Special Topic Courses - FALL 2008

HIST 241.001 – ST: Modern Eastern Europe (3) (Gigova) This course introduces the history of Eastern Europe, the territory between modern-day Germany and Russia, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Through a combination of lectures, discussions and readings we will examine the historical construction of boundaries, national identities, social movements, and cultural trends as the region progressed from imperial dominion (Habsburg, Romanov and Ottoman) to independent statehood. Approached as an intersection of local specificities and wider European trends, Eastern European history offers an excellent ground for a discussion of broader issues such as imperialism, nationalism, modernization, and individual identities. (Moved to express II TR 4:00-6:45 p.m. for fall 2008)

HIST 241.002 – ST: Historian’s Craft: Birth, Death, and the Human Lifecycle (3) Delay This is a topics-based course in which students deal with different types of historical materials to develop skills in research, writing, critical thinking, oral presentation, and the use of computers. The Historian’s Craft is designed to prepare History majors and minors for upper-level research seminars. The topic for fall 2008 is Birth, Death, and the Human Lifecycle. Students will explore the different ways in which individuals, communities, and states have interpreted and marked the human lifecycle across time and space. Readings will focus on Europe with comparative dimensions as well.

HIST 310.001 (ST: Religion in American History) (3) ( Poole) This course examines the role religious figures, beliefs and institutions have played in the development of American politics, culture and society. Several questions are explored. First, what role did religion play in the development of American national identities? Second, how has religious belief supported or challenged important ideological positions in United States history, from slavery to the notion of civic duty? Finally, in what ways have religion and popular culture interacted and influenced one another, especially in the twentieth century? Students will be encouraged to think critically about the role of religion in society, using it as a variable along with race, class and gender to understand the American past.

HIST 320.090 (ST: Charleston Architecture) (3) ( Stockton) A study of Charleston's built environment, placed in the context of Western architectural history. The classical origin of the city plan; the evolution of the single house; the development of the piazza; the influence of Palladio; the "Englishness" of Charleston architecture; influences from the West Indies, Africa, Asia; Charleston's place in American architecture; the ultimate uniqueness of the city -- all are explored.

HIST 347.001 – ST: British Imperialism (3) (staff) This course will look at some specific themes, developments, events and locales relating to British imperialism from the 17 th to the 20 th centuries. Readings will address issues such as: how a small island managed to create history’s largest empire; what drove imperialism; types and methods of imperialism; what British imperialists thought about they were doing; and how imperialism affected Britain and the world. The structure of the course is topical rather than strictly chronological. The course will emphasize discussion of readings and research skills.

HIST 410.001 – Res Sem: American Voyage, 1877-1945 (3) (Knee) This seminar proposes a journey through American history which will highlight important historiographical, political, social, diplomatic, military and ethnic topics for you to choose from beginning with the 1877 Wormley Bargain which ended Reconstruction and closing with American GI's liberating Nazi concentration camps in 1945. You will employ a combination of primary and monographic materials and complete a 25 page study of local, national or international significance. You will also be asked to participate in analytical discussions of assigned texts and visit our archival and manuscript holdings at the Addlestone Library.

HIST 441.001 (Res Sem: Europe’s Roaring ‘20s) (3) (Bodek) Sex, violence, drugs, jazz, Nazis, movies, ‘degenerate art’, and more. This seminar will focus on interwar European cities in general, and the culture of Berlin in particular (with some forays to Paris for comparison). This period (and place) might be the most significant and fertile culture of the modern World. Interwar culture confronted issues that are still important to us. These include the questions of urban environments and modernity, the relationship of “high” to “low” culture, the nature of film as an art form, gender, and “decadence.

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