History

This course focuses on the relationship between religion and politics. To untangle this relationship, the course examines the role of four core processes – globalization, nation-state formation, colonialism, and gender – in giving shape to contemporary relations between politics and religion. In the first place, it offers a sweeping historical survey, starting with imperialism, the French and Haitian Revolutions, and modern state formation. This leads to contemporary geopolitics, religious nationalism (Christian, Jewish, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Confucian), and socio-cultural contests (over sexuality, abortion, education, and migration). The central goal is to understand how recurring questions of the political community (who has power, how, and why?) are informed by and inform struggles over the place, role, and nature of religion.  Questions are addressed in an interdisciplinary fashion, where politics, history, and religious studies encounter one another. The course consists of interactive lectures and seminar-style discussions, including ones that are student-organized and student-led.

Arguably, no events had a greater impact on Irish history than the Great Famine. This course explores the social and economic conditions that led to famine, the way the Famine unfolded in Ireland, state and individual responses to the crisis, the experience of eviction and emigration, and the way the Famine’s memory shaped Irish identity and nationalism in the latter half of the 19th century. 

This survey course is an introduction to the history of Latin America in the 20th century. Students examine processes common to the region, the experiences of specific countries, and Latin America’s relations with the rest of the world. Beyond this, like Hobsbawm, the course considers how Latin America can help us think about the history of wider world.

This course explores the historical processes of Egypt and the Near East in antiquity, taking into account both internal aspects and their diachronic development, as well as the synchronic contexts in which the relationships between the two areas materialize, from the formation of the State and the emergence of urban life to their disappearance after the collapse of the Persian Empire. 

This course examines the long-term development of the world economy from a comparative perspective, focusing on the interplay between economic growth and institutional, social, and technological change.

Reflecting on the causes and consequences of war involves some of the most fundamental questions facing any student of conflict, and this course is an introduction to thinking about them. Students explore the theoretical and methodological questions that arise when studying the causes of war. They consider the definition of war, and examine the role of theory in explaining and understanding its causes. Students utilize historical case studies, explore contemporary international politics and explore political change over time. In the second half of the year, the course also investigates some of the consequences of war – on the international system, on society, and on individuals. The course also addresses ways in which war and conflict can be prevented and mitigated.

This course offers a study of terrorism from ancient times to the present. The course examines the changing understanding and definitions of political violence from ancient times to the September 11th attack in 2001. The course reviews research methods and approaches by examining relevant studies of terrorism definitions and concepts. Terrorism is discussed in relation with freedom, human rights, and security.

This course covers the history of racial inequality in the United States from the arrival of the first African slaves in Virginia in 1619 to the recent emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement. Throughout, it considers how unequal the United States is; where racial inequality comes from; and why it has proved so enduring; how it has changed over time; what role the U.S. government played in this process; how racial inequality influences U.S. politics, economics, and culture; and what solutions have been proposed. The course introduces the multiple facets of racial inequality in the United States today, considers the history of racial inequality in the United States, and develops critical reading and writing skills in assessing and crafting complex arguments.