HIAF 1501: Runaways, Rebels, and Revolutionaries

Introductory Seminar in African History

Instructor: James La Fleur

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

HIAF 2002: Modern African History

Instructor: John Edwin Mason

Studies the history of Africa and its interaction with the western world from the mid-19th century to the present. Emphasizes continuities in African civilization from imperialism to independence that transcend the colonial interlude of the 20th century.

HIAF 3031: History of the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade

Instructor: Amir Syed

This course concerns the trans-Atlantic slave trade, with an emphasis on African history. Through interactive lectures, in-class discussions, written assignments and examinations of first-hand accounts by slaves and slavers, works of fiction and film, and analyses by historians, we will seek to understand one of the most tragic and horrifying phenomena in the history of the western world.

HIAF 3051: West African History 

Instructor: James La Fleur

History of West Africans in the wider context of the global past, from West Africans' first attempts to make a living in ancient environments through the slave trades (domestic, trans-Saharan, and Atlantic), colonial overrule by outsiders, political independence, and ever-increasing globalization.

HIAF 3112: African Environmental History

Instructor: James La Fleur

This course explores how Africans changed their interactions with the physical environments they inhabited and how the landscapes they helped create in turn shaped human history. Topics covered include the ancient agricultural revolution, health and disease in the era of slave trading, colonial-era mining and commodity farming, 20th-century wildlife conservation, and the emergent challenges of land ownership, disease, and climate change.

Concentrations/Pathways: Environment, Space, and Society

HIAF 4501: Photography and Freedom in Africa 

Seminar in African History

Instructor: John Edwin Mason

Photography and Freedom in Africa, blends African history, American history, and the history of photography to explore the ways in which both African and western photographers shaped and misshaped the world's understanding of Africa during the era of anti-colonial struggles and the Cold War.

HIEA 1501: Thought and Religion in Early China

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Ellen Zhang

HIEA 1501: Question of "China"

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

HIEA 3111: China to the Tenth Century

Instructor: Ellen Zhang

Surveys the social, political and economic organization of traditional Chinese society, traditional Chinese foreign policy, and major literary, artistic, and intellectual movements.

HIEA 3162: Historical China and the World

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

The course traces China's external relations from antiquity to our own times, identifying conceptions, practices, and institutions that characterized the ancient inter-state relations of East Asia and examining the interactions between "Eastern" and "Western," and "revolutionary" and "conventional" modes of international behavior in modern times. The student's grade is based on participation, midterm test, final exam, and a short essay.

HIEA 3559: A History of Japan from 1945 to Present

New Course in East Asian History

Instructor: Robert Stolz

Lecture course on the history of Japan from the defeat in 1945 to the present. Topics will include the Occupation, the high-growth period, the “Lost Decade” of the 1990s, as well as political, social, and environmental protest movements. Assignments will include short papers, in-class writings, participation, and a final take-home exam.  

HIEA 4501: Cultural Revolution in China

Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Brad Reed

A small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIEU 1502: History, Knowledge, and Sensibility

Introductory Seminar in Post-1700 European History

Instructor: Allan Megill

Intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

HIEU 2041: Roman Republic and Empire

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

A survey of the political, social, and institutional growth of the Roman Republic, with close attention given to its downfall and replacement by an imperial form of government; and the subsequent history of that imperial form of government, and of social and economic life in the Roman Empire, up to its own decline and fall.  Readings of ca. 120 pages per week; midterm, final, and one seven-page paper; quizzes.  Readings will be drawn from the following: Sinnegan and Boak, A History of Rome (text); Livy, The Early History of Rome; Plutarch, Makers of Rome; Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars; Tacitus, Annals of Imperial Rome; Apuleius, The Golden Ass, R. MacMullen, Roman Social Relations and a course packet.

HIEU 2061: The Birth of Europe

Instructor: Paul Kershaw

Studies ways of life and thought in the formation of Western Europe from the 4th century a.d. to the 15th. Includes a survey of the development of society and culture in town and countryside, the growth of economic, political, and religious institutions, and the impact of Muslim and Byzantine civilizations.

HIEU 2112: Modern Britain: Kingdom, Empire, Nation

Instructor: Erik Linstrum

This course surveys the history of modern Britain from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the resurgent nationalisms of the present.  Themes include the state-building, overseas expansion, and widening inequality of the Georgian years; the industrialization, urbanization, and increasingly assertive imperialism of the Victorian era; and the problems of war, decolonization, and decline in the twentieth century. 

HIEU 2162: History of Russia Since 1917

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

Explores the collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of the Communist state. Emphasizes the social revolution, Stalinism and subsequent 'de-Stalinization,' national minorities, and the collapse of the Soviet regime.

HIEU 3021: Greek and Roman Warfare

Instructor: J.E. Lendon

An advanced course for students familiar with the outlines of Greek and Roman History, Greek and Roman Warfare will survey the military history of the classical world from Homeric times to the fall of the Roman Empire in the West.  Themes of the course to include the influence of social and cultural factors on methods of warfare—and vice versa, the birth and development of tactics and strategy, the relationship of technology to warfare, and the evolution of the art of battle description.  Topics will include the nature of Homeric warfare, the Greek phalanx, Greek trireme warfare, the Macedonian phalanx, the rise and evolution of the Roman legion, the culture of the Roman army, the defense of Roman frontiers, suppression of rebellions, the Roman army and politics, and Roman military decline in late antiquity. Reading of c. 140 pages a week, midterm, final, and two seven-page papers, one of which can be replaced with a construction project.

J. Warry, Warfare in the Classical World (U. Oklahoma Pr.), J. E. Lendon, Soldiers and Ghosts:  A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity (Yale U. Pr.), V. D. Hanson, The Western Way of War, 2nd ed. (U. Cal. Pr.), Aeneas Tacticus, Asclepiodotus, Onasander (trans. Illinois Greek Club; Loeb Classical Library: Harvard U. Pr.), D. Engels, Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army (U. Cal. Pr.), Polybius, Rise of the Roman Empire (trans. Scott-Kilvert; Viking/Penguin), B. Campbell, The Roman Army, 31 BC - AD 227:  A Sourcebook (Routledge), Julius Caesar, The Gallic War (trans. Hammond; Oxford U. Pr.), Josephus, The Jewish War (trans. Williamson; Viking/Penguin), E. Luttwak, The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire (Johns Hopkins U. Pr.), Ammianus Marcellinus, The Later Roman Empire (trans. Hamilton; Viking/Penguin). And a xerox packet with selections from: Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Tacitus.

HIEU 3091: Ancient Law and Society

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

This new course examines the relationship of law and society in classical Athens and ancient Rome:  their legal systems in their respective historical contexts.  Such a comparison allows us to ask, What is law?  What do Athenians and Romans think its role should be?  How effective is law in meeting its goals?  How do law, judicial procedure, legal argument, and legal culture develop over time?  Each system offers fundamental insight into the influence of social norms and politics on the development of law, but also into how societies differ, depending on their legal institutions and legal culture.  Requirements include class discussion, two 5-7 page papers, midterm, final.  Readings will be drawn from extensive selections posted on the course web site, as well as from: Paul du Plessis, Borkowski’s Textbook on Roman Law (2010); Carey, Trials from Classical Athens (2nd edition, 2011); and J. Crook, Law and Life of Rome (reprint, 2008).

Graduate students interested in this course should plan to sign up for the 9000-level tutorial on Greek and Roman Law, whose meeting time we will determine on the basis of students’ schedules.

HIEU 3501: Film and Memory in Postwar Europe

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor:  Erik Linstrum

This seminar introduces ideas of collective memory, visual culture, and national identity through the study of postwar European cinema. The reconstruction and remembrance of past events, the use of historical narratives to make sense of the present, and the potential for films to function as historical sources are all considered.

HIEU 3692: The Holocaust

Instructor: Victoria Barnett

This course aims to clarify basic facts and explore competing explanations for the origins and unfolding of the Holocaust (the encounter between the Third Reich and Europe's Jews between 1933 and 1945) that resulted in the deaths of almost six million Jews.

HIEU 3802: Origins of Contemporary Thought

This class examines the work of four thinkers who have been massively important in modern thought: Charles Darwin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Sigmund Freud, and Martin Heidegger. The span is from Darwin's Origin of Species (1859) to Heidegger’s path-breaking Being and Time (1927), but issues of contemporary relevance will be kept firmly in mind, and these thinkers will all be connected to the wider intellectual and cultural contexts that they reflected and in part also created.

Instructor: Allan Megill

HIEU 4511: Late Archaic Greece

Colloquium in Pre-1700 European History

Instructor: J.E. Lendon

The major colloquium is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the colloquium. Colloquia are most frequently offered in areas of history where access to source materials or linguistic demands make seminars especially difficult. Students in colloquia prepare about 25 pages of written work. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIEU 5011: Late Archaic Greece

Instructor: J.E. Lendon

This course examines the history of Greece in the late archaic age down to the end of the Persian wars (c. 650-479 BC). The course will begin with consideration of Herodotus, our main source for this period, proceed through a set of topics on political, constitutional, social, cultural, and economic history, and end up with systematic reading and discussion of Herodotus’ account of the Persian Wars.  Neglected for the most part are religion, art and archaeology, and literature qua literature. This is an advanced course; it assumes familiarity with the general outlines of Greek History and institutions. HIEU 2031 Ancient Greece or equivalent, is strongly recommended as a prerequisite for undergraduates.

Reading will average 250 pages/week. Requirements will include participation in discussion, oral reports, papers on scholarly controversies, and a final exam.

HIEU 9029: Tutorial in History of Reformation Europe

Instructor: Erin Lambert

Surveys the history and historiography of European Christianity c. 1450-1650.

HIEU 9040: Tutorial in Greek and Roman Law

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

This graduate tutorial introduces students to the details and interpretations of antiquity's two greatest legal systems, although it will be specifically tailored to the needs and interests of the individual students. Readings will be drawn from both primary and secondary sources; students will be expected to master the information provided by the primary sources and write two analytical summaries of recent secondary works.

HILA 1501: Gender, Violence, and Migration

Introductory Seminar in Latin American History

Instructor: Lean Sweeney 

This seminar uses Latin American experiences of migration as the lens through which gender-based violence can be identified, understood, and efforts to combat it highlighted. Students should expect to do some background reading on gender-based violence, the Latin American context, and the societal effects of migration, as well as engage in their own research on a particular topic.  

HILA 2002: Modern Latin America, 1824 to Present

Instructor: Thomas Klubock

Introduces the history of Latin America from national independence in the early 19th century to the present.

HILA 3021: Human Rights in Latin America

Instructor: Lean Sweeney 

Covers issues of human rights violations, defense, reparations, and prevention, from independence movements through the Cold War, neoliberalism, extractivism, racism, and transnational migration, trade and crime.

HILA 3559: Latin America during the Age of Revolution

New Course in Latin American History

Instructor: Nicholas Scott

The creation of this course will allow for the department to boost course offerings in Latin American history. In addition to student demand for Latin American history courses, there is also reasonable demand for more courses focused on race, native history, and the histories of African descended people in the Atlantic World which this course will provide. 

HIME 2002: The Making of the Modern Middle East

Instructor: Christopher Gratien

What historical processes that have shaped the Middle East of today? This course focuses on the history of a region stretching from Morocco in the West and Afghanistan in the East over the period of roughly 1500 to the present. In doing so, we examine political, social, and cultural history through the lens of "media" in translation, such as manuscripts, memoirs, maps, travel narratives, novels, films, music, internet media, and more.

HIME 3192: From Nomads to Sultans: the Ottoman Empire, 1300-1700

Instructor: Joshua White

A survey of the history of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins around 1300 to 1700, this course explores the political, military, social, and cultural history of this massive, multi-confessional, multi-ethnic, inter-continental empire which, at its height, encompassed Central and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North Africa.

HIME 3501: A Global History of Print Before Gutenberg

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Kristina Richardson

In this course we'll learn about printing in ancient Mayan and East Asian societies; in medieval Central Asia, Middle East, and Africa; and in medieval and early modern Europe. We will also learn how technologies moved across continents, connecting different cultures. Ultimately, students should come to see the pre-Gutenberg period as a vibrant and innovative stage in print history.

HIME 9027 - Tutorial in Ottoman History to c. 1820

Instructor: Joshua White

This tutorial surveys the history and historiography of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins through the 18th century. Initial readings introduce major historiographical debates and political, military, and institutional history of the Empire, before moving into the historiography of the 16-18th centuries and current trends in multiple sub-fields. Specific works read and discussed will be shaped in part by interests of students enrolled.

HISA 3003: Twentieth-Century South Asia

Instructor: Neeti Nair

Surveys 100 years of Indian history, defining the qualities of the world's first major anti-colonial movement of nationalism and the changes and cultural continuities of India's democratic policy in the decades since 1947.

HISA 4501: The Partition of India

Seminar in South Asia

Instructor: Neeti Nair

The 1947 Partition of the Indian subcontinent and the creation of the new nation-states of India and Pakistan have spawned a rich historiography on its causes and still-unfolding consequences. This course aims to provide students with a deep background of communal relations in British India, an overview of the negotiations and tensions that eventually necessitated the partition, and an examination of a few of the transformations that were among its lasting consequences: the wars over Kashmir and the creation of Bangladesh are cases in point. Students will spend the latter half of the semester working on 20-page research seminar papers.

HISA 9022: Tutorial in Modern South Asian History

Instructor: Neeti Nair

In this tutorial we will read and discuss a wide range of texts about South Asia's rich and contentious past. Major topics include change and continuity under colonial rule; law and colonialism; debates over nationalism and the Partition of the subcontinent; and developments in post-colonial South Asia.

HIST 2301: Democracy in Danger

Instructor: William Hitchcock and Siva Vaidhyanathan

Democracy is in trouble today. Why? This course explores the growing threats to democracy in the United States and globally. Topics include: the impact of xenophobia, racism and radical nationalism on democracy; the rise of far-right media; the appeal of ethno-nationalism; the growth of White Power militias; legal barriers against voting, immigration and citizenship; as well as the impact of social media and cyber-based disinformation.

HIST 3501-001: Digital Map History

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: S. Max Edelson

This workshop introduces students to map history research as well as digital humanities methods using GIS software tools. The focus of our work will be the Seymour I. Schwartz Collection of North American Maps, 1500-1800, an important new collection at UVA’s Small Special Collections Library. Students will research maps in the collection and produce ArcGIS Storymaps that visualizes their findings.

HIST 3501-002: Race, Religion, & Resistance in Atlantic History

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Amir Syed

This course introduces students to how historians conceptualize the Atlantic World and approach the entangled histories of Europe, Africa, and the Americas from the 15th to the 19th centuries. Students will learn how to ask historical questions, examine issues on the production of historical narratives, and interpret documents.

HIST 3501-003: Sugar in Global History

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: David Singerman

The demand for sugar has shaped the modern world. Along with grain, cotton, and oil, it's one of the crucial commodities of the past 500 years, and we only ever seem to want more of it. But is our modern sweet tooth just human nature, or is it a product of larger forces? What are the costs of our craving, to human beings and the nonhuman world? A simple sugar crystal, it turns out, is a window both into global history and into how history works. 

HIST 3501-004: Microhistory and the Historian's Craft

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Joshua White

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

HIST 4501-001: Using and Abusing Medieval Past in Modern World

Major Seminar

Instructor: Paul Kershaw

Representations of the medieval past are a pervasive – and often problematic – presence in the twenty-first century. This class explores the nature of that exploitation and its past: the ways in which the Middle Ages have been used and abused, from the nineteenth century to the present, placed in the service of political agendas ranging from European and US nation building in the nineteenth- century through to the extremism of today, including ISIS/Daesh and the alt-right. We'll also look at Jefferson's attitude to the medieval past and the ways in which his thinking on the early English past has informed the  UVa's institutional history from its foundation to the events of August 2017. Why do the Middle Ages continue to haunt the world today;  why do they remain a focus of contention, and how has academic scholarship addressed these questions? Ultimately, students will write a substantial  25-30 page research paper (approximately 7,500 – 8,000 words) on a subject of their own selection. Digital projects – rather than traditional written work – of comparable substance can also be pursued in this class, should students possess the necessary skills and training.

HIST 4501-002: Money & Atlantic Empires, 1500-1800

Instructor: Donovan Fifield

This course investigates the emergence and use of currencies in the early modern Atlantic, including the colonial Americas, Europe, and West Africa. Areas of focus include the origins of types of money, debt, currency and the law, mercantilism, commodification, wealth inequality, and the use of monetary policy as a tool of imperial states. 

HIST 4511: Gender, Sex, and Citizenship in Global Perspective

Major Colloquium

Instructor: Emily Burrill

This course explores the historical meaning of citizenship in global contexts and its relationship with gender, sex, race, and ethnicity, from 1790-present. Themes will touch on issues of slavery, empire, decolonization, civil rights, immigration, and more. We will ask: how is citizenship determined, and by whom or what? What rights, privileges or obligations does citizenship convey? What does it mean to lose or be without citizenship?

HIST 4991: DMP (Distinguished Majors Program​) Special Seminar

Instructor: Bradly Reed

Analyzes problems in historical research. Preparation and discussion of fourth-year honors theses. Intended for Distinguished Majors who will have studied abroad in the fall of their fourth year. Prerequisite: Open only to students admitted to the Distinguished Majors Program.

HIST 5001: Policy Design and Statecraft

Instructor: Phillip Zelikow

The seminar orients students to the professional world of statecraft by working through historical case studies. Breaking down critical episodes step by step, analyzing the perspectives, information, and choices of different participants, students gain more lifelike education and insight. Applying templates for policy design and assessment, they get more experience working on public problems and learning a lot of history along the way.

HIST 5130: Policy Design and Statecraft

Instructor: Fahad Bishara

The seminar orients students to the professional world of statecraft by working through historical case studies. Breaking down critical episodes step by step, analyzing the perspectives, information, and choices of different participants, students gain more lifelike education and insight. Applying templates for policy design and assessment, they get more experience working on public problems and learning a lot of history along the way.

HIST 5201: Memory and History in the Caribbean

Instructor: Laurent Dubois

This transdisciplinary course explores the layered histories of the Caribbean region and the ways in which that history is remembered in literature and visual art, religious practices, music and performance, and through monuments and museums. As we collectively explore Caribbean history from a variety of forms and different angles, students will also develop a final project, which can take a variety of different forms.

HIST 5559: Reading Marx's Capital

New Course in General History

Instructor: Robert Stolz

Lecture course on the history of Japan from the defeat in 1945 to the present. Topics will include the Occupation, the high-growth period, the “Lost Decade” of the 1990s, as well as political, social, and environmental protest movements. Assignments will include short papers, in-class writings, participation, and a final take-home exam.  

HIST 5621: Genocide

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

Readings and discussion of the history of genocide and other forms of one-sided, state-sponsored mass killing in the twentieth century.

HIST 8001: Master's Essay Writing

Instructor: Christopher Gratien

Master's Essay Writing offers first-year doctoral students in History and those in the JD/MA program a workshop in which to discuss and develop an article-length work of original scholarship. Prerequisite: First-year history Ph.D. students or JD/MA students.

HIST 9101: Readings in Origins of Global Capitalism

Instructor: Fahad Bishara

This tutorial aims to orient students to debates in the history of global capitalism. We will acquaint ourselves with the principal debates and trends in the field, and think through how to design classes under that broad heading.

HIUS 2051: War and the Making of America to 1900

Instructor: Elizabeth Varon

This course examines warfare and military developments in America from the colonial period to 1900. Major topics include debates over the role of the military in society; the motivations and experiences of soldiers; interaction between the military and civilian spheres; the development of a professional army and navy; and the social and cultural context, impact, and legacies of warfare.

HIUS 2559: US Immigration Law & Policy in United States Historial Perspective

New Course in United States History 

Instructor: S. Deborah Kang

This course will provide students with a comprehensive overview of American immigration law and policy from the colonial period to the present.  

HIUS 3011: Colonial British America

Instructor: S. Max Edelson

This course tells the story of British America from an Atlantic perspective. The thirteen colonies that formed the United States were once part of a larger empire that spanned eastern North America and the Caribbean. From 1500 to 1800, cross-cultural encounters among Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans created a dynamic new world. Key topics trade, religion, agriculture, slavery, warfare, and the origins of the American Revolution.

HIUS 3031: The Era of the American Revolution

Instructor: Alan Taylor

Studies the growth of ideas and institutions that led to American independence, the creation of a union, and a distinct culture.

HIUS 3051: The Age of Jefferson

Instructor: Christa Dierksheide

This course uses Thomas Jefferson as a lens to explore the post revolutionary era in the United States (ca. 1776-1830), with a focus on race and slavery, trans-nationalism, imperialism, and legal/constitutional developments.

HIUS 3232: The South in the Twentieth Century

Instructor: Grace Hale

Studies the history of the South from 1900 to the present focusing on class structure, race relations, cultural traditions, and the question of southern identity.

HIUS 3501: Race, Place, and the Schoolhouse

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Erica Sterling

Few things evoke more emotion from the U.S. electorate than assertions of state control over how and where children are educated. Using 20th century black educational history as our guide, students will learn how urban, gender, or cultural historians, for example, use different methodologies to answer similar questions about access, equity, and power.

HIUS 3612: Gender & Sexuality in America, 1865 to Present

Instructor: Bonnie Hagerman

Studies the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups.

HIUS 3853: From Redlined to Subprime: Race and Real Estate in the US

Instructor: Andrew Kahrl

This course examines the history of housing and real estate and explores its role in shaping the meaning and lived experience of race in modern America. We will learn how and why real estate ownership, investment, and development came to play a critical role in the formation and endurance of racial segregation, modern capitalism, and the built environment.

HIUS 4501-001: History of Canada and the US

Seminar in the United States History

Instructor: Alan Taylor

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See Professor Varon or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIUS 4501-002: Slavery and the Founders

Seminar in the United States History

Instructor: Alan Taylor

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIUS 6240: Constitutional Law II: Poverty

Instructor: Risa Goluboff

This course will explore the Supreme Court's flirtation with constitutional protection for poor people during the 1960s and 1970s. We will place the Court's efforts in the context of the civil rights movement and ongoing concerns about race. Finally, we will discuss the demise of such protections, the reasons for it, and the recent developments in constitutional interest in poverty, income inequality, and their relationship to racial inequality.

HIUS 7061: Black Intellectual and Cultural Production since the 1960s

Instructor: Kevin Gaines

We’ll explore the intellectual and cultural production of the civil rights/Black power era and its enabling and uneasy relationship with other social movements, incl. feminism and gay liberation, disability rights, the anti-apartheid movement, and demands for economic justice/redress/reparations. A guiding premise in the course will be tensions within the movement giving rise to subsequent Black thought and activism.

HIUS 7621: Topics in United States Gender History

Instructor: Elizabeth Varon

This colloquium will survey foundational and cutting-edge scholarship on the social construction of femininity and masculinity in U.S. history, from the colonial era to 1900. We will explore how gender conventions take shape, and how they are perpetuated and contested. Our readings reconsider key events in women's and gender history such as the Salem witch trials and Seneca Falls convention.

HIUS 7659: Twentieth Century US Cultural History

Instructor: Grace Hale

This readings course introduces graduate students to the theory, methods, and historiography of cultural history through a survey of key texts in twentieth century US history.

HIUS 8755: American Legal History

Instructor: Cynthia Nicoletti

Directed research in selected areas of American legal history.

HIAF 2001: Early African History

Instructor: James La Fleur

Studies the history of African civilizations from the iron age through the era of the slave trade, ca. 1800. Emphasizes the search for the themes of social, political, economic, and intellectual history which present African civilizations on their own terms.

Concentrations

HIAF 3021: History of Southern Africa

Instructor: John Mason

Studies the history of Africa generally south of the Zambezi River. Emphasizes African institutions, creation of ethnic and racial identities, industrialization, and rural poverty, from the early formation of historical communities to recent times.

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIAF 3112: African Environmental History

Instructor: James La Fleur

This course explores how Africans changed their interactions with the physical environments they inhabited and how the landscapes they helped create in turn shaped human history. Topics covered include the ancient agricultural revolution, health and disease in the era of slave trading, colonial-era mining and commodity farming, 20th-century wildlife conservation, and the emergent challenges of land ownership, disease, and climate change.

Concentrations

• Environment, Space and Society

HIAF 3501: Africa and Virginia, 1619 - Now

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: James La Fleur

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History

HIAF 3559: Muslim Societies in African History

New Course in African History

Instructor: Amir Syed

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of African History.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History

HIEA 1501: Culture and Society: Imperial China

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Cong Zhang

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations

HIEA 1501: A Cultural History of Japanese Monsters

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Robert Stolz

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations

HIEA 2011: History of Chinese Civilization

Instructor: Cong Zhang

An intro to the study of Chinese civilization. We shall begin with the earliest human remains found in China & conclude in the present. The goal of this course is not merely to tell the story of Chinese history, rich and compelling though the story is. Rather, our aim will be to explore what makes Chinese civilization specifically Chinese, & how the set of values, practices, & institutions we associate with Chinese society came to exist.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• War, Violence and Society

HIEA 2072: Modern Japanese Culture and Politics

Instructor:  Robert Stolz

An introduction to the politics, culture, and ideologies of modern Japan from roughly 1800 to the present. We will pay special attention to the interplay between Japan's simultaneous participation in global modernity and its assertion of a unique culture as a way to explore the rise of the nation-state as a historically specific form.

Concentrations

HIEA 2091: Korean Civilization to 1900

Instructor: Joseph Seeley

This course covers the history of Korean civilization from its archeological and mythical origins to the late nineteenth century. Together students will examine sources on premodern Korean warfare, society, sex, politics, religion, and culture to understand how this seemingly distant past continues to shape Korea's present and future. We will also explore the influence of Korean civilization on regional and global histories beyond the peninsula.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• War, Violence and Society

HIEA 3323: China and the United States

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

The course explores Chinese-American relations since the late 18th century. Starting as an encounter between a young trading state and an ageless empire on the two sides of the Pacific Ocean, the relationship has gone through stages characterized by the two countries' changing identities. The course understands the relationship broadly and seeks insights at various levels.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History

HIEA 4501: North Korea

Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Joseph Seeley

A small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• Race, Empire and Ethnicity
• War, Violence and Society

HIEA 4511: China's Borderlands

Colloquium in East Asia History

Instructor:  Xiaoyuan Liu

A small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the colloquium. Most frequently offered in areas of history where access to source materials or linguistic demands make seminars especially difficult. Students prepare about 25 pages of written work. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEA 9021: Tutorial in 'China in Hot and Cold Wars in Modern Times'. . .

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

This tutorial explores three types of conflicts in China modern experiences: civil wars, international conflicts, and Cold War confrontations. Reading materials include major scholarships on these topics. The class meets biweekly, and the students are evaluated on the basis of participation, short book reviews, and a final paper.

Concentrations

HIEA 9022: Tutorial in "Making of the 'Chinese Nation'". . .

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

This tutorial is about conceptual and political constructions of the "Chinese Nation" in the 20th century. Readings include relevant writings by important intellectual and political figures of 20th-century China and major scholarships on the subject from multiethnic perspectives. The class meets biweekly, and the students are evaluated on the basis of participation, short book reviews, and a final paper.

Concentrations

HIEA 9023: Tutorial in Modern Japanese Thought, Culture, & Politics

Instructor: Robert Stolz

Introduction the history and historiography of modern Japanese Thought, Culture, and Politics. Topics include modernity, empire, the nation-state, war, fascism, and capitalist development.

Concentrations

HIEA 9026: Tutorial in Sources for Imperial Chinese History

Instructor: Cong Zhang

This course introduces students to the major types/genres of materials for the study of Imperial Chinese history, including both official documents and unofficial/literary and artistic works. Its two primary goals are to (1) familiarize students with the large variety of available sources and (2) provide abundant hands-on opportunities for critical reading and textual analysis.

Concentrations

HIEU 1502: History as Knowledge, Media, and Sensibility

Introductory Seminar in Post-1700 European History

Instructor: Allan Megill

Intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history. This class offers an introduction to the study of history that diverges greatly from the view of historical study that many students receive in high school. The class is also concerned with perceptions of history more generally, in popular culture, in people's memories, and in propaganda. We read three exemplary (and relatively short) history books (by Natalie Davis, Christopher Browning, and Erik Midelfort). In addition, I assign for reading a selection of articles and excerpts from books by prominent theorists who discuss both historical method and the nature of history generally. Authors represented include R. G. Collingwood, Arthur Danto, Louis Mink, Thomas Kuhn, Hayden White, Frank Ankersmit, and Berber Bevernage. Most of these authors are not household names, but especially since 1970 or so, the collective impact of their work has transformed the way we theorists of history think about academic history, about memory, and about the visually often quite impressive "mediated" forms of history that have become increasingly visible in the last 10 or 15 years.

Concentrations

HIEU 2004: Nationalism in Europe

Instructor: Kyrill Kunakhovich

This course examines the history of nationalism in modern Europe, from the 1700s to the present day. We will consider the emergence and consolidation of European nation-states in the eighteenth century; nationalist movements and the breakup of empires in the nineteenth; ethnic cleansing and nationalist violence in twentieth-century Europe; as well as the rise of the European Union and its challenges today.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 2031: Ancient Greece

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

Studies the political, military, and social history of Ancient Greece from the Homeric age to the death of Alexander the Great, emphasizing the development and interactions of Sparta and Athens. 

Concentrations

• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 2102: Modern Jewish History

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

Survey of Jewish history from the seventeenth century to the present, primarily in Europe, but with further treatment of Jewish life in the U.S. and Israel. Major topics include Jewish historical consciousness; patterns of emancipation; religious adjustment; the role of women; anti-Semitism; Zionism; the American Jewish experience; the Holocaust; the establishment of Israel; and Jewish life in Europe after the Holocaust.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History

HIEU 3041:The Fall of the Roman Republic

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

Surveys the history and culture of the last century of the Roman Republic (133-30 b.c.), emphasizing the political and social reasons for the destruction of the Republican form of government and its replacement by a monarchy.

Concentrations

• Law and Society
• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 3152: Colonizing the World: The British Empire

Instructor: Erik Linstrum

This course will focus primarily on the 'second' empire in Asia and Africa, although the first empire in the Americas will be our first topic. Topics covered include the slave plantations in the West Indies, the American Revolution, the rise of the British East India Company and its control of India, and the Scramble for Africa. Special emphasis will be placed on the environmental history of our points of debarkation.

Concentrations

HIEU 3390: Nazi Germany

Instructor: Manuela Achilles

Detailed survey of the historical origins, political structures, cultural dynamics, and every-day practices of the Nazi Third Reich. Cross-listed in the German department, and taught in English.

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEU 3462: Neighbors and Enemies in Germany

Instructor: Manuela Achilles

Explores the friend/foe nexus in Germany history, literature and culture, with an emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries.

Concentrations

• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 3501: Ukraine/Russia: Entangled Histories

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Kyrill Kunakhovich

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEU 3501: Crime, Scandal, & Politics in Fin-de-Siecle Europe

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Jennifer Sessions

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations

• Environment, Space and Society
• Law and Society

HIEU 3812: Marx: As Philosopher & Social Scientist

Instructor: Allan Megill

Introduces the social theory of Karl Marx. What Marx said, why he said it, what he meant in saying it, and the significance thereof. Situates Marx's writing in the context of 19th-century intellectual history. Focuses on the coherence and validity of the theory and its subsequent history.

Concentrations

• Capitalism and Economic Life
• Global and Transnational History

HIEU 4502: Europe and the World: Intro to European Studies

Seminar in Post-1700 European History

Instructor: Kyrill Kunakhovich

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History

HIEU 5559: Comparative Imperialism and Decolonization

New Course in European History

Instructor: Erik Linstrum

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of European History.

Concentrations

HIEU 9025: Tutorial in the Late Roman Republic

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

This tutorial will cover the most tumultuous period in Roman Republican history, that which stretches from 133 BC to the establishment of Octavian (Augustus) as the first emperor in 27 BC.

Concentrations

HIEU 9038: Tutorial in the History of Modern France 

Instructor: Jennifer Sessions

This tutorial serves as an introduction to the history and historiography of France and the French empire. Looking at the period since the French Revolution, readings explore themes including revolution, industrialization, urbanization, modernity and mass culture; gender and sexuality; race and religion; and regionalism, and imperial expansion.

Concentrations

HIEU 9039: Tutorial in the History of Modern French Empire

Instructor: Jennifer Sessions

An introduction to the history and historiography of the French colonial empire in the modern period. Looking at the period since the French Revolution, readings explore the ideologies, institutions, and practices of French imperialism, the processes of decolonization, and the postcolonial legacies of empire.

Concentrations

HILA 2001: Colonial Latin America, 1500-1824

Instructor: Thomas Klubock

Introduces major developments and issues in the study of Latin American history from Native American societies on the eve of the Spanish Conquest to the wars of national independence in the early 19th century.

Concentrations

• Global and Transnational History
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HILA 3051: Modern Central America

Instructor: Lean Sweeney

Studies the history of Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and El Salvador from 19th century fragmentation, oligarchic, foreign, and military rule, to the emergence of popular nationalisms.

Concentrations

• Capitalism and Economic Life
• War, Violence and Society

HILA 9020: Readings in Modern Latin American History

Instructor: Thomas Klubock

This class reviews major trends in the scholarship on modern Latin American history. Students will present assigned books to the class throughout the semester and write a final twenty-page historiographical essay on a topic of their choosing.

Concentrations

HIME 1501: The Ottoman Empire and the Modern Middle East

Introductory Seminar in Middle East History

Instructor: Baris Unlu

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations

HIME 2010: Modern History of Palestine/Israel

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

"This course surveys the history of modern Palestine/Israel. Part I focuses on the Ottoman Empire, early Zionist settlement, British rule, and the Holocaust. Part II focuses on the 1948 War, known as the Israeli ""War of Independence"" and the Palestinian ""Nakba"" (Catastrophe). Part III addresses the Palestinian refugee crisis, ongoing wars between Israel and Arab states, Israeli and Palestinian societies today, and Israeli-Arab peace initiatives."

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity, and Empire
• War, Violence and Society

HIME 3501: Israel/Palestine Through Literature and Film

Introductory Seminar in Middle East History

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HISA 1501: Free Speech and Blasphemy in South Asian History

Introductory Seminar in South Asia

Instructor: Neeti Nair

Introduction to the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussion, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations

• Law and Society

HISA 2003: History of Modern India

Instructor: Neeti Nair

Surveys 200 years of Indian history from the mid-18th century to the present, focusing on the imperial/colonial encounter with the British Raj before Independence, and the social and political permutations of freedom in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka since.

Concentrations

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIST 2152: Climate History

Instructor: Christopher Gratien

Climate change is widely regarded as the most important environmental question of the present. This course equips students to engage with the study of climate change from multiple perspectives. Part 1 surveys how understandings of the climate developed and transformed. Part 2 explores how historical climatology lends new insights to familiar historical questions. Part 3 explores the history of environment and climate as political issues.

Concentrations

• Environment, Space and Society

HIST 2212: ​Maps in World History

Instructor: S. Edelson

This course offers an interdisciplinary introduction to the history of cartography that ranges across the globe from oldest surviving images of pre-history to GIS systems of the present day. It approaches map history from a number of disciplinary perspectives, including the history of science, the history of cartography, critical theory and literary studies, anthropology, historical geography, and spatial cognition and wayfinding.

HIST 3281: Genocide

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

History of genocide and other forms of one-sided, state-sponsored mass killing in the twentieth century. Case studies include the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and the mass killings that have taken place under Communist regimes (e.g., Stalin's USSR, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia).

HIST 3501: Race, Religion, & Resistance in Atlantic History

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Amir Syed

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

HIST 3501: The Age of Revolution

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Laurent Dubois

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

HIST 4400: Topics in Economic History

Instructor: Mark Thomas

Comparative study of the historical development of selected advanced economies (e.g., the United States, England, Japan, continental Europe). The nations covered vary with instructor. Cross-listed with ECON 4400.

HIST 4501: 20th Century Genocides

Major Seminar

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pages in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIST 4890: Distiniguished Majors Program-Special Colloquium

Instructor: Joshua White

Studies historical approaches, techniques, and methodologies introduced through written exercises and intensive class discussion. Normally taken during the third year. Prerequisite: Open only to students admitted to the Distinguished Majors Program.

HIST 4990: Distinguished Majors Program-Special Seminar

Instructor: Joshua White

Analyzes problems in historical research. Preparation and discussion of fourth-year honors theses. Normally taken during the fourth year. Intended for students who will be in residence during their entire fourth year.  Prerequisite: Open only to students admitted to the Distinguished Majors Program.

HIST 5501: Cartography of the Americas, 1500-1800

Historical Geospatial Visualization

Instructor: S. Edelson

This workshop introduces advanced humanities students to map history research and geospatial visualization. It features work with maps in Special Collections as well as the production of digital scholarship using ArcGIS software. No experience is expected or required. This course counts as an elective for the DH Graduate Certificate program. Prerequisite: Graduate student or College 3rd or 4th year.

HIST 7001: Approaches to Historical Study

Instructor: Emily Burrill, Jennifer Sessions

This course is designed to introduce students to a wide range of historical approaches.

HIST 7559: Race, Gender, and Empire: The US in the World

New Course in History

Instructor: Penny Von Eschen

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of general history.

HIST 9028: Readings in Indian Ocean History

Instructor: Fahad Bishara

This course introduces students to the historiography on the Indian Ocean in broad terms, placing it within the context of discussions on world history. While the main goal is to develop a deeper knowledge of Indian Ocean history, the bulk of the course is devoted to thinking about how historians conceptualize connectivity across watery spaces and, more fundamentally, how they deal with issues of scale and time in writing trans-regional history.

HIST 9037: Tutorial in Podcasting History

Instructor: Christopher Gratien

Students will explore approaches to "podcasting history" and learn the basic conceptual considerations of the medium. Work will include reading and presenting the work of conventional textual scholars as well as gaining familiarity with methods of recording and producing audio. Alongside the assigned materials, students will work towards a podcast draft aimed at a public audience based on themes in 19th and 20th century global history.

HIUS 2061: American Economic History

Instructor: Mark Thomas

Studies American economic history from its colonial origins to the present. Cross-listed as ECON 2060.

HIUS 3490: From Motown to Hip-Hop

Instructor: Claudrena Harold

This survey traces the history of African American popular music from the late 1950s to the current era. It examines the major sonic innovations in the genres of soul, funk, and hip-hop over the course of the semester, students will examine how musical expression has provided black women and men with an outlet for individual expression, community building, sexual pleasure, political organizing, economic uplift, and interracial interaction

HIUS 3611: Gender & Sexuality in AM, 1600-1865

Instructor: Corinne Field

Studies the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups.

HIUS 3671: African American Freedom Movement, c 1945-Present

Instructor: Kevin Gaines

This course examines the history and legacy of the African American struggle for civil rights in twentieth century America. It provides students with a broad overview of the civil rights movement -- the key issues, significant people and organizations, and pivotal events -- as well as a deeper understanding of its scope, influence, legacy, and lessons for today.

HIUS 3853: From Redlined to Subprime: Race and Real Estate in the US

Instructor: Andrew Kahrl

This course examines the history of housing and real estate and explores its role in shaping the meaning and lived experience of race in modern America. We will learn how and why real estate ownership, investment, and development came to play a critical role in the formation and endurance of racial segregation, modern capitalism, and the built environment.

HIUS 4501: Immigrants in American History and Life

Seminar in United States History

Instructor: S. Deborah Kang

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIUS 4501: The History of Black Education in the U.S.

Seminar in United States History

Instructor: Erica Sterling

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIUS 4511: Civil War in Myth and Memory

Colloquium in United States History

Instructor: Caroline Janney

The major colloquium is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the colloquium. Colloquia are most frequently offered in areas of history where access to source materials or linguistic demands make seminars especially difficult. Students in colloquia prepare about 25 pages of written work distributed among various assignments. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

HIUS 5232: Oral History Workshop: A Hands-On Approach to Researching the Past

Instructor: Grace Hale

The course is run as a workshop, a space for students to learn oral history methodologies in a hands-on manner. In partnership with local/regional organizations, students will learn to conduct interviews and related research, which may include completing historical surveys, doing genealogical work, & completing archival or database research. Students will learn new skills while helping expand historical archives and knowledge of regional history.

HIUS 5559: Urban History

New Course in United States History

Instructor: Andrew Kahrl

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of United States history.

HIUS 6175: Law in American History: The Twentieth Century

Instructor: George White

A survey of law in American history in the twentieth century. Some topics to be covered include jurisprudence and legal education from Legal Realism through "aw and"; regimes of mass media law; the emergence of administrative law; and several chapters on constitutional jurisprudence from 1930 to 2000, including foreign relations, equal protection, free speech, and due process.

HIUS 7658: Nineteenth-Century American Social and Cultural History

Instructor: Caroline Janney

Reading and discussion of primary and secondary sources.

HIUS 8452: History of the American Administrative State

Instructor: Joy Milligan

This course will explore the development of the American administrative state from the nineteenth century through the present. This course will engage political and theoretical debates over the bureaucratic state's role, and its implications for democracy and inequality. Readings will include work by historians, social scientists, and legal academics.

HIAF 2002: Modern African History

Instructor: John Mason

Studies the history of Africa and its interaction with the western world from the mid-19th century to the present. Emphasizes continuities in African civilization from imperialism to independence that transcend the colonial interlude of the 20th century.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIAF 4501: Gender and Sexuality in African History

Seminar in African History

Instructor: Emily Burrill

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. Seminar work results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies. Covering a selection of readings on the deep historical past to recent times, students will examine how gender and sexuality have shaped key historical developments, from African kingdoms and empires to postcolonial states, from colonial conquest to movements for independence, from indigenous healing practices to biomedicine, from slavery to the modern forms of work. It will also explore the history of different sexualities and gender identities on the continent. 

Concentrations: 

HIEA 1501: Thought and Religion in Early China

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Cong Zhang

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations: 

HIEA 1501: Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Trauma, History, Memory

Introductory Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Robert Stolz

Introduces the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

Concentrations: 

HIEA 2031: Modern China

Instructor: Xiaoyuan Liu

Studies the transformation of Chinese politics, society, institutions, culture and foreign relations from the Opium War. through the post-Mao Reform Era. Emphasizes the fluid relationship between tradition and transformation and the ways in which this relationship continues to shape the lives of the Chinese people.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEA 2101: Modern Korean History: One Peninsula, Two Paths

Instructor:  Joseph Seeley

This course traces Korea's history from its unified rule under the Choson dynasty (1392-1910) to Japanese colonization (1910-1945) and subsequent division into the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and Republic of Korea (South Korea). It examines how processes of reform, empire, civil war, revolution, and industrialization shaped both Koreas' development and how ordinary people experienced this tumultuous history.

Concentrations: 

• Global and Transnational History
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire
• War, Violence and Society

HIEA 3111: China to the Tenth Century

Instructor: Cong Zhang

Surveys the social, political and economic organization of traditional Chinese society, traditional Chinese foreign policy, and major literary, artistic, and intellectual movements.

Concentrations: 

HIEA 3172: The Japanese Empire

Instructor: Robert Stolz

This course is an exploration of Japan's imperial project from roughly 1890-1945. We will start by developing a critical theoretical vocabulary with which we will then focus on three recent and important books on Japanese imperialism in East Asia. At the end of the semester we will also look briefly at anti-imperial and decolonization movements as well as the status of the category of 'empire' for analyzing the postwar period.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEA 9064: Tutorial: Readings in Imperial Chinese History

Seminar in East Asian History

Instructor: Cong Zhang

This course introduces students to the most influential English-language scholarship on imperial China, especially the Tang (618-907), Song (960-1279), and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties, in the last century. In addition to familiarizing students with the historiography of this important period, it aims to explore the key issues and developments in political and intellectual life as well as the formation and evolution of social and cultural ideals and practices.

Concentrations: 

HIEU 1502: The Berlin Wall: Spies and Lies in a Cold War City

Introductory Seminar in Post-1700 European History

Instructor: Kyrill Kunakhovich

Intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussing, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history. This course examines the rise, fall, and afterlives of the Berlin Wall, from the end of the Second World War to the present day. We will consider who built the Berlin Wall; how it divided a united city; and how ordinary people learned to live with the barrier in their midst. We will also explore the shadowy world of spies, lies, and border crossings that sprung up around the Wall, on the front lines of the Cold War. Finally, we examine who, or what, brought down the Berlin Wall in 1989, as well as the many ways in which it still lives on today.

Concentrations: 

• Global and Transnational History

HIEU 2041: Roman Republic and Empire

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

Surveys the political, social, and institutional growth of the Roman Republic, focusing on its downfall and replacement by an imperial form of government, the subsequent history of that government, and the social and economic life during the Roman Empire, up to its own decline and fall.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEU 2101: Jewish History I: The Ancient and Medieval Experience

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

This course surveys the pre-modern Jewish historical experience from antiquity through the sixteenth century.

Concentrations:

HIEU 2112: Britain since 1688: Nationalism, Imperialism, Modernity

Instructor: Erik Linstrum

This course surveys the history of modern Britain from the Glorious Revolution of 1688 to the resurgent nationalisms of the present. Themes include the state-building, overseas expansion, and widening inequality of the Georgian years; the industrialization, urbanization, and increasingly assertive imperialism of the Victorian era; and the problems of war, decolonization, and decline in the twentieth century.

Concentration: 

HIEU 2121: France in the Age of Revolutions, 1789-1871

Instructor: Jennifer Sessions

Introduction to French social, political, and cultural history from 1789 to 1871. Examines political struggles from the French Revolution to the Paris Commune, and considers how industrialization, urbanization, mass culture and imperial expansion reshaped relationships between men and women, rich and poor, city and country, artists and audiences, and metropole and colony. Traces changing ideas of nation, citizenship, and democracy.

Concentrations: 

HIEU 2162: History of Russia Since 1917

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

Explores the collapse of the Russian Empire and the rise of the Communist state. Emphasizes the social revolution, Stalinism and subsequent 'de-Stalinization,' national minorities, and the collapse of the Soviet regime.

Concentrations: 

• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 3505: Hitler

History and Fiction, Topics

Instructor: Manuela Achilles

Detailed survey of the historical origins, political structures, cultural dynamics, and every-day practices of the Nazi Third Reich. Cross-listed in the German department, and taught in English.

Concentrations: 

• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 3692: The Holocaust

Instructor: Victoria Barnett

This course aims to clarify basic facts and explore competing explanations for the origins and unfolding of the Holocaust (the encounter between the Third Reich and Europe's Jews between 1933 and 1945) that resulted in the deaths of almost six million Jews.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire
• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 4501: Roman Empire

Seminar in Pre-1700 European History

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies. This course is cross-listed with HIEU 5051, but the 4501 has different requirements and fulfills the History Major's Seminar requirement.

Concentrations: 

HIEU 4502: Stalinism

Seminar in Post-1700 European History

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations: 

• War, Violence and Society

HIEU 5051: Roman Empire

Instructor: Elizabeth Meyer

Studies the founding and institutions of the Principate, the Dominate, and the decline of antiquity. Prerequisite: HIEU 2041 or equivalent.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIEU 9037: Tutorial in Central and Eastern European History

Instructor: Kyrill Kunakhovich

This course introduces students to the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe. We will consider topics like the rise of nationalism, the challenges of state-building, the spread of left- and right-wing ideologies, interactions with the "West," and the experience of war and revolution.

Concentrations: 

HIEU 9038: Tutorial in the History of Modern France

Instructor: Jennifer Sessions

This tutorial serves as an introduction to the history and historiography of France and the French empire. Looking at the period since the French Revolution, readings explore themes including revolution, industrialization, urbanization, modernity and mass culture; gender and sexuality; race and religion; and regionalism, and imperial expansion.

Concentrations: 

HILA 3021: Human Rights in Latin America

Instructor: Lean Sweeney

Covers issues of human rights violations, defense, reparations, and prevention, from independence movements through the Cold War, neoliberalism, extractivism, racism, and transnational migration, trade and crime.

Concentrations: 

HILA 3501: Race and State in Mexico

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Lean Sweeney

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations: 

HILA 9020: US-LA Relations, 19th & 20th C

Seminar in Latin American History

Instructor: Thomas Klubock

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. Seminar work results primarily in the preparation of substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations: 

HIME 2001: The Making of the Islamic World

Instructor: Kristina Richardson

Explores the history of the Middle East and North Africa from late antiquity to the rise to superpower status of the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century. Topics include the formation of Islam and the first Arab-Islamic conquests; the fragmentation of the empire of the caliphate; the historical development of Islamic social, legal, and political institutions; science and philosophy; and the impact of invaders (Turks, Crusaders, and Mongols).

Concentrations: 

• Global and Transnational History
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire
• War, Violence and Society

HIME 3192: From Nomads to Sultans: The Ottoman Empire, 1300-1700

Instructor: Joshua White

A survey of the history of the Ottoman Empire from its obscure origins around 1300 to 1700, this course explores the political, military, social, and cultural history of this massive, multi-confessional, multi-ethnic, inter-continental empire which, at its height, encompassed Central and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, the Middle East, and North Africa.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HISA 3501: Women and Wealth in South Asia 16th-20th Century

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Indrani Chatterjee

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term. This course attempts to understand debates between Indian feminists about the nature of dowry and the legislation intended to prohibit its practice in the late twentieth century. It first establishes the existence of women's wealth as an old concept as well as its practical traces in the early medieval landscape. The primary materials for this part of the course will include inscriptions, visual records, classical prescriptive texts. Then the course will move on to the colonial era of the eighteenth-early twentieth century and trace both court records, judgements and legislation. Finally it will move to twentieth-century feminist debates on the changed nature of property relations, marriages and dowry prohibition.

Concentrations: 

HIST 2014: Fascism: A Global History

Instructor: Manuela Achilles

This class studies fascism as an ideology, movement, and regime in a global framework. Thematic perspectives include: the origins and theories of fascism, key terms in the fascist lexicon, motives that brought people to fascism, fascism as an aesthetics and lived experience, and the role of women in fascism. We will also study the historical articulations of antifascism, i.e. groups and individuals who have fought against fascism over the years.

Concentrations: 

HIST 3352: ​The First World War

Instructor: Christopher Gratien

At the Great War's centennial, we take stock of how it shaped life in the 20th century for peoples around the globe. Movies, memoirs, government reports and other texts throw light on causes of the war, the human carnage of 1914-18, Woodrow Wilson's effort to end war forever with a League of Nations, the demise of liberalism and the rise of fascism and communism in postwar Europe, and the launch of anti-colonial movements in Asia and Africa.

Concentrations: 

• War, Violence and Society

HIST 3501: Digital Map History

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: S. Edelson

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations: 

• Environment, Space and Society
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIST 3501: Modern Jewish History through Literature and Film

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations: 

HIST 3861: Soccer Politics

Instructor: Laurent Dubois

Explores the history of soccer to understand how and why it has become the most popular sport on the planet. We focus on the culture, economics and politics of the sport. Examples are drawn from Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, and include a focus on women's soccer. Class materials include scholarly works, essays, fiction, and film; students work on digital projects related to upcoming international tournaments.

Concentrations: 

HIST 4501: Twentieth Century World

Major Seminar

Instructor: William Hitchcock

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pages in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations: 

HIST 4890: Distinguished Majors Program-Special Seminar

Instructor: Joshua White

Analyzes problems in historical research.  Preparation and discussion of fourth-year honors theses.  Intended for Distinguished Majors who will have studied abroad in the fall of their fourth year. Prerequisite: Open only to students admitted to the Distinguished Majors Program.

Concentrations: 

HIST 5706: Race & Slavery at UVA's North Grounds

Instructor: Randi Flaherty

This hands-on research seminar will explore the historical intersections of slavery, race, and law on UVA's North Grounds. Class readings, discussions, and field trips will investigate the history of this landscape within a broader historical context of enslavement in Virginia and at the University, land use in Virginia, and the Jim Crow South.

Concentrations: 

HIST 7020: Twentieth Century World

Instructor: William Hitchcock

This graduate seminar for PhD students explores the recent scholarship in international and transnational history of the twentieth century. It exposes students to work on imperialism, ideologies of global war and peacemaking, radical political ideologies of the right and the left, global economic upheaval, genocide, refugee and humanitarian movements, decolonization, modernization, the United Nations, and the post-Cold War world.

Concentrations: 

HIST 8001: Master's Essay Writing

Instructor: Erin Lambert

Master's Essay Writing offers first-year doctoral students in History and those in the JD/MA program a workshop in which to discuss and develop an article-length work of original scholarship. Prerequisite: First-year history Ph.D. students or JD/MA students.

Concentrations: 

HIST 8999: Research in History

Instructor: TBA

For master's essay and other research carried out prior to advancement to candidacy, taken under the supervision of the student's adviser.

Concentrations: 

HIST 9960: Readings in History

Instructor: Jeffrey Rossman

This course is a graduate-level adaptation of an undergraduate course in history. The graduate-level adaption requires additional research, readings, or other academic work established by the instructor beyond the undergraduate syllabus.

Concentrations: 

HIST 9961: Supervised Reading

Instructor: TBA

Graduate study of the historiography of a particular topic or historical period, equivalent to a graduate-level colloquium course. Prerequisites: Approval of director of graduate studies or department chair.

Concentrations: 

HIST 9962: General Exam Preparation

Instructor: TBA

In this course, students will prepare for the general examination under the guidance of a faculty examiner. During the course, the student will identify relevant readings; complete and review those readings; and explore the larger questions raised by those readings and their fields more generally.

Concentrations: 

HIST 9999: Dissertation Research

Instructor: TBA

 For doctoral dissertation, taken under the supervision of the dissertation director.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 2101: Technologies of American Life

Instructor: David Singerman

From Thomas Edison to Elon Musk, we've all heard stories of heroic inventors. In this course you'll explore a different history of technology: how it's shaped the ordinary lives of Americans, and how ordinary Americans shaped our common technologies. By viewing technology from the bottom-up, you'll learn how to question and challenge the powerful stories about technology that surround us today.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 2201: US Immigration Law and Policy in Historical Perspective

Instructor: S. Deborah Kang

This course will trace the origins of today's immigration policy debates by providing students with a comprehensive overview of American immigration law and policy from the eighteenth century to the present. The course will also explore how state and federal policies impacted a wide array of immigrants, including the Irish, Chinese, and Mexican arrivals of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Concentrations: 

• Law and Society

HIUS 3011: Colonial British America

Instructor: S. Edelson

This course tells the story of British America from an Atlantic perspective. The thirteen colonies that formed the United States were once part of a larger empire that spanned eastern North America and the Caribbean. From 1500 to 1800, cross-cultural encounters among Africans, Native Americans, and Europeans created a dynamic new world. Key topics trade, religion, agriculture, slavery, warfare, and the origins of the American Revolution.

Concentrations: 

• Environment, Space and Society
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire
• War, Violence and Society

HIUS 3261: History of the American West

Instructor: Alan Taylor

The course examines the relationships of environment and culture and of native and settler peoples in transforming North America west of the Mississippi River, 1750 to present. We will explore the expansion of the United States; its environmental consequences; and the emergence of a mythic culture casting violence as heroic.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIUS 3411: American Business

Instructor: Mark Thomas

Surveys the rise of the modern corporate form of American business and an analysis of the underlying factors which shaped that development.

Concentrations: 

• Capitalism and Economic Life

HIUS 3501: Race, Place, and the Schoolhouse

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Erica Sterling

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations: 

• Law and Society
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIUS 3501: Disasters in America from Cholera to Covid

Introductory History Workshop

Instructor: Sarah Milov

Required for history majors, to be completed before enrollment in the Major Seminar. Introduces a variety of approaches to the study of history, methods for finding and analyzing primary and secondary sources, and the construction of historical arguments. Workshops are offered on a variety of topics each term.

Concentrations:

HIUS 3612: Gender & Sexuality in America, 1865 to Present

Instructor: Bonnie Hagerman

Studies the evolution of women's roles in American society with particular attention to the experiences of women of different races, classes, and ethnic groups.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 3620: All Politics is Local

Instructor: Andrew Kahrl

The history of local government and local politics in shaping American life. Course examines issues, themes, and problems of local democracy in historical and contemporary contexts. Class meetings combine lectures and discussions. Course includes local civic engagement component.

Concentrations: 

• Environment, Space and Society
• Law and Society
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIUS 3654: Black Fire

New Course in United States History

Instructor: Claudrena Harold

This course examines the history and contemporary experiences of African Americans at the University of Virginia from the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to the present era.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIUS 3753:The History of Modern American Law

Instructor: Sarah Milov

Studies the major developments in American law, politics, and society from the era of Reconstruction to the recent past. Focuses on legal change as well as constitutional law, legislation, and the common law.

Concentrations: 

• Capitalism and Economic Life
• Law and Society

HIUS 4501: History of Canada and the US

Seminar in United States History

Instructor: Alan Taylor

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 4501: Black Power

Instructor: Claudrena Harold

The major seminar is a small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

Concentrations: 

• Race, Ethnicity and Empire

HIUS 5559: Monetary Constitution Seminar

New Course in United States History

Instructor: Edmund Kitch

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of United States history.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 7559: Readings in African American History Since 1865

New Course in United States History

Instructor: Kevin Gaines

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of United States history.

Concentrations: 

HIUS 9023: Tutorial in Early American History to 1763

Instructor: S. Edelson

The course examines the historiography of colonial British America and the Atlantic world from the late sixteenth century through the late eighteenth century. It surveys scholarship on the imperial and Atlantic contexts of early modern colonization and focuses on the regional histories of settlement and development in North America and the Caribbean with a special focus on Native Americans and African Slavery.

Concentrations: 

MSP 3501: Medieval Identities, Cultures, and Conflicts

Exploring the Middle Ages

Instructor: Deborah McGrady

Discussion and criticism of selected works of and on the period. Taught by different members of the medieval faculty. This course will (re)introduce you to the Middles Ages by decentering the common Eurocentric approach and prioritizing instead cross-cultural encounters that profoundly marked over a thousand years of shared history. Four units are planned for the semester: (1) early Iberia as an international center of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian exchange; (2) crusading culture as portrayed in epic poetry, satire, the diary of a Byzantine princess and writings by Muslims living in occupied Jerusalem; (3) travel and discovery as recounted by the well-known Marco Polo as well as globetrotters from Africa and Asia; and (4) an early history of women, studied here through the Arabic epic tale of Princess Fatima, Warrior Woman, writings by the first professional female writer – Christine de Pizan (d. 1431), and the lives of female spiritual visionaries. Our discussions will be enhanced by visits from numerous UVA professors who will discuss their research in relation to our topics. Course assignments include response papers, collaborative class activities, and a final research project that may take the form of a traditional paper, a podcast, or a creative work. This course can satisfy the Second Writing Requirement; fulfills the Artistic, Interpretative, and Philosophical Inquiry; and is required for the Medieval Studies major. No previous knowledge of the Middle Ages is needed.

Concentrations: 

• Global Transnational History
• Race, Ethnicity and Empire
• War, Violence and Society