Allegheny College: History Catalogue

Professors Treckel, Binnington, Forts, Haywood, Herrman, Lyons, Pinnow, Shapiro, Wu

The study of history helps us to understand the differences and similarities between our own lives, thought, and habits and those of past cultures. It allows us to understand other people better through seeing them in their own contexts. We treat history as a humane rather than a scientific discipline, emphasizing less the accumulation of data than the investigation, from various points of view, of those ideas and institutions—political, religious, cultural, social, economic—by which people have endeavored to order their world. Finally, the discipline seeks not only to provide wisdom in special historical fields, but to assist in the development of conceptual skills, analysis, library research competence, writing fluency, and sophistication in the uses and abuses of knowledge.

The Major

The major in History leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree and requires successful completion of 42 semester credit hours of coursework in History, distributed as follows:

1. One course (4 credit hours) in European History
To be chosen from History 100, 115, 121, 170, 201, 203, 205, 217, 218, 219, 224, 226, 228, 260, 262, 302, 304, 306, 308, 310, 312, 318, 320, 370, 374, 380. (Students enrolling in 300-level courses are advised to have completed a lower-level history course.)

2. One course (4 credit hours) in American History
To be chosen from History 125, 130, 135, 140, 150, 230, 232, 234, 236, 324, 326, 328, 330, 331, 332, 336, 337, 338, 340, 342. (Students enrolling in 300-level courses are advised to have completed either History 230 or History 232.)

3. One course (4 credit hours) in non-Western History
To be chosen from History 142, 152, 161, 242, 244, 246, 250, 251, 252, 350, 351, 352, 353, 360, 365, 366. (Students enrolling in 300-level courses are advised to have completed a lower-level history course.)

4. One Junior Seminar (4 credit hours)
To be chosen from History 550, 556, 558, 560, 562, 568, 569, 575, 576, 580, 582, 583, 584, 587, 588, 589.

6. A minimum of at least four courses (16 credit hours) that, excluding Junior Seminars and Senior Projects, must be numbered 300 or above

Unclassified electives (not counting toward the requirement in European, American or non-Western history) include: 316, 322, 502, 504 and 506.

History 590 (Independent Study) may be counted toward the European, American or non-Western requirement, depending on the subject studied. History 590 may also be counted as one of the courses meeting the 300 or above requirement, depending on the level of difficulty and the approach taken.

History majors are required to have a GPA of at least 2.0 in History at graduation. Normally all courses presented for the major must be taken on the letter-grade basis. The following exceptions, however, will apply: A maximum of two courses (or eight credit hours) taken at institutions of higher learning, both foreign and domestic, and transferred to Allegheny, may be counted toward the major.

If a student completes more than the minimum number of courses required, the higher grade(s) will be counted in the calculation of the major grade point average, provided that the departmental distribution requirements are met.

Students may enroll in History 600 during the spring semester of their junior year and History 610 in the fall semester of their senior year, or enroll in History 600 during the fall semester and History 610 during the spring semester of their senior year.

The Minor

Students who choose to minor in History are required to successfully complete a minimum of 20 credit hours of coursework in History. These must include eight credit hours at or above the 300-level and a Junior Seminar.

Colloquia

An introduction to the study of the past through an examination of the relationship between freedom and moral responsibility in various historical contexts, including ancient Greece, medieval Europe, Nazi Germany, and contemporary America. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introduction to the study of the past through an examination of various aspects of the Nazi regime and the Holocaust (1933-1945). Drawing upon personal recollections and reflections, historical accounts and analyses, biographies and autobiographies, and films and novels, the course explores the problem of the Holocaust. Specific topics are drawn from among the following: the role of the individual in history, historical forces versus freedom of choice, human motivation, individuals and organizations, freedom versus authority, class and ideological conflict, the nation state, nationalism, national minorities, and war and peace. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introduction to the study of the French Revolution in which
students are assigned and act out positions as leaders of major revolutionary factions. Role-playing begins as the newly-emerged National Assembly struggles to create a Constitution amidst internal chaos and threats of foreign invasion. Questions considered include: will the king be permitted to retain a semblance of power; can the Assembly contain the radical demands of “the People;” will Catholic priests obey the new revolutionary government or the dictates of the Pope; can the revolutionaries create a stable democratic regime, or was the violence and bloodshed of the Reign of Terror inevitable?

An introduction to the study of the past through looking at the way black slavery took root in America; how it shaped the lives of blacks, whites and Indians; how blacks in bondage developed a distinctive culture revealed in the lives of individuals like Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman and in the folk tales, spirituals, blues, language and customs of the African-American population. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introduction to American History through the study of biographical and autobiographical literature. Students will read biographies and autobiographies of such persons as George Washington, Louisa May Alcott, Frederick Douglass and Alice James. Special attention is paid to the relationship of biography to history, and how historians interpret the lives of those who have lived before them. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An investigation of the myths of American history, why they were created, and how they reflect American values. Some myths that might be explored are those associated with the noble savage, George Washington, the Plantation South, as well as the “Camelot” myths created about the Kennedy Administration. Students will formulate their own interpretations of people and events that have been the object of America’s mythological past. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An examination of civil and military issues, such as the causes of the war, strategy and tactics, and technological change, the limits of individual dissent, and changes in the status of minorities. Students explore why the North won and the South lost the conflict. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An examination of how knights and concubines serve as contrasting icons of Chinese culture. Through the use of fiction and film, this course shows how both groups have been idealized and reinterpreted in the nineteenth century and twentieth centuries to become something more exotic and mythical in both the Chinese and the American mind.

An examination of the significance and the impact of one of the most dramatic decades in American history. Particular attention is devoted to an elucidation of various “myths of the sixties” and to the role of the mass media in generating these myths. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introductory survey of Latin American cultural history through an examination of death. Topics might include the concepts of “political suicide” and the “political funeral,” the 19th-century fad for photographs of dead babies, counter-revolutionary death squads in 20th-century Central America and elsewhere, cemetery architecture and funeral rituals among Native American peoples before and after the Conquest, starvation in Brazil’s urban slums, Catholic responses to extreme poverty, witchcraft and folk medicines of the colonial era, and violence in the mass media. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introduction to the ways historians and other scholars have analyzed mass media and popular culture to understand the past, especially in regions other than the United States. The course examines such topics as how jokes and songs reflect social tensions or create social change; how parades and festivals reinforce or undermine political structures; how sports and television define or counteract gender roles. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

An introduction to the history of science and medicine through a close study of selected texts from ancient to modern times. Students examine changing concepts of nature, the human body, and scientific knowledge, and investigate their relation to the economic, political and cultural evolution of different societies. Open to first-year students and sophomores only.

Sophomore Seminars

The Nuremberg War Crimes Trial

An examination of the principles and practices of the International Military Tribunal which tried leading members of the Nazi Regime following the conclusion of World War II. Among the topics to be considered are the problem of reconciling moral precepts with written law, the development of the concept of international law for war crimes, the definitions of those crimes, the foundation of the court of justice at Nuremberg, and the strategies employed by the prosecution and defense.

Students and Social Protest in 20th Century China

An examination of the relationship between student movements and modern Chinese society and politics from the 1910s to the 1980s. Students were agents of modern China’s political transformation; their protests helped challenge traditional values and shape modern China. Among the topics to be considered are the modern educational system, the politicization of students and its impact on society, the cult of youth, gender, iconoclasm, the use of violence, as well as the limits of the students’ vision and organization.

Surveys

An introduction to the Medieval and Early Modern eras of European history. This course covers the period from the fall of Rome to the Thirty Years’ War. Among the topics considered are the role of the Roman Catholic Church, the development of the monarchical form of government, the institutions of feudalism and manorialism, the emergence of commerce, urban life, and the universities, the upheavals of the Renaissance and Reformation, and the rise and decline of noble power and Christian unity in the West.

A survey of three centuries of European history, with focus on the ages of absolutism and enlightenment, the French Revolution and subsequent revolts, the evolution of liberal democracy, the industrial revolution and the development of a modern economy, and the emergence of nationalism and socialism.

An introduction to major problems in the social, cultural, and political history of Europe in the 20th century, from the disillusionment of World War I to the challenges of post-communism. Among the topics explored are the impact of total war on European civilization, Nazism and the rise of authoritarian regimes during the inter-war period, the significance of the Russian Revolution for Europe, decolonization and Europe’s changing place in world affairs, the reconstruction of democracy after 1945, the division of Europe during the Cold War, and the future of the nation-state within a unified Europe.

An introduction to the historical, political, social and intellectual background of modern Germany. Typical discussion topics include the Congress of Vienna, the 1848 revolution, the first unification of 1871, the Weimar Republic, National Socialism, and the division of Germany after World War II. Special attention is paid to the unification process since 1989 and Germany’s role in international politics. (Taught in Cologne, Germany.)

A survey of Russian intellectual, cultural, and political history from the reign of Peter the Great to the fall of the Romanov dynasty in the February Revolution of 1917. Problems considered include the strengths and weaknesses of autocracy, Russia’s rise to prominence as a European power, the role of serfdom in Russia’s development and underdevelopment, the formation of Russia as a multi-national empire, the politics and culture of the intelligentsia, and the internal dynamics which helped produce revolution at the beginning of the 20th century.

A survey of major problems in the history of Russia and the Soviet Union during the 20th century, from the promise of the October Revolution of 1917 to the uncertainties of post-Soviet life. Among the topics explored are the causes of the 1917 revolutions, the nature of Bolshevism, revolutionary culture and utopianism during the 1920s, Stalinism and the transformation of Soviet society, the idea of the Soviet Union as a multi-national polity, the Great Patriotic War against Nazism, de-Stalinization and Soviet culture, the reconstruction of the Soviet system under Mikhail Gorbachev, and the complex legacies of Soviet socialism.

A survey of the major developments in French history beginning with the French Revolution. The course focuses on the economic and social foundations established for modern France in the Revolutionary and Napoleonic era and its political, intellectual, and cultural life since 1789. It considers such topics as the causes and importance of the Revolution, Napoleon’s career, the Revolutions of 1830 and 1848, the empire of Napoleon III, imperialism, socialism, industrialism, the impact of World War I, the Popular Front, Vichy and DeGaulle.

A survey of English history from the Norman Conquest to the Glorious Revolution. This course considers the social and economic foundations of political and cultural events. Emphasis is given to the Tudor and Stuart eras and to the development of English political and religious institutions.

A survey of English history from the Glorious Revolution to the start of World War II. This course considers the rise and decline of England in the modern world and treats broad political and social themes. Emphasis is given to the 18th-century oligarchy, the growth of democratic institutions, and the age of Queen Victoria.

An examination of the forces that have shaped the experiences of the American people from the age of discovery through the Civil War. The course focuses on the development of Anglo-American colonial society, the foundation of the new nation, the reforms of the Jacksonian Era, the causes of sectionalism, and the crisis of the Civil War.

An exploration of the emergence of modern America, addressing the effects of immigration, industrialization, imperialism, war and social change on the development of the United States since the Civil War.

An examination of the history of African-Americans from their earliest appearance in America to the end of the Civil War. Issues such as slavery, slave society and economy, African-Americans and the American Revolution, African-Americans and the Civil War, and the abolition of slavery are explored.

A survey of African-American history from the Civil War to the present. It is designed to provide students with a better understanding of the past as it affects the present, and to help students acquire knowledge of the interpretations employed by scholars concerning the history of Blacks in the United States since 1865.

An examination of early modern and modern Japan. Topics include the last feudal age (the Edo Period), the profound changes of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the development of the Japanese nation-state, the building of the Japanese empire, victory and defeat in WW II, and postwar economic growth. The course concludes with an analysis of the economic difficulties that plagued Japan in the 1990s.

An examination of the recent Chinese past. Topics discussed include: the last century of Qing rule, confrontation with Western nations, the Republican period, the warlords and the Nationalist and Communist movements in the early twentieth century, Japanese aggression, the communist state, the Cultural Revolution, and economic growth in the 1980s and 1990s.

A survey of political, social, economic, and cultural trends in East Asia from 1800 to the present. The course focuses primarily upon China, Korea, and Japan and to a lesser degree Vietnam. After an introduction to the tenets of East Asian civilization, we explore the profound changes that occurred in all four states as interaction with Western nations increased in the nineteenth century. We then examine the political, economic, and military conflicts of the twentieth century and conclude by focusing on the tremendous economic development that has shaped the region in more recent decades.

A survey of the Mexican past from the Mayan and Aztec empires, through the Spanish conquest, the colonial era, Independence, the Revolution, and the late 20th century. Special attention is paid to migration history, environmental history and the history of culture.

An introduction to Latin American history from the pre-Columbian era to the independence period. Topics considered include the diversity and complexity of Latin American indigenous civilizations before the arrival of Europeans; the Spanish impetus for New World exploration and conquest; the military conquest of the Aztec and Incan Empires; and the political and religious institutions, socio-economic structure, racial and ethnic attitudes, and cultural underpinnings of Spanish colonialism. Particular attention is paid to the modern ramifications of Latin America’s colonial past.

An examination of 19th- and 20th-century Latin American struggles to create effective national, political, and economic systems in a post- colonial global context. Through particular attention to legacies from the colonial period, students explore how gender, racial, ethnic, and class differences undergird political and economic structures, and how this historical relationship contributes to recent characteristics of the region, including “underdevelopment,” dictatorship, guerrilla warfare, narco-trafficking, democratization, and neo-liberal trade.

A comprehensive survey of ancient Greek political, social and cultural history based on the interpretations of primary sources, both literary and archaeological, from the Bronze Age to the end of the Classical period and the death of Socrates (399 BC). Topics include the intellectual history of 19th-20th century Bronze Age archaeology, the historicity of the society depicted in the Homeric poems, the rise of the Greek city-state, the constitutional history of Athens and Sparta, the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars, the development of Athenian drama (comedy and tragedy), and the origins and development of Greek philosophy.

A comprehensive survey of ancient Roman political, and social history based on the interpretation of primary sources, both literary and archaeological, from the foundation of the city through the dissolution of the Empire in the west. Topics include the Roman aristocratic moral code, Roman imperialism, Roman diplomatic interaction with the Hellenistic World, the decline and fall of the Roman Republic, the establishment of the Augustan principate, the Roman provincial city, the third-century crisis, the origins and development of Christianity, and the conversion of the emperor Constantine.

Advanced Topics

Students enrolling in History courses numbered 302 through 318 or 352 through 388 are advised to have previously completed a lower-level History course. Students enrolling in History courses numbered 324 through 342 are advised to have previously completed either History 230 or 232.

The age of experimentation. An examination of the principal developments of the period of the Renaissance. Among the topics considered are the rise of capitalism, social change and dislocation, the Italian city-states, the cultural and intellectual revival, and Humanism. The course concentrates on Italy during the period 1300-1500.

The crisis of authority. An examination of the major developments of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Within the context of change and unrest, the course will consider the decline of traditional concepts and structures of authority, the emergence of “New Monarchy,” Northern Humanism, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, and the conflicts among European powers.

An examination of European social, cultural, intellectual, political and economic life from 1648 to the eve of the French Revolution. The rise of absolutist states, overseas expansion and competition for empires, the ideas of the Enlightenment, and Enlightened Despotism will be considered.

An examination of the origins, nature, and impact of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic period. Among the topics considered are the birth of modern democratic political culture, the causes of revolutionary violence and terror, and the rise of modern nationalism.

A consideration of the cultural, social, and political questions associated with the rise of modern life and the weakening of traditional forms of thought and association. Topics considered include the concepts of individualism and society, the ideology of progress, the cultural dimensions of science and technology, the place of the city and urban culture in European civilization, the politics of class, race, and gender, the importance of Empire for European self-identity, and the significance of World War I and the Russian Revolution as expressions of the conflict between tradition and modernity.

A comparative investigation of the totalitarian regimes of Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union during the period 1917-1945. Emphasis is given to the role of modern states in sculpting and mobilizing society. Topics include the creation of the new man and woman, the politics of reproduction and populations, the definition of citizenship and participation, the organization of politics and the economy, and the aesthetics of power. These themes are explored through the critical study of film, art and architecture, literature, and historical texts.

An interdisciplinary inquiry into the conduct and consequences of World War I as viewed through the integrated perspectives of history and literature. Selected reading in both fields demonstrates how World War I shaped political events, literary attitudes, and personal lives far into the 20th century.

An examination of the origins of environmental and ecological consciousness in modern European society. Through a study of the works of leading social and political theorists and philosophers, this course traces the development of skepticism regarding the inherently beneficial nature of technological progress and scientific advance back to the dawn of the Industrial Age in late 18th-century Europe.

An examination of how various societies have dealt with political opposition throughout history. Why do some societies tolerate activities that others regard as crimes? Why do some societies treat “political criminals” relatively leniently while others do not? How far can a society extend the limits of tolerance and leniency and still survive?

A study of warfare in the modern era (1789-1945) with emphasis upon the works and influence of Clausewitz, Mahan, Corbett, Douhet and others.

An exploration of the development of Anglo-American society and culture in North America. The transfer of English ideas and institutions to the new world, the conflicts between native, white, and African cultures, the development of distinctive social, economic, and political differences in the colonies, and the emergence of an American identity are studied.

An analysis of the evolution of the United States from the French and Indian War to the Constitutional Era. The course is topical in organization. Students explore the society, economy, politics and religion of the Revolutionary Era. Special attention will be paid to the Revolutionary War itself, and the impact of that war on the daily lives of both women and men. The experience of native Americans and slaves in the Revolutionary Era is also studied.

An analysis of the era of sectionalism and social reform in American history, this course focuses on the age of Andrew Jackson, slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, and traces the evolution of American society from 1828 to 1867.

Concentrating on the period between Reconstruction and America’s entry into World War I (1876-1917), this topical course examines the development of the United States from a condition of agrarianism to that of a major world power.

A thematic study of major historical issues in the United States during the nineteenth century. Topics may include: the Civil War in American memory; the formation of American nationalism; the emergence of reform movements including abolition and emancipation, temperance, women’s rights, and evangelism; the United States in the context of the Atlantic World; and the development of constitutionalism and law in the United States.

A topical study of contemporary America, as rooted in the social, political, and economic development of the United States since World War I.

An analysis of the social, political, and economic role of women in American history from the colonial period to the present. Discussion of the family as a force in American history and the impact of the feminist movement on the major institutions of American life.

An exploration of the meaning and construction of masculine identities in America from the founding of the Republic to the present. Male experiences, including social class, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and age, are investigated from a chronological and thematic perspective. The link between masculinity and the popularity of sports, pornography, and the American proclivity for violence are also examined.

Topical study of the origins and subsequent development of American foreign policy, including the struggle for independence, Manifest Destiny, post-Civil War expansionism, the two World Wars, and the post-1945 period.

Topical study of American thought with primary emphasis on the assumptions, the ideas, and the individuals who shaped patterns of thinking in the past. The topics to be considered include Puritanism, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, Transcendentalism, Pragmatism and Liberal Democracy.

An examination of the ways in which the region of the American South has evolved from slavery to freedom. Emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of the course of black history, the secession crisis, the Civil War, the New South and the Sunbelt South.

350 East Asia and Europe: Commercial, Cultural and Diplomatic Encounters, 1500 – 1900

An analysis of early modern East Asian contacts with Europe. Among the topics considered are European perceptions of China and Japan, Chinese and Japanese views of Europe, the nature of commercial and diplomatic relations, the adoption of Christianity in East Asia, and how European-East Asian encounters influenced artistic trends.

A study of major historical, social and cultural issues of Asian history through viewing and analysis of film. Topics include: historical memory and filmic representation; political upheavals and colonial experiences in modern Asia; family and gender issues; and the confrontation between tradition and modernity.

A study of the experience of women in China from 1919 to 1989 focusing on feminist writing and film. Topics addressed include the vernacular language movement, New Literature, individualism, class, women’s emancipation, and the relationship between women and society, nation, and revolution.

An examination of the connections between personal and public life in Latin America from pre-colonial times through the present. Religious definitions and redefinitions of gender roles, the family as an economic and political unit in the 18th and 19th centuries, the regulation of prostitution in 19th- and 20th-century cities, changing images of masculinity in 20th-century mass media, and the rise of gay and lesbian political movements in the late 20th century are examples of topics the course contains.

An analysis of the physical conquest of Latin America and an examination of the ensuing blend of Spanish and Indigenous cultures. Topics considered include Spain’s assault on the Aztec, Inca, and Maya, Catholic efforts to convert Indigenous peoples, the rise of the Mestizo population, the role of women in the early colonial world, the effect of disease on the Native population, and creation of a “civil society” governed by Spanish crown. Prerequisite: One course in Latin American history, or permission of the instructor.

An examination of twentieth-century Latin American dictatorships and the developmental ramifications of authoritarian rule. Subjects considered include dictators and the cult of personality, the search for economic development, leftist political struggles, the position of indigenous groups within Latin America, continuing violence and social problems, the Cold War and U.S. involvement in Latin America, and present-day efforts to come to grips with a totalitarian past or present. Countries addressed may include Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Nicaragua, and/or Peru. Prerequisite: One course in Latin American history, or permission of the instructor.

An examination of race and ethnicity in the classical world. Consideration of the strengths and limitations of the conceptual categories of race and ethnicity for the study of ancient Greece and Rome provides the starting point. The study of Greek and Roman conceptualizations of collective, societal differences allows for an informed historical understanding of the continuities and ruptures in the nature and functions of collective identities and “invented traditions” in western civilizations. Recommended: History 260 and History 262.

An examination of speech and writing as media of communication in ancient Greece, from the time of Homer into the fourth century BC. The course focuses on the development of writing in the Greek world and the effect of this development on Greek culture and society. Among the topics studied are the oral performance of poetry, the function of writing in the Athenian democracy, and the importance of rhetoric for the intellectual life of the classical period. Recommended: History 260.

An investigation of responses to disease in different historical periods, with an emphasis on Europe and the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. The social and cultural influences on medicine and public health are a recurring theme. Among the topics explored are the definition of health and illness, epidemic and endemic diseases, the rise of professional and scientific medicine, therapeutics and theories of disease causation, public health and the individual, and the significance of class, gender, and race as factors shaping the experience of disease. Prerequisite: Sophomore status or above.

Internships

Liaisons: History Chair and Director of Special Collections

Inventorying, scanning, cataloging and indexing papers, letters, documents and artifacts in Special Collections under the supervision of the Library staff. Creating web sites for these collections is an important part of the intern’s responsibilities. Interns also work on the College’s Ida Tarbell Web Site and participate in the preservation of materials in that collection. Prerequisites: Permission of the History Department Chair and the Director of Special Collections.

Liaisons: History Chair and College Historian

Researching the history of Allegheny College as well as planning and installing displays of the College’s history on campus. Interns work closely with the Historian of the College, the College’s Heritage Committee, the staff of the Pelletier Library’s Special Collections, and local historical societies. Prerequisites: Permission of the History Department Chair and the Historian of the College.

Liaisons: History Chair and College Archivist

The design and execution of interviews as part of an ongoing oral history project of Allegheny College under the supervision of the College Archivist. The intern’s responsibilities may include transcribing interviews and handwritten material in the collection, inventorying and describing collection materials, and conducting research for administrative histories and for exhibit preparation. Interns may design and install exhibits of College history within the library and elsewhere on campus. Prerequisites: Permission of History Department Chair and the College Archivist.

Junior Seminars

A consideration of selected “show” trials in Western history as a means of investigating the phenomena of law and justice, political crime and political justice, and the relationship between the individual and the state. Through an examination of such diverse material as primary sources, secondary accounts, imaginative literature, and films, the seminar focuses on the institution of the trial as a political and philosophical event. Examples of types of trials to be considered include those of Socrates, Jesus, Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Galileo, Charles I, Louis XVI, Tom Paine, Sacco and Vanzetti, and John Scopes. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

An examination of various historical problems raised by the French Revolution. Among the topics considered are the struggle between revolutionary moderates and radicals, the role of public opinion, the question of revolutionary violence and terror, and the impact of international war. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

A critical study of the major historical interpretations and problems regarding the fall of the Russian autocracy and the rise of the Soviet Union, the world’s first communist regime. Analysis focuses on scholarly works, primary sources, memoir accounts, art, literature and film to understand how the Russian Revolution has been portrayed variously in historical memory. Among the major themes explored are the role of personality, accident, and political parties, the influence of ideology on individual and government action, social polarization and the possibility of evolutionary change in Russia, and the creation of historical myth under the Bolsheviks. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

This seminar investigates the social, political, economic, religious, and literary interpretations of the Salem Village witchcraft trials of 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony. The culture of Puritanism is explored. Students are required to formulate their own interpretation of the events studied. Prerequisites: History 230 or 324 and permission of the instructor.

The evolution of the family as a social, economic, and political institution is explored from the colonial period of American history to the present. The impact of wars, industrialization, immigration, and feminism on the family is analyzed. Special attention is paid to the methodology of family history and the relationship of family history to other forms of history and historical writing. Prerequisites: History 230 or 232, and permission of the instructor.

568 Bourbon Spanish America: Cultural Norms and Social Tension in the Age of Reform

A critical study of contemporary and historical interpretations of Spanish America on the eve of its independence from Spain. Focus is on the increasing socio-cultural, religious, political, and economic tensions produced by the Bourbon Reforms as the Spanish monarchy attempted to strengthen control over its overseas American empire. Among the topics considered are the rise of peasant and Indian rebellions, the religious “Americanization” of the Catholic faith, the increasingly rigid concept of social honor, the creation of a Creole and Mestizo military, the bitter struggle to retain/abolish slavery, the abrupt liberalization of trade policies, and the intense competition between Creoles and Spaniards for positions of power and prestige in colonial society. Prerequisites: History 250, 251 or 252, and permission of the instructor.

An investigation of the cultural and intellectual consequences of the Mexican Revolution. Arguments over the rights and responsi-bilities of citizens, proper and improper ways to represent Mexi-cans in art and mass media, patriotism, public education and— above all—the definition of “Mexican,” have dominated political discourse and shaped daily life for Mexicans since 1920. This seminar examines some of the books, films, paintings and other artifacts that have played a part in such arguments, and studies historians’ interpretations of the questions of national identity and nationalism in the 20th century. Prerequisites: History 250, 251, or 252, and permission of instructor.

An exploration of African American freedom movements in the United States in the post-1945 era. Through a focus on the efforts of African Americans and their allies to overcome persistent white supremacy and achieve racial justice in the United States, students explore the legal, historical, economic, and social origins of the civil rights movement, as well as its impact on American culture, politics, and international relations. Prerequisites: History 232 or 236, and permission of the instructor.

An examination of the experiences of perpetrators and victims in the totalitarian environment of the concentration, labor, and extermination camps of the Nazi regime (1933-1945). Drawing upon biographical and autobiographical accounts, as well as histories of the camps, the seminar considers the lives and actions of those individuals who administered the camps, as well as those who were confronted by the extremes of the Nazi principle of terror. The course focuses on the parameters of freedom of choice within the confines imposed by historical circumstance and explores the human capacity for living the moral life under the most extreme of conditions. Prerequisites: History 115 and permission of the instructor.

This course explores the formation of cultural identities in classical Greece and Rome and examines the political interests that these identities served. Readings in modern psychological, sociological and anthropological literature and cultural/literary theory supply the backdrop against which we read selected classical texts. The cultural construction of civilization (Hellenism, Romanitas) vs. barbarism is a theme that runs throughout the course. Ancient readings include Aeschylus’ Persians and Prometheus Bound, Plato’s Protagoras, the Hippocratic medical treatise Airs, Waters, Places, Isocrates’ Panegyricus, excerpts from the Greek historians Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon’s Cyropaedeia, Aristotle’s Politics, I and II Maccabees, and Polybius’ Histories. Special attention is given in the final week to the Roman historian Tacitus’ ethnographical treatise, Germania. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

An exploration of how the imaginative artist fashions history. Focusing especially on the history of Elizabethan England, it addresses how Shakespeare, in his history plays, recreated myths of England’s historical past from sources that themselves were creations: chronicles that mythologized events from the deposition of Richard II through the victory of Henry Tudor at Bosworth Field, with an eye to shaping the political present. Readings include selections from Tudor chroniclers and other prose tracts, Shakespeare’s two history tetralogies, and modern assessments of the history and politics of the Elizabethan era. Students also compare various film versions of the history plays. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

An exploration of class conflict in ancient Greece from the time of Homer to the fourth century BC. The course considers the representation of the lower classes in archaeological and literary sources and the influence of the lower classes on Greek politics and society. Among the topics studied are ancient slavery, class strife and the development of the Greek polis, and the relations between the masses and the elite in the Athenian democracy. Prerequisites: History 260 recommended, and permission of the instructor.

An historical study of social deviance in medical thought and practice with a concentration on the United States and Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. A close reading of scholarly writing and primary evidence is emphasized to explore the sources of medicine’s power in modern society and culture. Among the historical problems examined are scientific theories of human behavior, the delineation of the normal and pathological, the intersection of medicine and law, the statistical “discovery” of social illness, eugenics and the concept of degeneration, and the role of class, gender and race in the definition of the deviant individual. These themes are investigated through such problems as suicide, criminality, juvenile delinquency, prostitution, homosexuality and madness. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

A critical study of the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) as sociopolitical movement, collective memory, and historical trauma. The course provides an historical perspective to analyze the origin, process, and aftermath of the Cultural Revolution as both the continuation and the culmination of modern Chinese political crisis. Subjects considered include the rise of the cult of personality, anti- traditionalism, anti-intellectualism, xenophobia, student activism, changing gender identity, and state-sanctioned political violence. Prerequisites: History 244 and permission of the instructor.

An historical examination of the creation and persistence of nations and nationalisms from an international perspective. Even at their most basic level, definitions of “nation” and “nationalism” branch out to include blood, language, history, race and ethnicity, politics, and territory. The development of nations in Europe, North America, and Latin America from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries is discussed, including comparative references to the development of nations in Asia and Africa. Prerequisite: Permission of the instructor.

An historical examination of the period of the Second American Revolution, from 1846 to 1895. In the middle of the nineteenth century, the United States underwent a series of profound transformations centered on the Civil War and the long years of Reconstruction that followed. Among these transformations were the sectional developments of politics, the changing sphere of liberty, the abolition of slavery and the developing meaning of freedom, the relationship between the federal and state governments, and profound changes in the nature of the Constitution and laws. Not all of the transformations were immediately effective, but our task is to understand how they came about, developed, and changed the United States and its people. Prerequisites: History 140, History 230, or History 328 and permission of the instructor.

A mandatory preparatory seminar for History 610. Students write a
project proposal, develop an extensive bibliography, create a project outline, and present their research. The fundamentals of historical research and writing are also reviewed. Taken on a letter-grade basis. Credit: Two semester hours.

A continuation of History 600. The student completes the research and writing and gives an oral defense of the Senior Project.