Spring 2023

Spring 2023 Course Descriptions

For the most up-to-date list of courses offered and more information including course times, locations, and enrollments, please see SIS or Lou's List. Faculty information can be viewed in the Faculty Directory.

African History

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.

 

East Asian History

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.

 

European History

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.

 

Latin American History

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. 

 

Middle Eastern History

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.

 

South Asian History

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.

 

General History

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.

 

United States History

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.