Fall 2016
History 314.01 “The U.S. Civil War: History and Memory.â€
Students in this seminar will complete major research projects about the U.S. Civil War and/or its presence in public memory. The Civil War was a major watershed event, and students will study a number of important recent trends and debates in its historiography before defining their own topics of research. We will consider new approaches to analyzing the military, economic, social, gender, and racial dimensions of the war as well as topics such as popular culture, geography, immigration, and transnational history. In addition to studying the war itself, students will also consider how Civil War commemorations continued to shape U.S. history and culture during Reconstruction and beyond. Prerequisites: HIS 100 course and HIS 214. 4 credits. Purcell
History 337.01 “Wagnerism.â€
The composer Richard Wagner (1813–1883) wore many hats. He was a musical and theatrical innovator, a prolific writer, an anti-Semite, a cosmopolitan, a staunch German nationalist, a radical leftist revolutionary, a vegetarian, a dabbler in buddhism, an anti-vivisectionist, a utopian, and a forefather of modern cinema. Scholarly analysis of his legacy falls roughly into three periods: the hyperbolic construction of "genius" which seemed to follow in the composer’s wake during his lifetime, a generation of scathing indictment beginning in the 1930s in response to his posthumous embrace by the Nazis, and a more recent tempering of opinions in which scholars reconsider Wagner’s lasting contributions to aesthetics, modernism, medicine, and the politics of the left. In this seminar we examine some of Wagner’s extensive writings and creative works, familiarize ourselves with his most influential critics and their contexts, and develop individual research projects that illuminate some aspect of the Wagnerian legacy across the globe over the last century and a half. Wagnerism, then, serves as a lens through which to explore fundamental issues including the intersection of art and politics; cultural transfer; reception histories and aesthetic experience; the tensions inherent in nationalism, transnationalism, and cosmopolitanism; and the politics of commemoration and revision. Prerequisites: HIS 100 course and either HIS 236, 237, 238, 239, 241, or permission of the instructor. 4 credits. Maynard
History 373.01 “Chimerica: The History of a Special Relationship.â€
This seminar will address the history behind China and America’s tumultuous — and increasingly symbiotic — bilateral relationship by examining American/Chinese interactions over the course of the 20th century. After reviewing the rich historiography on international, economic, and intercultural contact between these two Pacific states, we will turn to mapping out a collaborative research agenda based on available resources at Â鶹´«Ã½ and surrounding libraries and archives. Students will then write individual research papers focused on some aspect of China-U.S. relations, with an eye toward explaining how contemporary patterns have been anticipated by historical interaction. Our penultimate goals will thus include: 1) extensive drafting and rewriting of a substantive, paper-length work of original research, and 2) developing an understanding of U.S.-China relations which accounts for the multiple levels of exchange, meaning, and past precedent at work in shaping our global present. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and either HIS 271, 275, or 277. 4 credits. Johnson
Spring 2017
History 323.01 “American Women Since WW II.â€
Students in this seminar will explore the history of American women since the Second World War. The postwar decades and late twentieth century witnessed enormous changes in the lives of American women, including both expanding opportunities as well as rising expectations. We will consider how American women fomented and navigated these changes, paying careful attention to the significance of race, class, sexuality, and citizenship status in shaping their experiences. Students will begin the semester by engaging in a close reading of historical texts, both primary and secondary, to establish a shared foundation in the historiography of this period, in the theoretical basis of women’s history as a field, and in the special considerations of doing contemporary history. Students will conclude the semester by producing an article-length research paper and a 15-minute presentation of their historical research into this era. Students will be expected to mine digital archives as well as traditional collections in order to locate sufficient primary sources for their project. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and either HIS 222 or 295.01: American Sexual History, or permission of the instructor. 4 credits. Lewis
History 329.01 “Latin America and the United States.â€
As the saying goes, Latin America lies too far from God and too close to the United States. This proximity has affected Latin American economics, demographics, culture, and politics. The seminar will begin with common readings. This year those common readings will focus on US attempts — both official and unofficial — to democratize and modernize the region. Students will then write a research paper using primary documents. These papers could focus on anyone of a number of issues that were central to US-Latin American relations such as hemispheric security, economic affairs, democracy, and socialism. A reading knowledge of Spanish or Portuguese is helpful but not required. Prerequisites: HIS 100 and either HIS 201 or 202. 4 credits. Silva