Historical Study A-13. China: Traditions and Transformations
Catalog Number: 5243
Michael James Puett and Philip A. Kuhn
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Modern China presents a dual image: a society transforming itself through economic development and social revolution; and the world’s largest and oldest bureaucratic state, coping with longstanding problems of economic and political management. Whatever form of modern society and state emerges in China will bear the indelible imprint of China’s historical experience, of its patterns of philosophy and religion, and of its social and political thought. These themes are discussed in order to understand China in the modern world, and as a great world civilization that developed along lines different from those of the Mediterranean.
Note: For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
[Historical Study A-14. Japan: Tradition and Transformation]
Catalog Number: 5373
Andrew Gordon and Mikael Adolphson
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
The history of Japan from earliest settlements to the present. Japan’s pre-modern history presents the challenge of understanding distinctive forms of political activity and social relations, from court noblemen and women to samurai warriors, as well as religious traditions of great depth and literatures of unusual range and power. Japan’s modern history presents one of the most striking transformations in world history. For better and sometimes for worse, people in Japan since the mid-19th century have come to share in the dilemmas of modernity that challenge us all. The course examines the pre-modern and modern history of both institutions and ideas, with emphasis on reading selected literary documents as well as historical writings.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
[Historical Study A-15. Politics and Society in the Making of Modern India]
Catalog Number: 8301
Devesh Kapur
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
This course examines the complex dynamics of India’s emergence and continuation as a vibrant if contentious democracy. It examines the ways in which the Indian democratic experience has shaped and been shaped by its society and economy by asking questions such as: how do India’s “traditional” institutions adapt or fail to adapt to modern circumstances? How does it weave itself together as a nation? What is the relationship between its politics and economic outcomes? What are the strengths and vulnerabilities of its institutions?
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
Historical Study A-16. The Making of Modern South Asia
Catalog Number: 9058
Sugata Bose
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 1, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6
This course provides the historical depth and the comparative context in which to understand contemporary South Asia through an historical inquiry into the making and multiple meanings of modernity. It covers the history, culture, and political economy of the subcontinent from 1526 to the present. Major topics include the formation of Indo-Islamic cultures; the transition to colonialism; social, economic, and cultural change under British rule; nationalism before and after Gandhi; regional and religious identities; decolonization and partition; the character of the post-colonial era in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. Significant use of primary written sources (in English) and multi-media presentations.
Historical Study A-21. Africa and Africans: The Making of a Continent in the Modern World
Catalog Number: 5568
Caroline M. Elkins
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Understanding Africa as it exists today requires an understanding of the broader historical trends that have dominated the continent’s past. This course will provide an historical context for understanding issues and problems as they exist in contemporary Africa. It will offer an integrated interpretation of sub-Saharan African history from the middle of the 19th century and the dawn of formal colonial rule through the period of independence until the present time. Particular emphasis will be given to the continent’s major historical themes during this period. Selected case studies will be offered from throughout the continent to provide illustrative examples of the historical trends.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study A-23. Democracy, Development, and Equality in Mexico
Catalog Number: 6861
John H. Coatsworth
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 1, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6
Mexico has achieved high levels of democratic participation, social equality, and economic growth in the past, but has never managed to achieve all three at the same time. This course explores how history as a mode of inquiry and understanding can illuminate Mexico’s contemporary challenge, that of overcoming underdevelopment, inequality, and authoritarianism all at the same time. The course also addresses Mexico’s complex and ambivalent relationship to external powers, particularly the United States, to the extent that doing so contributes to understanding these three contemporary problems.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
Historical Study A-27. Reason and Faith in the West
Catalog Number: 8149
Ann M. Blair
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Examines from an historical perspective one of the central themes in the Western intellectual tradition: the desire to reconcile rational philosophy with religious and biblical authority. Discusses the transformations in conceptions of reason, science, biblical interpretation, and divine intervention (among other themes) in the context of the long period of change from medieval to modern. Readings emphasize primary sources—including for example Augustine, Aquinas, Galileo, Descartes, Newton, and Darwin.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study A-34. Medicine and Society in America]
Catalog Number: 1552
Allan M. Brandt
Half course (fall term). M., W., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Surveys major developments in the history of American medicine since the discovery of the New World. Emphasis placed upon setting the practice of medicine as well as the experience of health and disease into broad social, cultural, and political contexts. Topics include the social and cultural impact of epidemic disease; the nature of demographic and epidemiological change; the development of medical therapeutics and technologies; the growth of health care institutions; the rise of the medical profession; and debates about the allocation of health care resources. Evaluates the role of medicine in addressing social needs as well as the social and economic determinants of patterns of health and disease.
Note: Expected to be given in 2004–05.
[Historical Study A-35. Democracy in America and Europe]
Catalog Number: 9060
James T. Kloppenberg
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., 11:30–1, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13, 14
For most of Western history democracy was reviled as mob rule, yet it now commands almost universal approbation. What happened? We will seek to understand that transformation by examining the history of democracy in theory and practice from the 16th century to the present. Readings will include classic European and American texts that explain, defend, and criticize democracy as a political system and as an ethical ideal. Lectures will examine the various contexts—biographical, national, and cultural—surrounding debates over the desirability of democracy and explore the shifting meanings of the democratic ideals of freedom and equality in relation to changing attitudes and practices concerning social hierarchy, race, and gender.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study A-40. The Middle East and Europe since the Crusades: Relations and Perceptions]
Catalog Number: 5423
Cemal Kafadar
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
Nine centuries of interaction between two neighboring world civilizations centered around the Mediterranean basin. Examines the transformation of the terms of coexistence and competition over time from an asymmetry in favor of the Islamic world to one favoring Europe in terms of power and prestige. Surveys major events and broad patterns of human activity (wars, migrations, conversions, trade, cultural exchange); compares institutions and worldviews; studies the variety of ways in which the two civilizations perceived and imagined each other. Focus on common roots and mutual influences. Analysis of (mis)perceptions as historically constructed cultural categories and of their legacy in the modern world.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study A-44. Jews in Modern Times: From the French Revolution to the Emergence of Israel]
Catalog Number: 9323
Jay M. Harris
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
This course seeks to understand the transformation of the Jews from a relatively homogeneous group that was readily distinguished from its surrounding cultures, to their current state in which they are neither homogeneous nor readily distinguished from other identifiable groups. The focus will be on the political, social, and economic shifts that led to major changes in Jewish political and cultural aspirations and achievements. Specifically, the course will examine processes of change in France, Germany, Russia, and the United States.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study A-51. The Modern World Economy, 1873–2000
Catalog Number: 1263
Jeffry Frieden
Half course (fall term). M., W., 2–3:30, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 7, 8
The past 125 years have seen more rapid economic growth, and more global economic integration, than ever before. Yet the gap between rich and poor countries has widened, and “globalization” has alternated with attempts at national self-sufficiency under fascist, communist, and other banners. The course explores the impact of technological, economic, social, and political trends, at both global and national levels, on the development of the world economy since 1873. Topics include free trade and the gold standard in the 19th century, European colonialism, the depressions of 1873–1896 and 1929–1939, and the postwar economic order.
[Historical Study A-53. The Chinese Revolutionary Tradition]
Catalog Number: 1667
Elizabeth J. Perry
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
The Chinese revolutionary tradition began with peasant uprisings in the mid-19th century and continues to this day. From late imperial times to the present, a steady stream of dramatic revolutionary efforts have exerted a major impact on the direction of Chinese politics. This course examines continuities and changes across successive phases of the process: the quasi-Christian Taipings, the anti-Christian Boxers, the 1911 Revolution, the rise of Communism, Mao’s Cultural Revolution, the 1989 Tiananmen Uprising, contemporary tax riots and labor strikes, etc. It focuses on ways in which earlier repertoires of contentious politics have influenced the aspirations and actions of later generations of protesters.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
Historical Study A-68. The Making and Remaking of the Modern Middle East
Catalog Number: 1845
E. Roger Owen
Half course (spring term). T., Th., at 10 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
Examines the political and social history of the Arab countries of the Middle East (including North Africa) as well as Iran, Israel, and Turkey. Provides a basis for the understanding of the politics of the region in the late 20th century. Major themes are the creation and transformation of the modern states and of their political systems in the period since World War I, and the transformation of Middle Eastern society during this same period under the impact of colonialism, independence, regional wars, and oil. Raises questions concerning economic and political liberalization, the rise in religious self-consciousness, violence, and regional reactions to globalization.
[Historical Study A-70. International History]
Catalog Number: 2517
Akira Iriye
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Examines the increasingly globalizing contemporary world against the background of international relations since the 1890s. Topics include European imperialism and decolonization, the origins and consequences of the two World Wars, the Americanization of the globe, and the rise of a multicultural world. Stresses the interplay of states and non-state actors.
Note: Expected to be given in 2004–05.
Historical Study A-73. The Political Development of Western Europe
Catalog Number: 8261
Peter A. Hall
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
A survey of the creation of modern politics in Britain, France, Germany, and Italy from the feudal period to the 20th century, focusing on the causes and consequences of crucial developments such as the English and French Revolutions, the Industrial Revolution, 19th-century democratization, and the appearance of fascism. Emphasizes the usefulness of comparative, historical analysis for understanding the origins of contemporary politics and competing approaches to understanding the processes of change associated with the development of the modern state.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study A-74. Contemporary China: The People’s Republic and Taiwan in the Modern World]
Catalog Number: 0893
William C. Kirby
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
What are the enduring problems of modern China? How do different Chinese governments confront them? This course assumes that the basic question of 20th-century China remains unanswered: what kind of government, society, and economy will ultimately replace the old imperial system? Part I defines basic themes: quests for national unity and international importance; population and ecological pressures; competition between capitalism and socialism; problems of democracy in Chinese political culture. Part II contrasts the revolutionary experiments of two “new Chinas” after 1950. Part III discusses contemporary reforms in the P.R.C. and Taiwan, and explores the future of “Greater China,” in the light of its past.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study A or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
Historical Study A-75. The Two Koreas
Catalog Number: 0786
Carter J. Eckert
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
This course seeks to provide a broad historical context in which to understand the contemporary political division on the Korean peninsula. It examines key historical forces that have created and shaped the two Koreas before, during, and after the actual partition of the country in 1945. Topics include nascent nation-building efforts between 1876 and 1910, the impact of Japanese colonialism and the Cold War, and North/South development and interaction after 1948. The course interweaves political, socioeconomic, and cultural themes within an historical framework centered on nation-building while also highlighting a number of major historiographical issues in modern Korean history.
[Historical Study A-76. Germany 1871–1990: From Unification to Reunification]
Catalog Number: 3594
David Blackbourn
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
Examines the forces that have shaped modern German history from the Empire created in 1871, through the Weimar Republic and Third Reich, to division and reunification. The continuities as well as discontinuities of this history provide a major theme, particularly the roots of the Nazi period and the question of how far the two postwar Germanys broke with the past. The course is built around three interrelated themes: politics, economy and society, and culture. The principal focus is domestic affairs, but the nature of the “German question” means that attention is given to the international dimension where appropriate.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study A-79. The Modern Police State
Catalog Number: 3282
Terry D. Martin
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
Examines the impact of secret police practices on societies and states in the modern world. Focuses on the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but makes comparisons with other European states and the USA. Topics will include surveillance, secret informers, policing technologies, secrecy, censorship, state terror, ethnic cleansing, the concentration camp; as well as popular adaptations such as rumors, bribery, forged identities, collaboration, resistance, and denunciation. Ends with a discussion of attempts to deal with the legacy of the police state.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study A-80. The Cold War
Catalog Number: 5222
Ernest R. May
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
The East-West Cold War that followed World War II is the dominant historical experience shaping current thinking about international affairs. This course surveys the Cold War’s origins and development, the crises at its climax, the course of events from the subsequent détente to the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the influence of Cold War memories in the present day.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study A-82. Gender, Race, and Nationhood in 20th Century U.S. History]
Catalog Number: 9829
Ruth Feldstein
Half course (spring term). Hours to be arranged.
This course investigates the centrality of gender, sexuality, and race to American political life and to meanings of American national identity more generally. Drawing on sources including legislation, novels and films, and historical scholarship, students will consider how race, gender, and sexuality have shaped dominant political ideologies and policies, as well as resistant political movements.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-04. Ancient Greek Democracy
Catalog Number: 6791
Eric W. Robinson
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course examines the origin, essential nature, and importance of ancient Greek democracy, which first took shape in the city-states of Greece over 2500 years ago. The first part of the course looks at the development of democracy, beginning with the earliest signs of pan-Hellenic egalitarianism and ending with the appearance of fully democratic governments in Athens and elsewhere. The second part considers the ideals and institutions of ancient democracy in the context of Greek society as a whole. Herodotus, Thucydides, Aristotle, and other ancient sources will be read in translation along with modern scholarly interpretations.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-06. The Roman Games
Catalog Number: 2603
Kathleen M. Coleman
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 9, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 2
Examines the evidence for gladiatorial combat, staged beast-hunts, executions, and aquatic displays in the Roman world. Through analysis of these spectacles the course illuminates the social and political context of the Roman Empire. The evidence to be studied includes literary sources, inscriptions, coins, mosaics, pottery, and selected archaeological sites where the spectacles were performed. A translation is supplied for course material in Greek and Latin.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-09. The Christian Revolution
Catalog Number: 6389
Christopher P. Jones
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
The course studies the formative period of Christianity as a historical phenomenon. The course begins with the social and political background, and then considers the person of Jesus of Nazareth, how his teaching was developed by his followers, how they built up a “church” of believers, and how Judaism and Christianity were intertwined not only in the person of Jesus but in the history of the two faiths in the decades following the destruction of the Temple. The overall aim is to see how historical methods can be used to explain phenomena which, viewed on their own terms, transcend explanation.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-11. The Crusades
Catalog Number: 0434
Angeliki E. Laiou
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Examines the decision to launch the First Crusade (1095); Pope Urban II’s motivations; the condition of the church in the Western world and the development of the idea of holy war. Studies the consequences of the First Crusade; expansion of Western Europeans into the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans; the development of the crusading movement through the Fourth Crusade (1204); and the permanent transformation of East-West relations resulting from the conflict and coexistence of various peoples whom the Crusades brought together. Considers the relations among political, economic, and religious factors and the consequences in cultural and material spheres. Readings focus on sources in translation.
[Historical Study B-13. Charlemagne and the Birth of Medieval Civilization]
Catalog Number: 2567
Michael McCormick
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
For 200 years, the family of Charlemagne welded together the disparate fragments of a fallen Roman Empire and free Germania. The result was a new civilization, called Europe; a new cultural movement, called Renaissance. “Charlemagne” investigates how a new civilization arose in the countryside and in the conquests of the 8th and 9th centuries A.D. with consequences that endure down to our own time. But “Charlemagne” is also about historical analysis: the techniques by which today’s historians wrest new data and insights from manuscripts, memorandums, and mud to rediscover the lives of the men and women who created the first European civilization.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-16. Conquest in the Americas]
Catalog Number: 5680
Jane E. Mangan
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
This course studies European conquest endeavors in the Americas from the homeland of the Iroquois to the Inca. We focus on the 16th and 17th centuries, when European powers played out their major conquest or settlement expeditions. By studying events prior to and following initial encounters between Amerindians and Europeans, the course studies the process of colonization of the Americas. We address numerous events implied in conquest, including claiming of territory, exerting dominion over others, the denunciation of native religions, cultural and economic exchange, and the campaigns of resistance by subject peoples.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-17. Power and Society in Medieval Europe: Crisis in the Twelfth Century]
Catalog Number: 2086
Thomas N. Bisson
Half course (fall term). M., W., (F.), at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
Devoted to the strains and conflicts in which European government and law originated. Examines the transformation (ca. A.D. 1050–1250) of tribal societies in which exploitative lordship was the typical mode of power into political societies in which power was redefined in administrative and proto-bureaucratic ways and redistributed among social groups or classes claiming rights as such. Problems for explanation and discussion include the Investiture Struggle, social conflict in Catalonia and Flanders, new procedures in law and finance, the crisis of Magna Carta, and the origins of parliamentary representation and consent. Readings in primary sources, modern historians, and social anthropologists.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-18. The Protestant Reformation
Catalog Number: 0623
Steven Ozment
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 12 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
In the 16th century, hundreds of thousands of people surrendered religious beliefs, practices, and institutions that had organized daily life and given it meaning for the greater part of a millennium. “The Protestant Reformation” attempts to explain why this happened and how it changed the course of history. Lectures and readings concentrate on seven major areas: (1) the “causes” of the Reformation; (2) its inception and development in representative cities and lands; (3) competing theologies and social philosophies; (4) the variety of linguistic and visual propaganda; (5) the impact on contemporary society and culture; (6) the Catholic response; (7) the Reformation’s legacy to the modern world.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-19. The Renaissance in Florence]
Catalog Number: 4631
James Hankins
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 1, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 6
The Renaissance has been described by historians as a revival of antiquity, as a revolt against the Middle Ages, and as the beginning of the modern world. This course examines these claims in the context of a detailed examination of the society and culture of Florence, the most important Renaissance center, from the time of Dante to the time of Machiavelli.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study B or Literature and Arts C, but not both.
Historical Study B-24. Utopia in the Age of the Scientific Revolution
Catalog Number: 2380
Katharine Park
Half course (spring term). M., W., at 12 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Europe saw both the invention of a new literary genre, the utopian treatise, devoted to imagining a different and better society, and the creation of a new set of goals and methods for natural inquiry, often referred to as the Scientific Revolution. This course explores the relationship between these two developments. How did the “new science” of thinkers such as Copernicus, Bacon, and Galileo inspire and shape the worlds imagined by writers such as Thomas More, William Shakespeare, and Margaret Cavendish? We will end by considering the dissolution of the tradition of utopian thought in the twentieth century.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-35. The French Revolution: Causes, Processes, and Consequences
Catalog Number: 0525
Patrice Higonnet
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
The cultural, social, and political life of France before 1789; the rise of a public sphere; the Revolution in its development from the decentralized “consensus” of 1789 to Jacobin terrorism in 1793–94; the structures of Jacobin thought; the ideological, social, and administrative effects of the Revolution in France. The roles of Mirabeau, the Montagnards, the Girondins, Robespierre, Babeuf, and Napoleon are considered, as well as more general themes such as the effect of public opinion and the redefinition of gender roles.
[Historical Study B-40. Pursuits of Happiness: Ordinary Lives in Revolutionary America]
Catalog Number: 2264
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
When Thomas Jefferson listed the “pursuit of happiness” as one of the inalienable rights of humankind, he offered future generations an evocative but elusive vision of the good society. This course explores the competing visions of “happiness” that animated political and social life in the half century surrounding the American Revolution. Was happiness best achieved through collective commitment to public good? Through submission to God? Or in the possession of property and the cultivation of private affections? And what happened when happiness became misery or its pursuit provoked political rebellion, riot, scandal, and crime?
Note: Expected to be given in 2004–05.
Historical Study B-41. Inventing New England: History, Memory, and the Creation of a Regional Identity
Catalog Number: 1713
Laurel Thatcher Ulrich
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 11 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Much of what we think we know about “colonial New England” was actually a 19th-century invention. Iconic images of the First Thanksgiving, the Salem witch trials, Paul Revere’s Ride, and white spired churches overlooking village greens were largely produced by public commemorations, poems, novels, family histories, and exhibits created long after the fact. This course explores these 19th-century inventions in the light of current scholarship on the history of early New England. Students will explore artifacts, images, and landscapes as well as written documents.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-42. The American Civil War, 1861–1865]
Catalog Number: 3386
William E. Gienapp
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 4
An examination of the experiences of both the North and the South during the Civil War and the legacy of the war for the United States. Topics include the origins of the war, Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis as war leaders, Union war aims and emancipation, dissent and opposition to the war in the Union and the Confederacy, the Confederate transformation of the South, the northern and southern home fronts, race, the spiritual and economic costs of the war, and the imprint of the war on American politics, society, and values. This is not a course in military history.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-50. Sex and Class in China’s Transition to Modernity
Catalog Number: 9831
Bridie Andrews
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 9 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 2
Perhaps most emblematic of China’s metamorphosis from an imperial neo-Confucian society to a modern one is the apparently sudden transformation of the lives of China’s most oppressed—women and the poor. From footbound isolation in the inner quarters, women suddenly appeared on the public scene, unbound, working in factories, attending schools, and marching in political demonstrations. This course will examine these changes, but will challenge the idea of a simple movement from oppression to liberation or tradition to modernity, examining the period from the eighteenth century through the May 4th Movement of 1919.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-52. Slavery and Slave Trade in Africa and the Americas
Catalog Number: 3834
Emmanuel K. Akyeampong
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
This course begins with the question of terminological precision and the definition of slavery and other forms of servile labor—especially in Africa. The course then examines the institution of slavery in Africa and the Americas within this wider historical context, analyzing the political economies and ideologies that underpin slavery and the crucial role of slave trade in reproducing slave communities that were barely able to reproduce themselves naturally. The course explores the impact of slavery on political, economic, social, and cultural life in Africa and the Americas and ends with a discussion of the legacy of slavery and the global nature of the African diaspora.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-53. World War and Society in the 20th Century: World War I]
Catalog Number: 4388
Charles S. Maier
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Viewed together, the two world wars shattered Germany’s bid for European domination, revolutionized Russia and extended her influence over Eastern Europe for over 40 years, helped dissolve the colonial empires and create the modern welfare state, and made the United States the world’s preeminent power. Historical Study B-53 and B-54 examine the problem of war origins; grand strategies of the combatants and the actual nature of fighting; organization of war economies; response of writers and intellectuals; and the nature of the peace settlements and legacies for postwar culture and politics. This course also focuses on the issue of inevitability; the static trench combat; transformation of the state; demographic effects; literary perception and political radicalization of Left and Right; postwar bitterness and disillusion.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
Historical Study B-54. World War and Society in the 20th Century: World War II
Catalog Number: 6497
Charles S. Maier
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 11, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 13
Examines the failure of the Versailles system, the Pacific conflict after 1937, the continental European war of 1939–41, the vast coalition struggle of 1941–45, and the bipolar postwar settlement. Topics include the strategic demands of multifront warfare; the role of city bombing, intelligence, and partisan warfare; occupation regimes, collaboration, and resistance; America’s “good war” —the politics and culture of the home fronts; war costs, including the civilian toll; postwar purges, liberation movements, and commemoration.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-56. The Russian Revolution]
Catalog Number: 8064
Eric Lohr
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 14
The Russian Revolution was one of the great events of the 20th century. Not only did it transform life for millions living within the Russian Empire and the revolutionary Soviet regime, which replaced it after a bloody civil war, but it also polarized international politics for the rest of the century. Taking a broad definition of “revolution,” this course is not limited to the Bolshevik seizure of power in 1917. It examines the broad array of social, political, cultural, and economic “revolutions” from the late 19th century up to the Bolshevik consolidation of power in the early 1920s.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-57. The Second British Empire]
Catalog Number: 6756
Susan Pedersen and T. Robert Travers
Half course (spring term). M., W., (F.), at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
This course explores the course and nature of the British empire from the late 18th century until the period after World War II. Three main issues are addressed: the establishment and character of British imperial rule, the domestic political and cultural ramifications of empire, and the process of decolonization. Using essays, diaries, political records, fiction, and film, students seek to understand both the experiences of particular colonies (especially Ireland, India, and Kenya) and the consequences of such rule for Britain itself.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04.
[Historical Study B-60. France’s Decline and Renovation (1934–1946)]
Catalog Number: 5393
Stanley Hoffmann
Half course (fall term). Tu., Th., 2–3:30, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 16, 17
The decadence and rebirth of France in the 20th century. The decline and destruction of the Third Republic confronted with the Great Depression, the social, political, and intellectual divisions around the Popular Front, and Nazi Germany. The Vichy regime’s attempts at domestic counterrevolution and external collaboration with Germany. The liberation of France by the Resistance movements and General de Gaulle. Successes and limits of post-Liberation political, economic, and social transformations, and of France’s intellectual and diplomatic adaptation to a world dominated by the Cold War and the revolt against colonialism. Special emphasis on historical controversies and on the moral dilemmas faced by the French. Readings include memoirs and literary works.
Note: Expected to be given in 2004–05. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study B or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
[Historical Study B-61. The Warren Court and the Pursuit of Justice, 1953–1969]
Catalog Number: 6840
Morton J. Horwitz (Law School)
Half course (spring term). M., W., F., at 12, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 5
Examines the significance of the Supreme Court during the Chief Justiceship of Earl Warren in the broader context of the development of American thought and society. Explores the basic premise that the Warren Era represented not only a major constitutional revolution but that it produced a fundamental transformation in the conception of the role of law in American society. Subjects to be studied are Brown v. Board of Education, the Civil Rights Movement, and the history of race relations; McCarthyism and civil liberties; the emergence of a right to privacy in Griswold v. Connecticut; and the “rights” revolution in jurisprudence.
Note: Expected to be given in 2004–05.
[Historical Study B-64. The Cuban Revolution, 1956–1971: A Self-Debate]
Catalog Number: 6974
Jorge I. Domínguez
Half course (fall term). M., W., F., at 10, and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 3
Focus on the insurrectionary war, the consolidation of power, Fidel Castro’s role, the role of organized labor and the peasantry, the U.S.-Cuban conflict, the alliance with the Soviet Union, the choice of economic strategy, the “remaking of human beings,” the role of intellectuals, the support for revolutions in Africa and Latin America, and the change toward “orthodox” policies. The instructor will debate himself, presenting two or more views on each issue. Readings include original documents in translation.
Note: Expected to be given in 2003–04. For students under the Core requirement, counts as either Historical Study B or Foreign Cultures, but not both.
Historical Study B-67. Japan’s Modern Revolution
Catalog Number: 4164
Daniel V. Botsman
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 1 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 15
Examines the causes and consequences of one of the most important events in modern world history—Japan’s transformation from feudal state to imperialist power. The class begins with a consideration of samurai rule during the Tokugawa period (1600–1868) and the social changes that resulted from over two centuries without war. We then examine the impact of Japan’s forcible incorporation into a “modern world system” in the mid-19th century, the radical reforms implemented in the wake of the Meiji Restoration of 1868, and the beginning of Japanese imperialism in Asia. Discussion sections focus on a broad array of primary documents in translation.
Historical Study B-68. America and Vietnam: 1945–1975
Catalog Number: 3447
Hue-Tam Ho Tai and Ernest R. May
Half course (spring term). Tu., Th., at 10 and a weekly section to be arranged. EXAM GROUP: 12
Examines modern conflicts in Vietnam and their implications for the United States from 1945–1975, from both Vietnamese and American perspectives. Seeks to provide an understanding of the complexity of the war and the ethical dilemmas it raised by examining issues ranging from the power-politics assumptions of decision makers to the personal experiences of those caught in the war. Covers both background and consequences of the war, but the main focus is on the 30-year period during which the fortunes of America and Vietnam became intertwined.
Note: Expected to be omitted in 2003–04.