Fall 2023 Advising Guide | Department of History

Course Number	PAWS Number	Course Name	Professor	Days	Times	Pre-Modern	Region	Liberal Learning (All HIS courses count for Social Change in Historical Perspective)
HIS100-01	82278	The Fall of Rome	Dr. Dobrinka Chiekova	Mon/Thu	12:30pm-1:50pm	Yes	N/A	Global
HIS100-02	82279	Ancient Sports and Athletics	Dr. Emyr Dakin	Tue/Fri	9:30am-10:50am	Yes	N/A	Global
HIS113-01	82282	Medieval Saints and Sinners	Dr. Celia Chazelle	Tue/Fri	11:00am-12:20pm	Yes	N/A	N/A
HIS138-01	82283	Land Below the Winds: Southeast Asia	Dr. Jodi Weinstein	Mon/Thu	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	N/A	Global
HIS165-01	82286	US Slavery in TV and Film	Dr. Mekala Audain	Mon	2:00pm-4:50pm	No	N/A	Race and Ethnicity
HIS165-02	82287	US Slavery in TV and Film	Dr. Mekala Audain	Thu	2:00pm-4:50pm	No	N/A	Race and Ethnicity
HIS165-03	82288	Disease and Health in US History	Dr. Simon Finger	Tue/Fri	9:30am-10:50am	No	N/A	N/A
HIS165-04	82289	Disease and Health in US History	Dr. Simon Finger	Tue/Fri	11:00am-12:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS165-05	82290	Gender and the Body in US History	Professor Katherine Burke	Mon	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	N/A	Gender
HIS165-06	82499	The Vietnam War	Dr. Michael Zvalaren	Tue/Thu	5:30pm-6:50pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS173-01	82292	19th Century US History	Dr. Craig Hollander	Mon/Thu	11:00am-12:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS173-02	82293	19th Century US History	Dr. Craig Hollander	Mon/Thu	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS177-01	82349	20th Century US History	Dr. Michael Zvalaren	Tue/Thu	7:00pm-8:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS179-01	82294	African American History to 1865	Dr. Mekala Audain	Mon/Thu	11:00am-12:20pm	No	N/A	Race and Ethnicity
HIS180-01	82295	African American History 1865-Present	Dr. Christopher Fisher	Tue/Fri	9:30am-10:50am	No	N/A	Race and Ethnicity
HIS180-02	82296	African American History 1865-Present	Dr. Christopher Fisher	Tue/Fri	11:00am-12:20pm	No	N/A	Race and Ethnicity
HIS187-01	82494	Witches and Witchcraft in Film and Fact	Dr. Roman Kovalev	Tue/Fri	11:00am-12:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS189-01	82297	World History from the Margins	Dr. Satya Shikha Chakraborty	Mon/Thu	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	N/A	Global, Gender
HIS210-01	82298	The Craft of History	Dr. Dina Boero	Tue/Fri	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	N/A	Global
HIS210-02	82299	The Craft of History	Dr. Dina Boero	Tue/Fri	3:30pm-4:50pm	No	N/A	Global
HIS210-03	82300	The Craft of History	Dr. Jodi Weinstein	Mon/ Thu	12:30pm-1:50pm	No	N/A	Global
HIS220-01	82302	The Hellenistic World	Dr. Arthur Jones	Mon/ Thu	9:30am-10:50am	Yes	N/A	Global
HIS220-02	82303	The Hellenistic World	Dr. Arthur Jones	Mon/ Thu	12:30pm-1:50pm	Yes	N/A	Global
HIS230-01	82304	Imperialism and Colonialism 1500-Present	Dr. Satya Shikha Chakraborty	Mon/ Thu	3:30pm-4:50pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS300-01	82305	Medieval Christianity	Dr. Celia Chazelle	Tue/Fri	2:00pm-3:20pm	Yes	World	N/A
HIS301-01	82307	Classical Greek Civilization	Dr. Dobrinka Chiekova	Mon/Thu	9:30am-10:50am	Yes	Europe	N/A
HIS316-01	82429	Nazi Germany and Corporate Collaborators	Dr. Barbara Krasner	Tue/Fri	8:00am-9:20am	No	Europe	Global
HIS325-01	82341	Modern Germany	Dr. Joseph Campo	Mon/Thu	9:30am-10:50am	No	Europe	Global
HIS327-01	82309	European Society Since 1789	Dr. Cynthia Paces	Mon/Thu	11:00am-12:20pm	No	Europe	Global, Gender
HIS337-01	82310	20th Century China	Dr. Qin Shao	Wed	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	East Asia	Global
HIS365-01	82695	Teaching Economic History	Dr. Michael Marino	Tue	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	North America	N/A
HIS366-01	82321	Origins of the US Constitution		Tue	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	North America	N/A
HIS367-01	82311	US Civil and Human Rights	Dr. Christopher Fisher	Tue/Fri	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	North America	Race and Ethnicity
HIS368-01	82312	LGBTQ History in the US	Dr. Lindsey Warren	Tue	4:00pm-6:50pm	No	North America	Gender
HIS370-01	82313	The US in World History	Dr. Robert McGreevey	Mon/Thu	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	North America	Global
HIS387-01	82495	Witches and Witchcraft in Film and Fact	Dr. Roman Kovalev	Tue/Fri	3:30pm-4:50pm	No	World	Global
HIS460-01	82314	History and Hollywood Film	Dr. Celia Chazelle	Tue	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	North America	N/A
HIS460-02	82315	Internationalizing US History	Dr. Robert McGreevey	Mon/Thu	11:00am-12:20pm	No	North America	N/A
HIS460-03	82316	American Slavery	Dr. Craig Hollander	Mon	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	North America	N/A
HIS461-01	82317	Jewish History of Prague	Dr. Cynthia Paces	Thu	2:00pm-4:50pm	No	Europe	N/A
HIS498-01	82318	Honors Senior Capstone Seminar	Dr. Dina Boero	Tue	5:30pm-8:20pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS499-01	82319	Senior Capstone Seminar	Dr. Qin Shao	Tue	4:00pm-6:50pm	No	N/A	N/A
HIS499-02	82320	Senior Capstone Seminar	Dr. Roman Kovalev	Tue/Fri	2:00pm-3:20pm	No	N/A	N/A

History Course Descriptions

HIS100-01: The Fall of Rome

This course will explore the transformation of the Mediterranean world, from the crisis of the Roman empire in 3 rd century and the reign of Emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) to the rise of Islam and the Arab conquests (6th -8 th centuries AD). The main themes include: the triumph of Christianity, the “Barbarian” invasions, the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the formation of “Barbarian” kingdoms, the survival of the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), and the rise of Islam.

HIS100-02: Ancient Sports and Athletics

Athletics and sports were as popular and significant in the ancient Greek and Roman world as they are today, and so offer a good introduction to many aspects of ancient culture over the centuries. Illustrated lectures, reinforced and amplified by readings from ancient and modern writers, as well as by discussion in class, will introduce you to such topics as: the development of Greek and Roman sports, sites where they were held, the nature of individual events, and social implications. Wider cultural aspects to be explored include the religious, political, and social contexts of sports; how their ideology found expression in literature and the visual arts; issues of class, gender, nationalism, and ethnicity; and, of course, whether the modern Olympic Games are anything like the ancient ones. You will encounter the primary data drawn from archaeology, art, and literature, and read modern studies of this ancient evidence.

HIS165-01 and -02: US Slavery in TV and Film

Within the past ten years, there has been a renewed interest in showing the experiences of enslaved Black people to both national and international audiences. In this course, students will view films and TV mini-series to learn about eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century U.S. slavery. Students will also read primary sources and scholarly book chapters to better understand the historical context of the films and miniseries that they watch. Among the questions we will consider in this course are: how do people use TV and film to remember slavery and how do these works reimagine the experiences of slavery?

HIS165-03 and -04 History of Disease and Health in the US

This course will explore changing American understandings of what it means to be healthy or sick, and how the quest to promote healthiness and avoid disease shaped American history and culture from the colonial era
to the 21^st century. Using a variety of sources and an interdisciplinary approach, we will examine the relationship of health and environment, disease outbreaks and the responses to them, and battles over health policy. Topics will include the role of disease in American aboriginal depopulation, the catastrophic outbreaks of Yellow Fever and Cholera in the Early Republic, the doctor-patient relationship, the role of medicine in sustaining slavery, movements for dietary and health reform, the effects of urbanization on American health, debates over quarantine and immigration policy, and the role of the media in spreading information and misinformation about preserving health.

HIS165-05 Gender and the Body in American History

This course examines the historical development of the United States from the early colonial period to the present day through the lens of gender. While the actions, words, and lives of American women will form the basis of our inquiry, we will also explore the construction of manhood and womanhood in the past. Though often treated as immutable facts, the meaning of manhood and womanhood in the United States has fluctuated significantly over the course of four centuries. These categories are crosscut by other identities, such as race, class, sexuality, language, and national origin. Students will use primary sources and secondary readings to understand the how gender informs the historical experience of a diverse group of Americans and shaped the meaning of citizenship, politics, social roles, identity, and national belonging.

HIS165-06 The Vietnam War

This course will cover the Vietnam War from 1945 to 1975, beginning with the French occupation following World War Two and concluding with the final phase in 1975 and the war’s aftermath in the American consciousness. The reading material will cover a broad spectrum, from autobiography to journalism to fiction. Particular attention will be paid to the socioeconomic status of the soldiers, the political climate in the United States during the era, and the cultural texts produced about the war. This course will seek to enhance the understanding and appreciation of students for one of the more contentious moments in American history.

HIS187-01 Witches and Witchcraft in Film and Fact

Based on the close study of primary sources and secondary literature, students shall explore and evaluate a number of films about the phenomena of “Witches” and “Witchcraft” for their historical accuracy and context of material and intellectual culture of the period.

HIS220-01 and -02: Ancient Empires

This course explores pre-modern human history from a global perspective, between the years 900 BCE to 650 CE. It takes a comparative approach to world history, focusing on ancient empires in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. Thematic issues include: war, conquest, and its impact on society; imperial strategies for managing diverse populations; imperial ideology and resistance to it; borderland communities; and cross-cultural connections. Students will gain an understanding of the human past which emphasizes global connectedness but also how different communities and societies developed their own ways of handling or resisting connections and change.

HIS230-01: Imperialism and Colonialism 1500-Present

How did empire-building, colonialism, trans-oceanic trade and migrations transform the world into the globalized space we inhabit today? How have notions of the world itself changed in the last six centuries? This course offers a broad historical foundation of the modern world from the late 1400s, while trying to curtail Eurocentric assumptions from the narrative of world history and the history of empires. We will begin by exploring the powerful Islamic gunpowder empires such as the Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals, and their struggles with rising European powers hungry for colonial expansion. What made European colonialism and global hegemony eventually possible, and how did various local cultures respond? Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, and British imperialists not only imposed European norms and systems on the new territories they colonized, but also adapted to American, African and Asian forms of science and governance, and forged domestic ties with local people. This hierarchical cultural interaction not only changed the political, economic and knowledge structures of non-Western societies, but in the process also transformed Europe.

In this course, we will look at the crucial role played by ideologies of race, gender, class, religion, sexuality and morality in sustaining imperialism and colonialism. How were these ideologies naturalized by colonial science? Both Western and non-Western imperialism were legitimized through cultural products which permeated the everyday lives of ordinary people. We will explore how imperialism led to the world wars and how colonized people were dragged into the wars. We will look at anti-colonial nationalist struggles that led to decolonization, as well as transnational collaborations against Western imperialism and neo-colonialism. This course will not only enable us to understand imperial motives and methods, but also how ordinary people experienced empire. Finally, this course will help us think over the relationship between imperial history and memory – why certain events/individuals are remembered and memorialized, while others are forgotten.

HIS300-01 Medieval Christianity

This topics course examines the history of Christianity in Europe and the Mediterranean world from the early Roman Empire to the late Middle Ages. Themes to be covered include the following, among others: the religious transformations under the Roman Empire and in its successor polities; the impact of the rise of Islam; women’s experiences of Christianity; relations with Jews; the expansion of papal power; the Crusades.

HIS316-01 Nazi Germany and Corporate Collaborators

This course will examine the cooperation between industry and the Nazi regime with a focus on the quest for German economic independence, the exploitation of laborers, and the significance of free slave labor for the Nazi economy. Special attention will be given to German companies such as I.G. Farben (including Bayer), Krupps, BMW, and Volkswagen and American companies, such as IBM, Ford, Coca-Cola, and Eastman Kodak.

HIS365-01 Teaching Economic History

Broadly speaking, this class has three aims: first, it seeks to familiarize students with basic concepts central to understanding economic principles and thought. Second, it seeks to apply these concepts to American history and show how America’s history and society have been defined in large part by its economic development. Further, significant emphasis will be placed on connecting abstract economic concepts to historical issues and real-world situations. Lastly, the course will seek to address the issue of economic literacy and why economic literacy is an integral component of civic decision making and for any citizen living in a participatory democracy.
The course is intended for prospective social studies teachers and its ultimate and most important goal is to provide teachers with the means and knowledge to teach the economic course taken by all secondary students in New Jersey. Thus, considerable attention will be paid not only to the information itself, but ways to incorporate this content into a teachable framework that can make this material accessible and important for students. All the course’s projects and assessments, for example, have been designed with this goal in mind. For those not teaching economics, it is hoped that the historical component of the course will help teachers of American history incorporate new perspectives and methodologies in their own classes. Lastly, it should be the goal of all teachers to make their students economically and financially literate and this course will attempt to provide strategies and activities to help teachers accomplish this goal.

HIS387-01 Witches and Witchcraft in Film and Fact

HIS460-01: History and Hollywood Film

This readings seminar will explore a range of historical themes and issues through discussion and analysis of a selection of older and modern films, and related textual sources. The choice of movies is TBD.

HIS460-02 Internationalizing US History

This seminar explores historical scholarship in the new field of the U.S. in the World. Focused on situating the modern history of the United States within transnational and global frameworks, the seminar will pair classics in the field with the most significant new work in order to track recent changes in how U.S. history is being taught and written. In analyzing changes in both U.S. history and historiography, students will develop their own critique of the readings and identify new contributions to scholarship. Our goal is to identify, compare and evaluate recent scholarly attempts to globalize U.S. history. Because this is a seminar, engaged and active participation is required. You are expected to do all assigned readings in advance and come prepared for discussion. Attendance is mandatory and all absences must be excused in advance.

HIS460-03 American Slavery

This seminar will cover the history of slavery in the United States between the Revolution and Reconstruction. It will address the similarities and differences between forms of human bondage, both geographically and over time. In the process, we will breathe new life in age-old questions regarding the rise and fall of slavery in the United States: Why Black people? How did they survive such oppression? Who freed the slaves? And is it fair to say that there were two emancipations – one in the North during the early 19th century and another in the South during the Civil War?

HIS461-01 Jewish History of Prague

Prague, the current capital of the Czech Republic, is known for its beauty and rich cultural history. The city has also housed a diverse community of Czechs, Germans, and Jews for over
one thousand years. This course will examine the history of the Jews of Prague, from the Middle Ages to today. Prague had one of the longest-sustained Jewish community in the world
until the Holocaust devastated the population. Until then, Jewish writers, philosophers, scientists, and rabbis shaped the city’s culture and history. Our course will examine topics such
as early Jewish settlements, medieval pogroms, Jewish residents’ contributions to art, architecture, and philosophy, the work of Franz Kafka and other Prague-Jewish writers, anti-
Semitism, the Holocaust, and the experience of Jewish survivors under Communism.