HIST 481 Topics

"Native American Borderlands in North America"

As in-between spaces on the periphery of Indigenous, colonial, and national borders, borderlands represent a geographical and sociopolitical space where distinct peoples, cultures, and ideas converge. Centering Indigenous people as important historical actors in the shaping of North American borderlands, students will explore and think through some of the most pressing questions in Indigenous borderlands history by engaging with cutting-edge scholarship. This is a university-approved writing-intensive (W) course meaning that writing instruction will receive special emphasis and students will have several opportunities for writing, peer-review, editing, and re-writing. Over the semester, students will become familiar with relevant historical literature and develop an original research paper based on their primary and secondary source research and analysis.

"Cuba and Its Streets"

This course examines the history of modern Cuba from the perspective of its streets. Focusing primarily on the twentieth century, our study will explore processes of urban development in the capital city of Havana. It will highlight the construction of infrastructure, transportation, and community spaces like plazas. We will also consider the various social encounters, forms of labor and commerce, political protests and revolutions, and religious and patriotic processions through which Cubans have negotiated their place in society. Finally, students will write an original research paper that draws on primary and secondary sources.

"Paris at War in the 20th Century"

Using a case study approach, this course examines the social, political, economic, and cultural effects of total war on the Parisian population during WWI, WWII, and the Algerian War. Students will read, discuss, and write analytical essays on primary & secondary sources related to each case study. Students also will draft and revise a research paper on a topic related to one of the case studies and give a final 10- minute presentation on that project.

"Becoming American (on their own terms): U.S. Immigration and Ethnicity "

Immigration has become a hot political topic in recent decades. It’s not what people know about immigration that concerns me; it’s the things they “know” that simply aren’t true. This seminar presents an opportunity to explore a variety of topics, among them the sources and persistence of ethnic identity across two centuries; its interaction with issues of race, religion, wars and politics, language, education, and social mobility; immigrants’ images of America and Americans or vice versa; various nativist and anti-immigrant movements; contrasts and continuities between contemporary immigration patterns and those of earlier eras. Students can take the opportunity to explore their own ethnic heritage, but this is merely an option. There are sufficient primary sources that have been translated into English that no heritage language competence is necessary. Students will develop an original research paper in this writing-intensive (W) course.

"Wars and Diplomacy in East Asia"

This writing-intensive course delves into the intricate relationship between war and diplomacy in East Asia from premodern to early modern. Students will explore how military conflict, statecraft, and diplomatic negotiation intersected in the region's political and cultural development. It will examine how war influenced diplomatic efforts, and vice versa, in shaping the balance of power, alliances, and rivalries across East Asia.