indeed any profession requiring skills of research, analysis, and expression.
Courses in the history department are designed to be taken in sequence: first, introductory survey courses (100-level), then more specialized intermediate courses (200- and 300-level), and ultimately advanced seminars (301, formerly 390). While nonmajors are welcome in any history course, all students are encouraged to begin their study of history with 100-level courses. More information on the history department is available on the website (www.bates.edu/history).
Major Requirements for the Class of 2020 and beyond
1) Majors should develop a depth of knowledge within a particular field of history that can be defined in terms of geography or chronology. They choose a track from one of the following fields:
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
United States
Premodern history (ca. pre-1500)
Early modern history (ca. 1500-1800)
Modern history (ca. 1800-present)
The track includes at least three courses that must be taken at Bates: 1) one 100-level survey with discussion sections; 2) two or more 200-level, 300-level, or Short Term courses.
2) Majors should develop a breadth of knowledge across time and space.
They must take at least one course from each of three chronological fields:
Premodern history (ca. pre-1500)
Early modern history (ca. 1500-1800)
Modern history (ca. 1800-present)
They must take at least one course in four of five geographical fields:
Africa
Asia
Europe
Latin America
United States
Majors may use the same course to count toward both a chronological and a geographical requirement. The same course may not be used to count toward multiple chronological or multiple geographic requirements.
3) Majors must take a 301 seminar during their sophomore or junior year and before studying abroad.
4) Majors must take a 399 seminar in the semester prior to writing their thesis.
5) Majors must complete at least ten courses, including a senior thesis (HIST 457 or HIST 458).
Major Requirements for the classes of 2017, 2018, and 2019
1) One of the following:
HIST 199. Introduction to Historical Methods.
HIST s40. Introduction to Historical Methods.
2) Primary Concentration. Majors choose a primary concentration from one of the following five fields:
East Asia
Latin America
Europe
United States
Premodern History
The primary concentration includes five courses in the chosen field: 1) one 100-level survey course; 2) two more specific courses in that field, which may include 200- or 300-level courses, one Short Term course, or a first-year seminar; 3) a 301 (formerly 390) seminar; and 4) the senior thesis (HIST 457 or 458).
3) Majors must take two courses from one of the three following fields: Africa, East Asia, or Latin America. Students whose primary concentration is in one of these three fields must take two courses in any other field. Courses that are listed in two fields may be counted in either field, but not in both.
4) Any two other history courses. Students considering a career in the field of history are advised to take a wide variety of courses covering a range of times and places. An intermediate level of competency in a foreign language (the equivalent of four semesters of college-level instruction) is a bare minimum for graduate work in history.
Majors and minors who transfer to Bates as rising juniors, with only two years at the college, must take the mandatory methods course (HIST 199 or S40) in their junior year, but have greater freedom than three- to four-year students to apply courses taken elsewhere to their departmental requirements, after consultation with the chair.
All history majors in the classes of 2017, 2018 and 2019 must complete HIST 199 or HIST s40, Introduction to Historical Methods, which focuses on critical analysis, research skills, and historiography. Students are strongly advised to take this course in their sophomore year, and must do so by the end of their junior year. This course is a prerequisite for registering for the senior thesis.
Senior Thesis
A senior history major writes a thesis in the fall (HIST 457) or winter semester (HIST 458). Thesis writing develops the skills learned in previous courses and demonstrates the ability to work independently as a historian. To facilitate thesis planning and advising, all majors must complete a thesis proposal (information available on the department's website) before taking either HIST 457 or HIST 458. Ordinarily, students should be on campus the semester prior to writing the senior thesis.Pass/Fail Grading Option
Pass/fail grading may not be elected for courses applied toward the major.Departmental Honors
Each spring, the department invites outstanding junior majors to become candidates for graduation with departmental honors. There are three principal advantages to this program for the qualified student: first, the two-semester schedule, with two course credits, allows more time for the maturation of the project and grants twice the academic credit for the related research and writing; second, the mutual understanding of the honors candidate and the thesis advisor that the completed work is to be presented to other interested readers also contributes to an enhanced relationship and a shared commitment that it be brought to a satisfactory conclusion; third, the quality of this relationship and of the completed work can inform much more substantive letters of recommendation, based on the student's demonstrated competence, discipline, and independence, the personal characteristics most sought by professional schools and potential employers alike.Departmental invitees must discuss proposed topics with the preferred advisor before the beginning of the academic year. They must produce sufficient written work of sufficiently good quality by the end of the fall semester of the senior year to justify formal nomination by the history department to the college's honors committee. They must also present their work to a faculty panel, including an outside examiner, at the end of the winter semester in an oral defense.
External Credits
Majors must take a minimum of eight history courses from Bates faculty members. This means that students may use a maximum of two credits taken elsewhere (transfer or off-campus study courses) toward the major requirements. Advanced Placement credits, awarded for a score of four or five on the relevant examination, may count toward overall college graduation requirements but do not count toward the history major or minor.Minor
The minor in history consists of at least six courses, five of which must be taken from Bates faculty members. The history department's offerings cover an enormous range in space and time. Like history majors, minors should focus their studies in one of the department's areas of specialization and also sample at least one other area outside of the modern U.S. or European experience. The six courses must consist of:1) At least three courses in one of the history department's areas of concentration: United States, Europe, Latin America, East Asia, Africa, premodern, early modern, or modern.. Of these three, one must be a 100-level survey course with discussion sections.
2) At least one course must be in African, East Asian, or Latin American history, or if the focus is in one of these areas, at least one course must be in any other area of concentration.
Pass/Fail Grading Option
Courses applied toward a minor in history may not be taken pass/fail. CoursesCM/HI 100. Introduction to the Ancient World.
A study of the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome, this course is the introduction to European history in the Department of History and is a fundamental course in the Program in Classical and Medieval Studies. It addresses themes and events extending from the eighth century B.C.E. until the second century C.E. Students consider the disciplines that comprise study of classical antiquity, engage with primary texts (literary, graphic, and epigraphical), and learn how ancient history has come to be written as it has been. Enrollment limited to 45. [W2] D. O'Higgins.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 102. Medieval Worlds.
Far from being an "enormous hiccup" in human progress, the medieval centuries (circa 350–1350) marked the full emergence of Islamic, Byzantine, and West European civilizations. These powerful medieval cultures shape our present. The central theme of this introductory survey course is the genesis and development of a distinct Western European medieval civilization including its social, economic, political, and cultural aspects. Important topics include the devolution of the Roman Empire; the Christianization of the West; the origins of the Byzantine world; the rise of Islam; and the history of medieval women. Enrollment limited to 48. Normally offered every year. M. Jones.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 104. Europe, 1789 to the Present.
What is modern Europe? How did the history of this small region impinge on peoples around the globe? What was particularly modern about this period? This course explores themes and events in European history from the French Revolution to the present. During this period of cataclysmic economic change, the world, once viewed as static, seemed dynamic: cities grew exponentially, new nation-states emerged, traditional hierarchies faded, and new inequalities grew up in their stead. How did Europeans respond, and how did those responses help to shape the world? Students consider these questions using secondary literature and a variety of primary sources, including newspapers, political tracts, novels, and films. Enrollment limited to 50. C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
CM/HI 108. Roman Civilization: The Republic.
In this course students explore the civilization and history of ancient Rome from the foundation of the Republic around 510 B.C.E. until its collapse in civil war and its transformation into a monarchy under Julius Caesar and his nephew, Octavian. Each week the class convenes for lectures devoted to the political, social, and cultural history of the Republic. In addition, students meet once a week to discuss in detail primary sources for the period. Enrollment limited to 60. M. Imber, Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 109. Roman Civilization: The Empire.
In this course students examine the civilization and history of ancient Rome from the Principate, the monarchy established by Octavian in 27 B.C.E., until the end of Justinian's dynasty at the beginning of the seventh century of the Common Era. Each week the class convenes for lectures devoted to the political, social, and cultural history of the Empire. In addition, students meet once a week to discuss in detail primary sources for the period. Recommended background: CM/HI 108. Enrollment limited to 60. M. Imber, Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AS/HI 110. East Asia between Tradition and Modernity.
China, Japan, and Korea each had a watershed moment in which they transformed into modern, independent nations. This course first provides an introduction to traditional cultures, and then explores the violent changes that swept over East Asia from the mid-nineteenth century through the Chinese Civil War and the destruction of World War II. Imperialism, women's liberation, and cultural nationalism are examined through an interdisciplinary approach that draws from intellectual history, literature, and visual and performing arts. Not open to students who have received credit for ASIA 110. Enrollment limited to 50. Normally offered every year. N. Faries.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 112. Ancient Greek History.
This course examines Greece from the Bronze Age to Alexander. It focuses on the geographical breadth and temporal extent of "Ancient Greece," and how that considerable space and time were negotiated and understood by the Greeks themselves. In such a far-flung world, extending from Sicily to Ionia, from the Black Sea to North Africa, Greeks experienced "Hellenicity" through sea lanes and land routes, and by means of a network of religious festivals and athletic meets, coordinated among multiple civic calendars. Topics include political structures, philosophies, literature, and modes of warfare. Enrollment limited to 40. D. O'Higgins.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 130. Food in Ancient Greece and Rome.
Participants in this course study food in ancient Greece and Rome: the history of the food supply for agrarian and urban populations; malnutrition, its probable impact on ancient economies, and its uneven impact on populations; famine; the symbolism of the heroic banquet—a division of the sacrificial animal among ranked members of society, and between men and gods; cuisine and delicacies of the rich; forbidden food; the respective roles of men and women in food production, and their unequal access to food supply; dietary transgression; and sacred food. Cross-listed in classical and medieval studies, history, and women and gender studies. Not open to students who have received credit for CMS s28. Enrollment limited to 50. D. O'Higgins.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 140. Origins of the New Nation, 1500–1820.
This course examines how Americans, Europeans, and Africans cooperated with and confronted one another following 1500 and through the half-century following U.S. independence. The course focuses primarily on the British colonies that became the United States. Nonetheless, because the history of the United States is more than just the history of thirteen colonies, students learn about other North American colonies as a brief introduction to a much wider picture. By looking at a variety of sources and historical scholarship, students learn how members of these groups shaped the new nation, sometimes willingly, sometimes not. In addition, students gain an appreciation for the varied approaches that historians take when studying the past. Enrollment limited to 50. Normally offered every year. J. Hall.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AC/HI 141. America in the Age of the Civil War.
This course surveys United States history from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth century, focusing particularly on the experience of immigrants, women, the plantation South, and the urbanizing North. Special attention is also given to the history of the American Civil War. Enrollment limited to 48. M. Creighton.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 142. America in the Twentieth Century.
This course surveys the American experience in the twentieth century from a deliberately interpretive point of view, examining political, social, economic, and cultural dimensions of life in the United States. Special attention is directed to the impact of war, corporate globalism, and movements for change upon the development of an increasingly complex, variegated modern society confronting the paradox of simultaneous social segmentation—by race, class, gender, ethnicity—and cultural homogenization. Students consider the disjunction between Americans' democratic ideals and their administered reality and what can be done to heal the split. Enrollment limited to 50. Normally offered every year. H. Jensen.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AS/HI 171. China and Its Culture.
An overview of Chinese civilization from the god-kings of the second millennium and the emergence of the Confucian familial state in the first millennium B.C.E., through the expansion of the hybrid Sino-foreign empires, to the revolutionary transformation of Chinese society by internal and external pressures in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Enrollment limited to 48. Normally offered every year. W. Chaney.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/LS 181. Latin American History: From the Conquest to the Present.
Beginning with the first encounters between Europeans and Americans and ending with the challenges of globalization in the twenty-first century, this course offers a chronological and topical overview of 500 years of Latin American history. It examines individual lives within the frameworks of sweeping political, social, and cultural transformations. Students use primary documents, images, analytical texts, and films to explore the major themes of the course, including the nature of conquest; the mixing of European, African, and American cultures; independence and nation building; and twentieth-century social revolutions and military dictatorships. Special attention is given to issues of race, gender, religion, and the role of the United States. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 181. Enrollment limited to 50. Normally offered every year. K. Melvin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 199. Introduction to Historical Methods.
This course provides an intensive introduction to research skills, historical literature, and the principles and methods of historical critical analysis (historiography). The course is team-taught to acquaint students with a variety of methodologies. Together students and faculty explore what counts as history, how we access the past, and how the subject of history itself has changed over time. This course provides important preparation for the senior thesis. This course is intended for history majors and is a departmental requirement. Prerequisite(s): one Bates history course. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST s40. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
EU/HI 206. The Empire Strikes Back: The Ends of European Empires in the Twentieth Century.
In 1918, Woodrow Wilson famously outlined his Fourteen Points emphasizing the right of subject peoples to self-determination. While Wilson's was hardly the first critique of empire, it provided a framework for increasingly organized anti-colonial movements. Just as European empires reached their zenith, older rationales for empire became harder to maintain. Yet the end(s) of European empires were long in the making. Many would argue that we have yet to live in a postcolonial world. This course explores the changing arguments over the future of European empires, the contests for power, and their effects on individuals' lives across the globe. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. C. Shaw.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 208. Introduction to Medieval Archaeology.
The Middle Ages were a time of major cultural changes that laid the groundwork for Northwest Europe's emergence as a global center of political and economic power in subsequent centuries. However, many aspects of life in the period from 1000 to 1500 C.E. were unrecorded in contemporary documents and art, and archaeology has become an important tool for recovering that information. This course introduces the interdisciplinary methods and the findings of archaeological studies of topics including medieval urban and rural lifeways, health, commerce, religion, social hierarchy, warfare, and the effects of global climate change. Cross-listed in anthropology, classical and medieval studies, environmental studies, and history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. G. Bigelow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 209. Vikings.
The Vikings were the most feared and perhaps misunderstood people of their day. Savage raiders branded as the Antichrist by their Christian victims, the Vikings were also the most successful traders and explorers of the early Middle Ages. The Viking Age lasted for three centuries (800–1100 C.E.), and the Vikings' world stretched from Russia to North America. Study of the myth and reality of Viking culture involves materials drawn from history, archaeology, mythology, and literature. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. M. Jones.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 211. Environmental Perspectives on U.S. History.
This course explores the relationship between the North American environment and the development and expansion of the United States. Because Americans' efforts (both intentional and not) to define and shape the environment were rooted in their own struggles for power, environmental history offers an important perspective on the nation's social history. Specific topics include Europeans', Africans', and Indians' competing efforts to shape the colonial environment; the impact and changing understanding of disease; the relationship between industrial environments and political power; and the development of environmental movements. Cross-listed in American cultural studies, environmental studies, and history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. J. Hall.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 217. Fortress Europe: Race, Migration, and Difference in European History.
European society, long-defined by entrenched economic hierarchies, began to look different with the arrival of African American GIs during World War II. Global migration began shortly thereafter, so the story goes. Though claims about race as a recent novelty in Europe have been repeated often, they should strike us as odd. Imperialism brought Europeans into contact with “others” for centuries. Didn’t these experiences “come home”? While concentrating on the twentieth century, this course examines race in Europe between the enlightenment and today’s “migrant crisis." Students explore the development, institutionalization, and impact of race in European thought, politics, and daily life. Recommended background: HIST 104 or one course in modern European or world history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 219. Environmental Archaeology.
Over the past two hundred years archaeologists, scientists, and humanists in many disciplines have worked together to understand the interactions of past human populations with the physical world, including plants, animals, landscapes, and climates. This course outlines the methods and theories used by archaeologists, geologists, biologists, physicists, chemists, and historians in reconstructing past economies and ecologies in diverse areas of the globe. The course also discusses how archaeology contributes to our understanding of contemporary environmental issues such as rapid climate change, shrinking biodiversity, and sustainable use of resources. Cross-listed in anthropology, environmental studies, and history. Recommended background: ANTH 103. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. G. Bigelow.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 222. History of American Popular Culture.
We live in a world surrounded by the trends of popular culture. What has defined American pop culture through history? This course examines the history of popular culture in America from the nineteenth century to the present. Students investigate the ways that Americans have popularized trends, with special focus on the following case studies: chapbooks, dime novels, blackface and minstrel shows, P. T. Barnum, burlesque and vaudeville, baseball and American visual culture, amusement parks, advertising, popular music, television, and film. Cross-listed in American cultural studies, art and visual culture, and history. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AC/HI 228. Making Asian America: Citizenship, Identity, Belonging.
Contemporary discourse of Asian Americans as the "model minority" obscures a long history of struggles for equality and glosses over the community's rich diversity. This course surveys the history of Asians in the United States from the late sixteenth century to the present. Students examine the causes and effects of migration and settlement; anti-Asian violence and legal exclusion; wartime internment and refugee resettlement; and the formation of intersectional identities and transnational communities. Ultimately, this course advances the argument that citizenship and belonging in U.S. history cannot be fully understood without taking into account the experiences of Asians in the country. New course beginning Fall 2017. Open to first-year students. One-time offering. I. Shin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 231. Litigation in Classical Athens.
This course studies the practice of law in ancient Athens. About 100 speeches survive from the fourth century B.C.E. in which Athenians contested everything from wills and property to the worthiness of political candidates for office and the proper conduct of domestic and international affairs. Study of these speeches illuminates not merely the procedural organization of law in the Athenian democracy, but also the nature of political, social, and cultural structures in Athens. Consequently, the course concentrates as much on the various methodological approaches scholars have applied to the orations as on learning the mechanics of Athenian legal procedure. Open to first-year students. M. Imber, Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 241. The Age of the American Revolution, 1763–1789.
A study of the American Revolution from its origins as a protest movement to one seeking independence from Britain. Because the War for Independence transformed American society, the course examines differences among Americans over the meaning of the Revolution and over the nature of society in the new republic. The course considers the significance of the Revolution for Europeans and Latin Americans as well. Recommended background: History 140. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. J. Hall.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AA/HI 243. African American History.
People of African heritage in this country have been described as both "omni-Americans" and a distinctive cultural "nation within a nation." The course explores this apparent paradox using primary and interpretive sources, including oral and written biography, music, fiction, and social history. It examines key issues, recurrent themes, conflicting strategies, and influential personalities in African Americans' quest for freedom and security. It surveys black American history from seventeenth-century African roots to current problems that remain in building an egalitarian, multiracial society for the future. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. H. Jensen.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AC/HI 244. Native American History.
A survey of Native American peoples from European contact to the present, this course addresses questions of cultural interaction, power, and native peoples' continuing history of colonization. By looking at the ways various First Nations took advantage of and suffered from their new relations with newcomers, students learn that this history is more than one of conquest and disappearance. In addition, they learn that the basic categories of "Indian" and "white" are themselves inadequate for understanding native pasts and presents. Much of this learning depends on careful readings of native writers. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. J. Hall.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AC/HI 248. Back East, Down South, Out West: Regions in American Culture.
This course examines American regions as they have emerged as cultural entities from the eighteenth century to the present. Its primary texts are grounded in contemporary scholarship in history and cultural geography and in popular literature, film, music, and architecture. Students investigate the intersection of demographic and economic history with cultural invention. Beginning with a focus on "olde" New England and continuing with a study of the cultural power of the "wild" West, students devote considerable attention to the "deep" South to understand how region mediates the identities and experiences associated with race, class, and gender difference. Prerequisite(s): AC/HI 141 or HIST 243. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. M. Creighton.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 249. Colonial North America.
This course seeks to rectify the common misconception that American colonial history consists only of the thirteen British colonies of the Atlantic seaboard. Instead, students examine the colonial period from a continental perspective, examining a number of societies that Europeans, Americans, and Africans created in North America before 1800. Combining historical readings with primary sources such as documents, paintings, and architecture, students can appreciate the wide variety of American colonial experiences and some of the ways these societies were connected. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. J. Hall.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 254. Revolutionary Europe and Its Legacies, 1789-1989.
This course examines the European revolutions and their legacies—political, cultural, and ideological—over time. The French Revolution of 1789 brought unprecedented promises of political and social reform to Europe. Yet it also brought terror and authoritarian rule, a cycle that would seem to repeat itself, "the first time as tragedy, the second as farce," as Karl Marx said of the revolutions of 1848. In this course students consider these revolutions together with the Communist uprisings waged in Marx's name, and the "velvet" revolutions of 1989 that seem to have concluded this revolutionary cycle, at least for the moment. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 256. A Peculiar History? British Modernity, 1688 to the Present.
"American exceptionalism" is an imitation of the British original. Britain’s history from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to World War II has seemed to offer models for the development of an affluent, liberal, quintessentially modern polity. Yet ordinary Britons during this period seldom felt that they were living in a promised land. What is British modernity? This course explores the hallmarks of Britain's supposed exceptionalism, paying particular attention to the lives of ordinary subjects and how they thought about their relative freedoms and the need for further reform. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 261. American Protest: From the Haymarket Riot to Occupy Wall Street.
This course examines the persistent and uniquely American impetus toward individual liberty, equality, and collective moral reform by studying a variety of representative dissenters and protest movements from Emma Goldman to the contemporary Occupy Movement. Consequently, it investigates the development and interplay of American variants of anarchism, socialism, pacifism, syndicalism, racial egalitarianism, counterculture, feminism, radical environmentalism, sexual freedom, and the new anti-corporatism, along with their influences—intentional and fortuitous—upon the larger society. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. H. Jensen.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 266. Environmental History of China.
This course investigates the deep historical roots that lie behind China's contemporary environmental dilemmas. From the Three Gorges Dam to persistent smog, a full understanding of the environment in China must reckon with millennia-old relationships between human and natural systems. In this course studenst explore the advent of grain agriculture, religious understandings of nature, the impact of bureaucratic states, and the environmental dimensions of imperial expansion as well as the nature of kinship and demographic change. The course concludes by turning to the socialist "conquest" of nature in the 1950s and 1960s and China's post-1980s fate. Cross-listed in Asian studies, environmental studies, and history. New course beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. W. Chaney.Interdisciplinary Programs
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 267. Blood, Genes, and American Culture.
Places recent popular and scientific discussions of human heredity and genetics in broader social, political, and historical context, focusing on shifting definitions of personhood. Topics include the ownership and exchange of human bodies and body parts, the development of assisted reproductive technologies, and the emergence of new forms of biological citizenship. Recommended background: course work in biology and/or women and gender studies. Cross-listed in American cultural studies, history, and women and gender studies. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. R. Herzig.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
AS/HI 274. China in Revolution.
Modern China's century of revolutions, from the disintegration of the traditional empire in the late nineteenth century, through the twentieth-century attempts at reconstruction, to the tenuous stability of the post-Maoist regime. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. W. Chaney.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/LS 279. The Age of Independence in Latin America.
Most areas of Latin America gained their independence from Spain or Portugal during the early nineteenth century, but were these political transformations accompanied by equally great social, economic, or cultural change? This course explores not just the struggles to overthrow colonial powers, but also what it meant to live in the decades surrounding these tumultuous events. The first Latin American novel, The Mangy Parrot, provides the basis for exploring topics that include education, family, and daily life. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. K. Melvin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AA/HI 280. Health and Healing in Africa.
A perception that Africa is a "diseased continent" has long persisted in the West, but this image, born of colonialism, ignores how Africans have sought to create and maintain healthy communities over time. This course begins by exploring how Africans have diagnosed and treated ailments in the precolonial era. It then examines the impact of colonial conquest and policies on the spread of diseases, and the emergence of missionary and colonial medicines. The course concludes by examining how state building, international development, and transnational capitalism have shaped healing practices. New course beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. Normally offered every year. P. Otim.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/LS 282. The City in Latin America.
Today the majority of people in Latin America live in cities, but this was not the case 500 years ago when the first Europeans arrived. Since then cities have become home to people of all races and social strata. This course examines the development of cities as meeting grounds among different groups of people, as centers of wealth and power, and as sites where much of Latin America's culture was formed. It concentrates on major cities in Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and Brazil from precolonial civilizations through twentieth-century mass urbanization. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 282. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. K. Melvin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 283. Rome and the East: Digitizing and Communicating History .
This course uses primary sources to introduce the expansion of Roman power into the east, the historical and cultural contexts in which that expansion took place, and the cultural changes that occurred as a result of that expansion. The course is focused not just on the collection and analysis of primary texts, but on the communication of the resulting sources and research in a public-facing digital format. Thus, some class time each week is devoted to the introduction, analysis, and discussion of various digital research and publication tools. Recommended background: Some background in Roman History is recommended (CMHI 108 or 109). New course beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. Normally offered every other year. H. Cameron.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 287. History of East Africa.
Scholars have long subscribed to the myth that East Africa has "historically been detached from the world." However, the region's engagements with the rest of world date back almost a millennium. This course seeks to correct the common misconception and introduce students to the rich histories of this less-understood region of the world. Using a variety of primary and secondary source materials, the course begins with an examination of East Africa's roles in world history before European colonization. It then turns to case studies and examines the changes that came with colonization, the rise of nationalism and decolonization, and finally the post-independence challenges in the region. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. P. Otim.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AC/HI 289. China in the U.S. Imagination.
Many observers call the United States and China the most important bilateral relationship in the world today, but few realize these links predate the signing of the U.S. Constitution. This course explores how and why American perceptions of China have changed from the colonial period to the present and what they tell us about how the United States has constructed itself as a nation. Students grapple with questions about racism and imperialism by examining current scholarship as well as diaries, novels, political cartoons, material objects, and other primary sources. Topics covered include trade, missionary work, popular entertainment, immigration, and global war. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 40. One-time offering. I. Shin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 301. Seminars.
These seminars provide opportunities for concentrated work on a particular theme, national experience, or methodology.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 301A. Sex and the Modern City: European Cultures at the Fin-de-Siècle .
Economic and political change during the 1800s revolutionized the daily lives of Europeans more profoundly than any previous century. By the last third of the century, the modern city became the stage for exploring and enacting new roles, new gender identities in particular. This course examines the cultural reverberations of these cataclysmic changes by focusing on sex, gender, and new urban spaces the decades around the turn of the twentieth century. Students consider the writings of Zola and Freud, investigate middle-class flirtations with the occult, and read about sensational crimes like those of Jack the Ripper. Cross-listed in European studies, history, women and gender studies. Not open to students who have received credit for INDS 390A. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
CM/HI 301D. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
Edward Gibbon's classic Decline and Fall is the most famous work of history written in English. This course uses it as an introduction to the problem of the collapse of complex, premodern societies and specifically the end of the Roman West. Changing historical explanations for the fall of Rome are a microcosm of Western historiography. Students also explore basic questions on the nature of history and historians. Not open to students who have received credit for CM/HI 390D. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. [W2] M. Jones.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AA/HI 301E. African Slavery in the Americas.
Of the millions of immigrants who arrived in North and South America during the colonial period, the majority came not from Europe but from Africa. They came not for freedom but as human property, facing a lifetime of bondage for themselves and their offspring. Far from being the "peculiar institution" that whites in the U.S. South called it, slavery existed throughout the Americas before its abolition in the nineteenth century. By reading contemporary scholarship and examining such primary sources as music, letters, autobiographies, and material artifacts, students gain a sense of the ways Africans and African Americans survived and influenced an institution that sought to deny their humanity. Not open to students who have received credit for AA/HI 390E. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] J. Hall.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/LS 301H. The Mexican Revolution.
Although best known for the military phase that featured such colorful figures as Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, the Mexican Revolution encompassed a range of ideologies, state-building projects, and social movements. This course examines how scholars have explained the revolution and how its legacies have figured in the creation of modern Mexico. Students develop their own interpretations by analyzing books, articles, novels, and films; considering theories of revolution; and evaluating primary sources. Topics covered include the roles of popular classes and women, the creation of a postrevolutionary government, and the influence of the United States. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 390H. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] K. Melvin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 301I. Anglo-Saxon England.
This seminar explores the borderlands of early British history (circa 300-700 CE), a frontier intersection where the fragmenting Roman Empire, indigenous Celtic peoples, and the barbarian world of the North Sea clashed and mingled. The course is designed to introduce typical kinds of early medieval evidence (chronicles, poetry, genealogy, saints' lives, and archaeology), and then set a series of problems that requires application of these diverse materials to gain an answer. Course reinstated beginning Fall 2017. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. [W2] M. Jones.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 301J. Law and Society in Ancient Rome.
This research seminar introduces students to the range of academic skills necessary to conduct research and write scholarly papers on topics in ancient Roman law. In addition to considering the actual substance and procedures of Roman law, students explore different methodologies that consider Roman law and the relationship of Roman law to the historical and social contexts in which Roman law evolved. Prerequisite(s): CM/HI 100, 102, 108, or 109. Not open to students who have received credit for CM/HI 390J. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] M. Imber.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC 301L. Exhibiting American Culture.
How is America defined through cultural exhibitions and performances of national identity? This course examines the politics of exhibiting American culture. Each week the course investigates distinct exhibitions of visual culture and the cultural body, such as historic house museums, plantations and American slavery museums, Colonial Williamsburg, world expositions, the phenomenon of the wild west show, cowboy culture, Native American exhibitions, and displays of American culture in music videos, film, and television. Through these types of exhibitions, students consider issues of stereotype, race, and national and local identity. Cross-listed in American cultural studies, art and visual culture, and history. Enrollment limited to 40. [W2] Staff.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
ES/HI 301M. Maine: Environment and History.
This course introduces students to Maine history from its beginnings to the twentieth century, emphasizing the state's most pervasive theme, the environment. From aboriginal people to European colonists, different people have relied on the state's natural resources. Indeed, the environment shaped Maine's most prevalent industries. By the twentieth century, Maine emerged as a popular vacation destination, causing many to reflect on conservation efforts. This seminar explores the significance of locality in understanding the interaction between the environment and different people through time. Students develop a deeper sense of place in our community. Enrollment limited to 15. J. Hall.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 301P. Prelude to the Civil Rights Movement.
This course explores the forgotten years of the civil rights movement, the seedtime of black protest and insurgency, from the New York Riot of 1900 to the Supreme Court's landmark desegregation decision in 1954. Emphasis is placed upon the development of protest techniques, conflicting organizational strategies of advance, leadership struggles, and the flowering of distinct and innovative cultural forms. Harlem, the cultural capital of black America, is examined as a paradigmatic case study of the effects of northern migration, urbanization, and proletarianization on America's bellwether minority. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 390P. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] H. Jensen.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HI/WS 301Q. A Woman's Place: Gender and Geography in the United States, 1800–Present.
Using a case study approach, this course looks at diverse American women from the early 1800s to the present and how they shaped, traversed, and contested the spaces they inhabited or were assigned, whether public or private, rural or urban, temporary or lifelong. Not open to students who have received credit for HI/WS 390Q. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] M. Creighton.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 301W. The Civil Rights Movement.
Between 1954 and 1968, the civil rights movement rearranged the terrain and composition of American social relations, altered the domestic agenda of American politics, created a hopeful climate for change, unleashed hidden turbulences of racial nationalism and gender division, and broached still-unanswered questions about the nation's uneven distribution of wealth. It enunciated the moral vocabulary of a generation. By critically examining primary documents, film, audio records, social history, and participant testimony, this course seeks to deflate the mythology surrounding this subject and comprehend it as "living history" infused with new meaning for the present. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 390W. Enrollment limited to 15. Instructor permission is required. (Community-Engaged Learning.) [W2] H. Jensen.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST 301X. "Self-Evident Truths": A History of Human Rights and Humanitarianism.
In today's world, activists and newscasters assume that we will care about the fate of peoples remote from ourselves. This was not always the case. Only in the eighteenth century did basic rights begin to seem "self-evident" and universal. Even then, the implementation of those rights was far from straightforward given the limits of an imperfect world. This course studies these developments, drawing on case studies from European and European imperial histories from the late eighteenth century to the present. Students examine how rights have been defined and how those definitions have changed over time. Recommended background: courses in European history and/or the history of European empires. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 390X. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 301Y. The Spanish Inquisition.
Were witches and heretics really tortured in the Spanish Inquisition's infamous jails? This course examines both the institution of the Spanish Inquisition and the lives of those who came before it. The sins that concerned the Inquisition depended on the time and place, and the crimes prosecuted in sixteenth-century Spain or eighteenth-century New Spain reveal a great deal about early modern (ca. 1500–1800) culture and society. Students read and analyze original Inquisition cases from Spain and New Spain as well as consider the ways historians have used cases to investigate topics such as sexuality and marriage, witchcraft, and the persecution of Jews and Muslims. Cross-listed in history, Latin American studies, and religious studies. Not open to students who have received credit for HI/RE 390Y. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] K. Melvin.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC 301Z. Race and U.S. Women's Movements.
This course focuses on how racial formations develop in women's movements and how gender ideologies take shape through racialization. Some of the movements examined include the woman's suffrage movement, the anti-lynching movement, the civil rights movement, moral reform movements, the welfare rights movement, the women's liberation movement, and the peace movement. Students analyze how the intertwined categories of race and gender shape various women's responses to debates about issues including citizenship, U.S. foreign policy, reproductive rights, and immigration. Students consider current theoretical and methodological debates and examine the topic through the perspectives of women in various ethnic and racial groups. Cross-listed in history, politics, and women and gender studies. Prerequisite(s): one course in women and gender studies. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] M. Plastas.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/RE 320. Religion and Government in the Middle East: Colonialism to the Arab Spring.
This seminar examines the place of religion in Middle Eastern politics between the rise of European colonialism and the start of the Arab Spring. Religion in the early modern Middle East encompasses not only the communal values of the region's local Muslims, Christians, and Jews, but also the complex relationship between religious ethics and notions of government. Students read a range of texts highlighting the history of governments throughout the Middle East, from Algeria and Egypt to Iraq and Iran, focusing on ways religious ethics and identities intersect with political theory between the nineteenth and the twenty-first centuries. Prerequisite(s): one course on European colonialism, nationalism, Islam, or Middle Eastern history. Not open to students who have received credit for REL 320. A. Akhtar.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
CM/HI 345. Writing the World: An Introduction to Classical Geography.
In this course students examine the geographical texts of the classical world from Homer to late antiquity. These texts span genres from epic poetry to history to science and take diverse forms include descriptive narratives, route maps, and coordinate lists. Students consider how geographic writers imagined and constructed physical, social, economic, and political spaces; how they selected and organised data; and how the purpose of their work and their cultural perspectives influenced their texts. New course beginning Winter 2017. Enrollment limited to 15. [W2] Normally offered every other year. H. Cameron.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 360. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study per semester. Normally offered every semester. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 365. Special Topics.
A course or seminar offered from time to time and reserved for a special topic selected by the department. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 457. Senior Thesis.
The research and writing of an extended essay in history, following the established practices of the discipline, under the guidance of a departmental supervisor. Students register for HIST 457 in the fall semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both HIST 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST 458. Senior Thesis.
The research and writing of an extended essay in history, following the established practices of the discipline, under the guidance of a departmental supervisor. Students register for HIST 458 in the winter semester. Majors writing an honors thesis register for both HIST 457 and 458. [W3] Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST s12. Imagining a Brave New World: India on the Eve of Independence, 1945.
It is 1945 and the sun is about to set on the British Empire. Within two years India, "the Jewel in the Crown," will become independent. This path is anything but a straightforward contest between South Asians and the British, however. Nationalist factions seek to shape the new India according to their own sense of who Indians were, are, and ought to be. This course immerses students in the world of this diverse cadre of nationalists. Students use the Reacting to the Past series game as the basis for their investigation, adopting assigned personas to bring the debate to life. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. C. Shaw.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
AS/HI s15. Sport, Gender, and the Body in Modern China.
From kung fu to the Olympics, Jet Li to Yao Ming, sport is a central part of lived experience in China. There is more here than simply box scores and baskets: through sport, we see how China's twentieth-century revolutions radically transformed gender relations, conceptions of the body, and what it means to be modern. This course looks at sport and the rise of nationalism, the gendered dimensions of revolution, reform-era commercialization, and the persistence of racialized stereotypes. Students grapple with these issues by examining a range of sources such as novels, posters, kung fu film, and actual sporting events. New course beginning Short Term 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. Normally offered every other year. W. Chaney.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/SO s16. Crime and Deviance in the American Civil War.
This course examines deviant behavior through a historical lens, focusing on the American Civil War (1861-1865). The study of the Civil War is based primarily on movies, texts, discussion, and visits to local landmarks and museums. Students discuss what types of deviance and crime occurred in during wartime and use a sociological lens to analyze why the behaviors occurred and what consequences they had. They apply current thinking in criminology and sociology to understanding crime and deviance in the 1860s. The course is an exploration of how wartime shapes our attitudes, behaviors, and life chances. Enrollment limited to 15. (Community-Engaged Learning.) M. Rocque.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
INDC s18. Wilde Times: Scandal, Celebrity, and the Law.
Oscar Wilde, an icon today, was popular in his own time as well. His relationship with Alfred Douglas was an open secret despite the fact that homosexuality was at the time a criminal offence. Indeed, Wilde’s sexuality was tolerated until he sued Douglas’s irascible father for libel. This course begins with the 1895 trials, seeking to understand cultures of sexuality in a period notorious for sexual repression, and contextualizing issues they raise of scandal and the law, celebrity, gender, and sexuality. Designed to encourage independent research, the course guides students through the research process, drawing to the fore histories often hidden from view. Cross-listed in European studies, history, and women and gender studies. New course beginning Winter 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. C. Shaw.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST s20. Visions of the Past: Political Film and Historical Narrative.
History need not be done on a page. Visual imagination—captured in photographs and documentary film—has often proved an indispensable pathway to historical, social, and political understanding. But have historians been well-served by Hollywood feature film portrayals of politically charged situations "based on a true story" that mix fact and consumer titillation to sell tickets? This course compares representative films of the "historical" genre to traditional written evidence about some controversial events in recent history. Can cinematic techniques truthfully illuminate dimensions of moral imperative and resonances of the human condition that printed words cannot? Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 15. H. Jensen.ConcentrationsInterdisciplinary Programs
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
INDC s21. Vikings of the North Atlantic: Explorations and Adaptations.
Vikings are often associated with raiding early Medieval Europe. They were also the first Europeans to sail into the North Atlantic in large numbers. In Scotland they met and mixed with Celtic peoples, but they populated uninhabited landscapes in Iceland and Greenland. Around 1000 C.E. their wave of migration washed up on the shores of North America where they interacted with Native Americans before abandoning the colonization attempt. This course traces this epic movement of peoples, its likely causes, and lasting impacts. The island settlements may be seen as cultural experiments leading to adaptation and resilience, and sometimes extinction. Crosslisted in anthropology, classical and medieval studies, and history. New course beginning Short Term 2017. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. One-time offering. G. Bigelow.Interdisciplinary Programs
This course counts toward the following Interdisciplinary Program(s)
HIST s28. Wabanaki History in Maine.
The peoples of Maine known as the Wabanakis, including the Penobscot, Passamaquoddy, Micmac, and Maliseet nations, are pivotal players in Maine's history. Their early relations with Europeans shaped the colonization of the region and their more recent legal efforts to regain land and build casinos have affected everyone in the state. This course looks at the long history of Maine's Wabanakis, examining the ways that they have adapted to, fought with, and lived alongside European invaders and their descendants. Students examine some of the ways that European Americans' racism has erased Wabanakis' presence in the state and its history, the meanings of sovereignty in a state that still retains a great deal of influence over native peoples, and the role of environmental change in shaping Wabanakis' changing cultural practices. Students are strongly encouraged to link their final research project to contemporary Wabanaki efforts to recover their past. There is an extra fee for this course for travel to visit with Wabanaki community scholars and leaders. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 25. (Community-Engaged Learning.) J. Hall.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HI/LS s29. Montezuma's Mexico: Aztecs and their World.
The Aztec state encompassed millions of people, featured a capital whose size and towering pyramids left the first Spanish visitors in awe, and developed a culture that continues to influence contemporary Mexico, from food and dress to festivals like the Day of the Dead. Yet Aztecs are more commonly remembered for their cannibalism than their complex civilization. This course examines the Aztec world: what it was like to live under Aztec rule, how society was organized, what people believed about how the cosmos worked, and why Aztecs practiced ritual human sacrifice. Open to first-year students. Enrollment limited to 30. K. Melvin.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST s40. Introduction to Historical Methods.
This course provides an intensive introduction to research skills, historical literature, and the principles and methods of historical critical analysis (historiography). The course is team-taught to acquaint students with a variety of historical assumptions and methodologies ranging from the perception of history as fiction to the belief that history is the accumulation of objective data about an ascertainable past. This course provides important preparation for the senior thesis. Recommended background: a college-level course in history. This course is intended for history majors and is a departmental requirement. Not open to students who have received credit for HIST 199. Open to first-year students. Instructor permission is required. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST s41. Introduction to Archives and Archival Science.
This course explores the history and significance of archives and archival records in our society, specifically how they shape the writing and remembering of history. The course includes an overview of record-making and -keeping practices from antiquity to the present and introduces students to the fundamental aspects of the archival profession, such as appraisal, acquisitions, arrangement, description, preservation, reference, and access. Class discussions of archival theory are paired with a practicum allowing students the opportunity to accession, arrange, describe, and publish online the holdings of a local historical association. Field trips to one or more archival repositories are scheduled. Recommended background: HIST s40. Enrollment limited to 10. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations
HIST s50. Independent Study.
Students, in consultation with a faculty advisor, individually design and plan a course of study or research not offered in the curriculum. Course work includes a reflective component, evaluation, and completion of an agreed-upon product. Sponsorship by a faculty member in the program/department, a course prospectus, and permission of the chair are required. Students may register for no more than one independent study during a Short Term. Normally offered every year. Staff.Concentrations
This course is referenced by the following General Education Concentrations