HISTORY DEPARTMENT HOMEPAGE

Course Descriptions, M.A. in History

HST 701 Historical Method

4 hours, 4 credits

This course presents an advanced study of the philosophy and method of historical research, with particular attention to writing and teaching history. While intended to familiarize students with the traditions and current practice of the historical profession, the course will also acquaint students with specific problems in historical research reflected in the publications of the seminar instructor.

Courses in the areas of concentration:

HISTORY 704: Topics in the History of Africa (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines the history of Africa. Topics in the History of Africa will cover such issues as slavery in African societies, ethnicity, class, and power in 20th-century Africa; Africa in the post-Cold War era.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 708: Topics in the History of the Middle East (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines the history of the Middle East. Topics in the History of the Middle East will feature such issues as women and gender in Islam, the historiography of the Middle East, and the Middle East through literature and film. The approach will be predominantly historical, but perspectives from the different social sciences will deepen the analysis.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 710: Topics in the History of South Asia (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course covers important issues in South Asian history. Topics in South Asian History presents an examination of aspects of the social, political, and cultural history of India from the Mauryan to the Gupta periods, and Islamic rule from the Sultanate of Delhi to the Mughal period; Modern South Asia; a study of British imperial rule in South Asia and the development of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh since independence.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 711: Topics in the History of East Asia (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course covers important issues in East Asian history. Topics explored are: Late Imperial China, Tokugawa Japan, Meiji Japan, Republican-era China, rebellion and revolution in China, The People's Republic of China, the Cultural Revolution in China, and international relations in East Asia.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 716: Topics in European History to the Renaissance (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines important themes in the early history of Europe. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources. Topics in European History to the Renaissance may include medieval urban history, medieval religious history, Byzantine history, early Germanic Europe, the Crusades, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire in Eastern Europe.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 717: Topics in European History from the Renaissance (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines important themes in the history of Europe from the time of the Renaissance. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources. Topics in European History from the Renaissance may include: the European Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, the English civil wars, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Russian Revolution and world communism, the world wars, the post-war synthesis, and the European Union.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 720: Topics in Latin American History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course covers important issues in the early and later history of Latin America. Topics in Latin American history may include a study of the Iberian discovery of America and the conquest of the native peoples from 1492 to 1650, the role of the Catholic church in the Hispanicization of Iberian America, the Latin American wars of independence, reform and revolution in Latin America, race in Latin America, the 20th-century Latin revolutions, U.S.-Latin American relations, and Cuban reform and revolution.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 722: Topics in Caribbean History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course will focus on the period from Columbus's arrival in the Caribbean to the abolition of slavery in the 19th century. Among the topics that may be examined: the pre-Hispanic Caribbean Spanish contact with the Arawaks and Caribs, settlement and colonies, the Atlantic slave trade, "King Sugar," the world of Europeans and Euro-Caribbeans, the world of slaves, free persons of color, the Haitian Revolution, metropole-directed abolitionism, the Morant Bay Revolt, the emergence of Cuban nationalism.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 725: Topics in U.S. History to 1865 (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course covers the period of colonial American history until the Civil War era. Important topics in the early history of the United States will be explored. These may include a selection of the following: racial encounters in the New World, the environmental history of the United States, the intellectual and cultural history of the American nation, colonial American history, the American Revolution and the early republic, Jacksonian America, and the Civil War era.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 726: Topics in U.S. History since 1865 (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course covers the period of U.S. history that begins with Reconstruction and moves forward to contemporary issues. Important topics in the history of the United States will be explored. These may include a selection of the following: Reconstruction, Gilded Age, and Progressive history; the history of United States wars; the diplomatic history of the United States; United States biography; United States encounter with communism; the history of women in the United States, the history of the United States west; and United States popular culture.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 730: Topics in Ancient European and Mediterranean History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines themes drawn from the ancient period in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, and/or the Middle East. Topics may include Greek, Roman, Hellenistic, and Jewish politics, culture, and religion. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 732: Topics in Medieval European and Mediterranean History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course examines themes drawn from the medieval period in Europe, the Mediterranean basin, and/or the Middle East. Topics may include Late Antiquity, Byzantine, western medieval or early Islamic history, medieval religious and urban history, and medieval historiography. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 734: Topics in Early Modern European History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course will examine themes selected by the faculty member drawn from the early modern period (15th-18th centuries) ranging from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

HISTORY 736: Topics in Modern European History (4 hours, 4 credits).

This course will examine themes selected by the faculty member drawn from the modern and contemporary period (18th-20th centuries), which includes topics from the French Revolution to the European Union. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

Thesis Courses:

HISTORY 798: Preparation of Thesis Proposal (4 hours, 4 credits).

Students in their third semester will enroll in the Preparation of Thesis Proposal Seminar. In the seminar, students will develop their topic, begin research, collect bibliography, and receive instruction in research methodology and historical writing. Students will write a historiographical essay, reviewing the broader historical literature of their subject and relating their own approach to the field. Before completion of the seminar, students, in consultation with faculty and the program coordinator, will be assigned a thesis director and a second reader.

Prerequisites: Admission to the MA in History Program or permission of History MA Program Coordinator.

NB: This course is usually taken as an Independent Study Course. If you wish to register for the course, you should contact the Coordinator of the MA Program and the Professor with whom you wish to write your thesis. You will then complete the Independent Study form (available in the History Department Office), and attach to it the "Guidelines for HST 798 as an Independent Study Course" form (downloadable here). These forms will then be signed by your advisor and the Coordinator.

HISTORY 799: Thesis Tutorial Seminar (4 hours, 4 credits).

While students are working on their thesis they will enroll in the Thesis Tutorial Seminar under the supervision of their director. The thesis director will monitor students' progress on their thesis and meet regularly with the students. Students will present portions and drafts of their work in progress to the thesis director and, under the advice of the director, consult with the readers before submitting a formal draft to the thesis committee (the director and second and third readers).

Prerequisites: HST 798.

NB: This course is usually taken as an Independent Study Course. If you wish to register for the course, you should contact the Coordinator of the MA Program and the Professor with whom you wish to write your thesis. You will then complete the Independent Study form (available in the History Department Office), and attach to it the "Guidelines for HST 799 as an Independent Study Course" form (downloadable here). These forms will then be signed by your advisor and the Coordinator.