History BS | College of Liberal Arts

A history BS that will prepare you not only to become a historian, but also to succeed in fields as diverse as business, education, government, journalism, law, and public service.

Overview for History BS

Why Study History at RIT?

Four Thematic Specializations: Choose from U.S. history; global history; Deaf and disability studies; or history of the environment, science, and technology.
Hands-On Experience: Gain real-world career experience that sets you apart from the competition by participating in a required co-op.
Dynamic Coursework: Study areas as diverse as digital history, computing, and quantitative data.
Exciting Capstone Project: Further sharpen your practice and understanding of history by developing a thesis and presenting your research project.
Teaching Partnership Program Available: 4+1 or 3+2 programs enable you to earn your bachelor’s degree at RIT and a master’s degree in education at one of our partner universities.
Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Available: Earn both your bachelor’s and your master’s in less time and with a cost savings, giving you a competitive advantage in your field.

The past will always shape the future as our understanding of who we are and what we value continues to evolve. The ability to reflect on history, examine the human condition, and critically analyze the past as a guide to the present and future is part of what it means to be human and to live in human communities. A degree in history not only encourages you to develop a lifelong passion for critical thinking, but also leads you to become a better local and global citizen, an effective communicator, an active participant in civil discourse, and an informed creator and consumer of media and technology. RIT’s history BS will equip you to understand the past and the means by which it shapes the present.

Focus on acquiring content knowledge and mastering historical methodologies. Understanding content provides intricate expertise in eras, fields, and topics—all of which are not only important in their own right but also relevant to other disciplines that incorporate historical themes. A bachelor's in history enables you to conduct your own research–to collect, evaluate, analyze, synthesize, and interpret evidence and data.

RIT’s BS in history is focused on building the technological expertise necessary to study and craft history in the digital age. These skills separate RIT’s BS in history graduates from history graduates at other institutions. As a result, you will learn to:

Collect, organize, and critically appraise a variety of evidence and data (primary and secondary sources).
Construct effective interpretations, arguments, and presentations based on the analysis of evidence and data.
Manage projects based on research, analysis, and the communication of findings and results.
Become well-prepared for graduate-level study in history or a related field, such as business, education, government, journalism, law, and public service.

Bachelor of Science in History Specializations

You will choose one of four thematic specializations in which you’ll gain a deeper understanding in a particular area of history. Thematic specializations include:

U.S. History
Global History
Deaf and Disability Studies
History of the Environment, Science, and Technology

Capstone Project

The capstone project is the final core requirement of the history degree and serves as an opportunity to further develop and sharpen your practice and understanding of history. You’ll work with faculty to conceive and develop a senior thesis and present your research project in front of your peers and program faculty.

Careers in History

A bachelor's degree in history will prepare you for a variety of history careers and for study at the graduate level. Nearly half of those who major in history pursue graduate school in a related discipline. The American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau shows that a significant number of history majors work in fields other than history, including law, management, and primary/secondary education. In fact, 48 percent of history majors go to graduate school.

These statistics further demonstrate how a degree in history serves as strong preparation for graduate training in several different academic and professional fields.

RIT’s Pre-Law Program

Law schools welcome applications from students majoring in a wide range of academic programs. RIT’s pre-law program will help you navigate the admission process for law school, explore a range of legal careers, and guide you through course selection to ensure you build the skills and competencies required of competitive law school applicants. The program is open to students in all majors who are interested in pursuing a career in law.

Furthering Your Education in History

Combined Accelerated Bachelor's/Master's Degrees: Today’s careers require advanced degrees grounded in real-world experience. RIT’s Combined Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees enable you to earn both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in as little as five years of study, all while gaining the valuable hands-on experience that comes from co-ops, internships, research, study abroad, and more.

History BS/Sustainable Systems MS: An accelerated dual-degree program that builds on the lessons of history and prepares grads to make informed decisions when applying sustainability science principles to address the world’s most challenging issues — pollution, food scarcity, public health crises, and more.
+1 MBA: Students who enroll in a qualifying undergraduate degree have the opportunity to add an MBA to their bachelor’s degree after their first year of study, depending on their program. Learn how the +1 MBA can accelerate your learning and position you for success.

3+3 Accelerated BS/JD Programs

RIT has partnered with Syracuse University’s College of Law and University at Buffalo School of Law to offer accelerated 3+3 BS/JD options for highly capable students. These programs provide a fast track to law school where you can earn a bachelor’s degree at RIT and a Juris Doctorate degree at Syracuse University or University at Buffalo in six years. Interested students may apply to the option directly, with successful applicants offered admission to RIT and conditional acceptance into either Syracuse University’s College of Law or University at Buffalo School of Law.

RIT’s history BS is one of the approved majors for the 3+3 option.

Learn more about Accelerated Law 3+3 Programs.

RIT’s Teaching Partnership Programs

Whether your goal is to go into early childhood or elementary education, become a secondary education teacher with a content area specialty at the middle or high school level, or work in the higher education or counseling fields, RIT’s partnership programs with local universities provide a guided pathway to a career in teaching.

These 4+1 or 3+2 programs enable you to earn your bachelor’s degree at RIT and a master’s degree in education at one of our partner universities. As you progress, you’ll benefit from focused academic advising, career exploration opportunities, and resources for research, learning, and skill development.

RIT's history degree is eligible for RIT’s Teaching Partnership Program.

Learn more about RIT’s Teaching Partnership Programs.

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First-year students can apply for Early Decision II by Jan. 1 to get an admissions and financial aid assessment by mid-January.

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Careers and Experiential Learning

Cooperative Education and Internships

What’s different about an RIT education? It’s the career experience you gain by completing cooperative education and internships with top companies in every single industry. You’ll earn more than a degree. You’ll gain real-world career experience that sets you apart. It’s exposure–early and often–to a variety of professional work environments, career paths, and industries.

Co-ops and internships take your knowledge and turn it into know-how. A liberal arts co-op provides hands-on experience that enables you to apply your knowledge in professional settings while you make valuable connections between course work and real-world applications.

As a history major, you’ll complete one co-op or internship, where you will work in a professional setting related to history.

Co-op and Experiential Learning Options

Featured Work and Profiles

Historians Put Today’s AI to Work to Better Understand the Past

From medical devices to economic forecasting tools to writing and editing assistants and more, artificial intelligence is playing a role in nearly every industry and activity of contemporary life, but...
Read More about Historians Put Today’s AI to Work to Better Understand the Past
Lecturer Empowers Voices of the Past in a Traveling Exhibition

Samaya Nasr RIT lecturer Samaya Nasr plays a pivotal role in an award-winning exhibition that highlights the often-overlooked narratives of diverse communities in the American West.
Read More about Lecturer Empowers Voices of the Past in a Traveling Exhibition
Professor Receives Award for Her Book on Polio Survivors in France

Rebecca Scales Dr. Rebecca Scales, a history professor at RIT, has been awarded a Miller Fellowship for her groundbreaking book, “Polio and its Afterlives,” which explores the profound impact of polio on France's...
Read More about Professor Receives Award for Her Book on Polio Survivors in France
Digital Exhibit: Suffrage Poster Exhibition

Completed in the Fall of 2020 to recognize the centennial of woman suffrage in the U.S., this virtual exhibition was a collaboration between Tamar Carroll, Associate Professor of History, and students...
Read More about Digital Exhibit: Suffrage Poster Exhibition

Explore All

Curriculum for 2024-2025 for History BS

Current Students: See Curriculum Requirements

View Printable Curriculum

History, BS degree, typical course sequence

Course		Sem. Cr. Hrs.
First Year
HIST-101	Making History How do historians understand and interpret the past? What tools do historians use to uncover the past? What does it mean to think historically? History is both an art and a science, and in this course, we will learn the methods, practices, and tools used to create historical knowledge. You will learn how to read texts with an eye toward their argument, how to ask historical questions, how to conduct historical research, and how to write a historical narrative. At the discretion of the instructor, the class may use examples from a particular historical era to ground course concepts in a specific historical tradition. Lecture 3 (Fall).	3
	Non-Western/Indigenous History Course 1†	3
	Thematic Specialization 1, 2	6
	General Education - First-Year Writing (WI)	3
	General Education - Global Perspective	3
	General Education - Social Perspective	3
	General Education - Natural Science Inquiry Perspective‡	3
STAT-145	Introduction to Statistics I (General Education - Mathematical Perspective A) This course introduces statistical methods of extracting meaning from data, and basic inferential statistics. Topics covered include data and data integrity, exploratory data analysis, data visualization, numeric summary measures, the normal distribution, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. The emphasis of the course is on statistical thinking rather than computation. Statistical software is used. (Prerequisites: Any 100 level MATH course, or NMTH-260 or NMTH-272 or NMTH-275 or (NMTH-250 with a C- or better) or a Math Placement Exam score of at least 35.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer).	3
	General Education - Mathematical Perspective B	3
YOPS-10	RIT 365: RIT Connections RIT 365 students participate in experiential learning opportunities designed to launch them into their career at RIT, support them in making multiple and varied connections across the university, and immerse them in processes of competency development. Students will plan for and reflect on their first-year experiences, receive feedback, and develop a personal plan for future action in order to develop foundational self-awareness and recognize broad-based professional competencies. (This class is restricted to incoming 1st year or global campus students.) Lecture 1 (Fall, Spring).	0
Second Year
ISCH-110	Principles of Computing This course is designed to introduce students to the central ideas of computing. Students will engage in activities that show how computing changes the world and impacts daily lives. Students will develop step-by-step written solutions to basic problems and implement their solutions using a programming language. Assignments will be completed both individually and in small teams. Students will be required to demonstrate oral and written communication skills through such assignments as short papers, homework, group discussions and debates, and development of a term paper. Computer Science majors may take this course only with department approval, and may not apply these credits toward their degree requirements. Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).	3
ISCH-370	Principles of Data Science This course builds on the principles of computing to introduce students to data analytics techniques commonly performed on digital data sets, using a variety of software tools. Students will learn what constitutes data and its associated social, ethical, and privacy concerns, common data acquisition and preparation techniques, and how to perform exploratory data analysis on real-world datasets from several domains. Common statistical and machine learning techniques, including regression, classification, clustering, and association rule mining will be covered. In addition, students will learn the importance of applying visualization for presenting and analyzing data. Students will be required to demonstrate oral and written communication skills through critical thinking homework assignments and both presenting and writing a detailed report for a project to analyze a data set of their choice. GCCIS majors may take this course only with the students’ home department approval, and may not apply these credits toward their degree requirements. (Prerequisites: CSCI-101 or ISCH-110 or equivalent course. Students in the B. Thomas Golisano College for Computing and Information Sciences are not eligible to take this class.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).	3
Choose one of the following:		0
HIST‑498	History Internship
HIST‑499	History Co-operative Education
	Non-Western/Indigenous History Course 2†	3
	Thematic Specialization 3	3
	General Education - Artistic Perspective	3
	General Education - Ethical Perspective	3
	General Education - Scientific Principles Perspective	3
	General Education - Immersion 1, 2	6
	General Education - Elective	3
Year Three
HIST-326	Digital History Computers and their networks have fundamentally altered the ways that history is both produced and consumed. Sources in digital formats simultaneously present opportunities and challenges that force us to rethink what is possible in history. Doing history in a digital age forces us to engage with the issues and opportunities raised by such as topics as digitization and preservation, text mining, interactive maps, new historic methodologies and narrative forms, computational programming, and digital storytelling. Digital tools, including blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, and many others, help bring history to new audiences in different ways. In this course, we will investigate the landscape of digital history and tackle the exciting task of understanding and creating history in the digital age. Lecture 3 (Spring).	3
HIST-421	Hands-on History (WI-GE) Get hands-on experience researching, interpreting, and writing history. The class will tackle a common historical theme (announced in the subtitle), then do original historical research on a topic of your choice within the overall theme. Our themes do not just rehash old topics with little new information to uncover. Instead, we focus on relatively unexplored areas of the past, where your research can shed new light on unknown topics. You will learn about history by doing it! All majors are welcome. Lecture 3 (Spring).	3
	Thematic Specialization 4	3
	Program Elective 1, 2	6
	General Education - Immersion 3	3
	General Education - Electives	6
	Open Electives	6
Year Four
HIST-501	Capstone Seminar (WI-PR) The capstone seminar is the final core requirement in the history degree program. Students will enroll in this course in their final year of study. The capstone seminar will further develop and sharpen the student’s practice and understanding of the discipline of history. Students will work closely with faculty as they conceive of, develop, and revise a written senior thesis. And finally, students are expected to present their research project in front of their peers and program faculty. (Prerequisites: This class is restricted to students with at least 4th year standing.) Seminar 3 (Fall).	3
	Program Elective 3, 4, 5, 6	12
	General Education - Electives	9
	Open Electives	6
Total Semester Credit Hours		120

Please see General Education Curriculum (GE) for more information.

(WI-PR) Refers to a writing intensive course within the major.

* Please see Wellness Education Requirement for more information. Students completing bachelor's degrees are required to complete two different Wellness courses.

‡ Students will satisfy this requirement by taking either a 3 or 4 credit hour lab science course. If a science course consists of separate lecture and laboratory sections, the student must take both the lecture and the lab portion.

Students are encouraged to take the optional, one-credit course, ITDL-102, Unlocking Success: Career Prep for Liberal Arts Majors

†Non-Western or Indigenous History Courses

ANTH-260	Native North Americans This course examines the persistence and change in Native American cultures using archaeological, ethnohistorical, socioeconomic, ethnographic, linguistic, and autobiographical sources among others. In addition to broad regional and historical coverage, we will read about and discuss culture change, colonialism, federal law, gender, race, and places in Native American contexts. Our goal is to understand the lived experiences of Indian people and the many forces that shape Native American lives. Lecture 3 (Fa/sp/su).
ANTH-265	Native Americans in Film This course will examine the parallels of anthropological works and resulting government policies in the late-19th and 20th centuries as they relate to the genre of Native Americans film, both popular and ethnographic works. In addition, an extensive regional and historical literature review will complement the possible films. Lecture 3 (Fa/sp/su).
ANTH-335	Culture and Politics in Latin America What does it mean to be a region forged and defined by conquest? “Latin America” is a construct—a term referring to a vast region of the western hemisphere colonized by speakers of Latin-derived languages (including Spanish, Portuguese, and French). In this context, culture is political and politics are cultural. Throughout what is now called Latin America and the Caribbean, the cultural practices of Indigenous and African peoples became the justification for the imposition of European rule, territorial expansion, enslavement, the extraction of labor and natural resources, Christian evangelization, and the racialized legal frameworks that facilitated it all. This course traces these historical processes and examines present-day legacies of colonialism, including ethnic inequalities, colorism, economic vulnerability, patriarchal relations, and social unrest. We consider, as well, the agency of people of Indigenous and African descent as they pursued survival with tactics ranging from acquiescence and strategic passing to creative blending to outright defiance, resistance, and rebellion. Throughout, we look at how art, music, dance, literature, and religion have engaged critically with the forces of fascism, revolution, socialism, dictatorship, neo-imperialism, and globalization. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-140	History of the Modern Middle East This course aims to provide students with a general overview of basic themes and issues in modem Middle Eastern history. Such themes include the influence of the world on the Middle East, the various political, religious, and social movements in the Middle East, and cultural and civilizational aspects of Middle Eastern societies. This course will also study cultural encounters and exchanges between the Middle East and the rest of the world, including the era of colonialism and the nationalist reaction. And finally, students will gain an understanding of the many conflicts in which the Middle East is embroiled as well as their historical antecedents. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-150	World History since 1500 This course will explore of how the contemporary global order in the 21st century has emerged from the historical events, processes and trends of the past 500-plus years. Since 1500, the world has changed dramatically, from several mostly—or entirely—separate and autonomous regions to a single interconnected system of people and societies. We will consider the political, social, economic, and technological developments as well as the intercultural and transregional contacts and interactions that helped create these changes. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-160	History of Modern East Asia Understanding the history of East Asia is integral to understanding the complex world that we live in, and will help us to understand that no single nation can live in isolation. One cannot endeavor to understand limited national entities alone; rather one must understand the interactions between cultures and across borders that help to define the world. Japan, for example, cannot be adequately understood without reference to China, Korea, and one might argue, the wider world. Therefore, we will undertake in this course to examine the region of East Asia historically from about 1600 to the present, paying special attention to interactions between the cultures and people of the region. Lecture 3 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-201	Histories of Globalization Globalization is a human process, influenced by contemporary and historical issues that are routinely conceived of as affecting or pertaining to the world’s population in its entirety, such as human rights, humanitarianism, environmental degradation, trade, and military power. We use the world and its population as the unit of analysis with an emphasis is placed on issues that appear to be in tension with the role of the nation-state and nationality, and highlight world and global citizenship. We explore critiques of the conceptualization of globality and worldliness as a factor in determining social, cultural, and historical change. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-202	Global Histories of Epidemics The COVID-19 pandemic has refocused attention on the ways in which infectious diseases spread across the world in the past and the ways that peoples, governments, and health systems reacted and responded to them. Through case studies focused on epidemic diseases such as plague, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, influenza, polio, and AIDS, this course will investigate how varied knowledge, religious, and ethical systems shaped human responses to epidemics and in turn how epidemics reshaped societies at the local, national, and global level. Students will learn how epidemics influenced theories of disease transmission and led to varied public health strategies—from quarantines and sanitary cordons to mass vaccination campaigns—intended to mitigate their impacts. Spanning a broad chronology from the Middle Ages to the late twentieth century and covering geographical regions from south Asia and central Africa to Europe and North America, this course will center epidemics as sites of global contact and exchange and interrogate how race, ethnicity, class, and gender shaped scientific and popular understandings of disease and contributed to new forms of stigma. Special attention will be paid to the ways disease mitigation efforts reflected elite priorities, leaving marginalized groups to bear the brunt of epidemics. We will consider how prophylaxis strategies were historically developed through experiments on marginalized populations, as well as the ethics of unequal access to vaccines or other disease mitigation measures. Students will learn to evaluate historical arguments as well as interpret primary historical sources (books, memoirs, newspapers, government documents, photographs, maps, and films) and will conduct a final project focused on an epidemic disease. Each iteration of the course will use a minimum of four historical case studies, although the case studies may vary by semester. The course will conclude a reflection on how the global history of epidemics might inform our analysis of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-210	Culture and Politics in Urban Africa
HIST-252	The United States and Japan This class examines the U.S.-Japanese relationship from the perspectives of diplomacy, economics, and culture. Fluctuating sharply during its 150 years, this relationship has featured gunboat diplomacy, racial conflict, war, and alliance. The course investigates U.S.-Japanese relations in the contexts of modernization, imperialism, World War II, the cold war, and the 21st century. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-260	History of Premodern China This course will examine critically the early history of China: the origins of China, the early mytho-historical dynasties, early imperial China, and finally the late imperial era, ending at roughly 1850. Students will be able to trace the relationship to the Chinese to various non-Chinese peoples, particularly the semi-nomadic peoples on the northern frontier. Students will also examine the way that China's long and complicated past has shaped its present, and how its relations to other peoples has shaped its modern relations to both its neighbors and the west. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-261	History of Modern China China occupies a rather large place in the consciousness of most Americas. It is the most populous country in the world, it has one of the biggest economies in the world and, in many ways, China has been seen to be in direct competition with America. Whatever the truth of these ideas, it is clear that China will play a major role on the world stage for the foreseeable future. This class will seek to analyze the historical circumstances surrounding the rise of modern China. What were the conditions that led to the establishment of, first, Nationalist China, followed by the People's Republic; why did the communist government enjoy such popular support; what were China's relations with the outside world; and finally, what is the state of China today? These are all questions that we will seek to answer in this course. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-265	History of Modern Japan This course will seek to examine critically the history and culture of Japan and will address many of the stereotypes and misunderstandings that are an inevitable part of Japanese studies. We will do this by examining a number of materials such as primary documents in translation, Japanese films, and art such as woodblock prints. In doing so, I will try to present as complete and balanced a picture of Japan's history and culture as possible. This will not only be useful in understanding Japan and its past, but will also help in understanding many of the important regional issues that are confronting us here in the modern world. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-266	History of Premodern Japan This class will introduce students to the history of Japan from the earliest times to the opening of the country in the mid nineteenth century. Through a variety of readings, discussions, and lectures, we'll tackle issues such as the origin of the Japanese people, early state formation, Japan in the larger East Asian context, and the rise of the warriors. We'll also examine the unique dual form of government that existed in Japan from the twelfth century, consisting of rule by the imperial court as well as by the warrior class in Japan, the well-known samurai. And finally, we'll look at several of the modern myths of Japanese history and try to address them in a balanced, historical manner. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-310	Global Slavery and Human Trafficking
HIST-360	A Global History of Baseball Baseball has been called America’s game, and the late, great historian Jacques Barzun once quipped that in order to understand the soul of America, one first had to understand baseball. This may be true about America, and if so, then it is equally true for many other areas of the world. Baseball, since the nineteenth century, has been an integral part of not just America’s sports culture but also that of countries from Japan to Taiwan to Venezuela to the Dominican Republic. This course will examine the origins of baseball from English bat and ball games such as Rounders, American missionaries introducing the game to Japan and Korea, baseball as a nationalist reaction to Spanish rule in Cuba, and, finally, the global reach of modern baseball as seen in such classic institutions as the Little League World Series. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-365	Conflict in Modern East Asia The 20th century has sometimes been called the Pacific Century, which is ironic since this period of time has been anything but pacific! The twentieth century saw the rise of four great pacific powers; the U.S., Japan, China, and the Soviet Union, and saw the eclipse of several others, including the British and French Empires. Furthermore a major front of the Cold War was played out on the Asian continent, namely the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as the U.S. standoff with Communist China. And of course the Second World War, the greatest concentrated period of human destruction, played out at the midpoint of the twentieth century. This class will analyze these conflicts both as conflicts in and of themselves, but will also look at the backdrop against which these conflicts were played out. Beginning with the subjugation of China in the 19th century, our class will examine the many conflicts that defined this region through the end of the twentieth century. Lecture 3 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-370	Global History of Religions This course will examine the history of the world’s larger religious traditions, including origins, development in particular societies, and modern forms. This course will explore the formal doctrines of various religions, as well as popular cultural manifestations. Topics will include the role of religion in state formation, nationalism, and colonialism, as well as how religions adapt themselves to local cultures and societies as they spread across regions. Lecture 3 (Annual).
HIST-450	Japan in History, Fiction, and Film An introduction to Japanese history, highlighting social and aesthetic traditions that have formed the foundations for Japanese literature and cinema. Explores how writers and directors have drawn on this heritage to depict historical experiences. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-462	East-West Encounters The Age of Discovery, beginning in the 15th century and culminating with the advent of European imperialism, is one of the most fascinating, as well as problematic, periods in the history of both Asia and Europe. Too often historians frame the interaction between Asia and Europe in uniquely European terms and present Asia as a passive partner in this process of discovery. In fact, this period presents us with a number of complex issues such as national identity, the nature of European expansion, and the Asian response to European journeys to the East. This course will undertake to re-examine the age of discovery not only from a European point of view, but also from an Asian standpoint. In the process, we will see how many of the issues that we are facing in the region are products of a long and complex relationship between Europe and Asia. Students will also examine the issues that have arisen between the east and the west in the twentieth century and that continue into our own time. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-465	Samurai in Word and Image One of the most enduring images of premodern Japan in the samurai, replete with sword and armor. This course will seek to examine the role of the samurai in Japanese history, examining popular perceptions in Japanese film, woodblock prints, and texts. We will also use a variety of secondary sources to critically examine some of the portrayals of the samurai and how they stand up to historical reality. Students will be encouraged to participate in extensive discussions as we deal with a great variety of media and try to arrive at an image of the samurai that is historically accurate. And finally, we will examine issues such as feudalism and the warrior code and how those historical concepts relate to the west at about the same time period. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-470	Science, Technology and Imperialism: 1800-1965 Between 1800 and 1945, Western nations dominated approximately three-quarters of the earth’s surface through imperialism. This course examines how industrialization, technological developments, and the emergence of the modern sciences facilitated Europe’s conquest and colonization of vast territories overseas. The course opens with a brief overview of the role of biology and science in shaping early imperial encounters (the Columbian Exchange). Students will then consider how 19th-century botany, zoology, acclimatization, cartography, geography, and anthropology became imperial sciences that facilitated formal conquest by producing knowledge about distant cultures, races, and environments. The Industrial Revolution produced new technological tools--steamboats, railroads, and weapons--that facilitated the Scramble for territory in the late 19th century. The course will consider how these inventions shaped patterns of conquest and colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout the course, students will interrogate how Europeans’ faith in the superiority of Western technology, scientific knowledge, and medicine shaped the evolution of the European civilizing mission-- the cultural and political logic that defined interactions between Europeans and non-Western populations. At the same time, they will evaluate how Africans and Asians experienced living under colonial rule, and in some cases, how they deployed Western technology as weapons of resistance to imperialism. Lecture 3 (Spring).

Thematic Specializations

U.S. History

ANTH-361	Sociology of Numbers Much of the knowledge of our social worlds has been digitized. This course explores how social technologies shape our relationships, personal lives, and sense of self. The metric manufacture of diversity has produced new forms of population management and inequality. Our biographic histories as citizens, consumers, workers/professionals, parents, lovers, and social media users are collected as data-bites and assessed in metric terms, thereby forging new sets of identities. The transformation of people into numerical entities is an act of statistical objectification. This process frames the creation of social and racial typologies, and is well demonstrated by the US census. Students will investigate the formation of racial, ethnic, and gender identities in the context of the accelerated desire to digitize humanity. Lecture 3 (Annual).
ANTH-385	Anthropology and History "Until the lions have their storytellers, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter," wrote Ngugi wa Thiong'o. In a core line of inquiry, historical anthropologists have traced the expansion of empires and cultural transformations under colonial pressures. Such investigations yield theoretical insights into the dynamics of systems and agency; power, hegemony, acquiescence, and resistance; racialization and the colonial construction of difference; capital accumulation; and the ways in which conventional anthropological and historical approaches have mirrored and abetted empire. Archives typically represent the perspectives of the colonizers. Any effort to grasp the experiences and perspectives of the colonized, therefore, must critically engage with the archive and seek sources beyond institutional texts. Storytelling, visual arts, and song are rich repositories of indigenous, alternative, and counterhegemonic histories and visions of time and prophecy. In this course, students have hands-on opportunities to access and analyze digitized and published primary sources and we discuss the ethical responsibilities of those who seek to represent the past. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-102	Themes in U.S. History This introductory-level course will examine the social, cultural, political, technological and/or economic development of modern America as it is revealed through a particular historical topic or theme. The theme or topic of the course is chosen by the instructor, announced in the subtitle, and developed in the syllabus. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-103	The City in History This course offers an introduction to the study of history by exploring the history of a particular city. Cities are complicated places, where many peoples, cultures, and histories overlap and interact. Their histories are also shaped by many forces, such as economic, cultural, demographic, social, and sexual, operating at levels from local to national to global. Studying a city offers a window into the history of a local place as well as a nation. The choice of the city is left up to the individual professor. Cities under study in the past have included Rochester, Las Vegas, and Paris. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-125	Public History and Public Debate In late 1994, the B-29 Superfortress Enola Gay, the airplane that dropped the first atomic bomb detonated in combat on Hiroshima, Japan, arrived at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC. The museum’s staff faced important questions: Would they celebrate the Enola Gay as the weapon that ended the Pacific War? Would they exhibit it as a technological artifact that marked the dawn of nuclear warfare? Would they remind museum visitors that its potent cargo ended the lives of tens of thousands of people? These were difficult professional questions for public historians; they were deeply ethical questions too. Much of the past that public historians interpret is the source of great debate in the present. Since the way history is remembered shapes public policy, community identity, and collective understanding, the ethical stakes for public history are high. This course will examine notable controversies in American public history and develop students’ critical perspectives on them. Students will generate answers to the questions: What are the ethics of doing public history? What happens when public historians remember, but the community wants to forget? When stakeholders (e.g., historic site, community, historians, sponsors) collide, whose stories and whose interests prevail? Who decides? How are those decisions made? Who is allowed to tell history? To whom or to what are public historians responsible? Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-180	Information Revolution The internet and cell phones seem to have revolutionized our society, changing how we learn about new things, relate to each other and understand ourselves. This course investigates the history of information and communication technologies to cast new light on these developments. We will ask how people formed political opinions, what ethical concerns new information and communication technologies raised, and how technologies changed the lives of the people using them. This course helps students understand the social, cultural, and ethical implications of revolutionary information and communication technologies. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-190	American Women's and Gender History This course surveys women’s history in the United States from the colonial period to present. The course moves chronologically and thematically, focusing on the diversity of women’s experiences across race, class, and geography as well as the construction of dominant gender norms. Topics include Native American, African American, and Euro-American women in colonial America; the Industrial Revolution and the ideology of domesticity, Women in the American West; women’s paid and unpaid work; sexuality and reproduction; women’s activism; and women’s experiences of immigration and family life. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-191	The History of Families and Children in the U.S. The family is at the center of contemporary political debates involving social policies, gender roles, citizenship, marriage, and the role of the state. Politicians and commentators frequently invoke a mythical American family, one that is conflict-free, independent, and unchanging. These idealized depictions mask a far more complicated and richer historical reality of the development of family structures in the U.S. This course will examine both the diverse experiences of actual families in the American past, including queer families, and changing ideologies about the family and childhood. Students will have the opportunity to write a history of their own family, or to complete an alternative research paper. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-199	Survey of American Military History This course is a survey of military history and will study the interaction between society and military institutions, technology and techniques, from 1637 to the present. Additionally, the course will examine the interrelationships of warfare, technology and society in American history. The course will focus on such questions as how changing styles of warfare, the composition of the military establishment (militias, citizen armies, paid professionals, mercenaries), and the transformations in military technology have impacted upon state and society. Conversely, it will also investigate how political and societal changes have influenced the nature of warfare in American history. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-221	Introduction to Public History Public history is using the research-based methods and techniques of historians to conduct historical work in the public sphere. If you've gone to a museum, conducted an oral history, researched your old house, or learned from an interpreter at a park or historic site, you've seen public history in action. This course will introduce students to the wide variety of careers in public history, and will examine the challenges and opportunities that come with doing history in, with, and for the public. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-230	American Deaf History This course explores the history of the deaf community in the United States. It offers a broad survey of American deaf history from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. Major events in American deaf history will be considered, including the foundation of schools for the deaf, the birth of American Sign Language, the emergence of deaf culture, the challenge of oralism, the threat of eugenics, and the fight for civil rights. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-240	Civil War America This class will examine American politics and society during the Civil War era. In addition to military affairs, students will focus on several broader themes, including the political, economic and social factors leading to the Civil War in the 1860s; the role of abolitionist, slave expansionist, and black freedom movements in the years before the Civil War; the development of emancipation policies during and after the war; and the reconstruction of the union following the war. Students will also examine the way subsequent generations of Americans remembered the Civil War in history books, memoirs, and museums. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-242	The American Revolutionary Era This course will examine the American Revolutionary era as a key moment in both U.S. and global history. Focusing on the era between 1760 and 1800, the course will survey the key political, social, economic and cultural events in the founding and development of the United States as an independent nation. Key topics include debates over American independence, the development and meaning of civil society at the state and federal levels, debate over social issues such as slavery and women’s equality, American foreign policy and global views of the American Revolutionary project and the formation of both the U.S. Constitution and political parties at the close of the 18th century. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-245	American Slavery and Freedom This class will survey the history of slavery and freedom in the United States from the establishment of global slave systems in the colonial period through emancipation movements during the Civil War era. Students will examine key economic, political, and social issues (from the development of slave labor systems to strategies of resistance among enslaved peoples) as well as the meaning of black freedom struggles during key eras (such as the American Revolutionary era and Civil War). Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-250	Origins of U.S. Foreign Relations This class analyzes the roots of U.S. foreign policy, beginning with the American Revolution and continuing through the Spanish-American War. It also examines the development of the United States from a small 18th century experiment in democracy into a late 19th century imperial power. Topics include foreign policy powers in the constitution, economic development, continental and overseas expansion, and Manifest Destiny. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-251	Modern U.S. Foreign Relations This course examines the late 19th century emergence of the United States as an imperial power and its development into a 20th century superpower. Topics include U.S. politics and foreign policy, the influence of racial and cultural ideologies on policy, isolation, and intervention, the cold war, and the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-252	The United States and Japan This class examines the U.S.-Japanese relationship from the perspectives of diplomacy, economics, and culture. Fluctuating sharply during its 150 years, this relationship has featured gunboat diplomacy, racial conflict, war, and alliance. The course investigates U.S.-Japanese relations in the contexts of modernization, imperialism, World War II, the cold war, and the 21st century. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-255	History of World War II This course will cover the military, diplomatic, political, social, and cultural history of World War II. It will focus on the causes of the war, the battles that decided the war, the leaders (civilian and military) who made the key decisions, and how the war changed society. The purpose of the course is to acquaint students with the political, social, economic, military, and cultural history of WWII and that conflict's impact upon our own era. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-282	Women, Gender, and Computing Popular attention often focuses on a few prominent women in computing history, such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, and the ENIAC programmers. But many more women were part of this history: as inventors, programmers, operators, and users of information and communication technologies. Investigating their legacies, we will discuss in this course how computing turned into an increasingly masculine field, what it meant for women and men to work in a male-dominated field, how the gendering of computing technologies and algorithms affected the identities and lives of their users, and how gender intersected online and offline with other dimensions of diversity, such as class, race, and ability. This course provides the theoretical concepts and historical overview that allow for a historically informed discussion of women, gender, sexuality, and computing today. Seminar 3 (Spring).
HIST-290	U.S. History since 1945 This class examines U.S. history from WWII to present, with emphasis on political, social, and cultural change. Focuses on the meanings and boundaries of American citizenship, as well as the role of the U.S. in the world. Topics include the Cold War and McCarthyism; the GI Bill and the building of a suburban middle class; consumer culture and its critics; The Civil Rights Movement; Great Society liberalism; The Vietnam War, the New Left and the New Right, and the counterculture; feminism, the Religious Right, and changes in gender roles, sexuality and family life; deindustrialization and economic restructuring; globalism and immigration policy; the War on Drugs and the growth of a penal state; the end of the Cold War and the New World Order; and the War on Terror. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-301	Great Debates in U.S. History This course offers an analysis and interpretation of the main themes in the history of the United States over a broad period of time that extends to the modern era. We will look at how issues such as race, class, gender, and the environment have shaped American history, as well as debates over the multiple meanings of that history. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-322	Monuments and Memory Monuments are physical objects that were constructed to help us remember the past, but a deeper analysis reveals that the relationship between monuments and the memories they embody is complex and changes over time. We will tackle the process of memorializing, the monuments that result, and seek greater insight into the arguments these artifacts make about the past, the present, and our place in the world. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-323	America's National Parks The National Parks are some of America's most treasured and spectacular landscapes, but even these wild places are the product of historical forces. In this class, we will explore the history of America's National Parks, and use these spaces to unpack the relationship between Americans, their land, and their history. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-324	Oral History Oral history collects memories and personal commentaries of historical significance through recorded interviews. There are few opportunities for historical research that are more satisfying or more challenging than oral history. In this class, we will learn about oral history methods, techniques, and ethics. We will read, listen to, and watch some of the finest examples of the genre. Then we will go out and add to the world's understanding of its past by conducting oral histories of our own. For their final project in this course, students will work in teams to produce a podcast based on their own interview(s). Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-325	Museums and History Many more people learn history from museums than from textbooks. What is it that is so special about encountering the real thing in a museum? Why are Dorothy's Ruby Slippers the most visited artifact in the National Museum of American History? Do history museums themselves have an important history? Join us as we investigate the connections between our history, our museums, and the material artifacts that tell historical stories. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-340	Rochester Reformers: Changing the World This course will survey Rochester area social reformers who led a number of critical reform movements, identifying problems with the status quo and proposing solutions to those problems. They worked to establish a new social order and even to perfect society. As an Erie Canal boom town and major manufacturing hub, Rochester inspired generations of famous reformers who made principled arguments for improving urban life and labor relations, ending slavery and securing civil rights for African Americans, and claiming equality for American women. Students will study the historical impact of celebrated social reformers such as Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony as well as less well known figures like religious revivalist Charles Finney, urban park reformer Charles Mulford Robinson, and advocate of the social gospel Walter Rauschenbusch. The course will also introduce contemporary efforts that have attempted to reshape principles of social justice locally and nationally. In the 20th century the social reform movement efforts turned to the ethical and social problems of a modernizing America, debating solutions to the pressing problems of urbanization, immigration, and environmental protection. Students will also work on a community-based research project focusing on the history and impact of particular Rochester reformers. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-350	Terrorism, Intelligence, and War This course investigates the historical, political, moral, and legal dimensions of terrorism, intelligence, and war. It uses a case-study approach with themes that include just war theory, terrorism in the colonial and post-colonial worlds, domestic terrorism, and mechanisms of intelligence and covert operations. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-351	The Vietnam War The Vietnam War continues to loom over American history. In the service of vastly different causes, politicians repeatedly invoke it: some define it as a tragic mistake, others as a noble cause. Many search for the lessons of Vietnam, a war that cost more than 58,000 American lives and as many as three million Vietnamese. In this course, we consider the war experiences of both the United States and Vietnam. We begin by highlighting Vietnamese history, culture, nationalism, communism, and independence. After analyzing Vietnam as a colony under the French, we turn our attention to American involvement beginning in the early years of the Cold War and ending with the fall of Saigon. Although we examine military and political history, the course also emphasizes social and cultural perspectives on a war that tore at the fabric of American society and led ultimately to the downfall of two presidents. Last, we look at the war’s enduring legacies in the United States and Vietnam today. Readings and assignments for the course include government documents, memoirs, fiction, film, and secondary literature from both nations. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-383	Technology and Global Relations in the American Century This class explores the role of technology in US foreign relations during the twentieth century, when the United States rose to global power. American engineers, scientists, missionaries, executives, and diplomats used technologies to gain strategic advantages, uplift other peoples around the globe, or open new market opportunities. We will look at how Americans employed a wide range of military, development, and consumer technologies, from torpedoes and airplanes to dams, schools, automobiles, and computers. Technologies projected superiority and serve in civilizing missions; they also often reflected on relations of power, gender, and race. Sometimes, technologies moved freely from one place to another, and at other times their circulation was impeded. Based on historical sources and assigned readings, the class discussions will investigate how technologies shaped US foreign relations and were in turn shaped by them. Seminar 3 (Fall).
HIST-390	Medicine and Public Health in American History This course introduces students to the social and cultural history of medicine by examining differing concepts of disease, health, and healing throughout American history. Themes include the professionalization of medicine, the role of science in medical research and practice, popular understanding and experience of health and illness, and the role of the state in providing medical care. We will explore how science and medicine defined social categories of difference, including race and gender, and how these categories in turn shaped medical thought and practice. The course format combines lectures, discussions, and films and readings include historical documents and case studies. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-439	Biography as History This course will look at biography as a form of history. By studying biographies that approach their subjects with various formats and methods of presentation, the class will examine how the craft of biography shapes our contemporary understanding of the historical past. Among the questions to be examined in this course are: how does biography reveal the historical circumstances of the subject’s life to give readers a broader understanding of the historical context of that life? How effectively can contemporary readers explore the past through the prism of one person’s life? Can the history of an era be effectively told through an examination of one person’s life? What are the benefits of the biographical approach to history? What are the drawbacks? What are the benefits of biography as a form of public history? That is, when people can get their history through the Biography Channel, how important is it for public historians to grapple with the impact of biography as a form with a unique grip on the public imagination? Lecture 3 (Biannual).

Global History

ANTH-385	Anthropology and History "Until the lions have their storytellers, the story of the hunt will always glorify the hunter," wrote Ngugi wa Thiong'o. In a core line of inquiry, historical anthropologists have traced the expansion of empires and cultural transformations under colonial pressures. Such investigations yield theoretical insights into the dynamics of systems and agency; power, hegemony, acquiescence, and resistance; racialization and the colonial construction of difference; capital accumulation; and the ways in which conventional anthropological and historical approaches have mirrored and abetted empire. Archives typically represent the perspectives of the colonizers. Any effort to grasp the experiences and perspectives of the colonized, therefore, must critically engage with the archive and seek sources beyond institutional texts. Storytelling, visual arts, and song are rich repositories of indigenous, alternative, and counterhegemonic histories and visions of time and prophecy. In this course, students have hands-on opportunities to access and analyze digitized and published primary sources and we discuss the ethical responsibilities of those who seek to represent the past. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-103	The City in History This course offers an introduction to the study of history by exploring the history of a particular city. Cities are complicated places, where many peoples, cultures, and histories overlap and interact. Their histories are also shaped by many forces, such as economic, cultural, demographic, social, and sexual, operating at levels from local to national to global. Studying a city offers a window into the history of a local place as well as a nation. The choice of the city is left up to the individual professor. Cities under study in the past have included Rochester, Las Vegas, and Paris. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-104	Themes in European History This course will examine variable topics within the scope of European history. In particular students will study the major European institutions, cultures, and societies as they have evolved throughout history, for example, the role of religion in European history, the rise of European nationalism, the age of discovery and colonialism/imperialism, or the various economic systems (feudalism, capitalism, communism, socialism). Students will also study Europe’s relationship both with other European powers as well as with the wider world. Lecture 3 (Annual).
HIST-140	History of the Modern Middle East This course aims to provide students with a general overview of basic themes and issues in modem Middle Eastern history. Such themes include the influence of the world on the Middle East, the various political, religious, and social movements in the Middle East, and cultural and civilizational aspects of Middle Eastern societies. This course will also study cultural encounters and exchanges between the Middle East and the rest of the world, including the era of colonialism and the nationalist reaction. And finally, students will gain an understanding of the many conflicts in which the Middle East is embroiled as well as their historical antecedents. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-150	World History since 1500 This course will explore of how the contemporary global order in the 21st century has emerged from the historical events, processes and trends of the past 500-plus years. Since 1500, the world has changed dramatically, from several mostly—or entirely—separate and autonomous regions to a single interconnected system of people and societies. We will consider the political, social, economic, and technological developments as well as the intercultural and transregional contacts and interactions that helped create these changes. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-160	History of Modern East Asia Understanding the history of East Asia is integral to understanding the complex world that we live in, and will help us to understand that no single nation can live in isolation. One cannot endeavor to understand limited national entities alone; rather one must understand the interactions between cultures and across borders that help to define the world. Japan, for example, cannot be adequately understood without reference to China, Korea, and one might argue, the wider world. Therefore, we will undertake in this course to examine the region of East Asia historically from about 1600 to the present, paying special attention to interactions between the cultures and people of the region. Lecture 3 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-170	Twentieth Century Europe This course examines major themes and controversies in European history from 1900 to the present, placing particular emphasis on the early 20th century crisis of liberal democracy and the political alternatives proposed to parliamentary government: right-wing nationalism, communism, and fascism. Topics will include: the impact of World War I on European societies and politics; Popular Front movements in France and Spain; eugenics and the Nazi racial state; the Holocaust; occupation and resistance during World War II; decolonization; student rebellions in 1968; Cold War domestic politics; and the reshaping of post-communist and post-colonial Europe. Special attention will be placed racial politics and immigration, state surveillance regimes, and European debates over the Americanization and globalization of European cultures. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-201	Histories of Globalization Globalization is a human process, influenced by contemporary and historical issues that are routinely conceived of as affecting or pertaining to the world’s population in its entirety, such as human rights, humanitarianism, environmental degradation, trade, and military power. We use the world and its population as the unit of analysis with an emphasis is placed on issues that appear to be in tension with the role of the nation-state and nationality, and highlight world and global citizenship. We explore critiques of the conceptualization of globality and worldliness as a factor in determining social, cultural, and historical change. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-202	Global Histories of Epidemics The COVID-19 pandemic has refocused attention on the ways in which infectious diseases spread across the world in the past and the ways that peoples, governments, and health systems reacted and responded to them. Through case studies focused on epidemic diseases such as plague, cholera, smallpox, tuberculosis, influenza, polio, and AIDS, this course will investigate how varied knowledge, religious, and ethical systems shaped human responses to epidemics and in turn how epidemics reshaped societies at the local, national, and global level. Students will learn how epidemics influenced theories of disease transmission and led to varied public health strategies—from quarantines and sanitary cordons to mass vaccination campaigns—intended to mitigate their impacts. Spanning a broad chronology from the Middle Ages to the late twentieth century and covering geographical regions from south Asia and central Africa to Europe and North America, this course will center epidemics as sites of global contact and exchange and interrogate how race, ethnicity, class, and gender shaped scientific and popular understandings of disease and contributed to new forms of stigma. Special attention will be paid to the ways disease mitigation efforts reflected elite priorities, leaving marginalized groups to bear the brunt of epidemics. We will consider how prophylaxis strategies were historically developed through experiments on marginalized populations, as well as the ethics of unequal access to vaccines or other disease mitigation measures. Students will learn to evaluate historical arguments as well as interpret primary historical sources (books, memoirs, newspapers, government documents, photographs, maps, and films) and will conduct a final project focused on an epidemic disease. Each iteration of the course will use a minimum of four historical case studies, although the case studies may vary by semester. The course will conclude a reflection on how the global history of epidemics might inform our analysis of the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-210	Culture and Politics in Urban Africa
HIST-231	Deaf People in Global Perspective This course explores the history of the deaf community in global perspective from the 18th to the 20th century. It takes a comparative approach, exploring the histories of deaf people from around the globe, including deaf lives in Central America, Europe, Africa, and East Asia. Special attention will be given to the major events in European deaf history, as Europe was the site for the first schools for the deaf in the history of the world, and the world's first documented deaf culture, in France, emerged there as well. The spread of deaf education, the rise of indigenous signed languages, the birth of deaf-hood, and the fight for human rights will all be placed in a global context. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-252	The United States and Japan This class examines the U.S.-Japanese relationship from the perspectives of diplomacy, economics, and culture. Fluctuating sharply during its 150 years, this relationship has featured gunboat diplomacy, racial conflict, war, and alliance. The course investigates U.S.-Japanese relations in the contexts of modernization, imperialism, World War II, the cold war, and the 21st century. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-255	History of World War II This course will cover the military, diplomatic, political, social, and cultural history of World War II. It will focus on the causes of the war, the battles that decided the war, the leaders (civilian and military) who made the key decisions, and how the war changed society. The purpose of the course is to acquaint students with the political, social, economic, military, and cultural history of WWII and that conflict's impact upon our own era. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-260	History of Premodern China This course will examine critically the early history of China: the origins of China, the early mytho-historical dynasties, early imperial China, and finally the late imperial era, ending at roughly 1850. Students will be able to trace the relationship to the Chinese to various non-Chinese peoples, particularly the semi-nomadic peoples on the northern frontier. Students will also examine the way that China's long and complicated past has shaped its present, and how its relations to other peoples has shaped its modern relations to both its neighbors and the west. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-261	History of Modern China China occupies a rather large place in the consciousness of most Americas. It is the most populous country in the world, it has one of the biggest economies in the world and, in many ways, China has been seen to be in direct competition with America. Whatever the truth of these ideas, it is clear that China will play a major role on the world stage for the foreseeable future. This class will seek to analyze the historical circumstances surrounding the rise of modern China. What were the conditions that led to the establishment of, first, Nationalist China, followed by the People's Republic; why did the communist government enjoy such popular support; what were China's relations with the outside world; and finally, what is the state of China today? These are all questions that we will seek to answer in this course. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-265	History of Modern Japan This course will seek to examine critically the history and culture of Japan and will address many of the stereotypes and misunderstandings that are an inevitable part of Japanese studies. We will do this by examining a number of materials such as primary documents in translation, Japanese films, and art such as woodblock prints. In doing so, I will try to present as complete and balanced a picture of Japan's history and culture as possible. This will not only be useful in understanding Japan and its past, but will also help in understanding many of the important regional issues that are confronting us here in the modern world. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
IHST-266	History of Premodern Japan
HIST-270	History of Modern France This course explores pivotal themes in French history from the French Revolution of 1789 to the present. Topics will include the French Revolution, Napoleon III's Second Empire, French imperialism, World War I and nationalism, World War II and the Vichy regime, collaboration and resistance, and the 1968 student rebellions. Special emphasis will be placed on the recurring tension between secularism and Catholicism in French society, the role of French republicanism in shaping historic and contemporary debates about citizenship, race, and immigration, and France's relationship with its former colonial possessions and the United States. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-275	Screening the Trenches: The History of WWI through Film This course uses popular films to examine World War I as the global conflict that set the stage for the rise of communism, fascism, and subsequent wars in twentieth-century Europe. Students will gain an understanding of the major causes and outcomes of World War I while investigating how the war transformed class, gender, and racial politics in Europe. Special attention will be paid to the combat/trench experience, the home front/war front divide, the German occupation of Belgium and Northern France, “total war,” the politics of shell-shock and disability, and the legacies of grief, mourning, and commemoration. Because World War I so greatly divided its participants, little consensus about the war’s meaning emerged in its aftermath. Filmmakers have consequently used World War I as a blank slate on which to project political fantasies, condemn elements of their own societies, or imagine the future. Students will use secondary historical literature and original primary sources to analyze filmic representations of World War I and consider how filmmakers have deliberately misrepresented the past or constructed particular narratives about the war to serve their own ends. This course will therefore equip students to think critically about representations of the historical past in popular culture. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-280	History of Modern Germany This course covers major themes in German history from the formation of the German Empire in 1870 to the present. Topics include nation building and nationalism, industrialization and urbanization, imperialism at home and abroad, the first world war, the Weimar Republic, Nazi racism and the second world war, the divided Germany and the Cold War, and reunification and the fall of the Berlin Wall. The course may focus on specific questions such as gender, class, religion or race and ethnicity. This course leads you to explore how German history shaped the role of Germans and Germany in the world today as well as how it informs problems facing other regions and eras. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-281	Global History of Technology Modern technologies make our daily lives pleasant and convenient; yet, many people around the globe lack access to these technologies. In this course, we will examine the origins and implications of technical developments throughout human history and across the globe—from digging sticks and pyramids, cathedrals and steam engines to atom bombs and electronic computers. We will consider the circumstances in which innovations emerge and move from one location to another, discuss how technologies influence the ways humans understand themselves, and examine how they affected the relations between different societies throughout history. In this course, you will gain a better understanding how societies around the world have shaped their technologies, and how technologies in turn have shaped them. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-310	Global Slavery and Human Trafficking
HIST-322	Monuments and Memory Monuments are physical objects that were constructed to help us remember the past, but a deeper analysis reveals that the relationship between monuments and the memories they embody is complex and changes over time. We will tackle the process of memorializing, the monuments that result, and seek greater insight into the arguments these artifacts make about the past, the present, and our place in the world. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-350	Terrorism, Intelligence, and War This course investigates the historical, political, moral, and legal dimensions of terrorism, intelligence, and war. It uses a case-study approach with themes that include just war theory, terrorism in the colonial and post-colonial worlds, domestic terrorism, and mechanisms of intelligence and covert operations. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-351	The Vietnam War The Vietnam War continues to loom over American history. In the service of vastly different causes, politicians repeatedly invoke it: some define it as a tragic mistake, others as a noble cause. Many search for the lessons of Vietnam, a war that cost more than 58,000 American lives and as many as three million Vietnamese. In this course, we consider the war experiences of both the United States and Vietnam. We begin by highlighting Vietnamese history, culture, nationalism, communism, and independence. After analyzing Vietnam as a colony under the French, we turn our attention to American involvement beginning in the early years of the Cold War and ending with the fall of Saigon. Although we examine military and political history, the course also emphasizes social and cultural perspectives on a war that tore at the fabric of American society and led ultimately to the downfall of two presidents. Last, we look at the war’s enduring legacies in the United States and Vietnam today. Readings and assignments for the course include government documents, memoirs, fiction, film, and secondary literature from both nations. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-355	The Holocaust: Event, History, Memory In the midst of the Second World War, under the auspices of the National Socialist regime in Germany, Germans along with their allies and collaborators murdered roughly six million European Jews and countless numbers of other “undesirables, including homosexuals, Slavic peoples, and gypsies. This much is incontrovertible, but only in subsequent decades did this series of events become known as the Holocaust. In this course we will cover not only the historical context and potential causes of the Holocaust—from the long history of European anti-Jewish and antisemitic violence to the specifics of National Socialist racial ideology—and the events themselves—the persecution, ghettoization and eventually extermination of Jewish communities across occupied Europe—but also consider the long afterlife of this historical fact. Why (and how) has the Holocaust become a critical episode in both European and global history? How have the books and films released in the years after 1945 influenced our collective consciousness of that period of European history? Why have the most notable location of mass murder, the camp at Auschwitz in southern Poland, a memorial in the center of the German capital of Berlin, and a museum dedicated to the Holocaust in Washington, DC, become major tourist destinations? How have our contemporary understandings of genocide and human rights emerged from this series of events? Why are there still thousands of people invested in denying that these events ever happened? Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-360	A Global History of Baseball Baseball has been called America’s game, and the late, great historian Jacques Barzun once quipped that in order to understand the soul of America, one first had to understand baseball. This may be true about America, and if so, then it is equally true for many other areas of the world. Baseball, since the nineteenth century, has been an integral part of not just America’s sports culture but also that of countries from Japan to Taiwan to Venezuela to the Dominican Republic. This course will examine the origins of baseball from English bat and ball games such as Rounders, American missionaries introducing the game to Japan and Korea, baseball as a nationalist reaction to Spanish rule in Cuba, and, finally, the global reach of modern baseball as seen in such classic institutions as the Little League World Series. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-365	Conflict in Modern East Asia The 20th century has sometimes been called the Pacific Century, which is ironic since this period of time has been anything but pacific! The twentieth century saw the rise of four great pacific powers; the U.S., Japan, China, and the Soviet Union, and saw the eclipse of several others, including the British and French Empires. Furthermore a major front of the Cold War was played out on the Asian continent, namely the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as the U.S. standoff with Communist China. And of course the Second World War, the greatest concentrated period of human destruction, played out at the midpoint of the twentieth century. This class will analyze these conflicts both as conflicts in and of themselves, but will also look at the backdrop against which these conflicts were played out. Beginning with the subjugation of China in the 19th century, our class will examine the many conflicts that defined this region through the end of the twentieth century. Lecture 3 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-369	Histories of Christianity The history of Christianity is not simply the history of the religion of the west. Rather, Christian history is a long and complex movement that has profoundly affected Asia, Africa, Europe, and the New World. At various times there were several competing ideologies of Christianity, of which the west's was only a single example. Christianity also has a long history of interacting with other religions, from Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism to Judaism and Islam. This course will trace the development of Christianity paying special attention to how the Christian tradition developed in places such as Africa and Asia. We will, of course, also study Christianity in its western forms, but we will make an effort to dive into the rich tradition of this religion in all its many forms. Lecture 3 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-370	Global History of Religions This course will examine the history of the world’s larger religious traditions, including origins, development in particular societies, and modern forms. This course will explore the formal doctrines of various religions, as well as popular cultural manifestations. Topics will include the role of religion in state formation, nationalism, and colonialism, as well as how religions adapt themselves to local cultures and societies as they spread across regions. Lecture 3 (Annual).
HIST-380	International Business History This course provides an overview on the history of international business since the late 19th century. We will examine social change over time in how corporations have handled expansion into foreign markets, why corporations decided to – or not to – expand abroad, how they managed their foreign operations, and what contributed to their success or failure abroad. To do so, we will look at a variety of factors including how corporations dealt with corporate communication, local regulations, transfers of knowledge and technology, and how corporate decisions affect communities. We will apply these historical insights to case studies of multinational corporations. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-383	Technology and Global Relations in the American Century This class explores the role of technology in US foreign relations during the twentieth century, when the United States rose to global power. American engineers, scientists, missionaries, executives, and diplomats used technologies to gain strategic advantages, uplift other peoples around the globe, or open new market opportunities. We will look at how Americans employed a wide range of military, development, and consumer technologies, from torpedoes and airplanes to dams, schools, automobiles, and computers. Technologies projected superiority and serve in civilizing missions; they also often reflected on relations of power, gender, and race. Sometimes, technologies moved freely from one place to another, and at other times their circulation was impeded. Based on historical sources and assigned readings, the class discussions will investigate how technologies shaped US foreign relations and were in turn shaped by them. Seminar 3 (Fall).
HIST-391	France under Nazi Occupation: Collaboration and Resistance in World War II In the summer of 1940, as Nazi tanks rolled into France, the government fled Paris and decided to sign an Armistice. France’s collapse led to the formation of the far-right Vichy regime, which openly collaborated with the Nazi occupiers by providing labor, industrial goods, and natural resources. Students in this course will examine historical debates surrounding this controversial period, from France’s military collapse in 1940 to evolving definitions of “collaboration” and “occupation,” while examining the complex moral and ethical decisions made by French people living under Nazi rule. Did good French citizens owe loyalty to the Vichy regime or did maintaining one’s commitment to the French Republic require engagement in resistance activity? Did people have a moral obligation to aid populations persecuted by the Vichy regime or the Germans? Moving from mainland France to London, the Channel Islands, North and West Africa, and Eastern Europe, this class will consider how the Nazi Occupation of France resonated around the globe, as well as its impact on the everyday lives of women, children, ethnic minorities (Jews/Roma), refugees, disabled people, LGBTQ people, and colonial subjects. Students will evaluate the moral, ethical, and political considerations that motivated people to join Resistance organizations, from communist sympathizers to Charles de Gaulle’s Free French, as well as their role in the Liberation of France and postwar reconstruction. The class will consider how the war affected France’s geopolitical status as well as its relationship with other European countries, North and West Africa, the Caribbean, and the United States. Finally, the class will interrogate how the memory of wartime collaboration (and particularly France’s role in the Holocaust) remained divisive into the post-WWII period, shaping debates about decolonization, immigration, and racism into the late twentieth century. Students will learn to evaluate historical arguments as well as interpret primary historical sources (books, memoirs, newspapers, government documents, photographs, radio broadcasts, and films). Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-439	Biography as History This course will look at biography as a form of history. By studying biographies that approach their subjects with various formats and methods of presentation, the class will examine how the craft of biography shapes our contemporary understanding of the historical past. Among the questions to be examined in this course are: how does biography reveal the historical circumstances of the subject’s life to give readers a broader understanding of the historical context of that life? How effectively can contemporary readers explore the past through the prism of one person’s life? Can the history of an era be effectively told through an examination of one person’s life? What are the benefits of the biographical approach to history? What are the drawbacks? What are the benefits of biography as a form of public history? That is, when people can get their history through the Biography Channel, how important is it for public historians to grapple with the impact of biography as a form with a unique grip on the public imagination? Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-450	Japan in History, Fiction, and Film An introduction to Japanese history, highlighting social and aesthetic traditions that have formed the foundations for Japanese literature and cinema. Explores how writers and directors have drawn on this heritage to depict historical experiences. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-462	East-West Encounters The Age of Discovery, beginning in the 15th century and culminating with the advent of European imperialism, is one of the most fascinating, as well as problematic, periods in the history of both Asia and Europe. Too often historians frame the interaction between Asia and Europe in uniquely European terms and present Asia as a passive partner in this process of discovery. In fact, this period presents us with a number of complex issues such as national identity, the nature of European expansion, and the Asian response to European journeys to the East. This course will undertake to re-examine the age of discovery not only from a European point of view, but also from an Asian standpoint. In the process, we will see how many of the issues that we are facing in the region are products of a long and complex relationship between Europe and Asia. Students will also examine the issues that have arisen between the east and the west in the twentieth century and that continue into our own time. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-465	Samurai in Word and Image One of the most enduring images of premodern Japan in the samurai, replete with sword and armor. This course will seek to examine the role of the samurai in Japanese history, examining popular perceptions in Japanese film, woodblock prints, and texts. We will also use a variety of secondary sources to critically examine some of the portrayals of the samurai and how they stand up to historical reality. Students will be encouraged to participate in extensive discussions as we deal with a great variety of media and try to arrive at an image of the samurai that is historically accurate. And finally, we will examine issues such as feudalism and the warrior code and how those historical concepts relate to the west at about the same time period. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
HIST-470	Science, Tech, & European Imperialism: 1800-1965 Between 1800 and 1945, Western nations dominated approximately three-quarters of the earth’s surface through imperialism. This course examines how industrialization, technological developments, and the emergence of the modern sciences facilitated Europe’s conquest and colonization of vast territories overseas. The course opens with a brief overview of the role of biology and science in shaping early imperial encounters (the Columbian Exchange). Students will then consider how 19th-century botany, zoology, acclimatization, cartography, geography, and anthropology became imperial sciences that facilitated formal conquest by producing knowledge about distant cultures, races, and environments. The Industrial Revolution produced new technological tools--steamboats, railroads, and weapons--that facilitated the Scramble for territory in the late 19th century. The course will consider how these inventions shaped patterns of conquest and colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout the course, students will interrogate how Europeans’ faith in the superiority of Western technology, scientific knowledge, and medicine shaped the evolution of the European civilizing mission-- the cultural and political logic that defined interactions between Europeans and non-Western populations. At the same time, they will evaluate how Africans and Asians experienced living under colonial rule, and in some cases, how they deployed Western technology as weapons of resistance to imperialism. Lecture 3 (Spring).

Deaf and Disability Studies

ANTH-361	Sociology of Numbers Much of the knowledge of our social worlds has been digitized. This course explores how social technologies shape our relationships, personal lives, and sense of self. The metric manufacture of diversity has produced new forms of population management and inequality. Our biographic histories as citizens, consumers, workers/professionals, parents, lovers, and social media users are collected as data-bites and assessed in metric terms, thereby forging new sets of identities. The transformation of people into numerical entities is an act of statistical objectification. This process frames the creation of social and racial typologies, and is well demonstrated by the US census. Students will investigate the formation of racial, ethnic, and gender identities in the context of the accelerated desire to digitize humanity. Lecture 3 (Annual).
HIST-230	American Deaf History This course explores the history of the deaf community in the United States. It offers a broad survey of American deaf history from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. Major events in American deaf history will be considered, including the foundation of schools for the deaf, the birth of American Sign Language, the emergence of deaf culture, the challenge of oralism, the threat of eugenics, and the fight for civil rights. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-231	Deaf People in Global Perspective This course explores the history of the deaf community in global perspective from the 18th to the 20th century. It takes a comparative approach, exploring the histories of deaf people from around the globe, including deaf lives in Central America, Europe, Africa, and East Asia. Special attention will be given to the major events in European deaf history, as Europe was the site for the first schools for the deaf in the history of the world, and the world's first documented deaf culture, in France, emerged there as well. The spread of deaf education, the rise of indigenous signed languages, the birth of deaf-hood, and the fight for human rights will all be placed in a global context. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-238	History of Disability This course will explore the meaning of disability in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course provides a cultural overview of disability and seeks to explore the social construction of disability, with special attention given to the cultural, intellectual, personal, and social histories of disability. Disability in history has been many (frequently contradictory) things: acquired at birth and acquired by war; a reason to promote eugenic policies or a reason to promote civil rights legislation; a medical diagnosis or a personal identity; visible in the body (as in the case of amputations) or invisible (as in the case of deafness); a source of family shame or a source of personal pride. How has the meaning and nature of disability changed over time? How can we understand the cultural meaning of the body in history? The course seeks to explore and explain these shifting meanings of disability within the context of Western history. Specific topics to be considered include freak shows, disabled veterans, prosthetic technologies, disability as culture, the history of eugenics, and political activism. Lecture 2 (Fall or Spring).
HIST-330	Deafness and Technology The deaf community has a long and complicated relationship with technological devices. The deaf community, for instance, was quick to embrace the new technology of moving pictures, and many deaf actors found work in early Hollywood during the silent film era. Most lost their livelihoods when sound was introduced to motion pictures. Deaf people were left out of the communication revolution brought about by the telephone for many years, but now the deaf community is increasingly a wired community, as texting, tweeting, and vlogging makes more communication technologies accessible to deaf users. This course will explore the historical relationship between technology and deafness. It will consider how views of deafness frequently shape technology, that is, if deafness is viewed as a pathological illness, technologies are focused on curing it (e.g., cochlear implants), whereas, if deaf people are viewed as members of linguistic and cultural minority, technologies are harnessed to make it easier for that minority to interact with the majority culture (e.g, relay systems). This course will consider how deaf people have historically used, created, and adopted technologies to their own ends. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-333	Diversity in the Deaf Community Students in this course will be introduced to the historical study of diversity in the Deaf community, especially as it relates to issues of race, ethnicity, gender, disability, and sexuality. Students will learn to analyze the implications of such diversity in terms of the social perception of deaf people, the history of the education of deaf people, and the experience of acculturation for and as Deaf people. The course will examine how the process of acculturation has operated, historically, within the Deaf community. Deaf culture has sought to transcend various differences and to bond members of the Deaf community together, in one, larger Deaf identity. But has this always been achieved? How has the Deaf community handled issues of diversity in different historical moments? Has the history of diversity within the Deaf community been similar to the history of diversity within the hearing community? Or have there been distinctively Deaf ways of diversity in history? This course will invite students to compare and contrast the history of difference and diversity in the deaf and hearing communities, and to explore those historical moments of intersection and interaction as well. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-335	Women and the Deaf Community Deaf history, as a field, has often neglected the story of deaf women. Scholar Arlene B. Kelly has recently asked, Where is deaf herstory? This course seeks to correct that gender imbalance in deaf history. We will study deaf women's history. This will include a consideration of deaf-blind women, as well, as women like Helen Keller were often the most famous deaf women of their era. But this course also seeks to look at the role of hearing women in deaf history. Hearing women dominated the field of deaf education in the late nineteenth century. They had a tremendous impact on the lives of deaf children and the events of deaf educational history. Hearing women were also important figures in deaf history as mothers. As mothers of deaf children, hearing women were frequently asked to behave as teachers in the home. Their embrace of this role often led them to endorse oral education, and oppose the sign language. Hearing mothers in this way were pitted against their adult deaf daughters, who frequently went on to learn sign language against their mothers' wishes. The historically complex relationship between women and the deaf community will be explored in this course. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
HIST-430	Deaf Spaces
HIST-431	Theory and Methods of Deaf Geographies The course is designed to give students theoretical and practical exposure to qualitative social science applied research methods in a new area of human geographic and Deaf Studies research: Deaf Geographies. Deaf Geographies reside at the intersection of Human Geography and Deaf Studies. It considers spatiality, language, citizenship, education, and identity, as well as other themes of interest in new ways by viewing these through the eyes of a community who perform their cultural and social geographies in the visual. The focus of the course is an instructor-led research project. Students will gain a grounding in appropriate methodological theory in order to conduct hands-on, primary research that will include proposal writing, data collection, analysis, and dissemination. (Prerequisite: 2nd - 4th year standing.) Lecture 3 (Summer).

History of the Environment, Science, and Technology

ANTH-361	Sociology of Numbers Much of the knowledge of our social worlds has been digitized. This course explores how social technologies shape our relationships, personal lives, and sense of self. The metric manufacture of diversity has produced new forms of population management and inequality. Our biographic histories as citizens, consumers, workers/professionals, parents, lovers, and social media users are collected as data-bites and assessed in metric terms, thereby forging new sets of identities. The transformation of people into numerical entities is an act of statistical objectification. This process frames the creation of social and racial typologies, and is well demonstrated by the US census. Students will investigate the formation of racial, ethnic, and gender identities in the context of the accelerated desire to digitize humanity. Lecture 3 (Annual).
HIST-180	Information Revolution The internet and cell phones seem to have revolutionized our society, changing how we learn about new things, relate to each other and understand ourselves. This course investigates the history of information and communication technologies to cast new light on these developments. We will ask how people formed political opinions, what ethical concerns new information and communication technologies raised, and how technologies changed the lives of the people using them. This course helps students understand the social, cultural, and ethical implications of revolutionary information and communication technologies. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-281	Global History of Technology Modern technologies make our daily lives pleasant and convenient; yet, many people around the globe lack access to these technologies. In this course, we will examine the origins and implications of technical developments throughout human history and across the globe—from digging sticks and pyramids, cathedrals and steam engines to atom bombs and electronic computers. We will consider the circumstances in which innovations emerge and move from one location to another, discuss how technologies influence the ways humans understand themselves, and examine how they affected the relations between different societies throughout history. In this course, you will gain a better understanding how societies around the world have shaped their technologies, and how technologies in turn have shaped them. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-282	Women, Gender, and Computing Popular attention often focuses on a few prominent women in computing history, such as Ada Lovelace, Grace Hopper, and the ENIAC programmers. But many more women were part of this history: as inventors, programmers, operators, and users of information and communication technologies. Investigating their legacies, we will discuss in this course how computing turned into an increasingly masculine field, what it meant for women and men to work in a male-dominated field, how the gendering of computing technologies and algorithms affected the identities and lives of their users, and how gender intersected online and offline with other dimensions of diversity, such as class, race, and ability. This course provides the theoretical concepts and historical overview that allow for a historically informed discussion of women, gender, sexuality, and computing today. Seminar 3 (Spring).
HIST-323	America's National Parks The National Parks are some of America's most treasured and spectacular landscapes, but even these wild places are the product of historical forces. In this class, we will explore the history of America's National Parks, and use these spaces to unpack the relationship between Americans, their land, and their history. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-330	Deafness and Technology The deaf community has a long and complicated relationship with technological devices. The deaf community, for instance, was quick to embrace the new technology of moving pictures, and many deaf actors found work in early Hollywood during the silent film era. Most lost their livelihoods when sound was introduced to motion pictures. Deaf people were left out of the communication revolution brought about by the telephone for many years, but now the deaf community is increasingly a wired community, as texting, tweeting, and vlogging makes more communication technologies accessible to deaf users. This course will explore the historical relationship between technology and deafness. It will consider how views of deafness frequently shape technology, that is, if deafness is viewed as a pathological illness, technologies are focused on curing it (e.g., cochlear implants), whereas, if deaf people are viewed as members of linguistic and cultural minority, technologies are harnessed to make it easier for that minority to interact with the majority culture (e.g, relay systems). This course will consider how deaf people have historically used, created, and adopted technologies to their own ends. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-345	Environmental Disasters This class will survey the history environmental disasters (from floods to oil spills) in modern American and global society. Students will study several specific disasters (for example, Hurricane Katrina, the Great Midwestern Floods of the 1990s, Love Canal, and the Haitian Earthquake of 2008) and analyze a series of broader themes that illuminate their meaning, including the economic impact of various disasters, the legal and political ramifications of modern disasters, and the social and cultural meaning of disasters in various societies. Lecture 3 (Fall).
HIST-383	Technology and Global Relations in the American Century This class explores the role of technology in US foreign relations during the twentieth century, when the United States rose to global power. American engineers, scientists, missionaries, executives, and diplomats used technologies to gain strategic advantages, uplift other peoples around the globe, or open new market opportunities. We will look at how Americans employed a wide range of military, development, and consumer technologies, from torpedoes and airplanes to dams, schools, automobiles, and computers. Technologies projected superiority and serve in civilizing missions; they also often reflected on relations of power, gender, and race. Sometimes, technologies moved freely from one place to another, and at other times their circulation was impeded. Based on historical sources and assigned readings, the class discussions will investigate how technologies shaped US foreign relations and were in turn shaped by them. Seminar 3 (Fall).
HIST-390	Medicine and Public Health in American History This course introduces students to the social and cultural history of medicine by examining differing concepts of disease, health, and healing throughout American history. Themes include the professionalization of medicine, the role of science in medical research and practice, popular understanding and experience of health and illness, and the role of the state in providing medical care. We will explore how science and medicine defined social categories of difference, including race and gender, and how these categories in turn shaped medical thought and practice. The course format combines lectures, discussions, and films and readings include historical documents and case studies. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-470	Deafness and Technology Between 1800 and 1945, Western nations dominated approximately three-quarters of the earth’s surface through imperialism. This course examines how industrialization, technological developments, and the emergence of the modern sciences facilitated Europe’s conquest and colonization of vast territories overseas. The course opens with a brief overview of the role of biology and science in shaping early imperial encounters (the Columbian Exchange). Students will then consider how 19th-century botany, zoology, acclimatization, cartography, geography, and anthropology became imperial sciences that facilitated formal conquest by producing knowledge about distant cultures, races, and environments. The Industrial Revolution produced new technological tools--steamboats, railroads, and weapons--that facilitated the Scramble for territory in the late 19th century. The course will consider how these inventions shaped patterns of conquest and colonial rule in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Throughout the course, students will interrogate how Europeans’ faith in the superiority of Western technology, scientific knowledge, and medicine shaped the evolution of the European civilizing mission-- the cultural and political logic that defined interactions between Europeans and non-Western populations. At the same time, they will evaluate how Africans and Asians experienced living under colonial rule, and in some cases, how they deployed Western technology as weapons of resistance to imperialism. Lecture 3 (Spring).
HIST-480	Global Information Age The internet and cell phones seem to have turned us into world citizens of cyberspace. Programmers in Bangalore or Chennai now write software for U.S. companies, and doctors in India or Australia interpret the Cat-Scan or MRI images of US patients overnight. As bestselling author Thomas Friedman argues, the world is flat, that is competition for intellectual work is now global. Others have suggested that information technologies have led to global homogenization, with people around the world reading the same news, listening to the same music, and purchasing the same products. In this class, we will investigate the history of information and communication technologies to cast new light on these claims about our present-day technologies. This class is a small seminar which includes a research project. Lecture 3 (Spring).
STSO-246	History of Women in Science and Engineering Using biographical and social-historical approaches, this course examines the history of women's involvement in science and engineering since the birth of modern science in the seventeenth century; the historical roots of gender bias in the Western scientific enterprise; and the influx of women into science and engineering since the mid-to-late 20th century. Cross-listed with women's and gender studies. Lecture 3 (Spring).
STSO-325	History of the Environmental Sciences This course surveys the history of the environmental sciences from antiquity to the present. The environmental sciences include those sciences that deal with the Earth's physical and organic environments, ranging from geology and biology to evolutionary theory and ecology. A prominent theme is the influence of social, religious, and political ideas on theories of how the Earth and its plants and animals have evolved. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
STSO-326	History of Ecology and Environmentalism This course explores the history of ecological science, from the eighteenth century to the present, and it features the political use of ecological ideas in environmental debates, from the 19th century to the present. We investigate how social and political ideas have influenced ecological science, how ecological concepts have influenced Western politics and society, and how different generations of ecological researchers have viewed their role in society. Lecture 3 (Fall).
STSO-335	Industry, Environment, and Community in Rochester This course examines Rochester through the lens of industrialization, immigration, technological innovation, and environmental change between the 1890s and 1990s. This class blends readings and discussion with experiential learning and community-based research projects to help students understand community identity as a result of changes in livelihoods, immigration, and environment. Students will examine these social changes in both a local and global context. Students will have a better appreciation for the way historical forces shape a contemporary sense of place. Lecture 3 (Spring).
STSO-345	Makers of Modern Science Approaches the history of science through studying biographies of modern scientists. Modern science is understood to be science from the Scientific Revolution of the 16th and 17th centuries to the present. Emphasis will be on recent scholarship devoted to analyzing science in context, i.e., the way it actually develops through the lives of individuals, in particular social and political contexts. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
STSO-346	Technology in American History This course explores the development of technology in American history, from the time of first contact between Europeans and Native Americans to the present. It emphasizes, for different periods in American history: the technological contributions of individuals or distinctive groups, the main features of important technological systems, and the way technology shaped--and was shaped by--the social, economic, and political institutions of the time.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
STSO-425	Nature and Quantification In this course, students will examine the ways in which “nature,” broadly conceived, has been quantified, standardized, and in many cases commodified in the modern West – often in the context of the natural sciences, government bureaucracies, capitalist markets, or some combination of the three. Reading and discussing broadly across history, science studies, anthropology, philosophy, and ecology, students will gain multidisciplinary perspectives on modern informational thinking, and develop analytical tools for assessing contemporary issues related to the quantified environment. Lecture 3 (Biannual).
STSO-445	The Natural Sciences in Western History This course explores the development of the natural sciences in Western history, from ancient times to the present. It emphasizes how astronomy, physics, chemistry, and biology have changed over time, and it seeks to place those changes in their social, economic, cultural, and religious contexts. Lecture 3 (Spring).

Combined Accelerated Bachelor’s/Master’s Degrees

The curriculum below outlines the typical course sequence(s) for combined accelerated degrees available with this bachelor’s degree.

History, BS degree/ Sustainable Systems MS, typical course sequence

Course		Sem. Cr. Hrs.
First Year
HIST-101	Making History How do historians understand and interpret the past? What tools do historians use to uncover the past? What does it mean to think historically? History is both an art and a science, and in this course, we will learn the methods, practices, and tools used to create historical knowledge. You will learn how to read texts with an eye toward their argument, how to ask historical questions, how to conduct historical research, and how to write a historical narrative. At the discretion of the instructor, the class may use examples from a particular historical era to ground course concepts in a specific historical tradition. Lecture 3 (Fall).	3
	Non-Western/Indigenous History Course 1†	3
	Thematic Specialization 1, 2	6
	General Education - First-Year Writing (WI)	3
	General Education - Global Perspective	3
	General Education - Social Perspective	3
	General Education - Natural Science Inquiry Perspective‡	3
STAT-145	Introduction to Statistics I (General Education - Mathematical Perspective A) This course introduces statistical methods of extracting meaning from data, and basic inferential statistics. Topics covered include data and data integrity, exploratory data analysis, data visualization, numeric summary measures, the normal distribution, sampling distributions, confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. The emphasis of the course is on statistical thinking rather than computation. Statistical software is used. (Prerequisites: Any 100 level MATH course, or NMTH-260 or NMTH-272 or NMTH-275 or (NMTH-250 with a C- or better) or a Math Placement Exam score of at least 35.) Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring, Summer).	3
	General Education - Mathematical Perspective B	3
YOPS-10	RIT 365: RIT Connections RIT 365 students participate in experiential learning opportunities designed to launch them into their career at RIT, support them in making multiple and varied connections across the university, and immerse them in processes of competency development. Students will plan for and reflect on their first-year experiences, receive feedback, and develop a personal plan for future action in order to develop foundational self-awareness and recognize broad-based professional competencies. (This class is restricted to incoming 1st year or global campus students.) Lecture 1 (Fall, Spring).	0
Second Year
ISCH-110	Principles of Computing This course is designed to introduce students to the central ideas of computing. Students will engage in activities that show how computing changes the world and impacts daily lives. Students will develop step-by-step written solutions to basic problems and implement their solutions using a programming language. Assignments will be completed both individually and in small teams. Students will be required to demonstrate oral and written communication skills through such assignments as short papers, homework, group discussions and debates, and development of a term paper. Computer Science majors may take this course only with department approval, and may not apply these credits toward their degree requirements. Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).	3
Choose one of the following:		3
ISCH-370	Principles of Data Science This course builds on the principles of computing to introduce students to data analytics techniques commonly performed on digital data sets, using a variety of software tools. Students will learn what constitutes data and its associated social, ethical, and privacy concerns, common data acquisition and preparation techniques, and how to perform exploratory data analysis on real-world datasets from several domains. Common statistical and machine learning techniques, including regression, classification, clustering, and association rule mining will be covered. In addition, students will learn the importance of applying visualization for presenting and analyzing data. Students will be required to demonstrate oral and written communication skills through critical thinking homework assignments and both presenting and writing a detailed report for a project to analyze a data set of their choice. GCCIS majors may take this course only with the students’ home department approval, and may not apply these credits toward their degree requirements. (Prerequisites: CSCI-101 or ISCH-110 or equivalent course. Students in the B. Thomas Golisano College for Computing and Information Sciences are not eligible to take this class.) Lec/Lab 3 (Fall, Spring).
ANTH-303	Statistics for the Social Sciences The research conducted by sociologists and anthropologists generates large, complex data sets that are difficult to interpret subjectively. We will explore the basic quantitative tools that sociologists and anthropologists can use to understand these data sets and learn how to craft a research question and research design that utilize quantitative data, how to select appropriate quantitative techniques and apply them, how to present results, and how to critically evaluate quantitatively based knowledge claims. Lab 2, Lecture 2 (Fall or Spring).
SOCI-303	Statistics for the Social Sciences The research conducted by sociologists and anthropologists generates large, complex data sets that are difficult to interpret subjectively. We will explore the basic quantitative tools that sociologists and anthropologists can use to understand these data sets and learn how to craft a research question and research design that utilize quantitative data, how to select appropriate quantitative techniques and apply them, how to present results, and how to critically evaluate quantitatively based knowledge claims. Lab 2, Lecture 2 .
Choose one of the following:		0
HIST-498	History Internship (summer)
HIST-499	History Co-operative Education (summer) A semester or summer-length experience in a professional setting related to the History major, with a minimum of 200 hours. (At least 2nd year and department approval required.) (Prerequisites: This class is restricted to students with at least 2nd year standing.) CO OP (Fall, Spring, Summer).
	Non-Western/Indigenous History Course 2†	3
	Thematic Specialization 3	3
	General Education - Artistic Perspective	3
	General Education - Ethical Perspective	3
	General Education - Scientific Principles Perspective	3
	General Education - Immersion 1, 2	6
	General Education - Elective	3
Year Three
HIST-326	Digital History Computers and their networks have fundamentally altered the ways that history is both produced and consumed. Sources in digital formats simultaneously present opportunities and challenges that force us to rethink what is possible in history. Doing history in a digital age forces us to engage with the issues and opportunities raised by such as topics as digitization and preservation, text mining, interactive maps, new historic methodologies and narrative forms, computational programming, and digital storytelling. Digital tools, including blogs, wikis, video sharing sites, and many others, help bring history to new audiences in different ways. In this course, we will investigate the landscape of digital history and tackle the exciting task of understanding and creating history in the digital age. Lecture 3 (Spring).	3
HIST-421	Hands-on History (WI-GE) Get hands-on experience researching, interpreting, and writing history. The class will tackle a common historical theme (announced in the subtitle), then do original historical research on a topic of your choice within the overall theme. Our themes do not just rehash old topics with little new information to uncover. Instead, we focus on relatively unexplored areas of the past, where your research can shed new light on unknown topics. You will learn about history by doing it! All majors are welcome. Lecture 3 (Spring).	3
	Thematic Specialization 4	3
	Program Elective 1, 2	6
	General Education - Immersion 3	3
	General Education - Electives	6
	Open Electives	6
Year Four
HIST-501	Capstone Seminar (WI-PR) The capstone seminar is the final core requirement in the history degree program. Students will enroll in this course in their final year of study. The capstone seminar will further develop and sharpen the student’s practice and understanding of the discipline of history. Students will work closely with faculty as they conceive of, develop, and revise a written senior thesis. And finally, students are expected to present their research project in front of their peers and program faculty. (Prerequisites: This class is restricted to students with at least 4th year standing.) Seminar 3 (Fall).	3
Choose one of the following:		3
ISUS-702	Fundamentals of Sustainability This course prepares students to understand grand challenges in sustainability, conduct original research related to sustainable production and consumption systems, and apply the scientific method in an integrative, team-based approach to graduate research. This course introduces fundamental concepts that are essential to understanding the interaction of economic, environmental, and social systems. Successful students will understand multiple perspectives on sustainability, the importance of sustainability as an ethical concept, behavioral impacts to sustainable solutions, and a life-cycle approach to organizing research related to sustainability. It is a core course within the Sustainability program. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-706	Economics of Sustainable Systems The goal of this course is to introduce students to economic concepts and analysis pertaining to sustainable systems. This course offers a nontechnical but rigorous introduction to microeconomic theory, engineering economics, and benefit-cost analysis. A thorough treatment of models relevant to each topic is provided. The over-arching goal is for students to gain an understanding of the logic of economic reasoning and analysis as it pertains to the study of sustainable systems. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-806	Risk Analysis This course examines risk identification, quantification, and management from the standpoint of the three key components of sustainability science (economics, environment, and society). Subjects include cost-benefit analysis, value of information, time value of money, basic decision analysis, value functions, monetizing challenges for ecosystem services, sustainability risk management, toxicological perspectives such as fate and transport and dose-response relationships, risk perception, ethical issues in risk quantification, and impact statements. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
Choose one of the following:		3
ISUS-704	Industrial Ecology Industrial ecology is the study of the interaction between industrial and ecological systems. Students in this course learn to assess the impact and interrelations of production systems on the natural environment by mastering fundamental concepts of ecology as a metaphor for industrial systems and the resultant tools from industrial ecology, including life cycle assessment, material flow analysis, and energy and greenhouse gas accounting. This is a core course within the Sustainability Ph.D. program. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-808	Multicriteria Sustainable Systems This class will explore how decisions are made when confronted with multiple, often conflicting, criteria or constraints. The focus will be on the following analytical methods: linear and stochastic programming, optimization, and Monte Carlo simulation. Case studies will focus on sustainability multi-criteria problems such as energy planning, sustainable development, resource management, and recycling. Students will apply methods learned to a project involving their graduate research. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Spring).
PUBL-810	Technology, Policy, and Sustainability This course introduces students to public policy and its role in building a sustainable society. The course places particular emphasis on the policy process; the relationship among technology, policy, and the environment; and policy mechanisms for addressing market and government failures that threaten sustainability. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
	Program Elective	6
	General Education - Electives	9
	Open Electives	6
Year Five
Choose two of the following:		6
ISUS-702	Fundamentals of Sustainability Science This course prepares students to understand grand challenges in sustainability, conduct original research related to sustainable production and consumption systems, and apply the scientific method in an integrative, team-based approach to graduate research. This course introduces fundamental concepts that are essential to understanding the interaction of economic, environmental, and social systems. Successful students will understand multiple perspectives on sustainability, the importance of sustainability as an ethical concept, behavioral impacts to sustainable solutions, and a life-cycle approach to organizing research related to sustainability. It is a core course within the Sustainability program. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-706	Economics of Sustainable Systems The goal of this course is to introduce students to economic concepts and analysis pertaining to sustainable systems. This course offers a nontechnical but rigorous introduction to microeconomic theory, engineering economics, and benefit-cost analysis. A thorough treatment of models relevant to each topic is provided. The over-arching goal is for students to gain an understanding of the logic of economic reasoning and analysis as it pertains to the study of sustainable systems. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-806	Risk Analysis This course examines risk identification, quantification, and management from the standpoint of the three key components of sustainability science (economics, environment, and society). Subjects include cost-benefit analysis, value of information, time value of money, basic decision analysis, value functions, monetizing challenges for ecosystem services, sustainability risk management, toxicological perspectives such as fate and transport and dose-response relationships, risk perception, ethical issues in risk quantification, and impact statements. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
Choose two of the following:		6
ISUS-704	Industrial Ecology Industrial ecology is the study of the interaction between industrial and ecological systems. Students in this course learn to assess the impact and interrelations of production systems on the natural environment by mastering fundamental concepts of ecology as a metaphor for industrial systems and the resultant tools from industrial ecology, including life cycle assessment, material flow analysis, and energy and greenhouse gas accounting. This is a core course within the Sustainability Ph.D. program. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Fall).
ISUS-808	Multicriteria Sustainable Systems This class will explore how decisions are made when confronted with multiple, often conflicting, criteria or constraints. The focus will be on the following analytical methods: linear and stochastic programming, optimization, and Monte Carlo simulation. Case studies will focus on sustainability multi-criteria problems such as energy planning, sustainable development, resource management, and recycling. Students will apply methods learned to a project involving their graduate research. (This class is restricted to students in the SUSTSY-MS and SUST-PHD programs.) Lecture 3 (Spring).
PUBL-810	Technology, Policy, and Sustainability This course introduces students to public policy and its role in building a sustainable society. The course places particular emphasis on the policy process; the relationship among technology, policy, and the environment; and policy mechanisms for addressing market and government failures that threaten sustainability. Lecture 3 (Fall, Spring).
Choose one of the following:		6
ISUS-780	Graduate Sustainability Capstone An independent project in sustainability serving as a capstone experience for students completing the non-thesis option. This course requires a formal proposal and a faculty sponsor. Lecture (Fall, Spring, Summer).
ISUS-790	Thesis Independent research in sustainability leading to the completion of the MS thesis. This course requires a formal proposal and a faculty sponsor. Thesis (Fall, Spring, Summer).
	Graduate Sustainability Elective	6
Total Semester Credit Hours		144

Please see General Education Curriculum (GE) for more information.

Admissions and Financial Aid

First-Year Admission

A strong performance in a college preparatory program is expected. This includes:

4 years of English with a strong performance is expected.
3 years of social studies and/or history with a strong performance is expected.
3 years of math is required and must include algebra, geometry, and algebra 2/trigonometry.
2-3 years of science.

Transfer Admission

Transfer course recommendations without an associate degree
Courses in liberal arts, science, foreign language, and history

Appropriate associate degree programs for transfer
Liberal arts with social sciences, sciences, or languages

Learn How to Apply

Financial Aid and Scholarships

100% of all incoming first-year and transfer students receive aid.

RIT’s personalized and comprehensive financial aid program includes scholarships, grants, loans, and campus employment programs. When all these are put to work, your actual cost may be much lower than the published estimated cost of attendance.
Learn more about financial aid and scholarships

Events

November 20

WGSS Speaker Series | Freedom, Black Women, and Eco-Praxis with Dr. Stefanie Dunning
February 19

COLA Graduation Fair
February 20

COLA Graduation Fair

April 11, 2024

Spring issue of ‘Rochester History Journal’ publishes with new digital format

Published by RIT Press, in partnership with the RIT Department of History and the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County, Rochester History Vol 81, No. 2 (spring 2024) is a peer-reviewed biannual journal that explores local issues within a national and global context.
January 17, 2024

New Wehrheim Gallery prominently showcases internships, projects, and collaborative research

Photos from past internships, events, and research projects at Genesee Country Village & Museum stretch from floor to ceiling in the new Wehrheim Gallery on campus. Located on the first-floor of the new Student Hall for Exploration and Development (SHED), the Wehrheim Gallery will be used to highlight work done as part of RIT’s partnership with GCV&M.
September 25, 2023

Upcoming lecture explores how social and political factors impact scientific and medical innovation

Natali Valdez, assistant professor at Purdue University and Presidential Fellow at Yale University, will visit RIT to share her research on social and political factors surrounding maternal medical policy as the featured speaker for the 2023 Eugene H. Fram Signature Lecture in Critical Thinking.

More Program News

Contact

Program Contact

Heather Roth
Assistant Director of Recruitment and Retention Outreach
Dean’s Office
College of Liberal Arts
585‑475‑5456
hmrgla@rit.edu

Offered within the
Department of History

History Bachelor of Science Degree