Spring 2024

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

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 selecton 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: Global and Transnational History

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.

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: Global and Transnational History; War, Violence and Society

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: Global and Transnational History; Race, Ethnicity and Empire; War, Violence and Society

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

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: War, Violence and Society

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

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.

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; War, Violence and Society

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; War, Violence and Society

Instructor: Caroline Kahlenberg

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

Concentrations: Global and Transnational History

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: Global and Transnational History

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: War, Violence and Society

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

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; Transnatonal and Global History

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

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: Race, Ethnicity and Empire; War, Violence and Society

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

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; War, Violence and Society

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.

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.

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: Capitalism and Economic Life; Global and Trnsnational History; Law and Society

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: Law and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire; War, Violence and Society

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.

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

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

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: Capitalism and Economic Life

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: Global and Transnational History; War Violence and Society

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: Globals and Transnational History; War, Violence and Society

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: Enviornment, Space and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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: Global and Transnational History; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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: Enviornment, Space and Society; Global and Transnational History; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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: Global and Transnational History; War, Violence and Society

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Instructor: TBA

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

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: Capitalism and Economic Life

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: Global and Transnational History; Law and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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: Enviornment, Space and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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: Enviornment, Space and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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 Econmic Life

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: Capitalism and Economic Life, Law and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Emipre

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: Capitalism and Economic Life; Enviornment, Space and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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.

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: Capitalism and Economic Life; Enviornment, Space and Society; Law and Society; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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

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.

Concnetrations: Capitalism and Economic Life; Law and Society

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: Environment, Space and Society; Global Transnational History; Race, Ethnicity and Empire

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

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.

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.

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