HST102 American History Since 1865
(#32669)
Mr. Cohen

This course is an introduction to modern United States history. It considers the major trends that have shaped American life since the end of the Civil War. Among the subjects to be considered:

Reconstructing the Union. The Industrial Revolution and the transformation of work. Urbanization. Immigration and nativism. Farmers and the Populist revolt. Imperialism and white supremacy. Progressivism and reform. The Great War at home and abroad. 1919. Mass culture and the nineteen-twenties. The Crash and the Great Depression. The New Deal. American isolationism. World War II. Hiroshima. Anticommunism at home and abroad. The Korean War. Post-war prosperity and anxiety. Suburbanization. The Civil Rights movement. The Vietnam War and its opponents. Watergate. The Sexual Revolution and Women’s Liberation. Deindustrialization and malaise. The Reagan Reaction. The New World Order. The Virtual Economy and the Clinton years.

Through readings, lecture, and discussion sections, students will learn about the previous 135 years, discovering the ways in which past events shaped the world they live in today. Students will learn to construct persuasive arguments. Finally, students will gain essential information allowing them to participate fully in a democratic society.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Social Science Basic List, Writing Skills.

HST112 Napoleon to the Present
(#32688)
Mr. Pollock

This course provides a broad survey of modern European history from the early 19th century to the present. Themes will include: modernity and its discontents, the development of a universal idea of humanity, the advent and demise of fascism and Soviet communism, and the global nature of politics, economics, and military conflict. Readings will emphasize primary sources. There will be two lectures and one discussion section each week.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Humanities Basic List, Writing Skills.

HST145 Introduction to Historical Archaeology
(#32702)(Cross Listed with ANT 145)$20.00 Class Fee
Mr. Armstrong

The inter-disciplinary study of the past 500 years using archaeological documentary, cartographic, pictorial, and oral historical sources. Historical archaeology as a mechanism to critique perceptions of the past. Firsthand record of ethnic groups and cultural settings not recorded in writing.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Social Sciences Basic List.

HST201 Research Seminar: The English Civil War
Sec. 001(#35948)(Freshmen and Sophomores Only)
Mr. Jackson

The English Civil War is perhaps the most controversial subject in British history. In any case, many historians are still arguing vehemently about what happened and why it happened. This course is an opportunity for students not only to gain a general introduction to the subject, but also to explore more specific research topics of their own choosing.

The first few weeks of the course will be spent learning the narrative of events. Lecture, discussion, and a few textbooks will be used to acquire a basic mastery of what happened. During the first few weeks students will also be introduced to the kinds of primary documents used by historians of the English Civil War. After choosing a research topic in consultation with the instructor, students will draw upon various primary documents to write an original research paper of 20-25 pages.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Social Sciences Basic List, Writing Skills.
 

HST201 Research Seminar: China in Western Minds
Sec. 002(#35949)(Freshmen and Sophomores Only)
Mr. Kutcher

This is not a course in Chinese history. Instead, it is a course that examines the fascinating and complex world of American and European views of China. No prior knowledge of Chinese history is required. We spend the first weeks of class on a set of readings that introduce students to some of the experts from whom Westerners have learned about China. These range from the very scholarly to the very un-scholarly, and include academics, journalists, politicians, novelists, and missionaries. We also examine cinema, television, theatre, and other popular venues which perpetuated images of China. As the semester progresses, students develop their own research topic in consultation with the instructor, and with close guidance, write a substantial research paper.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Social Sciences Basic List, Writing Skills.

HST212 Religion in Medieval and Reformation Europe
(#32695)
Mr. Romano

This course explores religion and its influences on society in Western Europe from the beginnings of Christianity to 1600 C.E. While the focus is on Christianity, the course also surveys the influences of Judaism and Islam. Among the themes this course considers are the rise of Christianity, the cult of the saints, the development of monasticism, the relationship between religion and the changing economy, women’s spirituality (including what has been termed “Holy Anorexia”), the role of religious minorities, and the end of religious unity in the Reformation. Particular attention is devoted to the relationship between official and popular religious practices and beliefs. Students explore these themes through readings, lectures, discussion sections, and written exam and papers.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Humanities Basic List, Writing, Writing Skills.
 

HST231 English History
(#40728)
Mr. Kyle

This course is an introductory survey of England (and the British Isles) from the Roman occupation through the Anglo-Saxon, Norman, Plantagenet and Tudor-Stuart eras. It emphasizes political, constitutional, social, economic and cultural developments. The subjects discussed will include the Domesday Book, Magna Carta, the growth of Parliament, the Black Death, the impact of the printed word and literature on society, the Protestant Reformation and Catholic response, propaganda, the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution. The course will also examine the cult of personality and power that surrounded such monarchs as William the Conqueror, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.

The course will emphasize reading, discussion and web-based resources. From this students will learn the history of ‘an island set beyond the world’ (Isidore of Seville). Requirements will include two short papers, a midterm exam and class participation.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, IR Major, Humanities General List.

HST296 Development of Air Power: 1947 to the Present
(#35491)(Cross Listed with ASC 296)
Mr. Han

This course is taught in two independent semester courses; there is no prerequisite for either semester course. The fall semester focuses on factors contributing to the development of air power from its earliest beginnings through World War II, the beginnings of the Cold War, and the Korean War; the spring semester concentrates on the implementation and evolution of air power concepts and doctrines through the Cold War, Vietnam conflict, Desert Storm, and modern military air actions culminating in operations over Yugoslavia. We study the effects of political decision-making applied to military air campaigns, the effects of force modernization, and the resulting current and future readiness posture of modern American air forces.

Textbooks are provided by the course instructor. The class is comprised of lectures and class discussion with frequent use of videos and slides. Course assignments include two short one-page papers, a brief (5 minutes) presentation by each student, and two tests.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Lower Division, Social Sciences Basic List.

HST300 Selected Topics: China and the World in the 19th Century
Sec. 004(#38602)
tba

Course description not yet available; please check our History website for updates.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.  

HST300 Selected Topics: Communications in U.S. History
Sec. 005(#38614)
Mr. Schmeller

Americans have long professed tremendous faith in the power of "communication" to diffuse knowledge, remove prejudices, unify diverse peoples, resolve political disputes, and promote economic prosperity. Has this faith been rewarded? This course surveys the development of communications technologies and practices from the colonial era to the present. Through readings, lectures, and research projects, we will assess the impact of various media – books, newspapers, telegraphs, radio, photography, sound recording, film, television, the internet – upon American society, culture, and politics. Topics to be considered include religious communication, popular culture, censorship, racial and gendered stereotypes, fame and celebrity, the relation between mass media and nationalism, the ethics of journalism, propaganda, and advertising, and the shifting boundaries of privacy and publicity.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST302 Early American History
(#40202)
Mr. Webb

This course begins with Queen Elizabeth’s secret plan for the English invasion of America and concludes with the British imperial victories in America under Queen Anne. The immediate result of the English invasion of America was the death of 90% of the Native Americans. On the remnants of Amerindian cultures, the English built the American extensions of their new nation-state. Special attention will be given to the Algonquin responses to the English invasions. The American colonies were experiments in empire, social laboratories in which English religious, communitarian, economic, and political options – the choices of “the century of revolution” – were tested. Puritan Massachusetts; multi-ethnic New York; Quaker Pennsylvania; medieval Maryland; cavalier Virginia; plutocratic Carolina, all are followed from their “starving times” through decisive wars and alliances with the Native Americans, and through Anglo-American civil war and revolution, to the struggle with France for American supremacy. Requirements: class discussion; mid-term and final take home essay examinations; term paper.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List, Native American Studies Minor Field.

HST304 The Age of Jefferson and Jackson
(#40933)
Mr. Schmeller

The Age of Jefferson and Jackson, roughly the years from 1789-1850, was one of the most creative and dynamic periods in American history, and the one in which the political, economic and social institutions of modern America were forged, such as the modern two party system and market capitalism.

The major topics that will be dealth with for the period prior to 1815 will be: the development of political parties and the legitimization of the national authority; the roles of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams and James Madison in this political process; and the demographic, social, economic and geographic dimensions of the early republic.

The central organizing theme for the post-1815 period is how and why did a rural, agricultural, elite-dominated nation of scattered subsistence farms, fewer commercial farms and plantations and fewer still, cities and towns, become the more democratic and increasingly urban, commercial and industrial continental empire in mid-century? In order to answer this question, we will address the significance of the transportation and market revolutions and the contribution of the growing maturity of the party system with special emphasis upon Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party. The impact of urbanization, industrialization and immigration on Jacksonian America will also be examined. Particular attention will be paid to contrasting the hustling materialism of main street’s man-on-the-make with the growing disenchantment of many Americans with the success of market capitalism. This was evidenced by a strong utopian movement as well as countless reform societies working to abolish slavery, improve the status of women, outlaw war and curtail or abolish the consumption of alcoholic beverages. And finally, there will be a discussion of Jacksonian America’s treatment of the Indians, focusing particularly on the removal of the Cherokees from east of the Mississippi.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.  

HST308 Recent History of the United States, 1960 to the Present
(#32712)
Mr. Bennett

This course will examine a number of major developments in recent American history. Among the subjects considered: the informing experience of the forties and fifties; The Cuban crises of 1961 and 1962; to Dallas 1963; the Civil Rights movement and after; the Great Society; the Vietnam War at home and abroad; the multi-faceted social upheavals of the sixties; Watergate; the shattering economic defeats of the seventies; the hostage crisis and the election of 1980; the conservative reaction in the eighties and the rise of the New Right; Ronald Reagan’s America; the shaping of American military policy; the road to Iran-Contra; the end of the Cold War and the confrontation in the Gulf; recession and Bill Clinton’s victory; the economic successes of the nineties; the politics of scandal in the Clinton years; the bizarre election of 2000; September 11, 2001 and after – the “War on Terror”; the economic downturn of 2001-2002 and its implications.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.  

HST311 Medieval Civilization
(#37876)
Ms. Herrick

This course examines the civilization of medieval Europe from c. 800 to c. 1200. It begins with Charlemagne’s empire, and then traces the crises and responses, the innovations, conflicts and new ideas that the succeeding four centuries brought. The course will investigate the Viking invasions; the evolution of power, the changing (and often contested) role of the Church; violence, chivalry and Crusade; perceptions of other cultures; the importance of saints; ideas of kingship; economic developments; piety, and heresy; and the Renaissance of the twelfth century. We will read widely in primary sources (those medieval people produced themselves) to uncover how people saw their world in this challenging and innovative era. Emphasis will be on discussion, with brief lectures, and we will give attention to developing the skills of close reading, solid argumentation and clear writing.

Requirements include attendance and active participation, two papers analyzing primary sources, a mid-term and a final exam.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Humanities General List.  

HST313 Old Regime, Enlightenment, French Revolution
(#36726)
Ms. Fairchilds

What causes revolutions? This course will try to answer that question by examining the first great modern revolution, the model for all later ones, the French Revolution of 1789. Topics covered will include the weaknesses of the French state, the grievances of the various social groups, the influence of the Enlightenment and its ideals of democracy and human rights, the revolts of the workers, women, and black slaves within the Revolution, the Terror as a model for modern totalitarian regimes, and Napoleon’s rule in France and conquest of Europe. The readings, mostly original sources, will include the memoirs of a woman leader of the Revolution and of common soldiers and sailors who fought against Napoleon.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST321 Modern China
(#35955)
tba

This course will survey the history of China from the seventeenth century to the present. Our main theme will be Chinese people's difficult, sometimes painful, and occasionally rewarding encounter with modernity. We will view this encounter in its political, social, cultural, and intellectual aspects. Topics to be considered in depth include: society and culture under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911); the end of the dynastic system and the continuing quest for a viable political system; reform of Chinese culture through revolution; the challenge of changing old attitudes about gender roles; conflicting visions for the new nation; the critique of communism by dissident Chinese; the persistence and resurgence of traditional ways (as represented in such movements as Falun Gong), and the reinvigoration of Maoism in the 1990's.

Readings for this course are lengthy, but fascinating. We use a slim textbook to provide chronology, and supplement it with a variety of historical materials that include memoirs, fiction and poetry.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Humanities General List.

HST323 History of Latin America: The National Era Since 1825
(#40727)(Cross-Listed with LAS 313)
Ms. Jarvinen

Did you know that the wars of independence in Latin America were won thanks to the participation of thousands of indigenous and Afro-Latin American soldiers? In this course we’ll discover whether those soldiers origins reaped the economic and political rewards they had been offered by the leaders of independence struggles. Were you aware that slavery persisted in Cuba until the 1880s? In this class you’ll learn why. And, you’ll find out how the slaves themselves responded to their inhuman working and living conditions. Did you know that when Fidel Castro took power in 1959 he was not yet a communist? In this class we’ll explore why Castro steered the Cuban Revolution toward socialism and the consequences of that decision. Were you aware that in the 1980’s organized women played an important role in bringing down military dictatorships in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile? This class will help you understand why and how. In History 323 we’ll explore these and other topics as we survey 19th and 20th century Latin American history.
Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST329 Making of Modern India
(#36887)
Mr. Sen

This course explores how traditional India came under the authority of the East India Company and the British Raj, and how it achieved independence from Great Britain, in the period between the mid-18th and the 20th century. We examine how India was shaped under colonial rule by exploring different aspects of her society and culture from different points of view: agents of the British Raj, religious groups, the middle and educated classes, women and peasants. A major emphasis is placed on the rise of nationalism as a widely shared social and political agenda in the nineteenth and early twentieth century and the many-faceted fight for independence before and during the period of Gandhi. We also study other significant struggles that took place during the making of the nation-state in India and Pakistan, including peasant uprisings, movements of social reform and the politics of communal identity.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major Social Sciences General List.

HST333 African American History Since Reconstruction
(#37181)(Cross Listed with AAS 333)
tba

African American History since Reconstruction. This course will chart and examine the political, economic, cultural, and social history of African Americans from the turbulent Reconstruction period following the U.S. Civil War to the present. The course focuses particular attention on the intraracial significance of gender, class and skin color in the Black experience, as well as the pervasive impact of individual and institutional racism. An emphasis will also be placed on studying issues of change and continuity with respect to the Black freedom movement.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST337 United States in World Politics Since 1914
(#32715)
Mr. Stinchcombe

American diplomacy since 1914.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST338 The American South Before 1861
(#40203)
Mr. Strickland

This course is the first half of a survey of the southern United States, ending with the outbreak of the Civil War. The structure will be both chronological and topical, treating such issues as the peoples of North America before European contact, the settlement and development of the colonial South, politics in the late colonial, revolutionary, and antebellum years, slavery, gender, family, economics, and the interrelationships of all of these areas. While there will be some short lecturing and explanation when required, the class will be driven by discussion and students should expect to participate. Twenty five percent of the final grade will come from participation. There will also be 3 writing assignments of about 1,500 to 2,000 words and a final exam. Each of these will rely on a set of common readings.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST341 The Modern Presidency
(#40204)(Cross-Listed with PSC 329)
Ms. Thompson

This course will analyze the evolution of the modern presidency and its present operation. The focus of our attention will be on the years since the Second World War, especially on those since 1960. The decision making process and operation of presidential administrations from Kennedy to George W. Bush will be studied in detail. We shall consider the various roles that the president plays in government and in national society. The presidency as an institution and as an individual office will be examined to identify factors that have contributed to the successes and failures of particular administrations. This course shall also examine the roles and influence of unelected officials (esp. senior White House staff), and popular attitudes toward both the symbolic and the practical presidency—especially as they have been shaped by the mass media. We will consider what lasting effects, if any, events during the last quarter century have had upon the presidency as an institution. Finally, since this is primary election season, we will pay special attention to the nominating process and ongoing presidential campaign.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Political Science Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST347 Twentieth Century U.S. Politics: Thorough Fiction
(#40778) (Meets with AMS 305)
Ms. Thompson

In this course we will use novels to examine major themes in the political consciousness of twentieth-century American society. The focus will be on specific events and movements (Progressive reform, radicalism, feminism and racial justice, the Cold War and globalism), as well as more persistent concerns – like alienation and depersonalization, discrimination, authoritarianism, violence, bureaucratization, corruption. This is primarily a discussion-based course, although students also will be expected to write four short essays based on the novels we read (there are no exams).

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST353 History of Ancient Rome
(#36185)
Mr. Champion

A comprehensive survey of ancient Roman political, economic, social and cultural 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. Special focus is given to important topics and themes in Roman history, including Roman foundation legends, the interrelationship of Roman statecraft and Roman religion, Roman aristocratic ethical values and imperialism, the Roman reaction to Greek culture and literature, the imperial cult of the Roman emperor, the position of women in Roman society, the Roman institution of slavery, the origins and early growth of Christianity, the third century CE military and economic crises, and modern ideas on Rome's transformation into medieval Europe. Short paper, mid-term and final examinations.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Humanities General List.

HST359 Modern Britain, 1850 to the Present
(#40725)
Ms. Edwards

Please contact Professor Pamela Edwards for a course description: pjedward@maxwell.syr.edu

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST382 Introduction to Law
(#40726)(Cross-Listed with HNR 360)Honors Only 
Mr. Kyle

This course will cover the history and traditions of English Common and Civil Law as well as elements of medieval and early modern jurisprudence. It will examine the development of the law in England, focusing upon such areas as the centralization of the legal system, the role of legal theorists (in particular, Bracton, Glanvile and Sir Edward Coke), the role of the jury in the legal process and how common, civil and ecclesiastical law intersected with the political process. To this end we will consider the importance of the legislature, the executive (in the form of the monarch), and the unwritten constitution of England. These aspects of legal history will allow us to explore not only significant legal cases and milestones in judicial thought, but how these events had an impact upon the thinking and institutions of American colonial society. This course is designed to be an introduction to law from a liberal arts and historical perspective.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List

HST392 History of the Holocaust
(#40205)(Cross-Listed with JSP 392)
Mr. Marquardt

This course will focus on what happened and why in the persecution and then destruction of millions of European Jews in Nazi-controlled Europe between 1933 and 1945. We will do this by asking questions about three groups of people: (1) The perpetrators: What lay behind the decisions and actions of both policy makers and lower-level killers? (2) The Jewish victims: What was the experience of Jewish victims at different stages during the escalation of violence against them, and how did they respond to it? (3) The bystanders: What did individuals and governments who stood outside this process know, and how did they react?



We will read 5-6 books, some of which will be demanding, since the history of these events was much more complicated and confusing than TV documentaries suggest. Classes will consist of lectures, discussions of the readings, and a small number of documentary films. Written work will consist of four papers (6-8 & 8-10 pages) based on the assigned readings.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List, Judaic Studies.
 

HST400 Selected Topics: The Atom Bomb
(#32722)Sec. 001
Mr. Stinchcombe

Please contact Professor William Stinchcombe for information regarding this course: wcstinch@maxwell.syr.edu

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: Roman Imperialism
(#37170)Sec. 001
Mr. Champion

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.

This is a research and writing course. Each student will conduct research and write a paper of 20-30 pages on some aspect of Roman imperialism. We meet for 8 weeks to discuss readings. Collectively we focus on particular discussion topics. Students lead discussions, either individually or in panels, on discussion topics. Thereafter, each student begins to focus on her or his own research topic. Weeks 9-13 are for independent work on research topics. We come together again in Weeks 14-15 to discuss the progress of our research. We build up to the final draft in stages, with write-ups of preliminary positions and rough drafts. Discussion topics include 1) the growth of Roman power and imperial motivations; 2) political, social, and economic consequences of empire; 3) ideology and government of empire; 4) ‘Romanization’: cultural assimilation, hybridization, and resistance; and 5) the frontier: imperial strategy and defense of empire.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: Plague and Epidemic in History
(#32734)Sec. 002
Mr. Romano

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.



Throughout recorded history, humankind has been subject to devastating outbreaks of epidemic diseases. In his history of the Peloponnesian War, the Greek historian Thucydides chronicled the consequences of the plague that struck Athens in 430/29 BCE. In modern times, we have witnessed the rise and spread of AIDS and most recently of SARS.



In this seminar, students will undertake research, based on primary sources, on some aspect of the incidence of epidemic disease in history. Students will choose one particular occurrence of disease (for example, the Bubonic Plague of 1348, the Spanish Influenza of 1918, or the recent outbreak of AIDS) and then focus their research on a discreet aspect of that outbreak. Among the many topics students may wish to examine are: the governmental response to the disease, the medical response and the role of doctors, the economic consequences, or literary and artistic reactions to the epidemic.



After two or three weeks of common reading, students will select a topic for research and meet on a weekly basis with the professor to report on their research progress. The final product will be a twenty-five page paper based on primary sources.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Humanities General List, Social Science General List.
 

HST401 Senior Seminar: Nazi Germany
(#36165)Sec. 003
Mr. Marquardt

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.



Half a century after its defeat the Nazi Third Reich remains an object of grim fascination. We still seek to explain why and how Hitler came to power, how he constructed a totalitarian state, what everyday life was like in that society, how Hitler achieved such dramatic foreign conquests, and how the Nazi state was able to carry out the Holocaust.



In this course we will first introduce ourselves to these questions in a general way by means of general readings. Thereafter, each student will, in manageable steps, research and write a paper on a specific topic of his or her choice.



Typical topics might include: Nazi measures to combat the depression of the 1930s, the character of everyday life in Nazi Germany, perceptions of Nazi Germany in the American press, Hitler’s political tactics, Hitler’s foreign policy, the behavior and ethos of Germany military officers under Hitler, German resistance movement, the mentality of the SS, the effects of Nazi concentration and extermination camps on the mentality of the prisoners. Major sources would include the transcripts of the Nuremberg Trials, diplomatic documents, contemporary memoirs and survivor accounts, as well as American and British newspapers.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Science General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: American Writers
(#38037)Sec. 005
Ms. Lasch-Quinn

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.

This advanced undergraduate research seminar is devoted to the study of the New York intellectuals in historicl perspective. The New York intellectuals is a phrase used to refer to those authors, including Lionel and Diana Trilling, Dwight Macdonald, Mary McCarthy, Daniel Bell, Saul Bellow, Irving Howe, and others, who were clustered around the Partisan Review, an important journal of cultural criticism that had its heyday in the 1930s. While the journal eventually waned in significance, the New York intellectuals continued to exert a towering intellectual influence on American thought. Each student will select one of these intellectuals for intensive study in all available primary and secondary sources. Primary sources will include the published writings of the author selected including those in the Partisan Review, as well as letters, memoirs, journals, and the like. Secondary sources will include biographies and works of cultural history bearing on the person and his or her times. The result of extensive reading and research will be the production of a substantial (30-page or so) research essay based on original research and insight. At the start of the semester, students will complete and discuss in class common readings designed to deepen their understanding of the intellectual and social milieu, personal and professional quandaries, and limits and contributions of the New York intellectuals. Such readings will include, among others, parts or all of the following:

Lionel Trilling, The Liberal Imagination

Russell Jacoby, The Last Intellectuals

Mary McCarthy, The Group

Joseph Dorman, ed. Arguing the World: The New York Intellectuals in their Own Words

Irving Howe, Margin of Hope

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: The 1960's
(#38631)Sec. 006
Mr. Strickland

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.



This is a research course designed to meet the department’s requirement for majors and minors. While other students will be welcome, first preference will be given to those seeking to satisfy this requirement. There will be some preliminary reading to orient everyone to the issues of the decade, but the single assignment of the course is a paper based on original research in primary sources. Students should expect to produce a draft for class discussion and then a final version of at least 30 pages excluding the footnotes and other scholarly apparatus. There will be “checkpoints” along the way to the completion of the paper that must be met if students are to remain in the course. Topics will derive from individual interests, but I will actively involve myself in directing everyone toward a project that is meaningful, focused, and consistent with the time available in an academic semester.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: Truth and Fraud in the Middle Ages
(#40777)Sec. 007
Ms. Herrick

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.



Medieval people had very different notions from our own about truth and fraud, the process of reading, and the meaning of written records. They might forge documents in the cause of justice, or misrepresent historical events and individuals in the interests of truth. Similarly, medieval thinkers looked for truth by reading both texts and history in a particular fashion. Our goal in this course will be to elucidate this peculiarly medieval approach to truth, fraud, reading, and writing.



This course is a research seminar: we will explore questions of literacy and truth as a group through common readings and discussion. Additionally, each student will undertake an original work of research to examine in depth a particular aspect of our larger focus. Topics will be chosen early in the semester in consultation with the instructor. Research will then take place throughout the semester, with weekly assignments directed toward the achievement of a final paper. Class time will be devoted both to discussion of common readings and to discussion of research techniques, problems, and progress. This seminar involves two components: collective exploration of a common theme, and an individual project of original research resulting in a paper of 25-30 pages, which will constitute 50% of the final grade. Requirements further include active participation in class and a formal oral presentation of your research project.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Sciences General List.

HST401 Senior Seminar: Stalinism
(#40934)Sec. 008
Mr. Pollock

NOTE: ALTHOUGH HST 401 IS ORDINARILY TAKEN IN THE SENIOR YEAR, MANY STUDENTS CHOOSE TO TAKE IT AS EARLY AS THE FIRST SEMESTER OF JUNIOR YEAR.



In this course we will examine one of the most deadly and perplexing phenomena of the twentieth century: Stalinism. During Joseph Stalin’s reign (ca. 1927 to 1953) the people of the Soviet Union experienced events of astonishing scale and revolutionary change. Rapid industrialization, massive collectivization, famine, purges, state terror, devastating world war, and foreign occupation brought unprecedented suffering and premature death to tens of millions of Soviet citizens. For some, these hardships were justified by the official goals of the system. For others, no ends could justify the coercion, violence, and relentless propaganda endemic to the regime. Still others in the Soviet Union and around the world stood somewhere in between – they were sympathetic to the USSR’s goals but critical of its means. After a number of introductory class sessions, students will embark on a substantial research paper on some aspect of Stalinism in the USSR, or in Eastern Europe, or in the hearts and minds of those outside the system. During subsequent classes students will consult with the instructor one-on-one, present progress reports, read and edit one another’s work, and, finally, present to the seminar a finished paper of approximately 20 to 30 pages.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, IR Major, Social Science General List.

HST434 The Underground Railroad
(#37878)(Cross Listed with AAS 434/634 and ANT 494/694)
Mr. Sernett

This course offers students opportunities to research and interpret the historical significance of the Underground Railroad, with special emphasis on its operations in Upstate New York. We explore the myth and the reality of the Underground Railroad in the context of African American freedom efforts before the Civil War and introduce students to primary sources and case studies. Attention is given to the implications of the New York State Freedom Trail Program Act (1997) and the National Underground Railroad Act (1990) for research, preservation, and educational activities. Visits to historic sites, multi-media presentations, and archival and Internet explorations enhance course content. Use is made of the "Harriet Tubman Research Collection" of the Martin Luther King, Jr., Library, in the Department of African American Studies. The Spring 2004 offering of the course is supported by a grant from the Vision Fund. These funds will enable student task forces to design multimedia presentations on URR history in selected portions of New York State and Canada for posting on the Internet. The course is open to Majors and Minors in the Departments of African American Studies, History, and Anthropology as well as graduate students in these three departments. Class size is limited to 25 students, inclusive of all departments. Cross listed with AAS 434/634 and ANT 494/694.



Texts:

Gara, Larry. The Liberty Line: The Legend of the Underground Railroad. Lexington: Univ. Press of Kentucky, 1996.

National Park Service. Underground Railroad: Official National Park Handbook. Washington, D. C.: U.S. Department of the Interior, 1998.

Sernett, Milton C. North Star Country: Upstate New York and the Crusade for African American Freedom. Syracuse: Syracuse Univ. Press, 2002.

Taylor, M. W. Harriet Tubman: Antislavery Activist. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 1991.

Applicable to the following requirements: History Major Upper Division, Social Sciences General List.

HST490 Independent Study
(#32736)(Instructor Consent Required)
Staff

Proposal Required.

HST499 Honors in History
(#35918)(Instructor Consent Required)
Staff

Proposal Required.