Click on a link to view course descriptions
HIST-296-003: Russian Film and Politics
HIST-296-004: Vampire Narratives and American Society
HIST-296-005: Dostoevsky’s Russia
HIST-296-006: the Revolutions of 1989
HIST-347-001: Modern China
HIST-380-002: Modern Presidency: FDR to Obama
HIST-380-003: American Constitutional History, 1896-Present
HIST-500-001: Postwar America, 1945-1970
HIST-500-001: Topics in Early Modern European History
HIST-500-005: Race in America
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Course Descriptions
HIST-296-003: Russian Film and Politics
This course uses readings and films to analyze issues in the history of Russian politics and society, especially the portrayal of war. It pays attention both to historical context and to the aesthetics of the films as works of art. Familiarity with the history of the Soviet Union is recommended.
HIST-296-004: Vampire Narratives and American Society
For almost two hundred years, vampire narratives have served as projection surfaces for cultural angst and fears of social change. Using these narratives as a magnifying glass, this course investigates how vampires have been used to negotiate immigration and xenophobia, women's suffrage, fear of miscegenation, the Cold War, homophobia and AIDS. The class considers what aims the contemporary obsession with vampire narratives serves and what it reveals about today's culture. The course includes nineteenth century texts, history, silent movies, reading literature and theory, and academic analysis. Meets with AMST-296 003.
HIST-296-005: Dostoevsky’s Russia
This course explores Fyodor Dostoevsky's works and legacy in the context of Russian and European intellectual trends, geopolitical struggles, socio-economic developments, and political upheavals during the long nineteenth century. Films are an integral part of the course.
HIST-296-006: the Revolutions of 1989
In 1989, popular uprisings led to revolutions in Eastern Europe and the fall of communism. This seminar focuses on the transformations that led to the end of the Soviet Empire and the toppling of the Berlin Wall.
HIST-347-001: Modern China
This course explores the transition from empire to nation-state in modern Chinese history (1600-present). Topics include the rise of the last imperial dynasty in the seventeenth century, the heyday of the Qing order, the Western impact, and the revolution and nation-building enterprises of the twentieth century. The course emphasizes politics, culture, ethnicity, and gender. Meets with HIST-647 001.
HIST-380-002: Modern Presidency: FDR to Obama
The American presidency is the most powerful office in the world today. This course traces the history and development of the modern presidency from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Barack Obama. It takes a chronological approach, but also considers important themes in presidential history. Meets with HIST-680 002.
HIST-380-003: American Constitutional History, 1896-Present
This course examines major constitutional developments in the United States from 1896 to the present. The course primarily focuses on the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court, but also examines non-Court events, such as the resignation of Richard Nixon and the war on terror. Meets with HIST-680 003.
HIST-500-001: Postwar America, 1945-1970
The world, and America's role in it, changed dramatically in 1945 with the victory over Germany and Japan, the death of Franklin Roosevelt, the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the early tensions with the Soviet Union that would erupt into a dangerous Cold War. Making extensive use of film in addition to written sources, this course traces those changes as well as aspects of American life that remained largely unaffected over the next quarter century. Topics include the Cold War at home and abroad, the nuclear arms race, McCarthyism, the changing role of women, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, suburbanization and consumerism, the black liberation, women's rights, anti-nuclear, and gay rights movements, the New Left and 1960s counterculture, the persistence and resurgence of conservatism, and American society, culture, sexuality, and politics broadly construed. Prerequisite: permission of instructor; open only to undergraduate students. Meets with HIST-500 002.
HIST-500-001: Topics in Early Modern European History
This course introduces students to some classic works and important themes in early modern European history, then moves into this semester's focus, "Europe d'outre mer." It follows Europeans into a wider world, especially (but not exclusively) the Americas of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Open only to graduate students. Meets with HIST-500 003.
HIST-500-005: Race in America
This course explores the importance of race in American history from the early seventeenth century to the present. Treating race as a socially and historically constructed category, the class focuses on how its definition has changed over time, while examining its powerful impact on politics, law, and culture to arrive at a fuller understanding of the complexities of racial thought and the ways in which it has shaped the everyday experiences of those living within the borders of the modern-day United States. Open only to graduate students. Meets with HIST-500 005.