Winter 2025 Graduate Courses


(Tentative schedule; subject to change)

Course No. & Name Professor/Lecturer Day/Time Course Description
HIST 200D.Advanced Historiography – Blue History: The Oceanic Turn Prof. M. Nasiali Thurs 12-2:50 This course examines the oceanic turn in history by examining seafaring and maritime networks from the early modern period to the present.  It will explore key historiographical interventions in Atlantic History, the Indian Ocean World, and Oceania and will examine how these and other Trans-Oceanic studies challenge land-based narratives.  The seminar will consider how a focus on the sea offers new perspectives on migration, colonialism, and the political economy of race.
HIST 201E. Advanced Historiography: Decolonization, Immigration, and Belonging in Modern Europe Prof. G. Penny Wed 2-4:50 There is no question that inquiries into decolonization, immigration, and belonging have reshaped public history and scholarly inquiry in Central Europe over the last decade.  Our class dives deep into those inquiries and some of their public articulations to explore how and why they have been working together.  The goal is to understand the forces behind those transformations as well as their political and scholarly implications in local, national, and even global settings.
HIST 200I. Topics in History: Latin America – Debates in Caribbean History & Culture Prof. R. Derby Tues 4-6:50 This is an advanced reading and discussion course in the historiography of the Caribbean from initial settlement to the present, covering approaches to comparative Caribbean social, economic and political formation with primary attention paid to the Spanish, French and English speaking islands of the major Antilles.  It is intended to serve as a guide to the most important authors and debates on the Caribbean from the colonial period into the early twentieth century, covering both a selection of canonic authors and debates, as well as innovative newer approaches.  We will examine key writers in the U.S. academy, as well as important Caribbean social scientists and social theorists. Additionally, a major thrust of the course will be the question of sources; how authors use and interpret various kinds of materials, as well as how one might fashion an archive for research.  The course focuses on cultural historical approaches and debates, such as knowledge construction and belief and religious ritual, as well as political economy and colonial history.
HIST 200I. Topics in History: Latin America – Brazil and Latin America Research Seminar Prof. W. Summerhill Mon 1-3:50 One-quarter research seminar on Brazil/Latin America for PhD students at any stage of their program, in any department. It is also open to students conducting MA research in Latin American Studies.
HIST 200L. Advanced Historiography: China – Approaches to Late Imperial & Modern China Prof. A. Goldman Tues 2-4:50 This course offers a broad overview of important scholarship on late imperial and modern China. Attentive to both chronological coverage and historiography, the readings will introduce students to many of the major concepts, debates, and scholarly figures in the field over the last thirty years. Weekly themes will include state-society relations, regional history and spatial analysis, socio-cultural history, gender history, the material turn, New Qing History, the nineteenth-century Qing encounter with Western imperialism, colonial modernity, and the People’s Republic of China as history. Methodologically, our readings will span the many genres of historical writing—including everything from monographs and conference volumes to review essays and journal articles. The common readings will all be in English. Students in other fields of history or adjacent disciplines of study are welcome.
HIST 200M. Art, Politics, and Violence in Japan’s 1960s Prof. W. Marotti Mon 4-6:50 This readings course examines a focused history with a global perspective to consider how we might write about events which challenge normative frameworks. New perceptions were key to 1960s eventfulness–yet time and again, the small acts that bring them about drop out of accounts of both art and politics. Unconventional and even untimely activities were drawn into or precipitated substantial shifts in perception and action, out of sync with conventions, notions of locality, and recognized avant-gardism. We will look closely at this history of activity and its non-recognition and consider how to better grasp this actuality. We will also consider how there can be diverse participation and local particularity within a phenomenon that is nonetheless global. Readings will combine primary and secondary analyses, comparative references, and theory. Students should have background in relevant history.
HIST 200O. Advanced Historiography: Science/Technology: The Historiography of Modern Science, Technology and Medicine Prof. S.De Chadarevian Tues 3-5:50 The course provides an introduction to the history and historiography of science, technology, and medicine from around 1800. The way we understand science, technology, and medicine determines how we study these subjects historically. Scientific and historical trends, as well as changing concepts of the archive, also play a role. We will discuss various approaches to the history of science—from an understanding of science as cultural practice to the challenges of studying recent science. We will study the changing relationships between the history of science, technology, and medicine and the intersections with other fields such as anthropology, gender studies, postcolonial studies, visual studies, and history more generally. We will also consider the place of critique and of political and moral responsibility in historical work. The readings represent methodological approaches while engaging with a broad range of historical material. Graduate students from other departments with interest in the history of science are welcome.
HIST 201J.Topics in History: Near East: Tanzimat Principles: How Ottoman Reform Created Modern Consciousness in Middle East Prof. J. Gelvin Wed 2-4:50 This seminar explores how the transformation of Ottoman administrative and economic practices during the nineteenth century transformed the way Ottoman citizens viewed their world, their political community, and their social system. It also explores how late Ottoman practices affected the imperial legacy in the post-Ottoman Middle East. Participants will read case studies dealing with the advent of “the modern” in the empire.
HIST C201K. Topics in History: India: Long 18th Century in South Asia Prof. S.Subrahmanyam Thurs 2-4:50 18th century has exercised good deal of fascination in South Asian history, as century of decline of Mughal empire and rise of British colonial rule. It is also century that is rich in historical sources, in both Indian and European languages. Study seeks to understand various facets of this period, with strong emphasis on different regional traditions of South Asia.
HIST M210. Topics in Ancient Iranian History Prof. L. Fabian Fri 2-4:50 (Same as Ancient Near East M208 and Iranian M210.) Seminar, three hours. Varying topics on Elamite, Achaemenid, Arsacid, and Sasanian history. May be repeated for credit. S/U or letter grading.
HIST 246B. Introduction to U.S. History: 1790 to 1900 Prof. B.L. Madley Mon 2-4:50 Seminar, three hours. Graduate survey of significant literature dealing with U.S. history from the Colonial period to the present. Each course may be taken independently for credit.
HIST M265. Graduate Writing: Form, Process and Thought Prof. W. Marotti Tues 4-6:50 (Same as East Asian Studies M265.) Seminar, three hours. Designed for East Asian Studies MA students and East Asia-focused doctoral students, but open to all graduate students. Focus on essential skill and craft of graduate-level writing. Consideration of everything from basics about process–drafts and editing–to professional-level questions of relation of form to content, and of writing for broader publics. Specific skills and techniques are connected with the fundamental theories and principles at stake in academic inquiry, and student capacities to participate fully in disciplinary and interdisciplinary work are built. May be repeated once for credit. S/U or letter grading.
HIST 282A. Seminar: Chinese History: Seminar 1 Prof. M. Zhang Weds 1-3:50 Seminar, three hours. Course 282A is requisite to 282B. In Progress grading (credit to be given only on completion of course 282B).