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College Catalog 2013-2014 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
Courses
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HIST 135 - American Violence to 1800: Age of Contact to the American Revolution
This course will interrogate the way scholars study large-scale violence in its many forms between human communities. Throughout class discussions we will consider the ways in which warfare has been recorded and analyzed in early America. While warfare and major political conflicts will be discussed, the class will also engage the meanings of violence by investigating intra- and inter- cultural violence within and between colonial America’s many ethnic, political, and religious groups. The chronological focus of the course, circ. 1500-1800, also permits our examination of the idea of American exceptionalism. Is there a specific form or pattern of violence or warfare that can be called “American?” If so, does this type of violence remain present in our contemporary society? (4 Credits)
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HIST 136 - American Violence 1800 to 1865: The Early Republic to the Civil War
This course will interrogate the way scholars study large-scale violence in its many forms between human communities. Throughout class discussions we will consider the ways in which violence has been recorded and analyzed in the Early Republic, Antebellum, and Civil War eras. While warfare and major political conflicts will be discussed, the class will also engage the meanings of violence by investigating intra- and inter- cultural violence within and between early America’s many ethnic, political, and religious groups. The chronological focus of the course, circ. 1800-1865, also permits our examination of the idea of American exceptionalism. Is there a specific form or pattern of violence or warfare that can be called “American?” If so, does this type of violence remain present in our contemporary society? Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 140 - Introduction to East Asian Civilization Cross-Listed as ASIA 140
This course introduces the cultures and societies of China, Japan and Korea from the earliest times to the present day. Primarily an introductory course for beginners in East Asian civilization, this course considers a variety of significant themes in religious, political, economic, social and cultural developments in the region. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Every fall. (4 Credits)
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HIST 154 - African Life Histories
In this course we will learn about African history through the stories that Africans themselves have told about their own lives. We will use oral history, songs of West Africa’s griots; slave narratives; political autobiographies; theatre and film to explore the personal narration of lived experience. To guide our class discussions we will also consult scholarly essays about life history as a genre, to help us understand the methodology behind the production of these important texts. Class activities will include seminar discussions, writing workshops, a field trip and intermittent background lectures. Each student will carry out an individual research project on their topic of choice. Offered annually. (4 Credits)
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HIST 181 - Introduction to Latin America and the Caribbean Cross-Listed as LATI 181
This course offers a general survey of the complex and heterogeneous region we somewhat reductively term Latin America. It follows a roughly chronological approach, beginning with the eve of encounter and continuing through the contemporary era. Discussions will consider themes such as the institution and legacy of colonialism, the search for new national identities, and the onset of modern racial and political strife. The course will emphasize the import of global economic, political, and cultural trends on the formation of the region. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 190 - Topics in US History
A topical analysis of United States history stressing the historical antecedents of selected contemporary issues; designed primarily for underclassmen who have no previous college-level background in this general field. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 192 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (2 Credits)
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HIST 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
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HIST 201 - History of U.S. Feminisms Cross-Listed as WGSS 201
This is an introductory course about the history of U.S. feminism as it was articulated and experienced in the United States from roughly 1800-1970. We will focus on not only on the experience of those who worked for the cause of women’s rights but also the ideologies at home and abroad that influenced feminist thought. In so doing, we will interrogate the myths about feminism and the backlash against it that are central to the history, culture, and politics of the United States. This course is especially concerned with the multiple and contradictory strains within feminism. Topics that the class will consider include: the roots of feminism as it took shape in the anti-slavery movement, the overlap of women’s rights and the civil rights movement of the twentieth century, and the women’s health movement, among others. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 213 - Women in African History
The objective of this course is to explore the role that women have played in the development of African history and to understand the major issues that define their experience as women from this region of the world. This course introduces students to the ways in which gender is studied in African history and to the major “break-through” works on women in African history. An important component of this course is the study of life histories of women from various geographical regions of the continent. Every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 220 - Ethics of Service
In this course we will discuss the ethical questions that arise when students engage in service and learning in contexts of difference. Taking our examples from Peace Corps, Teach for America, travel/study abroad, community activism and human rights work, we will read and discuss diverse perspectives on the ways that power and privilege relate to service and altruism. We will place our discussion in historical perspective while considering its implications for today’s world. We will therefore locate our inquiry within a broader historical and global framework that acknowledges traditions of philanthropy from diverse religious and cultural contexts. Our course materials will include personal memoirs and travel narratives, multi-disciplinary analytical texts, reflections on experience from study abroad participants and invited guests, films and field trips. The course will take the form of an interactive seminar and will welcome all points of view. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Course offered on S/NC (pass/no pass) grading only. Offered annually. (4 Credits)
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HIST 222 - Imagining the American West Cross-Listed as
Fantasies about the U.S. West are central to American history, popular culture, and collective memory. From John Wayne to Zane Grey to Disneyland, ideas about the West have shaped the ways we think about settlement, conquest, race, gender, and democracy. This course examines the myths that have circulated about the West alongside what has been called new western history, in an attempt to make sense of western Americans and the societies they created. Beginning with notions of the frontier, we will consider the scholarship that challenges our thinking about a region that has defied simple constructions. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 224 - African American History: Slavery, Emancipation, and Reconstruction Cross-Listed as AMST 224
This course explores the Afro-American experience from the villages of West Africa to the cotton plantations of the antebellum South. Considers West African social structure and culture, the international slave trade, the development of racism, the development of American slavery, the transformation of Afro-American culture over more than two centuries, the struggle, the possibilities of reconstruction, and the ultimate rise of share-cropping and segregation. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 225 - Native American History Cross-Listed as AMST 225
Historian Daniel Richter once wrote, “for better or worse, native history belongs to all of us.” What could Richter have meant by this statement? What is native history and why would it belong to “all of us?” The history of America covers a much longer span than that usually covered in U.S. history courses. The coasts, plains and mountains of the North American continent may have been a “new world” to European traders and explorers, but to the two million people who already inhabited these lands, America was as much the “old world” as was Europe. In this course we will examine the history of North America from the age of contact to the end of the 19th century. Instead of approaching American Indian history from the perspective of Europeans, we will attempt to reconstruct the history of 16th-19th century North Americans from an indigenous perspective. In our class meetings, Mondays and Wednesday will be devoted to chronologically-oriented, broad issues in American Indian history prior to 1900. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 227 - Colonial Encounters: Religion, Race, and Sex in Early America Cross-Listed as WGSS 227
Through an examination of primary documents from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries and historical articles and monographs, students will examine and discuss the forces at work on the conflict and exchange between the diverse peoples that populated North America. In this course we will use critical analysis to arrive at our own conclusions about the following questions: Who populated early America? What types of religious and spiritual practices came into contact through these populations? What political function did religion and spirituality have (if any) in this time period? What competing ideas about gender and sex existed in the colonies and the early republic? In what ways did ideas about gender and race intersect? Gender and religion? What are the ways in which the emergence of a United States of America was contingent on conflict and exchange about religion, race and sex? Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 228 - Gender and Sexuality in Colonial America and the Early Republic Cross-Listed as WGSS 228
Since the 1960s historians have revisited early American history to identify populations on the margins and historical actors whose stories and experiences were neglected in the traditional canon of history. Historians of women made some of the first forays into this important work of recovery. Building up the foundations produced by women’s historians, the field of gender and sexuality studies have flourished and enriched the narratives of American history. This course examines American peoples and cultures from the 16th through early 19th centuries to uncover the ways in which gender and sexuality shaped the formation of an early American society. Particular attention will be given to the way that ideologies of gender and sexuality shaped early concepts of race and the development of North American political institutions. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 230 - Women and Work in US History
An historical overview of women’s changing experiences with work-both paid and unpaid-from the mercantilist economy of colonial times to the post-industrial era of the late twentieth century. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Approved for Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
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HIST 232 - Immigration and Ethnicity in US History Cross-Listed as AMST 232
An overview of U.S. history as seen through the experiences of newly arriving and adjusting immigrant groups. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 233 - Introduction to the History of the US Working Class Cross-Listed as AMST 233
This course traces the development of the U.S. working class-men and women, native-born and immigrants, black and white-from the artisan era to the post-industrial age. This course is designed primarily for students who have no previous college-level background in U.S. history. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 234 - American Environmental History Cross-Listed as
People have always had to contend with the natural world, but only recently have historians begun to explore the changing relationships between people and their environment over time. In this course, we will examine the variety of ways that people in North America have shaped the environment, as well as how they have used, labored in, abused, conserved, protected, rearranged, polluted, cleaned, and thought about it. In addition, we will explore how various characteristics of the natural world have affected the broad patterns of human society, sometimes harming or hindering life and other times enabling rapid development and expansion. By bringing nature into the study of human history and the human past into the study of nature, we will begin to see the connections and interdependencies between the two that are often overlooked. Fall and spring semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 235 - Comparative Freedom Movements: The US and South Africa Cross-Listed as AMST 310
This advanced course explores two of the most important movements to challenge institutional racism in the second half of the 20th century - the U.S. civil rights movement and the South African anti-apartheid movement. The course places both of these movements within their specific historical contexts and, therefore, opens with an examination of the historical role(s) of racism in each of these societies. It then explores dimensions of these movements in a comparative fashion: the leadership produced by both movements; the functioning of both movements and the roles played by particular cohorts (women, young people, workers, allies); the internal tensions within each movement, particularly around ideologies, strategies, and tactics; the uses of culture (music, theater, poetry, visual art) within each movement. We also explore the methodologies of comparative history, particularly the critique that insists that the movements - influences on each other need to be considered. Finally, we assess the impact of each movement on its respective society. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Every other year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 236 - Consumer Nation: American Consumer Culture in the 20th Century Cross-Listed as ENVI 236
“Of all the strange beasts that have com slouching into the 20th century,” writes James Twitchell, “none has been more misunderstood, more criticized, and more important than materialism.” In this course we will trace the various twists and turns of America’s vigorous consumer culture across the twentieth century, examining its growing influence on American life, its implications for the environmental health of the world, and the many debates it has inspired. Spring semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 237 - Environmental Justice Cross-Listed as and AMST 237
Poor and minority populations have historically borne the brunt of environmental inequalities in the United States, suffering disproportionately from the effects of pollution, resource depletion, dangerous jobs, limited access to common resources, and exposure to environmental hazards. Paying particular attention to the ways that race, ethnicity, class, and gender have shaped the political and economic dimensions of environmental injustices, this course draws on the work of scholars and activists to examine the long history of environmental inequities in the United States, along with more recent political movements-national and local-that seek to rectify environmental injustices. Every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 239 - Farm and Forest: AFrican Environmental History
In this course we will explore the complex interaction between the African physical world or “nature” (plants, soils, water, climate) and “culture” or human society over time, from the pre-colonial through the colonial period to present. We will also seek to understand the meanings (including cultural and symbolic meanings) associated with the African natural world, both for African societies and for non-Africans who have lived, worked, or been engaged with the continent. We will delve into historical controversies about land use. population growth, wildlife conservation, desertification and other topics. Each student will gain insight into a particular historical issue or case study through an independent research project. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 244 - US Since 1945
This course examines the tumultuous changes that define the postwar era in U.S. society and culture. Themes of the course will vary depending on instructor. Topics may include: cultural tensions of the Cold War era, the civil rights movement and Black Power, the women-s movement, postwar prosperity, suburbanization, the Vietnam War, and the New Right. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 248 - Jim Crow Cross-Listed as
This course examines the political, cultural, economic, and social ramifications of segregation in the United States from approximately 1865 to the present. While much of the course will focus on the South, we will also consider how racial boundaries were drawn in the West and North. The course will pay special attention to the ways racial boundaries became “fixed”, and how black men and women defied Jim Crow in the streets, courts, and in their homes. Additionally, this class examines how segregation has been forgotten and how and when it is remembered. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 249 - African Americans and the Transformation of the City: 1890-1945 Cross-Listed as AMST 249
This course investigates two mutually influencing transformations of the first half of the twentieth century: 1) the urbanization of the Afro-American people; and 2) the emergence of the modern American metropolis as the site of congregation and segregation of distinct racial and ethnic groups. Principal points of focus for this course include the causes and patterns of black migration from the rural South to the urban North; the formation of ghettoes in major northern cities; the internal life of those ghettoes, including changing gender roles and the development of new cultural forms; and the rise of new political and social ideas within these communities. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
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HIST 256 - Transatlantic Slave Trade Cross-Listed as AMST 256
This class examines the Atlantic commerce in African slaves that took place roughly between 1500 and 1800. We will explore, among other topics, transatlantic commerce, the process of turning captives into commodities, the gendered dimensions of the slave trade, resistance to the trade, the world the slaves made, and the abolitionist movement on both sides of the Atlantic. Students will read a range of primary and secondary sources in order to gain a more complex understanding of the slave trade and how it changed over time. Meets the global and/or comparative history requirement. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 257 - Empires
This course will survey the evolution of modern European empires from their inception in the mid-nineteenth century to their aftermath in the 1980s and 1990s. The course will be organized topically, separate modules being devoted to theory, imperial administration, race and segregation in the colonies, cultural and economic exploitation of colonies, European culture and imperialism, indigenous anti-colonial movements and decolonialization, and the issue of colonialism’s role in globalization. Materials will be drawn from the experiences of the British, French, German, Dutch and Russian empires. Lectures, class discussions and films. Essay exams prepared outside of class and quizzes. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 258 - Europe Since 1945
A survey of European history from the end of World War II to the present, emphasizing social and economic history and including both western Europe and the former socialist republics of eastern Europe. The course tests the hypothesis that Europe constitutes a social and political entity as well as a geographic one. Among the topics the course will cover are a comparison of European post-World War II reconstruction (East and West), Europe’s power decline in a global context, Europe as a tool and a participant in the Cold War, political trends and their roots in social and economic change, and the origins and European-wide implications of the collapse of the socialist states of eastern Europe. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 260 - Rise/Fall of Tsarist Russia
A survey of the development of Russian social and political institutions from Peter the Great (1682-1724) to 1917. The course will explain the growth of the tsar’s authority, the origins and outlooks of Russia’s major social/gender groups (nobility, peasants, merchants, clergy, women, minorities, Cossacks) and the relations which grew up between the tsar and his society. The course will conclude with an appraisal of the breakdown of the relationship in 1917, and the tsarist legacy for Russia’s social and political institutions in the Soviet Union and beyond. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 261 - Making History: Russian Cinema as Testimony, Propaganda, and Art Cross-Listed as RUSS 261
Through the study of Russian films starting from the silent era up to the present day, the course will explore how storytelling in cinema differs from professional history and fiction, as well as how power relations, technology, and aesthetics shaped cinematic depictions of major historical events in Russia and the Soviet Union, from medieval times to post-Soviet era. Students will view and analyze films that are among the essential Russian contributions to world cinema, by directors including Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Mikhalkov, and Sokurov. Course readings will draw upon film theory, history, fiction, and memoirs. We will use our readings to create a conceptual framework for examining the films as documents of real events, as vehicles of propaganda, and as imaginative works of art. In addition to attending weekly film screenings and discussing the films and readings in class, students will give presentations on topics of their choice arranged in consultation with the instructors. Two professors will teach the course jointly, one a historian of Russia and the other a specialist in Russian literature and visual culture. Alternate spring semesters. (4 Credits)
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HIST 262 - Soviet Union and Successors
A survey of Russian, Soviet and post-Soviet history from the Russian Revolution to the present. Topics include the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, Bolshevik rule and its tsarist heritage, Soviet “monocratic” society under Lenin and Stalin, dissent in the USSR, the “command economy” in the collapse of Communist political power, and national consciousness as an operative idea in the Commonwealth of Independent States. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 263 - Global Encounters in History: China and Africa
Is China a “new colonial power” that threatens to gobble up Africa’s natural resources? Or does China offer an alternative development model that results in a “win-win” relationship for Africa and nations starting to “look East?” Both sides in this heated current debate about China and Africa have overlooked the critical historical dimensions of China-Africa engagement. In this course we will begin by exploring the long history of interaction between Africa and East Asia, from the time of early sailing ships in the Indian Ocean through the Afro-Asian solidarities of the Cold War. We will focus specifically on the relationship between the People’s Republic of China and African nations, from the 1960s through to the present day. We will place these relations in context, not only historically but also in terms of global processes of economic, social and cultural interaction. We will use written texts, film and visual media, poetry, life stories and other resources to understand China-Africa relations from the perspective of everyday, lived experience. Each student will also carry out a research project on an individual topic. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 274 - The Great Tradition in China before 1840 Cross-Listed as
A study of the culture and society of China from earliest times to the eighteenth century, when the impact of the West was strongly felt. The course will feature themes in Chinese history, including the birth of the Great Philosophers, the story of the Great Wall, the making and sustaining of the imperial system, the Silk Road and international trade and cultural exchange, the emergence of Chinese Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism, Genghis Kahn and his Eurasian Empire, the splendid literary and artistic achievements, the Opium War and its impact on modern China. Lecture/discussion format. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 275 - The Rise of Modern China Cross-Listed as
A study of leading institutions and movements of nineteenth- and twentieth-century China. Major emphases include the impact of Western imperialism, intellectual and cultural changes, the transformation of peasant society through revolution, the rise of Mao Tse-Tung, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and the rise of China as a world power. Special attention will be given to China’s international relations. Every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 276 - The Great Tradition in Japan before 1853 Cross-Listed as
A survey of the major political, social, religious, intellectual, economic and artistic developments in Japan from earliest times to the opening of Japan in the 1850s. The course will revisit Japan’s emperor system, Shintoism, feudalism, Samurai as a class, selective borrowing from China, Korea, and the West, and the background of Japan’s rapid modernization after the Meiji Restoration. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 277 - The Rise of Modern Japan Cross-Listed as
Japan’s rapid industrialization in the latter part of the nineteenth century, and its phenomenal rise as the number two economic power in the world after the devastation wrought by World War II, have led many scholars to declare Japan a model worthy of emulation by all “developing” nations. After an examination of feudal Japan, this course probes the nature and course of Japan’s “amazing transformation” and analyzes the consequences of its strengths as a nation-state. Considerable study of Japanese art, literature, and religion will be undertaken and American attitudes toward the Japanese and their history will also be examined. Every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 281 - The Andes: Race, Region, Nation Cross-Listed as LATI 281
This course provides a survey of Andean history with an emphasis upon the formation of collective identities. Class discussion will treat continuities and divergences between the Andean colonial and post-colonial experiences, especially the intersection between racial and regional tensions and their impact upon the emergence and construction of nation-states. Recent topics explored have included the role of landscape in Andean culture, Incan and neo-Incan cultural mythologies, the conflation of racial and class identities in the twentieth century, violence and guerrilla movements, urbanization, and the various shades of indigenismo. Offered every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 282 - Latin America: Art and Nation Cross-Listed as LATI 282
This course presents an historical overview of the interaction between artists, the state, and national identity in Latin America. After an introduction to the import of images to crafting collective identities during the colonial era and the 19th century, we will focus on the 20th century. Topics to be discussed include the depiction of race, allegorical landscapes and architectures, the art of revolution, and countercultures. Multiple genres will be explored with an emphasis on the visual arts, architecture, and popular music. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 283 - Amazon: A Cultural History
This course traces depictions of the Amazon rainforest from the 16th century to the present with an emphasis on three central allegories - the Amazon as cultural crossroads; the Amazon as untapped economic resource; and the Amazon as a-historical paradise (or hell). Every other year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 294 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
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HIST 330 - Advanced Studies: Historians and Critical Race Theory
This two credit course is designed for advanced students, particularly those who might participate in the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program. The course, using different materials and pursuing different emphases each semester, examines the development and application of critical race theory, its place within the historiography of various disciplines, and its intersections with feminist, postcolonial, and other perspectives. The course pays particular attention to the development (structurally, ideologically, culturally) of race and racism within not only a US context but also within transnational and diasporic frameworks. The course also provides an opportunity to explore graduate programs and the processes of application and self-presentation. This course is intended not only to further the goals of the MMUF Program but also to encourage the intellectual success and development of students who might be drawn to the goals and activities of this program. Signature of instructor required. Every year. (2 Credits)
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HIST 331 - Racial Formation, Culture and US History Cross-Listed as AMST 331 and MCST 331
This interdisciplinary course will employ the methodologies of cultural and media studies within an historical framework to ask: What roles did “race” (the presence of diverse races; the relationships among those groups of people; the construction and representation of racial identities; the linking of material privileges and power to racial locations) play in the development of the United States? How have relationships of class, gender, ethnicity, and sexuality been linked to “race”? How has “race” been a site of struggle between groups? How is the present a product of historical experiences? Our coursework will rely on reading historical studies, theory, cultural analysis, and memoirs, and on viewing and analyzing cultural performances and films. This course is designed for students with experience in history, cultural studies, African American or ethnic studies. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 340 - US Urban Environmental History Cross-Listed as ENVI 340
In the minds of many Americans, cities are places where nature is absent-places where nature exists only in the crevices and on the margins of spaces dominated by technology, concrete, and human artifice. This course confronts this assumption directly, drawing on the scholarship from the relatively young field of urban environmental history to uncover the deep interconnections between urban America and the natural world. Among the other things, we will examine how society has drawn upon nature to build and sustain urban growth, the implications that urban growth has for transforming ecosystems both local and distant, and how social values have guided urbanites as they have built and rearranged the world around them. Using the Twin Cities has a backdrop and constant reference point, we will attempt to understand the constantly changing ways that people, cities, and nature have shaped and reshaped one another throughout American history. (4 Credits)
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HIST 343 - Imperial Nature: The United States and the Global Environment Cross-Listed as ENVI 343
Although the United States accounts for just five percent of the world’s population, it consumes roughly twenty-five percent of the world’s total energy, has the world’s largest economy, and is the world’s largest consumer and generator of waste. Relative to its size, its policies and actions have had a significantly disproportionate impact on global economic development and environmental health. Mixing broad themes and detailed case studies, this course will focus on the complex historical relationship between American actions and changes to the global environment. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Fall semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 345 - Car Country: The Automobile and the American Environment Cross-Listed as ENVI 345
At the dawn of the twentieth century, automobiles were newfangled playthings of the very wealthy; by century’s end, they had become necessities of the modern world. This momentous change brought with it a cascading series of consequences that completely remade the American landscape and touched nearly every aspect of American life. This course will explore the role that cars and roads have played in shaping Americans’ interactions with the natural world, and will seek an historical understanding of how the country has developed such an extreme dependency on its cars. In the process, we will engage with current debates among environmentalists, policymakers, and local communities trying to shape the future of the American transportation system and to come to grips with the environmental effects of a car-dependent lifestyles and landscapes. (4 Credits)
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HIST 350 - Race, Gender, and Science
How has science informed definitions of race, sex, and gender in the past? This class examines the scientific discourses and methodologies that have, historically, sought to explain racial and sexual difference. We will examine scholarship that considers the social effects of science and the intersections of race, gender, sexuality, and science. Among the topics under consideration: the definitions of deviance in colonial and post-colonial societies, eugenics, contemporary debates on race, sexuality, and genetics. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 352 - Modern Britain
The development of English politics and society from the time of George III to the twentieth century. Among the topics to be considered are: the transition from rural to urban society; the American Revolution; the rise and decline of Britain as world leader; Victorian and Edwardian society; England and Ireland; and the future of Britain in the modern world. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
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HIST 364 - Germany from 1871 to Present
A survey of the history of German society and politics from the Bismarckian unification to the present with emphasis on the origins of the German and world catastrophe of 1933-45. Among the major issues covered will be Bismarck and his legacy for German politics, the army and German political life, the Weimar Republic and German political culture, the origins and development of the Nazi party, Germany between the United States and the USSR, and Germany’s significance in post-Cold War Europe. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 366 - Europe in the Age of Upheaval and Revolution
A study of European politics, culture and society during the years (1780-1850) in which Europe experienced the most profound social and political transformations in its history. Among the topics to be considered are the French Revolution, urbanization, industrialization, new concepts of the family, Darwin, and the growth of new ideologies. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 376 - Public History
This course introduces students to the ways history is being practiced in the public sphere. We will examine a wide array of topics that fall under the rubric of public history including the study of archives, museums, and oral histories. The course will also consider historical reenactment, commemoration, digital history, and the preservation of historical sites. As we explore these topics we will be asking larger questions about who practices history, the role of audience, and the relationship between history and memory. No prerequisites. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 378 - War Crimes and Memory in East Asia Cross-Listed as ASIA 378
This course’s main goal is to introduce evidence of the major crimes and atrocities during World War II in East Asia such as the Nanjing Massacre, biochemical warfare (Unit 731), the military sexual slavery (“comfort women”) system, the forced labor system, and inhumane treatment of POWs. The course will also help students understand the contemporary geo-political and socio-economic forces that affect how East Asians and Westerners collectively remember and reconstruct World War II. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Offered occasionally. (4 Credits)
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HIST 379 - The Study of History
This advanced course is required for majors. It examines the various forms of analysis used by historians through a study of different kinds of historical texts and sources. It provides an opportunity for students to develop the skills and habits of thinking essential to practicing the discipline of history. This course invites students to address some of the myriad questions and controversies that surround such historical concepts as “objectivity,” “subjectivity,” “truth,” “epistemology,” and thereby to develop a “philosophy” of history. At the same time, it stresses the acquisition of such historical tools as the use of written, oral, computer and media sources and the development of analytical writing skills. The subject matter for study changes each year. Recent themes of the course have been memory, empires, and class formation. Every year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 381 - Transnational Latin Americas Cross-Listed as INTL 381 and LATI 381
This course examines critical and primary literatures concerning the transnational, hemispheric, Atlantic, and Pacific cultures that have intersected in Latin America since the early colonial era, with a particular focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Alternate years. (4 Credits)
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HIST 382 - Remembering the Modern City
This class interrogates the role that memory and history have played in the formation of modern urban landscapes and identities during the 19th and 20th centuries. Besides introducing theoretical and global case studies, the course considers the layering of metahistorical significance upon sites in the Twin Cities and includes an archival research component. Meets global and/or comparative history requirement. Offered every other year. (4 Credits)
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HIST 394 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
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HIST 490 - Special Advanced Topics
The senior seminar is team taught every fall by 2-3 members of the department, around themes that easily cross chronological and geographic lines. Recent topics include Documenting History, and Texts and Contexts. Every fall. (4 Credits)
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HIST 494 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
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HIST 601 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (1 Credits)
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HIST 602 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (2 Credits)
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HIST 603 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (3 Credits)
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HIST 604 - Tutorial
A student or a small group of students may get together with a department member to examine a theme in which the latter has considerable expertise but which is not normally covered in his or her regular courses. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 611 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (1 Credits)
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HIST 612 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (2 Credits)
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HIST 613 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (3 Credits)
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HIST 614 - Independent Project
Students may carry out independent research on specific topics under the supervision of a member of the department with expertise on that particular field. The work should result in an original paper or series of papers. Only one independent study may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Every semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 621 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student’s goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (1 Credits)
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HIST 622 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student’s goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (2 Credits)
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HIST 623 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student’s goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (3 Credits)
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HIST 624 - Internship
A student may register for an internship with any member of the department. Off campus learning experiences must have explicit historical content. The student, the faculty sponsor, and the site supervisor will negotiate a learning agreement which specifies the student’s goals, means of achieving them, and the manner in which the internship will be evaluated. A standard internship will involve ten hours per week and earn four credits. Only one internship may count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Internship Office. Every semester. (4 Credits)
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HIST 631 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (1 Credits)
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HIST 632 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (2 Credits)
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HIST 633 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (3 Credits)
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HIST 634 - Preceptorship
Students may arrange to precept a course with a department member. They will normally be expected to attend the course, do the reading and participate in discussion, look over student writing, and provide guidance or tutor as necessary. Preceptorships do not count toward the ten courses required for a history major. Prerequisite(s): Permission of instructor. Work with Academic Programs. Every semester. (4 Credits)
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Interdisciplinary Courses |
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INTD 191 - Supplementary Writing Workshop
One-credit (1 cr) supplementary Writing Workshop, that will be graded S/N. Instructors will be from a variety of departments. Participation by invitation only; if interested, please contact the Academic Programs Office. (1 Credits)
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INTD 401 - Urban Studies Colloquium
This course provides students with a culminating experience in the urban studies concentration. Students will use the course to integrate past coursework in urban studies and reflect on where their interests in the diverse field of urban studies lie. Weekly meetings will explore the breadth and diversity of urban studies through guided readings, meetings with faculty in the urban studies program, and conversations with urban studies professionals in the community. Students will also be responsible for organizing a colloquium meeting and making a presentation on an interest of theirs germane to urban studies. S/D/NC grading only. Prerequisite(s): Junior or senior standing; , at least two discipline-based theoretical courses, and at least one applied course as identified in the description for the Urban Studies concentration. Instructor permission required. (2 Credits)
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INTD 411 - Sr Seminar in Community and Global Health
(1 Credits)
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International Studies |
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INTL 110 - Introduction to International Studies: Globalization - Homogeneity and Heterogeneity
Globalization is upon us, resulting in unprecedented cultural interpenetration and civilizational encounter. Most of what animates this condition is old. However, the contemporary velocity, reach, and mutations of these forces suggest a new “world time,” full of contradictions, perils, and promises. This course introduces students to globalization by asking What is globalization, and how does one study it? What are the principal forces (social groups, ideas, institutions, and ecological circumstances) that shaped and now propel it? What are its concrete consequences, and how are we to respond? Open to first- and second-year students. (4 Credits)
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INTL 111 - Introduction to International Studies: Literature and Global Studies
One of the most significant trends of the current era has been globalization: the shrinking of distances, the greater interpenetration of the world’s peoples, and the rise, perhaps, of a so-called global culture. Yet it is too simple to say, “it’s all a big mix,” for the questions of how the mixing is done, and who mixes, are complex. The study of literature illuminates these questions. By reading important recent texts, this course tackles “world” questions: what does it mean to be from a certain place? what is a culture? and who are we in it? We’ll work to link our own personal readings with the texts in dialogue with the world. Texts will be drawn from U.S. multicultural, “world,” and travel literature, and rich theoretical readings. Open to first- and second-year students. (4 Credits)
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INTL 112 - Introduction to International Studies: Globalization, Media, and Cultural Identities
This course investigates the effects of the globalization of media and popular culture on the identities and identifications of the world’s peoples. We will interrogate where cultural identity and symbolic communities come from and consider the politics and possibilities of common cultures. Combining theory, and case studies of worldwide media (film, video, digital media, music and more), we will explore numerous paradigms (modernization, cultural imperialism, post-modernism, post-structuralism) as frameworks of understanding. Open to first- and second-year students. (4 Credits)
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INTL 113 - Introduction to International Studies: Identities, Interests, and Community
Open to first- and second-year students. This course develops a base of knowledge, concepts, and analytical skills for engaging with International Studies’ multi-dimensional concerns. Ranging across disciplines but with an emphasis on social science, we study global theories of interaction and conflict between human groups and explore sites and implications of increasing encounter. Focusing on culture, people flows, nationalism and ethnicity, democratization, contending interests, security, religious fundamentalism, gender, and modes of community integration, we examine how particular cases reflect broader processes. (4 Credits)
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INTL 114 - Introduction to International Studies: International Codes of Conduct
Can we all live by one set of rules? This course investigates the broad field of global studies by addressing fresh and age-old issues in international law from the personal to the global, including borders, sources and enforcement of international law, law of the sea, immigration and asylum, post-national federation, colonization, world order, and global citizenship. Readings include case studies, memoirs, fiction, and other texts focusing on individuals, cultures, and states. Open to first- and second-year students. (4 Credits)
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INTL 115 - Introduction to International Studies: World Travel
Travel, whether by diplomats, migrants, soldiers, scientists, traders, or tourists, is at the core of countless past and present societies, and connects closely to how we live, work and conceive ourselves in today’s interconnected world. Thus this course introduces students to international studies in two ways: by exploring a set of ideas and authors influential in the study of world travel and mobility in its many forms; and by investigating, through examples drawn from many actors, centuries, and locales, the countless motives for and consequences of world travel. Open to first- and second- year students. (4 Credits)
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INTL 190 - Mediterranean, Baltic, Black: Seas, Identities and History
People typically organize the world by its landmasses: but the regions around seas are just as integral and important. This course explores the civilizations around the Mediterranean, Baltic, and Black seas, which bridge Europe, Africa, and Asia. We will probe the history, culture, economy and politics of maritime and coastal zones, and extend to linked inland societies. Critical focus will be devoted to identity, nation, territory, border, culture, and coexistence. Readings, films and more will draw from diverse sources. (4 Credits)
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INTL 194 - Topics Course
Varies by semester. Consult the department or class schedule for current listing. (4 Credits)
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INTL 202 - Global Media Industries Cross-Listed as MCST 202 .
We view the world and its peoples primarily through the “consciousness industry” of the media. As such, the way it is organized vitally impacts how we understand the world and our place in it. When did global media industries emerge, how are they organized, who owns them, and how have they transformed? In this course, we will investigate historical and contemporary forces of media production, explore theories for understanding the role of media in society, as well as consider paradigms that contest both practices and discourses of media globalization. (4 Credits)
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INTL 225 - Comparative Economic Systems Cross-Listed as
This course examines the workings of economic systems from the perspective of the incentives facing the firm and consumer. The course provides an introduction to the economics of information and organization which is used to evaluate resource allocation under the specific institutional environment of different economic systems. Our understanding of the incentive system is then used to evaluate the overall economic system. The focus of the course is primarily on the U.S., Japan and the former Soviet Union/Russia. As time permits the course may examine China, Germany and Central Europe. Prerequisite(s): ECON 119 . (4 Credits)
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INTL 245 - Introduction to International Human Rights
This course offers a theoretical and practical introduction to the study and promotion of human rights. Using broad materials, it focuses on the evolution and definition of key concepts, the debate over “universal” rights, regional and international institutions, core documents, the role of states, and current topics of interest to the human rights movement. (4 Credits)
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INTL 253 - Comparative Muslim Cultures Cross-Listed as
This course examines the cultures of three globally influential Islamic civilizations: Arab, Persian, and Indian. We will explore pre-Islamic frameworks, and engage diverse primary Islamic political, intellectual, and spiritual sources and recent scholarship. We’ll ask, what (if anything) is essential to all Islamic societies? What varies? What of interactions with neighboring religions and traditions? And how have these core traditions extended into today’s North American, French, German-Turkish, East or West African, British, and other forms of Islam? Prerequisite(s): or (4 Credits)
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INTL 265 - Translation as Cross-Cultural Communication Cross-Listed as
When communication takes place across language barriers, it raises fundamental questions about meaning, style, power relationships, and traditions. This course treats literary translation as a particularly complex form of cross-cultural interaction. Students will work on their own translations of prose or poetry while considering broader questions of translation, through critiques of existing translations, close comparisons of variant translations, and readings on cultural and theoretical aspects of literary translation. Prerequisite(s): Advanced proficiency in a second language. (4 Credits)
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INTL 266 - Performance/Documents/Rights Cross-Listed as THDA 266
This course examines experimental techniques in contemporary performing arts and media that theorize the history, politic, and everyday practice of human rights. Locating the avant-garde as a site for critical interdisciplinary work in performance and rights, we study the prevalence of contemporary uses of “the archive,” which works between database and narrative in order to think the interlinking challenges of memory, narrative, and documentation. We engage works in Theatre Studies, Performance Studies, Dance Studies, Critical Theory, Legal Studies, Media and Documentary Studies, Visual Art, as well as plays, multimedia performance texts, literatures, film, and events. Sources include artistic projects from Latin America, Algeria, Morocco, France, Germany, South Africa, Hungary, former-Czechoslovakia, Indonesia, Australia, Canada, England, and the US. Offered alternate years. (4 Credits)
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INTL 269 - Economics of International Migration Cross-Listed as and LATI 269
This course will examine the global movement of people through an economic lens. The course will study the impact that emigration has on the economy of the home country, such as brain drain and population change, the historic role that migration has played in economic development, and finally the effect that immigration has on immigrant-receiving countries. The various economic issues in the current immigration debate in the United States will be analyzed including the economic assimilation of immigrants, and the impact of immigration on native born workers. Every other spring. (4 Credits)
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INTL 272 - Post-Nationalism: The Post-Soviet Sphere Cross-Listed as
The USSR’s 1991 dissolution ended one of history’s great experiments. Socialism sought to dissolve ethnicity and overcome ethnic conflict with a focus on equality. Instead it exacerbated nationalism and created-separated identities. But how? Topics include ethno-creation, control, and resistance; ethnic animosities and the USSR’s destruction; new states after 1991; “diaspora” populations beyond ethnic homelands; local rebellions; new “native” dictatorships; and recent international organizations. (4 Credits)
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INTL 275 - Work, Ethics, and Vocation in the Era of Globalization
Macalester students widely seek to do “global good.” Yet the concrete effects of many transnational careers are unclear. Positive worldly transformation? Imposition of Western values? This course examines ethics and consequences in international elite agency, focusing on cosmopolitan lives and selected professions, capped by a highly tailorable final project. Recent Macalester alumni serve as resources to support rich inquiry in transnational vocation. (4 Credits)
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INTL 280 - Indigenous Peoples’ Movements in Global Context Cross-Listed as
During the last three decades, a global indigenous rights movement has taken shape within the United nations and other international bodies, challenging and reformulating international law and global cultural understandings of indigenous rights. The recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in international law invokes the tensions between sovereignty and human rights, but also challenges the dominant international understandings of both principles. In this course, we examine indigenous peoples’ movements by placing them in a global context and sociologically informed theoretical framework. By beginning with a set of influential theoretical statements from social science, we will then use indigenous peoples’ movements as case studies to examine the extent to which these theoretical perspectives explain and are challenged by case studies. We will then analyze various aspects of indigenous peoples’ movements and the extent to which these aspects of the movement are shaped by global processes. Every other year. (4 Credits)
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INTL 282 - Introduction to International Public Health
This course introduces and explores the major health problems facing developing countries, and the main approaches to remediation. The course considers the social determinants of health, and the need for public health programs to address the root causes of health inequities as well as illness itself. Focus is at the country, international-organization, and donor levels. Attention will be given to major indicators, recent trends, policies, and metrics for monitoring progress. A case study, such as international tuberculosis control, will be used as an applied analysis. Every year. (4 Credits)
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INTL 285 - Ethnicity and Nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe
This course explores ethnic nationalism’s causes and consequences in Eastern Europe. Drawing on several disciplines, we begin by examining the core concepts and theories in the contemporary study of nationalism. We then explore both the historical roots of Eastern European nationalisms, and their implications for democracy, minority inclusion, regional stability, and European integration. (4 Credits)
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INTL 286 - Media and Cultural Studies of Latin America Cross-Listed as LATI 286 and MCST 286 .
This course explores cultural and media industries and texts - including folktales, art, performance, sport, film, and television - within their socio-political and historical context in Latin America. Organized around case studies that will allow us to apply learned cultural theories and methodologies to specific texts and historical moments, this class is imagined as a cultural studies “laboratory” in which we will collectively investigate varied topics in the field. (4 Credits)
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INTL 288 - Race and Ethnicity in Japan Cross-Listed as AMST 288 and JAPA 288 .
One of the founding myths of the modern Japanese nation-state has been the illusion of racial and ethnic homogeneity. This course aims not only to challenge this myth but also to historicize and contextualize it by investigating various racial and ethnic minorities in Japan: Ainu, Burakumin (outcasts), Okinawans, Koreans, African Americans, Nikkeijin (South Americans of Japanese descent), and Caucasians. These groups pose fundamental questions about the boundaries of “Japan” and about the meanings of “race” and “ethnicity” as categories of identification and difference. The purpose of this course is two-fold: 1) to familiarize students with the history of minority discourse in Japan, and 2) to encourage students to think critically and comparatively about race and ethnicity in general. All readings are in English or English translation. Every year. (4 Credits)
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