History

This course begins c. 600 C.E. when Arab Muslims emerged to establish a new religion and empire at the intersection of Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian faiths, and the Roman and Sasanian Empires in the Middle East. Over the semester, the course studies the construction of Muslim empires, the dynamics of life in Islamic societies during the classical and medieval periods, the fragmentation of Islamic civilization in the 1000s, and the constitution of new empires in the early modern period. This course ends in the late-1700s when a new era of Christian European power permanently changed the Islamic world. Assessment: Attendance (5%), exam on geography (5%), exam on historical terms (15%), exam on reading passages (25%), two short essays (20%) participation in class discussions (15%), final essay (25%).

This course explores some of the major themes in the history of nonwestern Christianity by giving special emphasis on the role played by nonwestern missionaries, indigenous Christian leaders, and European missionaries. It focuses on the history of Christianity in the nonwestern world by exploring Christianity that evolved from the first century in Jerusalem and how it has developed and functions in the contemporary world. The course also examines Christianity that has its roots in western Christianity and looks at how it has translated itself into nonwestern world by exploring how the transition has taken place, informed by specific local contexts, cultures and specific experiences of people.

This course draws on several biographies of Hitler, and of those close to him, to study important episodes in his personal and political career. The course discusses his childhood, his experience of war and peace, and his accumulation of power, first in the Nazi party, next in the German parliament, then in Europe. The course studies his role in the sequences of events which culminated in the anschluss, or annexation, of Austria and in the Munich agreement. The course confronts the inadequacy of biography in relation to his personal responsibility for the war and for the holocaust. And the course sees that even the circumstances of his death gave rise to a debate over the role of government in the spread of news and other knowledge, and which reappeared in a different aspect when historians came to edit his autobiography, Mein Kampf, seventy years later. The course consists of a broad outline of German history from unification in 1871 to defeat in 1945, and of the enduring significance of Hitler in the study of the humanities.

This course presents a multifaceted France constructed by the juxtaposition of diverse spheres. The history of this construction is an arduous one of conflict and constant change. By focusing on evolving institutions, the course analyzes the political struggles out of which the French State arose and developed its current form. It pays particular attention to fundamental developments during the 19th century, using a novel approach to study of that period. Class discussion plays an important role in this course, as students are encouraged to interact with the material not only to consolidate their grasp of the subject but also as a way to analyze events, explore causality, and therefore discover the complexity and subtlety of historical analysis.

This course introduces the field of history, focusing on East, Southeast, and South Asia. Topics covered include Asia's interaction with the West, the various forms of nationalism, and the impact of globalization.

Full course description

Flowing from this objective, the course deals with the over all history of mankind, and a number of the decisive transformations involved in that history.

What sort of creatures are we? How have we evolved from and lived before we became homo sapiens? What sort of animals are our ancestors?

Important topics nearer in time are the agricultural and industrial revolutions. The agricultural or neolithic revolution has changed us and the world permanently. In a relatively brief period we went from hunting and gathering to tilling the soil and domesticating plants and animals. Why and how did we do this? Since the agricultural revolution our numbers have multiplied beyond comprehension. Societies became increasingly complex and stratified.

The industrial revolution lifted everything to a new unprecedented plane. A type of society arose, driven by industrial innovation and run on fossil fuels. We are still living in that kind of society today, so it is interesting to know how it came about.

The course will also deal with topics like the role of war, disease, religion, worldviews and finance in shaping history. Take disease. Their ways of life brought men in contact with all sorts of diseases. Especially after the agricultural revolution we had to adapt to diseases we caught from our domesticated animals. We still have to do this. Look at present day threats like bird flu. Living in some form of armed peace with diseases has always been a major characteristic of societies. How did we do this?

Finally the course also touches upon the ‘Rise of the West’. The contentious rise of Western Europe and North America as a dominant factor in worldhistory over the last 5 centuries will be the closing topic of the course.

Course objectives

• To understand some of the major issues and episodes that have shaped the history of mankind. The focus will be on themes and topics that have had or are still having long term influences on historical development.

Prerequisites

Any course in history or sociology, COR1003 Contemporary World History, or SSC1003/SSC2065 Theories of Social Order. 

This course addresses various topics in German and European 20th century history: different political ideas, systems, and movements, as well as social and cultural developments. The course compares and contrasts the German variety of these phenomena with other European varieties. Two major themes are the struggles between democracy and dictatorship, and capitalism and communism, which played out through the 20th century. The course connects these essentially ideological struggles to the two World Wars and the ensuing "Cold War," to memories of trauma, to the history of everyday life, pop culture, and gender, and to the experience of youth and immigrants in Germany. Through analyses of the interconnections and distinctions between all these aspects, the course provides participants with a better understanding of German society today.