HIS 201

A History of the World

Professor/Instructor

Jeremy Ian Adelman

An overview of world history. Begins with Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire, which collided peoples, goods, and ideas across the Eurasian landmass, and traces the global transformations that connected or disconnected societies through time. The dynamism of Asia; environmental specificities of Africa and the Americas; slavery and other links across the Atlantic; the surprise onset of European predominance; colonialism, anti-colonialism, globalization. What is the past and future of Islam? How is China's staggering wealth up to 1750 and its recent ascent explained? Where did the U.S. come from and where is it going? Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 207 / EAS 207 / MED 207

History of East Asia to 1800

Professor/Instructor

Thomas Donald Conlan, Xin Wen

General introduction to major themes in the cultural, intellectual, and institutional history of China and Japan, with some attention to Korea and Southeast Asia. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 208 / EAS 208

East Asia since 1800

Professor/Instructor

Janet Y. Chen, Sheldon Marc Garon

The civilizations of East Asia at the beginning of the modern era; the impact of the West; the contrasting responses of China, Japan, and Korea to the confrontation; the development of the present societies. Assignments will be drawn from contemporary sources as well as from secondary accounts. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 211

Europe from Antiquity to 1700

Professor/Instructor

Anthony Thomas Grafton

The course deals with four main topics: the Greek city-state, the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity, the formation of medieval European society, and the Renaissance and Reformation. Emphasis will be laid on those social, political, intellectual, and religious developments that contributed most directly to forming modern European civilization. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 212

Europe in the World: From 1776 to the Present Day

Professor/Instructor

Harold James

The emergence of modern societies from the Europe of the Old Regimes. Emphasis on problems and themes, including the French and Industrial Revolutions, nationalism, science and its discontents, popular culture, the mass movements of revolution and war. Intended as an introduction to Europe for students with little background in history. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

CLA 216 / HIS 216

Archaic and Classical Greece

Professor/Instructor

Marc Domingo Gygax

A formative episode in Western civilization: the Greeks from the rise of the city-state, through the conflict between Athens and Sparta, to the emergence of Macedon in the fourth century B.C. Emphasis on cultural history, political thought, and the development of techniques of historical interpretation through analysis of original sources (Herodotus, Thucydides, and others). Two lectures, one preceptorial.

CLA 217 / HIS 217 / HLS 217

The Greek World in the Hellenistic Age

Professor/Instructor

Marc Domingo Gygax

The Greek experience from Alexander the Great through Cleopatra. An exploration of the dramatic expansion of the Greek world into the Near East brought about by the conquests and achievements of Alexander. Study of the profound political, social, and intellectual changes that stemmed from the interaction of the cultures, and the entrance of Greece into the sphere of Rome. Readings include history, biography, religious narrative, comedy, and epic poetry. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

CLA 218 / HIS 218

The Roman Republic

Professor/Instructor

Dan-El Padilla Peralta

A study of the causes and unforeseen consequences of one small city-state's rise to world-empire, primarily through the analysis of ancient sources (including Livy, Polybius, Caesar, and Cicero) in translation. Emphasis on the development of Roman society and the evolution, triumph, and collapse of the republican government that it produced. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

CLA 219 / HIS 219

The Roman Empire, 31 B.C. to A.D. 337

Professor/Instructor

Caroline Cheung

A study of the profound transformation of Rome by the multicultural empire it had conquered, ending with the triumph of Christianity. Emphasis on typical social and cultural institutions and on the legacies of Rome to us. Ancient sources in translation include documents, histories, letters, and novels. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

NES 220 / HIS 220 / JDS 220 / MED 220

Jews, Muslims, and Christians in the Middle Ages

Professor/Instructor

An introduction to the history and culture of the Jews in the Middle Ages (under Islam and Christendom) covering, comparatively, such topics as the interrelationship between Judaism and the other two religions, interreligious polemics, political (legal) status, economic role, communal self-government, family life, and cultural developments. Two 90-minute classes.

NES 201 / HIS 223

Introduction to the Middle East

Professor/Instructor

Michael Allan Cook

An overview of the history of the Middle East from the rise of Islam to the present day with a focus on the "core" of the Middle East, i.e., the region defined by present-day Turkey and Egypt to the west, Iran to the east, and Arabia to the south. Issues raised include difficulties in the study of foreign cultures, religion and society, the interplay between local and global processes, identity formation, and the Middle East in the broader world. One lecture, two classes.

MED 227 / HUM 227 / HIS 227 / HLS 227

The Worlds of the Middle Ages

Professor/Instructor

Helmut Reimitz, Jack Boulos Victor Tannous

We will begin in 476 with the fall of Rome and will end in 1453, with the fall of New Rome (Constantinople). In between, we will trace the different trajectories that the area stretching from Iceland to Iran traveled along over the course of this fateful millennium. We will meet Northern barbarians, Arab armies, Vikings, Crusaders, Mongols, and the Ottomans; we will witness the birth of Islam and medieval Islamic civilization; Charlemagne's creation of the Western Roman empire; will see clashes between Popes and rulers and Caliphs and Muslim religious authorities. We will do all this and more, all the while asking: what were the Middle Ages?

EAS 240 / HIS 240

The Perception of China and Asia in the West

Professor/Instructor

Presents some of the major themes in the Western perception of China since 1250, from Marco Polo to Chairman Mao, and introduces students to the nature of history and historical writing. Students will be challenged to conduct their own critical historiographical analysis. Readings will focus on primary sources in translation and relevant secondary studies. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

NES 350 / HIS 245 / MED 245

The Islamic World from its Emergence to the Beginnings of Westernization

Professor/Instructor

Michael Allan Cook

Begins with the formation of the traditional Islamic world in the seventh century and ends with the first signs of its transformation under Western impact in the 18th century. The core of the course is the history of state formation in the Middle East, but other regions and themes make significant appearances. The course can stand on its own or serve as background to the study of the modern Islamic world. Two 90-minute classes.

HIS 280

Approaches to American History

Professor/Instructor

Kevin Michael Kruse

An intensive introduction to concepts, methods, and issues in American history, especially recommended for prospective concentrators. The problems investigated in the course (the Revolution, class and cultural relations, literature and society, and others) will vary. Emphasis will be on the framing of historical questions and immersion in the actual sources of history. One lecture, two classes.

HIS 282 / EAS 282

A Documents-based Approach to Asian History

Professor/Instructor

An intensive, documents-based introduction to methods and issues in Asian history, focusing on topics that embed Asia in the wider context of world history. Especially recommended for prospective concentrators. The problems investigated (Marco Polo in Asia, Jesuits in China, Russo-Japanese War, Japan's Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere, etc.) will vary. Emphasis will be on interpreting primary sources, framing historical questions, and constructing historical explanations. Two 90-minute classes.

HIS 290

The Scientific Worldview of Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Professor/Instructor

The emergence and development of natural philosophy in ancient Greece, with consideration of its Egyptian and Babylonian background and its subsequent articulation and modification in the medieval worlds of Islam and Western Europe. Emphasis is placed on the interplay of science and culture. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 291

The Scientific Revolution and European Order, 1500-1750

Professor/Instructor

Beliefs about the nature of the universe, the Earth, and even the human body changed drastically during the early modern period. This course examines this transformation of natural knowledge as a process of both social and intellectual reorganization. Explores how Europeans developed a new mechanistic science for astronomy, physics, and medicine with a dynamic culture of new institutions and technologies. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 292

Science in the Modern World

Professor/Instructor

Michael D. Gordin

The evolution of science since Newton. Emphasis is placed on the major developments of scientific theory and practice since the chemical revolution of the late 18th century. Topics considered will also include: the development of science as a discipline; the connections between science and mathematics, philosophy, and technology; and the emergence of science as an integral part of modern societies. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 293

Science in a Global Context: 15th to 20th Century

Professor/Instructor

D. Graham Burnett

Science and technology have literally changed the world. This course examines how, with an emphasis on understanding the place of scientific knowledge in the history of European exploration and expanding global power. How did the sciences go out into the world? How did certain disciplines and practices take shape in global interactions since 1400? How does knowledge become universal? What instruments, institutions, and activities made this possible? Two 90-minute classes.

HIS 303 / LAS 305

Colonial Latin America to 1810

Professor/Instructor

Vera Silvina Candiani

The principal themes of Iberian imperialism and colonial society from preconquest to the eve of independence. The main issues to be covered will be: Amerindian civilization, the conquest of the Americas, social and cultural change, and evolving economic relations. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 304 / LAS 304

Modern Latin America since 1810

Professor/Instructor

Robert A. Karl

A survey of Latin America from the wars of independence to recent struggles for democracy. The focus will be on state formation in the 19th century, relations with the world economy, and changing patterns of social and political life in the 20th century. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

REL 357 / HIS 310

Religion in Colonial America and the New Nation

Professor/Instructor

Seth A. Perry

Intellectual and cultural aspects of American religion from the 17th century through the early republic. Special attention to early Protestant traditions (Anglican, Puritan, Quaker, and Methodist, among others), the Great Awakening, the Enlightenment, and the transformation of religion through the Revolution and its shape in the new nation. Two lectures, one preceptorial.

HIS 314 / AFS 313

Precolonial Africa

Professor/Instructor

Emmanuel H. P. M. Kreike

A survey course that begins with an overview of the continent at the end of the third century A.D. and ends with the death of Moshoeshoe in the 19th century. Focuses on several great themes of African history: long-distance trade, state formation, migration, religious conversion to either Islam or Christianity, forms of domestic slavery, and the impact of the slave trade. Two 90-minute classes.

HIS 315 / AFS 316

Colonial and Postcolonial Africa

Professor/Instructor

Jacob S. Dlamini

The impact of European colonial rule on the traditional societies of Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. One of the dominant themes will be the emergence of the intelligentsia in colonial areas as proponents of nationalism. Two lectures, one preceptorial.