Fall 2024 Undergraduate Courses
Department Policy on In-Person Attendance
All Fall 2024 History courses will be taught in-person.ÌýBy signing up for an class,Ìý you have agreed to attend and participate in theÌýclass in-person. You should not expect to be able to attend class remotely or to access class recordings. Exceptions to this policy may be granted at the instructor’s discretion. If you are unwilling or unable to commit to attending and participating in person over the duration of the semester, you should seek alternative options for all-remote or online courses. (For assistance with finding alternative classes, please contact your advisor and/or the History Advisor, Hayes Moore,Ìýhayes.moore@colorado.edu.)
Expanded Course Descriptions
HIST 1218-001: Introduction to Sub-Saharan African History to 1850 - Henry Lovejoy
Description Coming Soon
HIST 1518-001: Introduction to South Asian History to 1757 - Sanjay Gautam
Introduces the history of South Asia, providing a general acquaintance with the narratives and interpretations of ancient and medieval history of the Indian subcontinent from the rise of the Indus Valley Civilization in 3500 BCE to the end of the Mughal Empire in 1757 CE. Intended for students with little or no prior knowledge of the region.
HIST 1708-001: Japan from Clay Pots to Robots - Marcia Yonemoto
Description Coming Soon
HIST 1800-001: Introduction to Global History - Kwangmin Kim
Description Coming Soon
HIST 1800-002: Introduction to Global History: Twentieth Century Revolutions - Tony Wood
The twentieth century was a century of revolutions. Much of the world was drastically transformed by political and social upheavals, which also brought with them profound economic and cultural change. This course explores the causes and consequences of revolutions in a wide range of locations, from Russia and Mexico in the 1910s to Cuba and sub-Saharan Africa in the 1950s and 1960s, and from China in the 1930s and 1940s to the Arab Spring in the 2010s. Using primary sources alongside secondary readings, we will identify what was new and distinctive in each case, as well as understanding what these revolutions had in common. We will also analyze their longer-term legacies, focusing on the political and social structures that emerged in their wake. At the same time, we will place each case within the global context, teasing out the international implications of what was happening at ground level. By the end of the semester, students will not only have an informed grasp of key events within a range of countries, but they will also gain a deep understanding of the interlinked nature of twentieth century revolutions and their global significance.
HIST 3020-002: Historical Thinking & Writing: Fossil Fuels to 1900 -David Paradis
Formed millions of years ago, used by the ancient Greeks and Jews, reviled by medieval parliaments, and on one occasion discovered by American spiritualist in a trance, fossil fuels have a long and storied history.Ìý Limited to religious rituals, weapons of war, blacksmithing, metalworking, and home heating prior to 1700, fossil fuel usage expanded rapidly during the Industrial Revolution and became deeply entrenched in European and American cultures by the late 1800s despite widespread evidence of the toxic effects on the environment.Ìý This course will enable research projects on the early uses and impact ofÌý fossil fuels, including naphtha, coal, and oil.ÌýÌý
HIST 3212-001: Seminar in Early Modern Europe - Matthew Gerber
Description Coming Soon
HIST 3328-001: Seminar in Middle Eastern History:ÌýThe United States and the Modern Middle EastÌý- Hilary Kalisman
Examines the intertwined history of the United States and the Middle East from the 18thÌýcentury through the present. Topics include piracy, millenarianism, immigration, cold-war diplomacy, Israel/Palestine, the Iranian revolution, the Gulf Wars, the legacies of 9/11 and current politics. This class will include readings and discussions in a small seminar setting. In relation to the course topic, students will develop an individual research project and write a substantial and original paper based on primary sources.Ìý
HIST 4126-001: History of U.S. Foreign Relations - Andrew DeRoche
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HIST 4143-001: THe Making of Great Britain: British History 1603-1714 - Paul Hammer
In 1603, James VI of Scotland also became James I of England. As king of both realms (as well as of Ireland), James sought to combine the traditionally hostile kingdoms of Scotland and England into a single new state, Great Britain. James failed in his efforts, but his dream was finally realised in 1707. This course examines the remarkably tumultuous century between 1603 and 1707, which saw shocking court scandals, repeated constitutional crises, bloody civil war across the British Isles, the public trial and execution of a king, revolution, the creation of a British republic, a return to monarchy and a new wave of crises and 'revolution' that finally set up the conditions for the new unified state of Great Britain to become a political reality.
HIST 4728-001: Japan's Empire: Birth and Death - Sungyun Lim
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HIST 4776-001: History and Genealogy in American Society - Honor Sachs
This course introduces you to the historical significance of genealogy and family history in American society. Students will consider the history of genealogy and trace its relationship to nostalgia, ethnicity, regionalism, slavery, race, and national identity. From the colonial era to the present, our class will learn how and why Americans have embraced family history for varied purposes, looking at the way ideas about family, ancestry, and heritage have shifted over time to serve purposes that were personally meaningful, legally precarious, and politically fraught – sometimes all at once.
Over the course of the semester, students will also engage in their own primary research into a particular family (perhaps – likely! - even their own) to produce a final paper based on a multi-generational history. The paper will not only chronicle the history of a particular family; it will also place their story within a historical context grounded in relevant secondary historiography. Throughout the semester, students will read secondary scholarship that models good family history and will work in close consultation with librarians, genealogists, and archivists to guide their primary research.
HIST 4800-001: Special Topics in Global History - Henry Lovejoy
Description Coming Soon
HIST 4803-001: Special Topics in European History: Warrior Queens of Medieval England - David Paradis
Between 1100 and 1600 several English queens engaged directly in warfare.Ìý Sometimes they led troops into battle against their cousins or husbands.Ìý Other times they developed crafty strategies to overcome coalitions of opponents overseas.Ìý While they were generally successful in achieving their objectives, all had to develop strategies for navigating gender biases as they engaged in a male-dominated realm: warfare.Ìý This course examines the challenges, strategies, tactics, and legacies of the Empress Matilda, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, Mary Tudor, and Elizabeth I as they rallied their subjects to their banners.
HIST 4806-001: Special Topics in American History:ÌýAnimals in U.S. History - Thomas Andrews
What does it mean to be human? What does it mean to live--to act, to make history? What obligations do we bear toward our fellow creatures, and what responsibilities do they have toward us?
This course explores these questions through a contemplative examination of the long and fascinating history of interactions between people and other animals with the present-day U.S. In recent decades, scholars from a number of disciplines have begun to investigate how nonhuman animals have shaped human history. They have even started to consider how nonhumans have experienced and generated histories of their own. Reading works and viewing films on wolves, horses, grizzly bears, dogs, elephants, pigs, and, of course, human beings, we will explore how relationships between people and other creatures have shifted over the last five centuries.
By the end of the semester, you will have pondered questions great and small: How have images and discourses about animals informed American race thinking? How have Americans projected their own fantasies, needs, and fears onto other creatures? And how have animals changed the course of human history?