History
History is the study of the recorded past. Since interest in the past is closely linked with a desire to understand the present, the history curriculum at MIT is tailored in part to put the modern world in historical perspective. Subjects explore the social, cultural, economic, and political transformations that shape the present; and efforts are made to suggest where traditional assumptions remain in present-day politics, society, and culture.
The curriculum seeks to encourage both an understanding of the human past and the development of skills necessary to express that knowledge effectively.
Undergraduate Study
Bachelor of Science in History (Course 21H)
The program leading to the degree of Bachelor of Science in History is designed to encourage students to discover and reconstruct the past, to confront and understand the complexity of past human behavior for itself, and to inform their sense of the historical present. The curriculum includes the selection of at least one subject taken from the curriculum's 21H undergraduate seminars. Students are expected to take seven additional subjects of their own choice, selected in consultation with a major advisor. These must include subjects drawn from at least two geographical areas, as well as one pre-modern (before 1700) and one modern subject.
During the junior year, the history major is required to take subject 21H.390 Theories and Methods in the Study of History, which is intended to develop skills for independent research and writing, followed in the senior year by 21H.THT History Pre-Thesis Tutorial and 21H.THU History Thesis. Subjects 21H.390 Theories and Methods in the Study of History and 21H.THU History Thesis satisfy the CI-M component of the Communication Requirement. Supplementing these requirements within the history curriculum is the stipulation of three additional subjects in a second field of humanities, arts, and social sciences that provide the perspectives of another discipline on the history of human thought and behavior. This program is intentionally flexible; the relatively large number of electives and unrestricted time allows for the design of a course of study that meets individual needs and interests.
Joint Degree Programs
Joint degree programs are offered in history in combination with a field in engineering or science (21E, 21S). See the joint degree programs listed under Humanities.
Minor in History
The goal of this minor is to lead the student from basic survey subjects into more focused studies of individual countries or periods of time, and to encourage thinking about broader analytical and comparative issues in historical study.
The Minor in History consists of six subjects, which must include:
| 21H.390 | Theories and Methods in the Study of History | 12 |
| Select five subjects as follows: 1 | 51-60 | |
Select at least one 21H seminar, excluding 21H.390 2 | ||
Select four introductory or intermediate subjects from the history curriculum | ||
| Total Units | 63-72 | |
| 1 | At least two temporal periods—one pre-modern (before 1700) and one modern—must be covered by these five subjects. For a list of available subjects, consult the History website. |
| 2 | Select from 21H subjects for which the first digit after the decimal is 3. |
Minor in Applied International Studies
A range of subjects in history can fulfill requirements for the interdisciplinary Minor in Applied International Studies. For more information, see the program description under Interdisciplinary Programs.
Inquiries
Further information on subjects and programs may be obtained from the History Office, Room E51-255, 617-324-5134.
Faculty and Teaching Staff
Jeffrey S. Ravel, PhD
Professor of History
Head, History Section
Professors
Christopher Capozzola, PhD
Professor of History
(On leave, fall)
Robert M. Fogelson, PhD
Professor of Urban Studies
Professor of History
(On leave, spring)
Philip S. Khoury, PhD
Ford International Professor of History
Associate Provost
Anne E. C. McCants, PhD
Professor of History
Harriet Ritvo, PhD
Arthur J. Connor Professor
Professor of History
Merritt Roe Smith, PhD
Leverett Howell Cutten '07 and William King Cutten '39 Professor of the History of Technology
Professor of History
Emma J. Teng, PhD
T. T. and Wei Fong Chao Professor of Asian Civilizations
Professor of Chinese Studies and History
Head, Global Studies and Languages Section
Craig Steven Wilder, PhD
Barton L. Weller Professor
Professor of History
(On leave)
Elizabeth A. Wood, PhD
Professor of History
Associate Professors
Sana Aiyar, PhD
Class of 1948 Career Development Chair
Associate Professor of History
William Broadhead, PhD
Associate Professor of History
Lerna Ekmekcioglu, PhD
Genevieve McMillan and Reba Stewart Career Development Professor of the Study of Women in the Developing World
Associate Professor of History
Malick Ghachem, JD, PhD
Associate Professor of History
(On leave)
Eric J. Goldberg, PhD
Associate Professor of History
Christopher R. Leighton, PhD
Associate Professor of History
Hiromu Nagahara, PhD
Associate Professor of History
Tanalís Padilla, PhD
Associate Professor of History
Assistant Professors
Caley Horan, PhD
Assistant Professor of History
Visiting Professors
Kenda Mutongi, PhD
Visiting Professor of History
Lecturers
Pouya Alimagham, PhD
Lecturer in History
Shane Bobrycki, PhD
Lecturer in History
Eliza Gettel, MA
Lecturer in History
Valentina Pugliano, PhD
Lecturer in History
Research Associate in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society
Professors Emeriti
John W. Dower, PhD
Ford International Professor of History Emeritus
Loren Graham, PhD
Professor Emeritus of the History of Science
Harold John Hanham, PhD
Professor Emeritus of History and Political Science
Peter C. Perdue, PhD
Professor Emeritus of History
William B. Watson, PhD
Associate Professor Emeritus of History
Introductory
21H.001 How to Stage a Revolution
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Explores fundamental questions about the causes and nature of revolutions by looking at how people overthrow their rulers and establish new governments. Considers a set of major political transformations throughout the world and across centuries to understand the meaning of revolution and evaluate its impact. Examines how revolutionaries have attempted to establish their ideals and realize their goals. Asks whether radical upheavals require bloodshed, violence, or even terror. Seeks to explain why some revolutions succeed and others fail. Materials include the writings of revolutionaries, declarations and constitutions, music, films, art, novels, memoirs, and newspapers.
Staff
21H.007[J] Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies
Same subject as 21L.014[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: U (Fall)
Acad Year 2019-2020: Not offered
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Explores the fascinating history, culture, and society of the ancient and medieval worlds and the different methodologies scholars use to interpret them. Wrestles with big questions about the diversity of life and thought in pre-modern societies, the best ways to study the distant past, and the nature (and limitations) of knowledge about long-ago eras. Considers a wide range of scholarly subjects such as the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the triumph of Christianity and Islam, barbarian invasions and holy wars, courts and castles, philosophy and religion, and the diversity of art, literature, and politics. Ponders different types of evidence, reads across a variety of disciplines, and develops skills to identify continuities and changes in ancient and medieval societies.
S. Frampton, E. Goldberg
21H.009 World History and Its Fault Lines Since 1800
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: U (Fall)
Acad Year 2019-2020: Not offered
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Explores how the world, as we know it today, came to be. Examines what it means to be modern and the consequences of modernity on people's everyday lives. Introduces real and perceived changes that made the world recognizably "modern." Surveys the rise of empires, nation-states, industrialized economies, mass consumption, popular culture, and political ideas and movements, and studies how they resulted in new, often contested, dynamics of racial, class, religious, gendered, and political identity. Instruction provided in how the evolving relationships of people with political, social, and economic structures produced a world that is highly interconnected and, at the same time, divided along different fault lines.
S. Aiyar, H. Nagahara
21H.101 American History to 1865
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
A basic history of American social, economic, and political development from the colonial period through the Civil War. Examines the colonial heritages of Spanish and British America; the American Revolution and its impact; the establishment and growth of the new nation; and the Civil War, its background, character, and impact. Readings include writings of the period by Winthrop, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, W. H. Garrison, G. Fitzhugh, H. B. Stowe, and Lincoln.
Staff
21H.102 American History since 1865
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Examines the social, cultural, political, and economic history of the United States, from the Civil War to the present. Uses secondary analysis and primary documents, such as court cases, personal accounts, photographs, and films, to examine some of the key issues in the shaping of modern America, including industrialization and urbanization, immigration, the rise of a mass consumer society, the emergence of the US as a global power, and the development of civil rights activism and other major social movements.
C. Horan
21H.106[J] Black Matters: Introduction to Black Studies
Same subject as 24.912[J], 21L.008[J], 21W.741[J], WGS.190[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-A, HASS-H; CI-H
See description under subject 24.912[J].
M. Degraff
21H.107[J] Introduction to Asian American Studies: Historical and Contemporary Issues
Same subject as 21G.043[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject 21G.043[J].
Consult E. Teng
21H.108[J] Sexual and Gender Identities
Same subject as WGS.110[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject WGS.110[J].
C. Horan
21H.130 The Ancient World: Greece
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
History of Ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the death of Alexander. Major social, economic, political, and religious trends. Homer, heroism, and the Greek identity; the hoplite revolution and the rise of the city-state; Herodotus, Persia, and the (re)birth of history; Empire, Thucydidean rationalism, and the Peloponnesian War; Aristotle, Macedonia, and Hellenism. Emphasis on use of primary sources in translation.
E. Gettel
21H.132 The Ancient World: Rome
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
History of Rome from its humble beginnings to the 5th century A.D. First half: Kingship to Republican form; the conquest of Italy; Roman expansion: Pyrrhus, Punic Wars and provinces; classes, courts, and the Roman revolution; Augustus and the formation of empire. Second half: Virgil to the Vandals; major social, economic, political and religious trends at Rome and in the provinces. Emphasis on use of primary sources in translation. Enrollment limited.
W. Broadhead
21H.133 The Medieval World
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Investigates the dynamic history of Europe and its relations with the wider world between the late Roman empire and voyages of discovery. Examines the rise of Christianity, the cult of the saints, and monasticism; the decline of the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, and the foundation of post-Roman kingdoms; the meteoric rise of Islam; the formation of the Carolingian, Byzantine, and Islamic empires; the Vikings and Mongols; castles, knights, and crusades; religious thinkers, reformers, and heretics; changes in art, architecture, and literature; the Black Death and the fall of Constantinople; the Italian Renaissance and the voyages of discovery.
E. Goldberg
21H.134[J] Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective
Same subject as 14.70[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Surveys the conditions of material life and changing social and economic relations in medieval Europe using the comparative context of contemporary Islamic, Chinese, and Japanese experiences. Covers the emergence and decline of feudal institutions, the transformation of peasant agriculture, living standards and the course of epidemic disease, and the ebb and flow of long-distance trade across the Eurasian system. Particular emphasis placed on the study of those factors, both institutional and technological, which contributed to the emergence of capitalist organization and economic growth in western Europe in contrast to the trajectories followed by the other major medieval economies.
S. Bobrycki
21H.141 Renaissance to Revolution: Europe, 1300-1800
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Provides an introduction to major political, social, cultural and intellectual changes in Europe from the beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy around 1300 to the outbreak of the French Revolution at the end of the 1700s. Focuses on the porous boundaries between categories of theology, magic and science. Examines how developments in these areas altered European political institutions, social structures, and cultural practices. Studies men and women, nobles and commoners, as well as Europeans and some non-Europeans with whom they came into contact.
V. Pugliano
21H.151 Traditional China: Earliest Times to 1644
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines how traditional China originated a civilization of universal meaning and persistent influence, including ideologies, technologies, and culture. Explains how this unique civilization and the Chinese state at its center developed, considers its patterns, and assesses its impact. Emphasizes analysis of structures as well as knowledge of events.
C. Leighton
21H.152 Modern China: 1644 to the Present
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Surveys China from its last empire through its reemergence as a power in modern times. Examines how China's contemporary transformation has lifted hundreds of millions from poverty, refashioned social relations, and altered international politics. Students debate the causes and consequences of these major events and speculate on China's future in the light of its past.
C. Leighton
21H.154 Inventing the Samurai
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the historical origins of the Japanese warrior class as well as its reinvention throughout the archipelago's history. Special focus on the pre-modern era (200-1600 CE). Highlights key historical contexts including the rise of the imperial court, interactions with the broader world, and the establishment of a warrior-dominated state. Also considers the modern imaginations and uses of the warrior figure.
H. Nagahara
21H.155 Modern Japan: 1600 to Present
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Surveys Japanese history from the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 to the present and explores the local and global nature of modernity in Japan. Highlights key themes, including the emergence of a modern nation-state, the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the development of mass consumer culture and the middle class, and the continued importance of historical memory in Japan today.
H. Nagahara
21H.157 Modern South Asia
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Explores the political, social, and economic history of South Asia from the 18th century to the present day. Topics include colonial rule; anti-colonial movements; nationalism and the creation of modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; the post-colonial nation state; social movements; religious identity; involvement of the United States in the region; and economic development. Students develop an understanding of the current successes, failures, and challenges facing the people and states of contemporary South Asia from a historical perspective.
S. Aiyar
21H.160 Islam, the Middle East, and the West
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Provides students with an overview of basic themes and issues in Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present, with an emphasis on exchanges and encounters between the Middle East and Europe/North America. Examines the history of the notion of "East" and "West;" the emergence of Islam and the Christianization of Europe; Ottoman and Safavid expansion; the flourishing of European powers; European competition with and colonization of Middle Eastern societies, and Middle Eastern responses, including Arab and Iranian nationalisms as well as the rise of Political Islam.
P. Alimagham
21H.161 The Middle East in the Twentieth Century
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Surveys the history of the Middle East, from the end of the 19th century to the present. Examines major political, social, intellectual and cultural issues and practices. Focuses on important events, movements, and ideas that prevailed during the last century and affect its current realities. Enrollment limited.
P. Alimagham
21H.165 A Survey of Modern African History
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Surveys the history of 19th- and 20th-century Africa. Focuses on the European conquest of Africa and the dynamics of colonial rule, especially its socioeconomic and cultural consequences. Looks at how the rising tide of African nationalism, in the form of labor strikes and guerrilla wars, ushered out colonialism. Examines the postcolonial states, focusing on the politics of development, recent civil wars in countries like Rwanda and Liberia, the AIDS epidemic, and the history of Apartheid in South Africa up to 1994.
K. Mutongi
21H.170[J] Introduction to Latin American Studies
Same subject as 17.55[J], 21A.130[J], 21G.084[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
See description under subject 17.55[J].
T. Padilla, P. Duong
21H.171 Latin America: Revolution, Dictatorship, and Democracy, 1850 to Present
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Selective survey of Latin American history from the mid-19th century to the present. Issues studied include: dictators and democracies in the 20th century, revolution in Mexico, Cuba, and Central America, Latin America in the global economy, relations between Latin America and the U.S., indigenismo, feminism, and the varieties of religion in Latin America.
T. Padilla
21H.172[J] Latin America Through Film
Same subject as 21G.078[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Traces Latin American history through film and analyzes how this medium represents events in the recent and distant past. Weekly movies provide a window through which to analyze themes such as colonialism, national formation, revolution, gender, race relations, popular mobilizations and counterinsurgency. Examines films for how they represent a particular group or country, the reality they capture or obscure, and the message they convey.
T. Padilla
21H.181[J] Libertarianism in History
Same subject as 17.035[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the history of the ideal of individual liberty in light of contemporary arguments over the proper scope of the regulatory state. Surveys the political theory of freedom and its relationship to competing norms (property, equality, community, republicanism, and innovation). Considers examples of modern liberation movements, including abolitionism and the Civil Rights movement, religious liberty, and LGBT rights. Concludes with a set of policy debates about the role of government in regulating health care, the financial markets, and the internet.
M. Ghachem
21H.185[J] Environment and History
Same subject as 12.386[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Focusing on the period from 1500 to the present, explores the influence of climate, topography, plants, animals, and microorganisms on human history and the reciprocal influence of people on the environment. Topics include the European encounter with the Americas, the impact of modern technology, and the current environmental crisis. Enrollment limited.
H. Ritvo, S. Solomon
Intermediate
21H.201 The American Revolution
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
English and American backgrounds of the Revolution; issues and arguments in the Anglo-American conflict; colonial resistance and the beginnings of republicanism; the Revolutionary War; constitution writing for the states and nation; and effects of the American Revolution. Concerned primarily with the revolutionary origins of American government and laws. Readings emphasize documents from the period--pamphlets, correspondence, the minutes or resolutions of resistance organizations, constitutional documents and debates.
Staff
21H.205[J] The Civil War and the Emergence of Modern America: 1861-1890
Same subject as STS.027[J]
Subject meets with STS.427
Prereq: Permission of instructor
Acad Year 2018-2019: U (Fall)
Acad Year 2019-2020: Not offered
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject STS.027[J].
M. R. Smith
21H.211 The United States in the Nuclear Age
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines the culture that developed in the US during the early years of the Cold War, at the dawn of the nuclear age. Topics include new family structures and civil defense strategies that emerged in response to the promise and perils of nuclear power; the role of anxiety and insecurity in transforming American politics and psychology; the development of computing technology and the changes it brought to American workspaces; the social impacts of space exploration, suburbanization, and the construction of highways and shopping malls; and new models used by social scientists and other experts to predict human behavior and the future.
C. Horan
21H.213[J] The War at Home: American Politics and Society in Wartime
Same subject as 17.28[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
See description under subject 17.28[J].
A. Berinsky, C. Capozzola
21H.214 War and American Society
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines how issues of war and national security have affected politics, economics, and society from the First World War to the war in Iraq. Draws on historical evidence as well as representations in film, music and popular culture.
C. Capozzola
21H.217[J] American Urban History
Same subject as 11.013[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
2-0-7 units. HASS-H; CI-H
See description under subject 11.013[J].
R. M. Fogelson
21H.218[J] History of the Built Environment in the US
Same subject as 11.014[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
2-0-7 units. HASS-H; CI-H
See description under subject 11.014[J].
R. M. Fogelson
21H.220[J] Metropolis: A Comparative History of New York City
Same subject as 11.150[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines the evolution of New York City from 1607 to the present. Readings focus on the city's social and physical histories. Discussions compare New York's development to patterns in other cities.
C. Wilder
21H.226[J] Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History
Same subject as 11.015[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Focuses on a series of short, complicated, traumatic events that shed light on American politics, culture, and society. Events studied may include the rendition of Anthony Burns in 1854, the most famous fugitive slave controversy in US history; the Homestead strike/lockout of 1892; the quiz show scandal of the 1950s; and the student uprisings at Columbia University in 1968. Emphasis on finding ways to make sense of these events and on using them to understand larger processes of change in American history.
R. M. Fogelson
21H.227 Constitutional Law in US History
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: U (Spring)
Acad Year 2019-2020: Not offered
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Introduces major themes and patterns of change in American constitutional law since 1787, including federal-state relations, racial and gender equality, economic regulation, and civil liberties. Readings consist of original court cases, especially from the US Supreme Court, including cases of the current term. Emphasis on the historical development of constitutional law and on the relationship between the Supreme Court and broader social, political, and cultural trends.
C. Capozzola
21H.228 American Classics
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Students read, discuss, and write about critical works in American history from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Includes writings by early Puritan writers, Franklin, Paine, Jefferson, and Madison; Lewis and Clark; Frederick Douglass; Harriet Beecher Stowe; the Lincoln-Douglas debates; U. S. Grant, W. E. B. Dubois, Andrew Carnegie, Horatio Alger, F. D. Roosevelt, Betty Friedan, and Martin Luther King, Jr. May also include music, recorded speeches, television programs, visual images, or films. Enrollment limited
C. Wilder
21H.229 The Black Radical Tradition in America
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Focuses on American history from the African-American perspective. Includes alternative visions of the nation's future, and definitions of its progress, that have called for a fundamental restructuring of political, economic and social relations. Introduces events, figures and institutions that have shaped African-American history, from the struggles to dominate the African coast and the emergence of a modern slave trade, through the fall of the Western slave societies. Also examines the experiences of Africans in other parts of North America, as well as South America and the Caribbean.
C. Wilder
21H.230 Barbarians, Saints, and Emperors
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the late Roman Empire and its transformations during Late Antiquity (c.300-c.700). Questions the traditional decline and fall narrative of the period, which argues that Christianity and barbarians destroyed classical civilization and ushered in the Dark Ages. Explores such topics as Romans and barbarians, paganism and Christianity, politics and war, Rome and Constantinople, and bishops and saints. Discusses the influence of such characters as Constantine the Great, St. Augustine, Attila the Hun, and the prophet Mohammed.
E. Goldberg
21H.237 The City of Athens in the Age of Pericles
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Historical topography of ancient Athens. Investigates the relationship between urban architecture and political, social, and cultural history of Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Surveys and analyzes archeological and literary evidence, including the sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis, the Agora, Greek houses, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, plays of Sophocles and Aristophanes, and the panhellenic sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia.
W. Broadhead
21H.238 The Vikings
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the complex relationship of the Vikings with the medieval world. Investigates the complexity of the Viking expansion, not only in terms of raiding and conflict, but also as a process of diplomacy, settlement, assimilation, and colonization. Examines developments within Scandinavian society such as state formation, social structures, trade, shipbuilding, slavery, urban growth, and Christianization. Considers the methodological difficulties presented by the diverse and often contradictory historical sources for information about the Vikings, such as chronicles, archaeology, coin hoards, stone inscriptions, and sagas.
E. Goldberg
21H.239 The City of Rome in the Age of the Caesars
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Historical topography of Ancient Rome. Investigates the relationship between urban architecture and the political, social, and cultural history of Rome from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. Surveys and analyzes archaeological and literary evidence, including the Roman Forum, the Imperial fora, the palace of the emperors, the atrium houses of Roman Pompeii, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Polybius' history, Martial's Epigrams, and Vitruvius' treatise on architecture.
W. Broadhead
21H.240 The World of Charlemagne
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Investigates the world of the first medieval emperor, Charles the Great, or Charlemagne (768-814). Focuses on how Charlemagne and his dynasty, the Carolingians (ruled 751-888), forged a vast empire out of the diverse peoples and territories of Europe - not only through conquests and military might, but through Christianity and the Church, education and literacy, government and law, art and architecture, and a fundamental reorganization of the economy and society. Considers the enduring contributions of Charlemagne and his family to the formation of Europe as well as the shortcomings and failures of their empire.
E. Goldberg
21H.241[J] France: Enlightenment and Revolution
Same subject as 21G.054[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the question of whether the French Enlightenment caused the French Revolution. Studies France prior to 1789, analyzes some of the most critically corrosive works of the French Enlightenment, and considers how ideas circulated through France and Europe in the eighteenth century. Examines the role of enlightened ideas in France during the revolutionary decade from 1789 to 1799.
J. Ravel
21H.242[J] Frenchness in an Era of Globalization
Same subject as 21G.322[J]
Prereq: One intermediate subject in French or permission of instructor
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject 21G.322[J]. Limited to 18.
C. Clark
21H.244[J] Imperial and Revolutionary Russia: Culture and Politics, 1700-1917
Same subject as 21G.085[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Analyzes Russia's social, cultural, and political heritage in the 18th and 19th centuries, up to and including the Russian Revolution of 1917. Compares reforming and revolutionary impulses in the context of serfdom, the rise of the intelligentsia, and debates over capitalism. Focuses on historical and literary texts, especially the intersections between the two.
E. Wood
21H.245[J] Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society: 1917 to the Present
Same subject as 17.57[J], 21G.086[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S; CI-H
Explores the political and historical evolution of the Soviet state and society from the 1917 Revolution to the present. Covers the creation of a revolutionary regime, causes and nature of the Stalin revolution, post-Stalinist efforts to achieve political and social reform, and causes of the Soviet collapse. Also examines current developments in Russia in light of Soviet history. Enrollment limited
E. Wood
21H.253[J] The Global Chinese: Chinese Migration, 1567-Present
Same subject as 21G.075[J]
Subject meets with 21G.196
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject 21G.075[J].
E. Teng
21H.260 Cities in the Middle East: History, Politics and Society
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Examines the role and centrality of cities in the history of the modern Middle East, through political, social, cultural and urban interactions. Begins with a theoretical introduction of the different approaches for investigating urban spaces, and follows with discussions of case studies that demonstrate the diversity of urban centers in the Middle East, including Beirut, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mecca, Algiers, and Cairo.
Staff
21H.261 Modern Iran: A Century of Revolution (New)
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Provides an overview of Iran's modern history from a social, cultural, and political perspective while also considering factors as they relate to gender and race. Covers the country's long and complicated interaction with the "West." Situates Iran in the wider region, thereby delineating how political trends in the Middle East influenced the country and how its history of revolution has in turn impacted the region. Unpacks the Sunni-Shi'ite divide as a modern phenomenon rooted more in inter-state rivalry than in a theological dispute, Western perceptions of the Iranian and the Middle Eastern "Other," political Islam, and post-Islamism.
P. Alimagham
21H.262 Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Surveys the history and various realities and challenges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Introduces the fundamental historical trajectories of the conflict. Analyzes the conflicting narratives and perceptions of both Palestinians and Israelis over key moments and issues in the conflict's history. Considers current challenges and possible solutions to the conflict. Limited to 15.
P. Alimagham
21H.263[J] Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa
Same subject as WGS.220[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject WGS.220[J].
L. Eckmekcioglu
21H.273 From Coca to Cocaine: Drug Economies in Latin America
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores how drug production and consumption has affected Latin America's political, cultural and economic life and shaped US foreign policy toward the region. Discusses the history of different psychoactive substances and analyzes why certain drugs became illegal. Pays particular attention to the relationship between strategies of interdiction, poverty, and drug violence. Limited to 35.
T. Padilla
21H.274[J] Creation of a Continent: Representations of Hispanic America, 1492-1898, in Literature and Film
Same subject as 21G.731[J]
Prereq: One intermediate Spanish subject or permission of instructor
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject 21G.731[J].
P. Duong
21H.281 MIT and Slavery: Research (New)
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H; CI-H
Explores the influence of slavery and race on MIT's founding and early development, and the connections between slavery and the rise of sciences and engineering. Students will have their research projects published through the MIT and Slavery website. While 21H.281 and 21H.282 are sequential, students have the option of taking either or both.
N. Murphy, C. Wilder
21H.282 MIT and Slavery: Publication (New)
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Students work on turning research from 21H.281 into publishable quality essays, researching images and other supporting documentary materials, and developing the main narrative of the MIT and Slavery website, for which they receive editorial credit. While 21H.281 and 21H.282 are sequential, students have the option of taking either or both.
N. Murphy, C. Wilder
21H.285[J] Making the Modern World: The Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
Same subject as STS.025[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
See description under subject STS.025[J].
M. R. Smith
Seminars
21H.315 American Consumer Culture
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
2-0-10 units. HASS-H
Examines how and why 20th-century Americans came to define the "good life" through consumption, leisure, and material abundance. Explores how such things as department stores, advertising, mass-produced cars, and suburbs transformed the American economy, society, and politics.
C. Horan
21H.319 Race, Crime, and Citizenship in American Law
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Provides an introduction to the law of race in the United States, focusing on the development of America's criminal justice system since Reconstruction. Examines ongoing debates over whether "mass incarceration" amounts to an instrument of racial control. Considers the relationship between American race legislation and changing definitions of citizenship at key moments in the late 19th and 20th centuries. Case studies include immigration restriction, the death penalty, criminal procedure, and national security policing before and after 9/11.
M. Ghachem
21H.320[J] Gender and the Law in US History
Same subject as WGS.161[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Explores the legal history of the US as a gendered system. Examines how women have shaped the meanings of American citizenship through pursuit of political rights such as suffrage, jury duty, and military service, as well as how the legal system has shaped gender relations through regulation of such issues as marriage, divorce, work, reproduction, and the family. Readings draw from primary and secondary materials, focusing on the broad historical relationship between law and society. No legal knowledge is required or assumed.
C. Capozzola
21H.321[J] Downtown
Same subject as 11.026[J]
Subject meets with 11.339
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
2-0-7 units. HASS-H
Seminar on downtown in US cities from the late 19th century to the late 20th. Emphasis on downtown as an idea, place, and cluster of interests, on the changing character of downtown, and on recent efforts to rebuild it. Considers subways, skyscrapers, highways, urban renewal, and retail centers. Focus on readings, discussions, and individual research projects. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
R. M. Fogelson
21H.322 Christianity in America
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines Christian encounters with Judaism, Islam, and the indigenous religions of Africa and America. Explores the intellectual and social consequences of Christian imperialism and the transformations of Christianity during its American encounters.
C. Wilder
21H.331 Julius Caesar and the Fall of the Roman Republic
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Ancient Rome from 133 to 27 BC. Explores political, social, and economic factors commonly offered to explain the fall of the Roman Republic: growth of the territorial empire, increased intensity of aristocratic competition, transformation of the Italian economy, growth of the city of Rome and dependence of the urban plebs, changes in military recruitment and dependence of soldiers on their generals. Emphasis on the reading of ancient sources in translation, including Cicero, Sallust, Caesar, Augustus, Appian, Plutarch, and Suetonius. Instruction and practice in oral and written communication provided. Taught in seminar format with emphasis on class participation. Limited to 15.
W. Broadhead
21H.333 Early Christianity
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Introduction to the history of early Christianity, from Jesus to Muhammad. Investigates the origins and spread of the Jesus movement within the ancient Jewish and Roman worlds, the emergence of the Church, and the diversity of early Christian thought, spirituality, literature, and art. Examines such topics as the historical Jesus and Paul, relations among Jews, Romans, and Christians, debates over orthodoxy and heresy, the conversion of the Roman empire, the rise of bishops and monasticism, the Church Fathers, and the cult of the saints.
E. Goldberg
21H.336 The Making of a Roman Emperor
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Through close examination of the emperor Augustus and his Julio-Claudian successors, this subject investigates how Roman emperors used art, architecture, coinage, and other media to create and project an image of themselves, how the surviving literary sources from the Roman period reinforced or subverted that image, and how both phenomena have contributed to post-classical perceptions of Roman emperors. Also considers works of Suetonius and Tacitus, and modern representations of the emperors such as those found in the films I, Claudius, Quo Vadis, and HBO's Rome series. Enrollment limited to 15.
W. Broadhead
21H.343[J] Making Books in the Renaissance and Today
Same subject as CC.120[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-A
Explores the impact of new technology on the recording and distribution of words and images in Europe from 1400-1800. Assignments include essays and online projects. Students participate in the design and printing of an eight-page pamphlet on a hand-set printing press. Limited to 12.
Fall: J. Ravel. Spring: S. Frampton
21H.350 Business in China Since 1800
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Analyzes the characteristics of business in China since 1800 to provide a historical context for its contemporary economic development. Topics include China's place in the world economy; early efforts at state-led industrialization; legal and social frameworks for business; foreign investments, companies, and competition; the emergence of a Chinese business class; the influence of socialism and reform-era politics on business. Includes case studies of contemporary companies and a research project.
C. Leighton
21H.351[J] Shanghai and China's Modernization
Same subject as 11.153[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
2-0-10 units. HASS-H
Considers the history and function of Shanghai, from 1840 to the present, and its rise from provincial backwater to international metropolis. Examines its role as a primary point of economic, political, and social contact between China and the world, and the strong grip Shanghai holds on both the Chinese and foreign imagination. Students discuss the major events and figures of Shanghai, critique the classic historiography, and complete an independent project on Shanghai history.
C. Leighton
21H.354 World War II in Asia
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines World War II in the Asia-Pacific region, starting with the rise of the Japanese Empire after World War I and ending with the Allied occupation of Japan from 1945 to 1952. Highlights the diverse and, at times, contradictory forces in politics, society, and culture that shaped the wartime experiences of the empire's inhabitants.
H. Nagahara
21H.357 South Asian Migrations
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Provides a global history of South Asians and introduces students to the cultural, social, economic, and political experiences of immigrants who traveled across the world. Studies how and why South Asians, who have migrated to America, Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, are considered a model minority in some countries and unwanted strangers in others. Through literature, memoirs, films, music, and historical writing, follows South Asian migrants as they discovered the world beyond India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
S. Aiyar
21H.358 Colonialism in South Asia and Africa
Subject meets with 21H.958
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
2-0-10 units. HASS-H
Provides a comparative perspective on the history of colonialism in India and Africa. Explores the political, social, and economic changes brought about by colonial rule. Discusses the international context for the emergence of European Imperialism in the 19th century; the nature of early colonial expansion and consolidation; the re-invention of tradition in colonial societies, especially with regard to racial and ethnic identity, gender, religion, and caste; and expressions of anti-colonial resistance. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
S. Aiyar
21H.365 Minorities and Majorities in the Middle East
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Seminar considers "difference" and "sameness" as they have been conceived, experienced, and regulated by peoples of the Middle East, with a focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. First half discusses the Ottoman Empire. Explores how this multiethnic, polyglot empire survived for several relatively peaceful centuries and what happened when its formula for existence was challenged by politics based on mono-ethnic states. Second half focuses on post-Ottoman nation-states, such as Turkey and Egypt, and Western-mandated Arab states, such as Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. Concludes with a case analysis of Israel.
L. Ekmekcioglu
21H.380[J] People and Other Animals
Same subject as 21A.411[J]
Subject meets with 21A.419[J], 21H.980[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
2-0-10 units. HASS-S
Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.
H. Ritvo
21H.381[J] Women and War
Same subject as WGS.222[J]
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Examines women's experiences during and after war and genocide, covering the first half of the 20th century in Europe and the Middle East. Addresses ways in which women's wartime suffering has been used to further a variety of political and social agendas. Discussions focus on a different topic each week, such as sexual violence, women survivors, female perpetrators of genocide, nurses, children of genocidal rape, and the memory of war.
L. Ekmekcioglu
21H.382 Capitalism in the Age of Revolution
Prereq: None
U (Fall)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines the critical period from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries during which the North Atlantic economies (France, Britain, the Netherlands, and their colonial dependencies) developed recognizably modern, capitalist institutions and practices. Focuses on the rise of publicly traded companies, the relationship between war and state debt, stock markets, and the transition from metallic to paper currency. Considers the role of plantation slavery in the growth of financial capitalism, and the explosive politics of speculation in the American and French revolutions.
M. Ghachem
21H.383 Technology and the Global Economy, 1000-2000
Subject meets with 21H.982
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Examines the global history of the last millennium, including technological change, commodity exchange, systems of production, and economic growth. Students engage with economic history, medieval and early modern origins of modern systems of production, consumption and global exchange. Topics include the long pre-history of modern economic development; medieval world systems; the age of discovery, the global crisis of the 17th century; demographic systems, global population movements; the industrial revolution, the rise of the modern consumer; colonialism and empire building; patterns of inequality, within and across states; the curse of natural resources fate of Africa; and the threat of climate change to modern economic systems. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
A. McCants
21H.385[J] The Ghetto: From Venice to Harlem
Same subject as 11.152[J]
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units. HASS-S
Provides an in-depth look at a modern institution of oppression: the ghetto. Uses literature to examine ghettoization over time and across a wide geographical area, from Jews in Medieval Europe to African-Americans and Latinos in the 20th-century United States. Also explores segregation and poverty in the urban "Third World."
C. Wilder
21H.390 Theories and Methods in the Study of History
Subject meets with 21H.991
Prereq: Two History subjects or permission of instructor
U (Fall)
3-0-9 units. HASS-H
Examines the distinctive ways in which historians in different parts of the world have approached the task of writing history. Explores methodologies used, such as political, social, economic, cultural, and popular histories through the reading and discussion of relevant and innovative texts. Introduces a variety of sources (archival documents, statistical data, film, fiction, memoirs, artifacts, and images) and the ways they can be used to research, interpret, and present the past. Assignments include an original research paper. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
A. McCants
21H.391 Undergraduate Independent Study
Prereq: None
U (Fall, IAP)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual supervised work for students who wish to explore an area of interest in history. Before registering, a student must plan a course of study with a member of the History Faculty and secure approval from the Head of the History Faculty. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9-unit projects occasionally approved.
Staff
21H.392 Undergraduate Independent Study
Prereq: None
U (Spring)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual supervised work for students who wish to explore an area of interest in history. Before registering, a student must plan a course of study with a member of the History Faculty and secure approval from the Head of the History Faculty. Normal maximum is 6 units; exceptional 9-unit projects occasionally approved.
Staff
Special Subjects
21H.S01 Special Subject: History
Prereq: Permission of instructor
U (Fall, Spring)
3-0-9 units
Can be repeated for credit.
Opportunity for group study of special subject not listed in the regular History curriculum.
Staff
21H.S02 Special Subject: History
Prereq: Permission of instructor
U (Fall, Spring)
3-0-9 units
Can be repeated for credit.
Opportunity for group study of special subject not listed in the regular History curriculum.
Staff
21H.S03 Special Subject: History
Prereq: None
U (Fall, IAP, Spring; partial term)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Opportunity for group study of special subject not listed in the regular History curriculum.
Staff
Undergraduate Research
21H.THT History Pre-Thesis Tutorial
Prereq: None
U (Fall, IAP, Spring)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Students writing a thesis in History develop their research topics, review relevant research and scholarship, frame their research questions and arguments, choose an appropriate methodology for analysis, and draft the introductory and methodology sections of their theses. Includes substantial practice in writing (with revision) and oral presentations.
Staff
21H.THU History Thesis
Prereq: 21H.THT
U (Fall, IAP, Spring)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Completion of work on the senior major thesis under supervision of a faculty thesis advisor. Includes oral presentation of thesis progress early in the term, assembling and revising the final text, and a final meeting with a committee of faculty evaluators to discuss the successes and limitations of the project. Required for students pursuing a full major in History.
Staff
21H.UR Undergraduate Research
Prereq: None
U (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer)
Units arranged [P/D/F]
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
Staff
21H.URG Undergraduate Research
Prereq: None
U (Fall, IAP, Spring, Summer)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual participation in an ongoing research project. For students in the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program.
Staff
Graduate Subjects
21H.902 Reading Seminar in American History: 1877 to Present
Prereq: 21H.991 and permission of instructor
G (Spring)
Not offered regularly; consult department
3-0-9 units
Develops teaching knowledge and research skills through extensive reading and discussion of major works in modern US history. Readings cover a range of topics and historical methods. Students make frequent oral presentations and submit a major work consisting of original research or historiographic interpretation.
C. Wilder
21H.958 Colonialism in South Asia and Africa
Subject meets with 21H.358
Prereq: None
G (Spring)
2-0-10 units
Provides a comparative perspective on the history of colonialism in India and Africa. Explores the political, social, and economic changes brought about by colonial rule. Discusses the international context for the emergence of European Imperialism in the 19th century; the nature of early colonial expansion and consolidation; the re-invention of tradition in colonial societies, especially with regard to racial and ethnic identity, gender, religion, and caste; and expressions of anti-colonial resistance. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
S. Aiyar
21H.980[J] People and Other Animals
Same subject as 21A.419[J]
Subject meets with 21A.411[J], 21H.380[J]
Prereq: None
G (Fall)
2-0-10 units
Historical exploration of the ways that people have interacted with their closest animal relatives, for example: hunting, domestication of livestock, exploitation of animal labor, scientific study of animals, display of exotic and performing animals, and pet-keeping. Themes include changing ideas about animal agency and intelligence, our moral obligations to animals, and the limits imposed on the use of animals. Students taking the graduate version complete additional assignments.
H. Ritvo
21H.981 Seminar in Nature, Environment, and Empire
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: Not offered
Acad Year 2019-2020: G (Fall)
3-0-9 units
Explores the relationship between the study of natural history, both domestic and exotic, by Europeans and Americans, and concrete exploitation of the natural world. Focuses on the 18th and 19th centuries.
H. Ritvo
21H.982 Technology and the Global Economy, 1000-2000
Subject meets with 21H.383
Prereq: None
G (Spring)
3-0-9 units
Examines the global history of the last millennium, including technological change, commodity exchange, systems of production, and economic growth. Students engage with economic history, medieval and early modern origins of modern systems of production, consumption and global exchange. Topics include the long pre-history of modern economic development; medieval world systems; the age of discovery, the global crisis of the 17th century; demographic systems, global population movements; the industrial revolution, the rise of the modern consumer; colonialism and empire building; patterns of inequality, within and across states; the curse of natural resources fate of Africa; and the threat of climate change to modern economic systems. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
A. McCants
21H.983[J] Gender
Same subject as WGS.310[J]
Prereq: None
Acad Year 2018-2019: G (Spring)
Acad Year 2019-2020: Not offered
3-0-9 units
Examines the definition of gender in scientific, societal, and historical contexts. Explores how gender influences state formation and the work of the state, what role gender plays in imperialism and in the welfare state, the ever-present relationship between gender and war, and different states' regulation of the body in gendered ways at different times. Investigates new directions in the study of gender as historians, anthropologists and others have taken on this fascinating set of problems. Open to advanced undergraduates with permission of instructor.
L. Ekmekcioglu, E. Wood
21H.984[J] Risk, Fortune, and Futurity (New)
Same subject as STS.414[J]
Prereq: None
G (Spring)
3-0-9 units
Exploration of interdisciplinary scholarship on risk, chance, and fortune. Begins with a survey of theoretical approaches to the field, then proceeds chronologically to explore the emergence of risk and its impacts on human life in multiple arenas ¿ including economics, politics, culture, environment, science, and technology ¿ from the 16th century to the present. Open to undergraduates with permission of instructor; consult department for details.
W. Deringer, C. Horan
21H.991 Theories and Methods in the Study of History
Subject meets with 21H.390
Prereq: Permission of instructor
G (Fall)
3-0-9 units
Examines the distinctive ways in which historians in different parts of the world have approached the task of writing history. Explores methodologies used, such as political, social, economic, cultural, and popular histories through the reading and discussion of relevant and innovative texts. Introduces a variety of sources (archival documents, statistical data, film, fiction, memoirs, artifacts, and images) and the ways they can be used to research, interpret, and present the past. Assignments include an original research paper. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
A. McCants
21H.992 Graduate Independent Study
Prereq: Permission of instructor
G (Fall, Spring)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual supervised work for students who wish to explore an area of interest in history. Before registering, a student must plan a course of study with a member of the History Faculty and secure approval from the Head of the History Faculty.
Staff
21H.993 Graduate Independent Study
Prereq: Permission of instructor
G (Fall, Spring)
Units arranged
Can be repeated for credit.
Individual supervised work for students who wish to explore an area of interest in history. Before registering, a student must plan a course of study with a member of the History Faculty and secure approval from the Head of the History Faculty.
Staff
21H.999 Teaching History
Prereq: None
G (Fall, Spring)
Units arranged [P/D/F]
Can be repeated for credit.
For qualified graduate students serving as either a teaching assistant or instructor for subjects in History. Enrollment limited by availability of suitable teaching assignments.
Staff
