History

Throughout history our understanding of what it is to be human has depended upon our perceptions of, and relations with, non-human animals. This course traces the emergence and development of animal experimentation from the mid-19th century through to the late 20th and examines how it has informed our understanding of human behaviors, emotions, and their discontents.  Beginning with Charles Darwin's interactions with the orangutan Jenny in London Zoo through to the use, on an industrial scale, of laboratory animals to understand stress-related illnesses and devise drugs to relieve them, students explore the profound effect various species, such as rats, mice, dogs, and monkeys, have had on the human condition in the modern era.

This course provides a study of the text and context of Zi Zhi Tong Jian, and covers the historical background of the era and the corresponding ideas and culture of Zi Zhi Tong Jian. The course also provides a more comprehensive and in-depth understanding of the author's ideas. This course combines thought analysis with historical interpretation to analyze and guide the reading of Zi Zhi Tong Jian. It is intended to use the "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" as an entry point to interpret relevant literature so as to trace the changes of ideas and culture concepts during the Tang and Song Dynasties.

This course explores how the first Islamic caliphate transformed the society, culture, and politics of western Asia in the centuries after the mission of Muhammad, c. 600-950. In the 7th century the new faith of Islam emerged in Arabia. Its adherents, though few in number, overturned the geopolitical world order, defeating the superpowers of their day to create the world’s largest empire, stretching from Portugal to Pakistan. This course asks how this first Islamic state was brought into being and how it changed life in the Middle East and beyond.
 

This course focuses on identifying key images in the Victorian imagination and analyzing the process through which these figures became loaded with meaning. It considers how, in an age of growing class conflict, gender (re)definition, technological progress, and scientific enquiry, symbolic figures aggregated hypotheses emanating from various fields of interest. Oral presentations are supported by visual material and explore the complexities and contradictions crystallized in iconic images considered in a Barthesian perspective as products of the Victorian cultural history.

This course explores the relationship between the police, the judicial system, and policy makers in London. Students learn the history of the police force in the UK and the developments that have formed the Metropolitan Police in London today. Topics covered include corruption, race relations, policing major demonstrations and riots, and the impact of government policy on policing. Students explore the politics behind decisions and the framework of the law.

This course provides a general introduction of the modern history of the two Koreas. It examines the evolution of Korean society since liberation from Japan in 1945 up to the present. The class covers topics related to transition in the East Asian international order, division of the Korean Peninsula, the Korean War, economic growth and social transformation in South Korean society, North Korean society, and the South-North relationship. It provides a general overview of Korean history since 1945. Through class discussions on student presentations and documentaries, students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the key historical, as well as current, issues and to develop and present their own perspectives to look at these issues.

The course looks at domestic dynamics in Korean society from the traditional era and attempts to understand modern Korean history, in particular related to foreign relations. Other course topics include Korea's economic growth and democratization; understanding of North Korea; Korea's position in the world; Choson society and its longevity; the Colonial Period; division of the Korean Peninsula; politics; the Korean War; Armistice agreement system; U.S.-Korea Relationship; U.S. troop presence in South Korea; North Korea's modern history; and, North Korean Society.

This course examines the most recent archaeological achievements from the evolution of humans and the Paleolithic age to the origins of agriculture, states, and empires throughout Africa, Europe, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas (North and South). This course provides an opportunity for students to extend their areas of interest into global prehistory and look at themes surrounding what makes us human and how have we changed over the course of our shared past.