History

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. 

This course offers an introduction to encounters between civilizations, cultures, and societies in world history, based on examples drawn from the medieval, early modern, and modern periods. It seeks to develop understanding of patterns in world history and an introduction to approaches within the field of global history. It introduces specific case-studies, from the Arab conquest of the Muslim Spain and Chinese exploration of the Indian Ocean, through colonial encounters in Africa, America, and India, to the Balfour Declaration in 1917. Students discuss the meeting of civilizations, cultures, and societies in world history, covering examples from the medieval period up to the modern day. They develop a global perspective, form professional and informed attitudes, and consider the methodology of global history. 

This course is an exploration of scholarly and popular perspectives pertaining to rite and ritual, life-cycle, and annual cycle including funerals, wakes, and weddings. This course advances and deepens students' understanding of time, temporality, and periodicity in vernacular culture and everyday life in general. Topics include celebration and festival, rites, and rituals as well as traditions around wakes, patterns, and pilgrimages. The contexts of these traditions in contemporary society is examined throughout the course.

This course introduces post-World War II Japanese history, with a focus on foreign policy and the domestic factors affecting it. The course examines Japan’s relations with Asia and the United States as well as issues such as the debate over the revision of Japan’s constitution; Japan’s security; the “history problem;” Japan’s official development assistance, and Japan’s “Soft Power” strategy. 

This course examines the Sino-American relations in the last several hundred years with special focus on their shared values and experiences and emphasize both diplomatic and people-people relations from cultural and international history perspectives.