History

The life of the ancient Romans was guided by two important concepts, otium, or leisure time, and negotium, a more structured use of time that may be associated with work of varying kinds. A good Roman life could, and often did, include both. This course explores Roman daily life and the many activities associated with both otium and negotium. The business of ancient Rome was largely conducted in the central and market areas of the city, and students study the ancient Roman Forum, the ancient river port in Rome and its associated features (wharves, warehouses, and rubbish heaps), as well as the ancient port city of Ostia. The leisure time of the aristocracy was noticeably different than that of the poor. They often spent leisure time in a relaxing environment outside of the city, such as villas, where they could pursue all types of activities deemed beneficial to the mind and body. The poor, instead, tended to stay in Rome, and spend their unstructured time at state-sponsored events and venues such as the games held in the Flavian Amphitheater, or at a monumental bath complex, such as the Baths of Caracalla. Alternatively, they would congregate in small taverns or popinae, or they might just sit on the stairs of a city building and play a game. Students visit and study the places where the Romans spent their leisure time looking closely at the leisure activities. As students get to know the Romans by studying what they have left us in terms of physical and literary remains, they discuss how much of what is "reconstructed" from the evidence can be certain, and how much must remain debatable. This course includes visits to Rome-area museums and sites, and special outings to the Roman cities of Ostia and Pompeii.

Castles remain the most impressive physical reminders of Scotland's medieval past. The great royal fortresses of Edinburgh and Stirling provide symbols of Scotland's past nationhood; the ruined walls and towers of baronial castles demonstrate the power and pretensions of the great lords of the middle ages. As military strongholds, centers of government and lordship, and residences of royal and aristocratic households, these castles give access to the main themes of medieval Scottish politics and society. This course studies the castle in its context: the changing needs of military and domestic architecture in response to the needs of war and peace; the siting of castles and their use in wider structures of authority from Lothian and the marches to the Hebrides; and their role in warfare, as places of refuge and as bases for garrisons. Architectural and archaeological evidence is combined with descriptions of the Scottish castle in chronicles and record sources to obtain a full understanding of the buildings and their functions.

This course provides a broad introduction to the major themes and trends in Korean and English-language historiography of Korean history from antiquity to the modern era. Students examine various issues, events, and individuals in Korea's political, social, economic and diplomatic history. 

The class presents a historical analysis of economic events and changes. Topics include: modern economic growth; population and natural resources; markets and institutions; technological change and economic growth; the modern firm; globalization; the modern state and economic growth.

This courses analyzes the ways in which culture and science, as particular forms of culture, interacted and mutually shaped one another throughout history. Topics include: science and technology in culture; space as cultural and scientific matter; time as cultural and scientific matter; the cultural impact of the Scientific Revolution; Industrial Revolution, Romanticism, and the concept of nature; the crisis of science and its cultural import; science and culture in a digital environment.

The Great Hunger or An Gorta Mór (1845-52) was the single most transformative event in modern Irish history and proportionally one of the most devastating famines to occur anywhere in the modern era. This famine led to the loss of one million lives and the emigration of two million refugees from a population of eight and a half million. The humanitarian crisis of the late-1840s and early-1850s marks the creation of a global Irish diaspora and a lasting memory of social change. This course explores key debates surrounding the famine and its resonances across Irish and global history, tackling topics including the role of government relief, epidemic disease, mass displacement, and the social revolution which fundamentally reshaped Ireland.