History

This course explores the role of seapower and empires in the development of modern warfare, strategy, and international relations. Students examine the role of sea power in imperialism and the relationship between East and West, the role of technological innovation in the ability of sea power to affect war and politics both at the global and regional levels, the role of maritime geography as a structural impediment and enabler in the projection of power, and the conceptual complexities involved in the terms empire and imperialism as tools for understanding the strategic challenges that face the world today.

This course examines the making of the modern world to 1900. It covers the following questions: How did the modern world happen? How did a few small countries in Europe (and later the United States) come to dominate so much of the world’s wealth and power by 1900? How did they displace the great empires of the Middle East, South Asia and China?

The 20th century completely reconfigured global politics. These reconfigurations also transformed Britain’s international standing. This course examines the often-overlapping shifts behind this transformation – imperial decline, economic crises, world wars, Cold War, European integration. Using a foreign policy lens, it examines how successful Britain was in navigating global challenges; how it adapted its strategies and alliances as a result; and how the foreign policymaking process altogether evolved, from being mainly the domain of ambassadors to increasingly being shaped by individual prime ministers. In answering these questions, the course has three main aims. First, to offer students an overview of the international history of modern Britain; second, to establish a firm basis for further studies in foreign policy and/or British politics; third, to provide the conceptual tools necessary for understanding current political discourses. 

This course investigates significant events that shaped American society and formed the United States from the colonial period to the end of the Vietnam War. The course covers the impact of the colonial legacy on the American self-government and development of a democratic society, the American Revolution and Republican ideology, the Industrial Revolution and Sectionalism, the Civil War and the end of slavery, the rise of Big Business and Corporatism, the World Wars and American Society, the United States and world revolutions, the decline of the American Empire. 

This course provides an overview of the historical development of India and South Asia. It addresses questions of Indian and South Asian historiography, covers the main continuities and changes in Indian and South Asian history, and identifies important personae and events. The course develops the general ability to understand key processes and events and their local/national and global relevance for the region today.

The period from the accession of David I in 1124 to the death of David II in 1371 forged the modern nation of Scotland. This course considers the extent to which David I's feudal and economic innovations shaped Scotland. Students examine the influence of the Church on society and how religion was utilized to political advantage. The territorial expansion of Scotland is assessed. Students also examine Anglo-Scottish relations during the period and consider the lives of William Wallace and Robert Bruce.

This course focuses on histories of Palestine, beginning in the seventh century and ending in the twenty-first. It is based on a comparative approach that engages with primary sources, secondary historical texts, literary narratives, material culture, and cinematic representations. The course provides the historical and theoretical tools to learn about and engage formations of nation and history in Palestine. Its main purpose is to center Palestinian voices and experiences, both before and after 1948. By recovering such narratives, the course contributes to countering the comprehensive erasure of Palestinian history.

Since World War I, millions of soldiers, civilians, and suspected terrorists have died as a result of aerial bombing. Conventional and atomic bombings, moreover, have resulted in the destruction of countless military targets and the incineration of vast square kilometres of urban landscapes. What factors have made this possible, accepted, and “legal”? Throughout this course, students will explore the technological and military developments that have made such killing and wanton destruction possible. Moreover, students will examine the ideological, political, and doctrinal thought from Douhet to Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) that has not only attempted to legitimate, but advocate, the targeting of civilians from above. Students will also be asked to investigate why legal proscriptions or conventions against aerial bombing never materialized in the pre-World War II era and examine why many nations have still refused to adhere to any restrictions on aerial warfare. 

This course explores the lives of empresses and concubines in Qing China, some of whom wielded tremendous power during their lifetime and have inspired numerous literary and media renditions of their words and deeds in the present. By critically assessing and deploying the concepts of gender, power, and media representation, the course highlights the curious connections between the Qing harem and other cultures, polities, and societies. It establishes connections between Qing empresses and concubines and those elsewhere in the world, contextualizing their lives and activities in global history.

This course examines the history of Montreal from its beginnings to the present day. It covers Montreal's economic, social, cultural and political role within the French and British empires, North America, Canada, and Quebec and the city's linguistic and ethnic diversity.