HIS 102: History of the United States, II (1877)
Prof. Kevan Malone
Section 7F DIS, Class (11348), F 1:25-2:15
Section 7G DIS, Class (11349), F 2:30-3:20
Section F LEC, Class (11345), MW 1:25-2:15
This course examines the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the United States since the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction in 1877. Topics include industrialization and deindustrialization; urbanization and suburbanization; immigration, nativism, and immigrant restriction; the working class, labor, and the labor movement; progressive reform politics; the Great Depression and World War II as political turning points; the rise and fall of the New Deal political order; the Cold War at home and abroad; racial segregation and desegregation; ethnic civil rights movements; political realignments; the “Long 1960s” as both a radical and reactionary period; the women’s movement; environmentalism; and the evolution of American conservatism. Students will explore competing conceptions of American national identity and will critically examine various aspects of American mythology—including such myths as American Exceptionalism, the “American Dream,” and the common accusation that undemocratic actions and sentiments are “un-American.” The course will incorporate both scholarly works of history and primary sources as well as movies and documentary films.
HIS 121: The Dragon and the Rising Sun: East Asia, 1800-Present
Prof. Stephen Halsey
Section Q LEC, Class (4955), TTh 12:30-1:45
Do you want to learn how China and Japan developed two of the largest economies in the world? To understand why China now has the second largest population after India? To know why Beijing and Tokyo fought two bitter and bloody wars in the last hundred and fifty years and may do so again in the future? Explore the history of the world’s most populous and economically dynamic region this fall in The Dragon and the Rising Sun. We will focus on the fascinating connections between two of the great powers, China and Japan, and the ways that this complex relationship has shaped the history of the Asia-Pacific region. This class is an integrative survey, which means that we will discuss topics ranging from geisha and poets to empires and revolutions to samurai warriors and atom bombs. The Dragon and the Rising Sun is an introductory-level course and assumes no prior knowledge of Asia or coursework in the field of history.
HIS 140: The British Empire: Rise, Fall, and Afterlife
Prof. Phil Harling
Sec O LEC, Class (11267), TTh 9:30-10:45
How did a country less than twice the size of Florida come to rule a quarter of the earth and well over a quarter of the earth’s people? Why does the historical fact of the British empire, now long gone, still matter so much to so many people? How can we make sense of the seeming contradictions at the heart of Britain’s supposedly “liberal” empire: growing wealth in the metropole vs. chronic poverty throughout much of the “subject” empire; relative peace in Britain vs. chronic imperial warfare; slowly democratizing government “at home” vs. authoritarian rule in the empire; and the promise of emancipation from the inequalities of the past (notably chattel slavery) vs. the persistency of hierarchy (on the bases of class, race, and gender)? We’ll explore these contradictions at length and the ways they were challenged and overcome by colonized peoples. Finally, we’ll explore some of the many ways in which the historical memory of empire continues to exert a profound impact both in Britain itself and in much of the rest of the world.
HIS 162: Modern Latin American History
Prof. Eduardo Elena
Section S LEC, Class (5102), TTh 3:30-4:45
This course offers an introduction to the history of Latin America from the early 1800s to the present. No prior knowledge of Latin America or its history is required. Over the semester, students will consider the following broad questions: What do the diverse countries of the vast area that we now call “Latin America” have in common? How have different ideas of progress and modernization been applied over time in these countries? How did Latin America become a region celebrated for its enormous material resources and cultural riches, yet also one that contains some of the most unequal societies in the world? In seeking answers to these complex questions, the course also provides a deeper understanding of the present-day relations between the United States and its southern neighbors, including by considering issues such as migration, the drug trade, and democracy that affect all societies in the Americas. Through the course assignments, students will hone their talents for historical interpretation, including critical thinking and writing skills that are essential for success at UM and after graduation.
HIS 210: African American History, 1877–Present
Prof. Kevan Malone
Section P, Class (11350), TTh 11:00–12:15
This course examines the social, political, economic, and cultural history of African Americans since the end of post-Civil War Reconstruction in 1877. Topics include the post-emancipation sharecropping South, white violence against Black Americans, the Great Migration, segregation in and beyond the Jim Crow South, the Harlem Renaissance, rural and urban life during the Great Depression, World War II as a turning point in the Black civil rights movement, postwar ghettoization, urban rebellions during the age of civil rights victories, assimilationism and Black nationalism in the civil rights movement, policing and mass incarceration, Black upward mobility, and Black culture from jazz to hip hop. Drawing on scholarly works of history, primary sources, movies, and documentary films, students will critically examine the mythology of American democracy through the prism of Black inequality, mobility, and political mobilization.
HIS 236: History of the Vikings
Prof. Hugh Thomas
Section D, Class (4999), MWF 11:15–12:05
This course studies the history of the Vikings from c. 750 to c. 1050, along with the subsequent history of areas the Vikings settled, including Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, Russia, and Ukraine. It will cover obvious topics, like Viking raids and warfare, voyages to Vinland, Norse mythology, Viking ships, and berserkers, but also less obvious ones, like Vikings riding on camels to trade in Baghdad, slavery, magic, and everyday life in Viking areas. We will also look at the Vikings in modern popular culture. The grade will be based on class discussion of translated sources from the period, a very brief written biography of a fictional persona from the Viking Age, a midterm, and a final. The course should be a lot of fun but also provide insights into various historical methodologies and approaches.
HIS 296: Immigration, Ethnicity, and American National Identity
Prof. Kevan Malone
Section N, Class (11351), TTh 8:00–9:15
This course examines the history of American national identity through the lens of immigration, ethnicity, and nativism in the United States. The focus is on the ethnic groups of immigrants and their descendants since the first age of mass migration to the United States in the 19th century as well as efforts to exclude these groups from the national community. Topics include Mexican Americans who did not cross the border but rather were crossed by the imperialist border of 1848; how the Irish “became white”; Asian exclusion; restrictions intended to minimize the Italian and Eastern European Jewish populations; the shifting ethnic makeup of agricultural and industrial workers; immigrant repatriation and deportation; the end of ethnic restrictions during the Cold War; how federal policy and economic needs fueled undocumented immigration; ethnic civil rights movements; assimilationism and multiculturalism; and the evolution of American nativism and conservatism. Incorporating scholarly works of history, primary sources, movies, and documentary films, this course challenges American national myths, such as the idea that the United States is a “Nation of Immigrants” motivated by achieving the “American Dream.”
HIS 311: Gandhi and the Making of Modern India
Prof. Sumita Chatterjee
Section E LEC, Class (4948), MWF 12:20–1:10
This course will study the rise and significance of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, leader of the non-violent nationalist movement against the British Empire in India at the turn of the twentieth century. Through a detailed study of his numerous writings and speeches we will explore Gandhi’s theories and praxis of civil disobedience, satyagraha, non-violent protest, moral discipline, critique of modernity as well as his alternative vision of civil society and polity. We will focus on the extent to which his ideas and thoughts were adopted as well as rejected in the making of the modern Indian nation-state. We will critically examine the widely held perception that “Gandhi brought politics to the masses,” and see the ways in which Gandhian thought was adapted, received, and enacted by different actors in the nationalist struggle against the British as well as in independent India. We will explore issues of political mobilization, strategies of “passive” resistance, relations between Hindus and Muslims, Hindu caste society’s ills, the question of “untouchables”, the place of women in society, self-reliance, individual and collective responsibilities. Endearingly often called “Bapu”, or with veneration also known as the “Mahatma,” Gandhi and Gandhian philosophy and praxis have a complex and conflicted relationship with modernity in India in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In this course the students, drawing from Gandhi’s writings as well as extensive multidisciplinary scholarship on him and his times, films, and other multimedia, will get a rounded picture of the man, the historical context of his times, primary influences on his thoughts as well as his legacy and relevance in contemporary India and the world in general.
HIS 320: Africa & The Indian Ocean World
Prof. Etana Dinka
Section R LEC, Class (5007), TTh 2–3:15
Since ancient times and through the modern era, the East African littoral has had a vibrant exchange of commodities, peoples, ideas, diseases, technologies, etc., with the rest of the Indian Ocean world. This course examines selected themes in the history of Africa and interactions with the world of the Indian Ocean, which span several centuries. Its focus includes human-environment interactions, the roles of Islam, maritime commerce, European involvement in the region, and the creation of a distinct Swahili culture that connected societies and economies in the East African interior to the Indian Ocean world. It relies on weekly reading, multiple other activities, and writing requirements, appreciating the methodological challenges that historians face in understanding the region’s dynamic and most complex historical processes. While Africa remains the course’s principal focus, the nature of the lectures and activities invites discussions from global perspectives.
HIS 326: Medieval Europe: 1095–1500
Prof. Hugh Thomas
Section J LEC, Class (4952), MW 5:05–6:20
This course covers Western Europe from 1095 to approximately 1500, a period traditionally defined as the High and Late Middle Ages. It will deal with a variety of subjects, including the Crusades, Islamic influence on Western Europe, the cultural revival of the central Middle Ages, economic expansion, warfare, the development of nations, chivalry and courtly love, religious life, and the Black Death. There will, of course, be a fair amount of sex and violence too. Readings will include a textbook and four other books, most of them sources from the period. Grades will be based on participation in discussion, papers, a midterm, and a final.
HIS 336: Modern French History
Prof. Constance De Font Reaulx
Section D LEC, Class (5065), MWF 11:15–12:05
This course covers the political, social, cultural, economic, and military history of France since 1870. Major themes include power and decline, the weight of historical memories, issues of French identity, and the central role of the French state.
HIS 340: History of Modern Germany since 1815
Prof. Hermann Beck
Section S LEC, Class (4980), TTh 3:30–4:45
This is a lecture course on modern German history beginning with the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the end of the Third Reich in 1945. The course starts with an overview of German history from the Napoleonic occupation to Bismarck, as background to German unification in 1871, and then concentrates on the domestic and foreign policies of the German Empire, with an emphasis on Bismarck's system of alliances and the origins of the First World War. We then turn to political and military developments during World War I and, following that, to the Weimar Republic, from its inauspicious start after Germany’s defeat in 1918 and stabilization in the mid-1920s to the renewed instability, violence, and turmoil during the Great Depression. Weimar’s great cultural achievements formed a strange contrast to the Republic's political disasters, culminating in Hitler’s rise to power in January 1933. The political and social history of Nazi Germany and Germany’s role in the Second World War constitute another focal point of the course, which concludes with a brief examination of the period after 1945.
HIS 351: Science and Society
Prof. Constance De Font Reaulx
Section F LEC, Class (5062), MWF 1:25–2:15
The relationships between science and society, historically and in contemporary life.
HIS 362: The American Revolution
Prof. Ashli White
Section R LEC, Class (5064), TTh 2–3:15
Beginning with an examination of British North America in the 1760s, this course considers the causes of the American Revolution and its significance for diverse segments of the population (various Native American nations, people of African descent, and Euro Americans of different ethnic backgrounds, religious proclivities, and political leanings). Our scrutiny of this era will incorporate multiple historical vantage points: we will think of the American Revolution not only as a political event, but also as a social and cultural experience. Our goal is to come closer to understanding what the revolution meant for the people who lived through it.
HIS 379: History of the Old South
Prof. Michael Bernath
Section P LEC, Class (5070), TTh 11–12:15
This course examines the history of the Old South (pre-Civil War). We will discuss antebellum southern economic, social, and cultural development including the Cotton Boom, the growth and maturation of the plantation slave system, the southern defense of slavery, growing political controversies with the North, and the development of a separate southern identity. We will look at the experiences of many different groups of southerners—male and female, Black and white, enslaved and free, slaveholder and nonslaveholder. From these various perspectives, we will attempt to discover what made this massive and diverse region into “The South,” and how this unifying concept of “southern-ness” came to be accepted by outsiders and southerners alike. By 1861, this notion of southern distinctiveness would prove strong enough to overcome even the bonds of nationhood, pulling white southerners down the road to independence, war, and ultimately the destruction of the Old South.
HIS 511/611: South Asians in the Caribbean and the United States: Gender, Race, Class, Caste in Migration Narratives
Prof. Sumita Chatterjee
Section 1G SEM, Class (5068), M 2:30–5:15
This course will study the gender, race, class, and caste dynamics of South Asian migration to the New World to the British colonies of the Caribbean and the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. With the help of monographs, fiction, memoirs, films, and oral archival sources we will engage with questions of displacement, belonging, home, and identity. We will situate our seminar-format discussions in the historical context of nineteenth-century British colonial labor policies such as indentured servitude, and twentieth-century U.S. immigration policies. The course will cover themes of globalization, diaspora, and identity formation through literature, film, and oral history.
HIS 544: Studies in European History; World War I
Prof. Hermann Beck
Section 4G, Class (11346), W 2:30–5:15
This seminar concentrates on the origins and course of the First World War. We begin with a detailed analysis of the diplomatic origins of the war, starting with Bismarck’s alliances and their gradual overthrow between 1890 and 1907, as well as an examination of the crises that preceded the outbreak of the conflict in August 1914. We then turn to the course of military events and the economic, social, and psychological dimensions of the conflict. The First World War changed the face of the earth forever, resulting not only in the mobilization of 65 million men, the death of ten million, and the destruction of four empires; it also precipitated the Russian Revolution and was a main factor in the emergence of fascism in Italy and National Socialism in Germany. The “Great War,” as it came to be called in Western Europe, also lay at the root of the second world-wide conflagration. Historians have come to speak of it as the Urkatastrophe, the great seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century that set off a “thirty-years crisis” spanning 1914 to 1945.
HIS 551/652: History of Print Culture in the Americas
Prof. Daniel Arbino
Section 4G SEM, Class (4982), W 2:30–5:15
Selected topics in Latin-American History. This course will be taught in the Kislak Center.
HIS 561/662: Life in the Confederate States of America
Prof. Michael Bernath
Section 5R SEM, Class (5104), Th 2–4:45
This seminar examines the history of the Confederacy from secession to defeat. This will not be a general history of the Civil War, but rather, it will focus on life within the Confederate States. We will look at the stresses that the war placed upon southern society and analyze the ways in which the resulting fissures contributed to Confederate defeat and the destruction of slavery. The seminar will culminate with the writing of a major research paper.
HIS 591/611: Asia & Colonialism
Prof. Stephen Halsey
Section 1R SEM, Class (4978), T 2:00–4:45
This research seminar uses works of history and literature to explore the origins, development, and collapse of European empires from 1500 to the present. We will focus primarily on South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the Caribbean but also draw comparisons with Latin America, East Asia, and Southeast Asia. The course develops a narrative that links overseas expansion in the early modern period to global capitalism and examines imperial culture, identity, and decolonization.
HIS 718: Modern Latin American History Field Preparation
Prof. Eduardo Elena
Section 5P SEM, Class (4946), Th 11–1:45
This seminar surveys major trends in the historiography of modern Latin America (early 1800s to the present). The course explores a variety of genres, methodological approaches, scholarly controversies, and interpretive problems. Readings highlight recent approaches to topics including state formation, citizenship, race, nation, capitalism, and environmental change. The course helps prepare graduate students for qualifying examinations, but others are welcome.
