GRADUATE SEMINAR OFFERINGS DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY SPRING 2010

HISTORY 300b Introduction to Historical Methods and Research, W 9:10-12:00 noon, BT 244 Professor Helmut W. Smith

HISTORY 302b Readings in American History after the Civil War, W 3:10-6:00 p.m. Professor Gary Gerstle
Intensive reading seminar on the history and historiography of the United States since the Civil War.  This course is not a comprehensive survey, but rather an introduction to the field and a starting point for exam preparations in modern U.S. history.  Topics include Reconstruction; corporate consolidation; Progressive reform; immigration, ethnicity, nationality, and identity; the state, bureaucracy, and society; consumer cultures; the rise and fall of the New Deal order; labor and liberalism; civil rights; the politics of sex and the family; the exercise of U.S. power in the world; radicalism and conservatism in the 1960s and beyond; and “postmodern” America.  Throughout, we will be attentive to existing frameworks of interpretation that organize this period of U.S. history, their strengths as well as their weaknesses. 

HISTORY 361      Seminar in Latin American History: Popular Cultures in Latin America, T 9:10-12:00 noon, BN 200 Professor Edward Wright-Rios
This class will be a broad exploration of popular cultures and related scholarly debates spanning the national period. Students will analyze different approaches to cultural topics, debate historiographical trends, explore theoretical stances, and read several different historical works. Among the topics we will explore are agrarian violence, gender, theater, music, dance, art, and religion. Each student will produce their own research paper on a cultural topic/issue of their choosing.

HISTORY 371 Studies in Early American History, W 12:10-3:00, BN 200 Professor Daniel Usner
The purpose of this course is to explore some of the recent literature in early American history.   Books have been selected to include a wide range of periods, regions, topics, and methods, but in one semester we cannot possibly cover all subjects and approaches currently being pursued in the field.  Our weekly discussions will focus on the substance of each book, its historiographical and methodological significance, and the author’s particular argument.

HISTORY 381 Topics in American History: Race and Religion, M 12:10-3:00 p.m., BN 200 Professor Dennis Dickerson
The invented idea of race shaped religion in American society and became an instrument of hegemony and a source of liberation depending on the social location of its practitioners. The seminar examines how race and religion were conceptualized, how racial consciousness pervaded white and black religion, and how the discourse of religiosity and identity reflected these phenomena. The course requirements include three 5-7 page papers and a 20-25 page seminar paper.

HISTORY 398 Dissertation Seminar, T 4:10-6:00 p.m. Professor Katherine Crawford

 

 

 

 

 

 

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