AMH 5930 – Readings in 19th Century American History: Race and Power in Nineteenth Century America
Dr. William Link
Description:
This course seeks to expose graduate students to the changing interpretations about the United States during the 19th century. Although the class is organized chronologically, our emphasis will be primarily topical and historiographical, including a sampling of social, cultural, intellectual, and political approaches. In each of the classes, students will be asked to consider important issues and the diverse ways in which historians have attempted to address them.
Students should keep in mind that this is a readings seminar, not a research seminar. Our primary focus will be on how the historical literature on particular topics has changed over time and where it might head for the future, how historians have agreed and disagreed, and how compelling their arguments are for us as historians. Necessarily, the class will be entirely discussion in format, based upon a program of readings completed in common and individually. Students must read all of the required books listed above, and there will be additional reading requirements as described below.
EUH 5934 – Jews in the Early Modern Atlantic World
Dr. Nina Caputo
Description:
Jews and conversos were instrumental in shaping and realizing the European efforts to explore and establish trade throughout the Atlantic world. Until recently, though, there has been little effort to study their role in a systematic way. This seminar will examine the development and evolution of Atlantic networks through the lens of Jewish and converso history. Beginning in the Iberian peninsula, we will explore Jewish-Christian relation, the reception and perception of Jewish converts to Christianity, role of the Inquisition in shaping migration patterns, important European centers of Jewish and converso migration and settlement and their colonial satellites, and shipping and the slave trade. We will explore historiographies and methods of the Iberian world, Jewish, and Atlantic networks in the medieval and early modern period. This course is
designed to allow you to pursue projects that fit with your own research interests and needs.
EUH 5934 – Seminar on Nationalism
Dr. Mitchell Hart
Description:
Nationalism has arguably been the most potent force for identity formation, at the individual and collective levels, over the past three centuries. This seminar on comparative nationalisms introduces students to some of the major works and foundational debates around nations and nationalism. What is a nation? When do nations begin? What is patriotism, and how does it differ from nationalism? What is the relationship between different forms of nationalism and other crucial historical categories such as gender, race, religion, and class?
Each week we will read one of the assigned books and/or articles and meet to discuss it. At least one member of the seminar will be responsible for leading the week’s discussion, though everyone in the seminar will be responsible for reading the assigned work and formulating questions. Grades will be based on level and quality of weekly participation, on the assigned research paper, and end-of-semester presentation.
LAH 6936 – Brazilian Historiography
Dr. Jeffrey Needell
Description:
This graduate seminar introduces the historiography concerning Brazil written in English. It is meant to give the student some sense of the established authors and debates, as well as some notion of the narrative. Generally, at least up to the twentieth century, the seminar is chronologically, rather than thematically, organized. It also follows the traditional emphases of the literature in its focus on socio-economic and political history. A more thematic approach, however, is necessary for works on the past century, as is attention to a more varied set of concerns. The lacunae will be obvious as the student examines the historiographical essays appended to the Bethell volumes noted below. Certainly, the limitations imposed by excluding works in Portuguese are grave, and underscore the introductory nature of the seminar. The obvious shifts in approach over time compel the professor to revise the bibliography from time to time; he does this to familiarize students not only with indispensable classics, but more recent works critical for new contributions or exemplification of an important trend. Inclusion does not always mean endorsement, not least because the capacity to critique historians’ works is also central to our work together.
WOH 5932 – Teaching Practicum
Dr. Jessica Harland-Jacobs
Description:
Students pursuing a graduate degree in History typically serve as teachers and often aspire to be teachers or professors for their careers, yet they receive little-to-no pedagogical training. This course seeks to address this shortcoming in graduate students’ training by exposing students to current scholarship on teaching and learning (SoTL), both generally and within History specifically. It will also give students ample opportunity to experiment and practice. The course attends to both the big picture (cognitive theory, teaching strategies, syllabus design, portfolio composition, etc.) and the nuts and bolts of everyday teaching (e.g. designing assignments, active learning strategies, lecturing, grading, etc.)