History Courses for 2023/24
Note: This is a list of course offerings for 2023/24 and is subject to budgetary approval and changes. Please check back on a regular basis for updates.
- General course information
- First year, 100-level courses
- Second year, 200-level courses
- Third year, 300-level courses
- Fourth year, 400-level courses
- Travel course opportunities
To make course registration easier, we have provided you with the course registration numbers (CRNs). You won’t have to search for each course one-by-one, which will save you a fair bit of time.
- Enter the CRN number of each course you wish to enrol in, in the boxes along the bottom of the course registration screen in LORIS.
General Course Information
Area (Breadth) Requirements
All History students are required to fulfill area requirements. These are designed to ensure that students gain a familiarity with the history of different geographical regions as well as with different historical themes and time periods.
Directed Studies and Special Reading Courses
Courses carrying special numbers (HI299, HI346, HI347, HI496) are established when a faculty member has an interest in pursuing a topic of study that is not part of our regular course offerings. In exceptional circumstances 346, 347 and 496 numbers can be applied to directed studies and special reading courses (see below).
A directed studies or special reading course may be approved by the department and the Dean of Arts when a faculty member and student(s) have an interest in pursuing a historical topic that is not treated in regular courses. Such a course usually involves weekly discussion of readings by the instructor and one or several students. Proposals for such courses originate with the faculty member, for they are taught in addition to the faculty member's regular teaching and are labour intensive for both faculty and students.
Undergraduate Thesis
A BA thesis (HI499) is an original piece of research usually based on primary sources which is submitted in a student's final year in addition to the fourth-year seminar required for an honours degree. In consultation with a faculty supervisor, the student develops a topic and bibliography, and spends the year researching and writing a thesis of about 40 pages. There is a final oral examination of BA theses by three members of the history faculty. While such an independent research project can be a very rewarding experience, students need to be highly motivated and self-disciplined to complete the research and writing in accordance with a pre-arranged timetable. Usually a project of this scope requires that the thesis topic and bibliography be established in the spring or summer before the commencement of the fourth year in September. To be eligible to enrol in HI499, students need preferably an "A-" or at least a "B+" average in history, the willingness of a faculty member to act as supervisor, and permission of the department. It is recommended that students interested in HI499 take HI398, preferably in the third year.
Research Specialization Option
The History Research Specialization Option is available only to honours BA History (single honours) students. Students normally apply at the end of Year 2. Use the Program Selection Form on the Enrolment Services website. Entry into the program is competitive and decisions are based on the applicant's History GPA as of April 30.
To be eligible, a student must have a minimum GPA of 9.0 in all History courses prior to admission. To proceed in and graduate with the option, students must maintain a minimum GPA of 9.0 in all History courses.
First-Year Courses
First-year (100-level) courses focus on topics designed to appeal to students new to the university setting. They offer thematic approaches to the history of individual nations (Canada and the United States), regions (medieval Europe, modern Europe, North America) and thematic areas (cultural history, business history, military history). Courses rely mainly on lectures, but most courses include class discussion in tutorials.
Tutorials are discussion groups of about 25 students, the purpose of which is to enhance a student's understanding of the assigned readings and lectures through discussion. Regular attendance at tutorials is usually needed for good standing in a course. Preparation through reading of assigned material and a willingness to participate in discussion are essential for successful learning in tutorials, and students should realize that mid-term and final exam questions are often based on the assigned readings and the discussions that take place in tutorials. Participation grades for tutorial discussion (between 10% and 20%) encourage students to work together to explore the meaning of what they have been assigned to read.
The underlying idea in a first-year course is to introduce students to the persons, events, ideas and forces which have shaped history and which should form part of the cultural literacy of every educated person. Students normally read up to 50 pages per week from their textbooks or readers. Close attention is paid to developing effective writing skills, and students write at least one essay in their first-year courses. Students average 10-12 pages of written work in 100-level courses. The types of assignments assigned include book reviews, primary source analyses, and research essays. There is often a midterm in 100-level classes and always a final exam (typically worth at least 20% of the final grade). First-year courses vary in size but usually have 100 to 200 students. Students commonly take two 0.5 credit first-year History courses.
- CRN: 4310
- Time: TR 8:30–9:50 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Johannes Remy
This course focuses on the period during which Europe reached the peak of its power and prestige. Topics studied include: the rise of the German Empire; the European "Scramble for Africa"; the Russian Revolutions of 1905 and 1917; the social effects of industrialization; and the origins of WWI.
- CRN: 3581
- Time: MW 8:30–9:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. M. Gagnon
This course explores world history through the lens of alcohol. Alcohol has been everything from a necessary part of the diet, to a sacred element of religious rites, to a celebratory beverage, to a demonized drug. Topics include alcohol in religious life, changing patterns of consumption and production, the rise and fall of prohibition, and changing ideas of alcohol abuse and addiction.
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- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3582
- Time: W 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3583
- Time: W 6:30-7:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 3584
- Time: W 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 3585
- Time: W 8:30-9:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 5
- CRN: 3586
- Time: R 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 6
- CRN: 3587
- Time: R 6:30-7:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 7
- CRN: 3588
- Time: R 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 8
- CRN: 3596
- Time: R 8:30-9:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3589
- Time: MW 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Susan Neylan
This course takes thematic and problems-based approaches to uncover untold histories that seek to challenge popular historical narratives about Canada. Topics may include the resettlement of Indigenous lands and colonialism as the foundation of the Canadian state; the impact of industrialization on ordinary Canadians; immigration and the roots of systemic racism; the impacts of the World Wars; youth culture in the 1950s-70s; Americanization; and hockey during the Cold War. HI112 will also expose students to the ways in which historians construct arguments, use evidence, and interpret and represent multiple perspectives on the past.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3590
- Time: F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3591
- Time: F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 3592
- Time: F 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 3593
- Time: F 11:30-12:20 a.m.
- CRN: 3597
- Time: MW 11:30-12:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darren Mulloy
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3598
- Time: M 12:30-1:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3599
- Time: M 1:30-2:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
-
- CRN: 3600
- Time: M 2:30-3:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 3601
- Time: M 3:30-4:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 5
- CRN: 3602
- Time: M 4:30-5:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 6
- CRN: 3603
- Time: M 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4311
- Time: MW 5:30-6:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Mark Humphries
Selected topics on comparative themes in North American history, drawing examples from the Canadian and American experiences from the colonial period to Confederation/the Civil War. Themes include the degree to which the interactions of Europeans and native peoples differed in the French and British colonies; why a revolution happened in the American colonies but not in Canada; and differences in the development of the democratic polity in the 19th century.
- CRN: 4015
- Time: T 5:30–7:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. D. Lipovitch
This introductory world history course surveys a selection of ancient civilizations of Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas prior to European cultural and economic ascendancy. Among these civilizations are Han dynasty China, Classical Greece, the Roman Empire, and the early Indus valley cultures. This course looks at political and historical events and how they shaped culture, slavery, warfare, trade and commerce. Among topics that may be covered are Mexica (Aztec) human sacrifice, Chinese Terracotta warriors, the lost libraries of Timbuktu, Egyptian Pharaoh`s death tombs, the conquests of Alexander the Great, and Ancient Greek cross-dressing.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4016
- Time: W 3:00-3:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4017
- Time: W 4:00-4:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4018
- Time: R 4:00-4:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 4019
- Time: R 5:00-5:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 5
- CRN: 4020
- Time: R 6:00-6:50 p.m.
- Tutorial 6
- CRN: 4021
- Time: R 7:00-7:50 p.m.
- CRN: 4301
- Time: MW 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darryl Dee
This course will explore eleven of the most important battles in world history. We will examine such topics as: the context of these battles; the commanders and armies that fought them; the strategy and tactics employed; the experience of combat; and the outcomes. Military history, however, is more than just an account of fighting. We will therefore also analyze how these battles affected the states, societies, and cultures that fought them.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4302
- Time: F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4303
- Time: F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4304
- Time: F 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 4305
- Time: F 11:30-12:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 5
- CRN: 4306
- Time: F 12:30-1:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 6
- CRN: 4307
- Time: F 1:30-2:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 7
- CRN: 4308
- Time: R 6:30-7:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 8
- CRN: 4309
- Time: R 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4312
- Time: MW 10:00-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. D. Olivier
Who were the real pirates of world history? This course seeks to answer this question, beginning with the ancient world and ending with the present day. Why did men and women become pirates? How did they live? How were they hunted and captured? This course will assess the rich history of piracy using a variety of media and sources.
- CRN: 3919
- Time: Online
- Instructor: Dr. Jeff Grischow
Examines the role of revolution in shaping the history of the modern world. From the start of the Scientific Revolution beginning in the mid-16th century to the Iranian Revolution of the late 20th century, students examine how revolutions begin and the scope of political, social, economic, and cultural changes they cause. While analyzing several case studies students interrogate the definition of revolution itself and determine its feasibility as a historical category. (Online learning only.)
- CRN: 999
- Time: n/a
- Instructor: Dr. Jeff Grischow
Examines and analyzes important historical developments from the immediate past that help students understand how the peoples, economies, and cultures of the world became connected the way they are today. Topics covered may include the Cold War, international development and the Third World, globalization, youth movements and revolutionary struggles. (Online Learning only.)
- CRN: 4287
- Time: MW 1:00–2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. M. Robertshaw
A hands-on introduction in both theory and practice to computer hardware, software, and open access/source tools digital tools targeting such areas as typesetting, and basic audio and image manipulation1 Ethics and aesthetic concerns in traditional and multimedia documents are also discussed, and students develop digital research project for deployment through a content-management system such as WordPress2 as contributors within the context of a project team.
Second-Year Courses
Second-year (200-level) courses provide a pedagogical bridge between broader first-year and more specialized upper-year courses. These courses are designed to advance students’ understanding of how historians approach the problem of explaining change over time, but they do so in ways that remain accessible to the generally interested. They accomplish these various goals by adopting chronological or biographical approaches which lend themselves to survey. Courses focus on nations or regions, or explore topics that are geographically bounded (borderlands or human rights) or those that are either global or completely thematic (history on film or the history of the Second World War).
Second-year courses vary in size from 50 to 150 students. The main method of instruction is the lecture though some courses include tutorials or discussion classes on significant themes and readings from assigned texts. Students are taught to think analytically through assignments that require them to identify the nature, purpose and content of selected primary sources and the argument of assigned secondary readings. The types of assignments required at this level include book reviews, analyses of primary sources, and research essays. All second-year courses require a final examination (typically worth at least 20% of the final grade). Students average 12-18 pages of written work in 200-level courses, and will typically read at least 50 pages a week.
- CRN: 4313
- Time: TR 10:00-11:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Leonard Friesen
The Soviet Union played an enormous role in the history of the 20th century, but what was it exactly? This course considers Russia's transformation from an Imperial to a Communist state and charts its ultimate demise. It highlights the vital roles played by Lenin, Stalin, and Khrushchev. We pay particular attention to the societal impact of Collectivization and famine, the purges, the rise of the GULAG prison system, the 900-day siege of Leningrad during World War Two, and the rise and fall of Perestroika under Gorbachev.
- CRN: 1584
- Time: TR 2:30-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. K. Lord
A survey of Greek history from the rise of the city-state to the empire of Alexander with emphasis upon the evolution of Athenian democracy and upon movements toward unification of the Greek cities.
- CRN: 1384
- Time: MW 10:00-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. S. Gallimore
A survey of the development of Rome from its founding to the later Roman Empire. The emphasis is upon the unification of Italy, the growth of political institutions and the expansion of the Empire.
- CRN: 3594
- Time: MW 8:30–9:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Karljurgen Feuerherm
There's more to Egypt than mummies and pyramids. Egypt can also be seen as a cradle of civilization. This course will provide an introduction to the rich and fascinating civilization of Ancient Egypt. Topics to be addressed may include Egyptian religious beliefs, developments in medicine and mathematics, social relations, burial practices, and warfare.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3607
- Time: F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3608
- Time: F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 3609
- Time: F 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- CRN: 3610
- Time: MW 11:30-12:50 pm
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
- CRN: 4719
- Time: TR 4:00-5:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. M. Bechthold
World War II transformed Asia politically, socially and economically. This course explores the military, political, social and cultural dimensions of the war in China, the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, South-east Asia and India. Topics and themes include: the Asian pre-war colonial context, Japanese war aims, collaboration and resistance, the Asian home fronts, the debate on will vs. resources in military planning, war crimes and war trials, strategic bombing and nuclear weapons, occupation, civil and anti-colonial wars, and the origins of the Cold War in Asia.
- CRN: 3612
- Time: TR 2:30-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Eva Plach
From the late 19th c. through to the end of WWII millions of civilians were murdered in the territory that stretches from central Poland through to western Russia. This course surveys specific examples of political mass murder in the bloodlands both during wars and in peacetime, and considers the role that political ideologies, nationalism, racism and Anti-Semitism played in unleashing violence.
- CRN: 4314
- Time: TR 1:00-2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
This course explores how the ancient Greeks and Romans treated crimes such as homicide, assault, theft, adultery and perjury. Students explore the historical development of legal systems and penal procedures, the phenomenon of popular (informal) justice,
- CRN: 2847
- Time: MW 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Susan Neylan
This course examines the historical experiences of Indigenous societies as they came into contact and interacted with empires. Such encounters encompassed first contacts, commercial networks, cultural exchanges, “colonial projects,” legislative frontiers, violence, and diverse forms of resistance (among many other things) over several different centuries and geographic regions of the world. Selected topics for the course may include: representations of Indigenous peoples; inter-Indigenous relations; contact zones; conquest; violence and resistance; trade and work; “colonial projects”; missions; and governmental policies towards Indigenous peoples.
- Tutorial 1 CRN: 2848 F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2 CRN: 2849 F 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 3 CRN: 2850 F 11:30-12:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4316
- Time: TR 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Karljurgen Feuerherm
Over the course of only a few millennia, the cultures of the Near East witnessed significant developments which successively transformed prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies into small states and ultimately into the vast Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian empires among others. This course will seek to uncover the underlying factors and catalysts which prompted these developments and trace the evolution of culture in the region with a focus on significant innovations such as agriculture and the first invention of writing one hand and social and religious perspectives on the other.
- Tutorial 1 CRN: 4317 F 8:30-9:20 a.m.
- Tutorial 2 CRN: 4318 F 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- CRN: 4319
- Time: MW 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Mark Humphries
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4320
- M 2:30-3:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4321
- M 3:30-4:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4322
- M 4:30-5:20 p.m.
- CRN: 263
- Time: MW 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Adam Crerar
A survey of Canadian history from Confederation to the present, which addresses key social, cultural and political issues while highlighting the history of Indigenous peoples. Topics include state expansion, modernization, protest and reform, war and society, class, gender and family, racialized identities, and the place of Canada in the world.
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 3614
- T 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 3615
- T 6:30-7:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 3616
- T 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4323
- Time: MW 10:30–11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Adam Crerar
In the joy of a great play—made or watched—sport can seem outside of time and history. But as an aspect of culture sport can act as a powerful lens through which to study various times, people, and places in the past. Through an examination of major sports and sports movements in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (such as hockey, baseball, football, boxing, and the Olympic Games), this course explores major themes and topics that have been central to the modern world, including nationalism and international relations; youth and education; violence; colonialism and postcolonialism; gender and sexuality; the pursuit of civil and Indigenous rights; the growth of cities; the advent and spread of mass communication; and work and leisure from industrialism to the age of globalization.
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4325
- W 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4327
- W 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4327
- Time: TR 5:30-6:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. J. Buscemi
The internet's transformation of global society is another chapter in the long technological story of the use of information. This course traces that history beginning with the print revolution in Europe sparked by Gutenberg and the emergence of a new information regime. Topics include the impact of the printing press, the history of the book and libraries, the spread of telecommunication technology, and the emergence of the internet. The cultural, social and economic effects as well as the technologies of this information revolution are explored from a historical perspective. Contemporary experiences of the internet are not investigated in this course.
- CRN: 3562
- Time: W 7:00-9:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Mark Humphries
This course explores the intersection of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the humanities, with a particular focus on digital history. Through a combination of lectures, readings, and hands-on exercises, students will learn how to use natural language processing tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney to analyze and generate content, as well as explore the various ways that generative AI can be applied to the humanities more broadly. Topics covered in the course include the history of AI and its impact on the humanities, applications of generative AI including in research and writing, and the ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in humanities research and education. By the end of the course, students will have gained a deep understanding of the potential implications of generative AI on the humanities and be equipped with the tools and knowledge to use these technologies in their own research, work, and creative endeavours.
- CRN: 4795
- Time: MW 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. M. Robertshaw
The internet allows the collection and expression of more voices, stories, and experiences than ever before. The volume of material, and the variety of technologies available, are also transforming the ways in which these incidents are told, collected, preserved, and transmitted. Creating and interacting within a virtual environment has encouraged a form of digital cosmopolitanism that challenges our notions of tangible space, linear time, and the link between “self” and body. This course will explore diverse methods of understanding and representing identity, time, and place across different disciplines and different digital media. Students will learn and gain hands-on experience with key apps and other software tools and produce their own digital projects. (No specific computer expertise is required.)
- Tutorial 1
- CRN: 4796
- Time: R 5:30-6:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4796
- Tutorial 2
- CRN: 4797
- Time: R 6:30-7:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4797
- Tutorial 3
- CRN: 4798
- Time: R 7:30-8:20 p.m.
- CRN: 4798
- Tutorial 4
- CRN: 4799
- Time: R 8:30-9:20 p.m.
- CRN: 3561
- Time: W 7:00-9:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Mark Humphries
This course explores the intersection of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and the humanities, with a particular focus on digital history. Through a combination of lectures, readings, and hands-on exercises, students will learn how to use natural language processing tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney to analyze and generate content, as well as explore the various ways that generative AI can be applied to the humanities more broadly. Topics covered in the course include the history of AI and its impact on the humanities, applications of generative AI including in research and writing, and the ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in humanities research and education. By the end of the course, students will have gained a deep understanding of the potential implications of generative AI on the humanities and be equipped with the tools and knowledge to use these technologies in their own research, work, and creative endeavours.
Third-Year Courses
Third-year (300-level) courses permit greater specialization and depth. In comparison to second-year courses, 300-level offerings facilitate a more intensive study of specialized themes or more narrowly defined historical periods. Most third-year courses combine both lecture and discussion components in class. The classes tend to be much smaller than second-year classes and rarely exceed the limit of 40 students.
In third-year courses the primary source becomes the pedagogical centrepiece. Students in third-year courses listen to music; study images; read novels, chronicles, memoirs, personal and governmental documents; and watch films in order to deepen their understanding of the experiences of people who lived in the past. The goal is to make students better appreciate how people in the past understood their own lives and cultures. Students are also introduced to the core problem of interpretation and reconstruction which will dominate the reading component of fourth-year courses.
Students are advised to complete at least 2.0 credits of 200-level courses before registering in a 300-level course. Honours students intending to go on to graduate school are encouraged to enrol in the department's Research Specialization Option (see below), which includes HI398: The Historian’s Craft, a course designed specifically to explore questions of historical method and to survey recent trends in historical scholarship.
The written assignments for third-year courses typically require some form of comparative assessment of either books or articles, or more involved analysis of longer and more complicated primary sources. Students at this level also normally write a research essay which requires them to define and set their own question based upon a specific primary source and/or a minimum number of secondary sources which they have identified for themselves from databases. Students average 24 pages of written work in 300-level courses, and will typically read up to 75 pages a week.
- CRN: 4329
- Time: TR 5:30-6:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
Examines the sexual identities of men and women in Ancient Greek and Roman societies, and attitudes towards perceived anomalies including the figures of the hermaphrodite and eunuch. Primary sources include artistic representations, poetry and drama.
- CRN: 4125
- Time: MW 8:30–9:50 p.m.
- Instructor: TBD
Africa has experienced, and continues to suffer, a particularly high incidence of warfare. This course studies war and society in Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. It examines the reciprocal ways in which the conduct of warfare and the nature of the societies in which it occurs influence and transform each other.
- CRN: 4014
- Time: F 8:30-11:20 a.m. (1 hour of on-campus tutorial instruction per week, Fridays 9:30-10:20 or 10:30-11:20); (2 hours of recorded Zoom lectures per week)
- Instructor: Dr. Chris Nighman
This course explores the intellectual, cultural, socio-economic and political history of Italy during the Renaissance, focusing on the development of renaissance humanism in terms of education and scholarship, politics and statecraft, sex and gender, artists and aesthetics, philosophy and religion.
- CRN: 3618
- Time: R 8:30–11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Kevin Spooner
A study of Canadian-American relations, emphasizing foreign political relations, from the colonial era to the 21st century.
- CRN: 3620
- Time: MW 5:30-6:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Eva Plach
This course surveys the 20th-century histories of the countries of Eastern Europe. Topics to be covered may include: the creation of independent states in the aftermath of World War I; the collapse of interwar democracies; World War II and the Holocaust; the establishment of Communist regimes in the postwar period; and anti-Communist protest movements.
- CRN: 3621
- Time: MW 1:00-2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Mark Humphries
An examination of the social, cultural and demographic changes affecting Canada's peoples to the 1880s.
- CRN: 4330
- Time: TR 10:00-11:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. A. Milne-Smith
This course will trace the British Empire from the uncertain times of the 18th century, through the Victorian heyday, to the crisis of empire in the twentieth century, and finally decolonization after the Second World War. Main topics will include incarnations of empire, colonial cultures, race, and the metropole. Our focus will be on the experience of Empire, and what it was like to live, rebel, fight and serve in an Imperial context through a selection of case studies.
- CRN: 3622
- Time: MW 2:30-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. A. Milne-Smith
In this course we examine a range of well-known conspiracy theories from the past ranging from the late eighteenth century to the 1970s. We will interrogate a series of ten case studies that range from deliberate fabrications to strange misunderstandings to an actual cover up. There will be a final digital interactive project exploring a detailed history of a conspiracy theory not covered in class.
- CRN: 4332
- Time: MW 11:30-12:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darren Mulloy
This course addresses the contours and complexities of American foreign policy in the 20th century. It focuses especially on the post-1930s period and on the various U.S. military "interventions" that took place during this time, from America's entry into the Second World War to the "War on Terror."
- CRN: 3623
- Time: TR 4:00-5:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. A. Crerar
History 339 is a course in the history of Ontario from the establishment of Upper Canada in 1791 to the end of the twentieth century. Through a combination of lectures and seminars, the course will explore aspects of the province’s social, cultural, political, and economic history, with special emphasis on themes related to Ontario as an imagined community, including: cultural conflict and pluralism; public memory; regionalism; political culture; Indigenous/ non-Indigenous relations; the province at war; the colony’s place in the British Empire and the province’s place in Confederation; and perceptions of urban life, the rural countryside, and the North.
- CRN: 3624
- Time: MW 11:30-12:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. David Smith
Early modern English people energetically discussed crime: what were its caused? How might crime be discouraged? The result was a series of long-term transformations in criminal law from 1600-1832 with the rise of the prison, adversarial criminal trial, and a shift in the role of the jury. This course surveys the definition and forms of crime inherited from the medieval period, the emergence of new forms of crime, especially financial crimes, innovations in policing, and investigates how contemporaries discussed the punishment of misconduct. The course takes a socio-legal perspective, examining the changing structure of English society, including urbanization, consumption patterns, and colonization, as well as shifts in the law of evidence, procedure and substantive rights.
- CRN: 3625
- Time: MWF 10:30-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Blaine Chiasson
This course will chart the history of three simultaneous military interventions and occupations in South Africa, the Philippines, and the Qing empire. We will explore the origins of each intervention and how the dynamics of military occupation between the occupier and the occupied. Among the themes to be discussed will be imperialism, colonialism, race and racialized interactions, looting, war crimes and long term impacts on all these states.
- CRN: 3626
- Time: TR 11:30-12:50 p.m.
- Instructor: TBD
Stranger Things: Politics, Memory and Culture in 1980s America addresses cultural, political, and social history from the late 1970s up until the Cold War's end in 1991. The course draws on a wide range of ideologies, institutions, groups, and events that shaped gendered, sexual, cultural, economic, and racial experiences in America's not-so-distant past. The course also considers topics such as nostalgia, identity, the final years of the Cold War, activism, queer experiences, music, film, and television, alongside U.S. political history.
- CRN: 4716
- Time: F 8:30-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Chris Nighman
- CRN: 4076
- Time: T 7:00-9:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darryl Dee
In this course, students will use some of history’s most important battles to learn about and gain hands-on experience with a revolutionary new technology: generative AI. Students will study the battles through video lectures and readings. They will then use the latest versions of Chat GPT and other AI programs to examine these battles in greater depth. In doing so, they will assess the possibilities and limits of AI as a research tool, a writing machine, an editorial assistant, a maker of art, and an engine of misinformation.
- CRN: 3627
- Time: TR 10:00-11:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Judith Fletcher
A survey of historical beliefs in the afterlife, covering the Ancient Near East, the Greco-Roman world, and Medieval societies. Topics may include the geography of the underworld,
- CRN: 4333
- Time: MWF 9:30-10:20 a.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Blaine Chiasson
From Imperial ‘basket-case', Republican warlord chaos, Communist revolution(s) and economic powerhouse, China has fascinated outside observers. This course focuses on the massive social and cultural change China has experienced, on political struggles between the Communists and the Nationalists, on the economic campaigns that have decimated and rejuvenated China, and the forces (intellectual, national, religious, economic, ecological and political) that challenge the Chinese state at the beginning of the new millennium.
- CRN: 1026
- Instructor: Dr. Chris Nighman
Europe from the 11th century to the ‘Age of Reason' has been described as ‘a persecuting society' in which prescribed norms of belief and behaviour excluded many groups and individuals who suffered discrimination and, at times, persecution. This course examines such marginalized groups as Christian heretics, Jews, Muslims, sodomites, learned women, lepers and those accused of witchcraft in pre-modern European society; it also addresses the extent to which toleration was advocated and practised.
- CRN: 2480
- Time: MW 4:00-5:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Adam Crerar
History 398 is a course about how historians think and do their work. Through a combination of lectures, workshops, and seminars, the course explores a range of matters associated with the writing of history, including: how the practice of history has changed over time; the nature of historical sources; how historians support their claims to know about the past; the differences and relationships between history and memory; and the major approaches to understanding the past that have influenced the writing of history today. Throughout, the emphasis is on making explicit, and more comprehensible, the various ways in which historians explore the past.
- CRN: 4193
- Time: T 7:00-9:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darryl Dee
Fourth-Year Courses
Fourth-year (400-level) courses are seminars and represent the crowning experience of the honours history program. Seminars are a form of learner-centered instruction in which students take responsibility for preparing their weekly readings for class discussion and for researching their primary-research papers, thereby empowering themselves through independent study. They hone their skills of oral and written expression by sharing their ideas and writing with other seminar participants. The instructors guide students in their exploration of historiography and in their research in primary documents. These courses promote discussion of historical literature and research on specific historical periods and themes (the Cold War; Classical Athens; American Political Extremism, for example). All History majors must complete at least one reading/research combination seminar; students in the Research Specialization Option take two reading/research seminars. These classes are relatively small and have an optimal size of about 15 students.
In the reading seminar students will engage deeply with the historiography of the chosen subject, reading the equivalent of one book per week, and writing essays varying in length from 12 to 20 pages. Discussions focus on the critical assessment of the analysis, context and methods employed in the secondary literature, and are crucial to a successful seminar.
In the research seminar students are guided in the preparation of independent research essay (usually of 25-30 pages in length) based on their own research in the relevant primary sources. Students will also present their work (in written and oral form) to their classmates. They are then required to respond to the feedback they receive, revise their written work, and re-submit. This approach teaches students the importance of effective oral and written communication and it also instructs them in how to respond to criticism. These are skills which will prove extremely useful to students well beyond the classroom setting.
- CRN: 4336
- Time: M 7:00-9:50 pm
- Instructor: Dr. D. Dee
Faces of Battle: the Experience of Combat in the West. In this seminar, we will be examining the experience of war and battle in the western world from Ancient Greece to the Second World War. Through books and articles, we will explore hoplite battle, crusading warfare, black powder combat, and total war on the Eastern Front. We will analyze such topics as the effects of technology and weaponry; the nature of courage and cowardice; the roles of religion and ideology; the controversial question of a “western way of war”; and the experience of women in combat. Throughout our course, we will be dealing with the problem of change and continuity in the nature of warfare.
- CRN: 4338
- Time: R 5:30-8:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darren Mulloy
This course examines the impact of the Cold War on the United States, politically, culturally, and in terms of its foreign policy. Topics to be addressed include the development of the national security state, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, Hollywood films, protest music, and the Vietnam War.
- CRN: 4339
- Time: T 11:30–2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Susan Neylan
History 430 is intended to offer advanced study of selected topics in the history of Canada in the 20th century. In this seminar-style course, we will explore a wide range of themes relating to this history --among them the construction of racial and sexual identities, the nature of historical memory, the changing role of the state, Indigenous-Settler relations, and the uses of alternative approaches to history. The course is designed to allow students to develop an advanced awareness of the varied ways in which historians interpret evidence, construct arguments, and represent the past. Students are encouraged to collaboratively and independently hone their skills in the areas of critical reading, discussion and defense of ideas, conducting historiographical surveys, and group presentations.
- CRN: 4718
- Time: T 5:30–8:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Dana Weiner
This seminar begins with an assessment of antebellum politics and society, including the breakdown of national institutions during the 1850s. Abolitionism, the rise of the Republican Party, and westward expansion of slavery will receive careful study. The war itself will be placed within a broad social context, including the impact of conventional and guerrilla warfare on soldiers, civilians, slaves and freed people.
- CRN: 1723
- Time: M 1:00-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Karljurgen Feuerherm
This seminar will examine the foundations of selected ancient societies across the globe. On a case-by-case basis, we will discuss such things as foundational beliefs, social structure and institutions, and value systems.
- CRN:3628
- Time: M 7:00-9:50 pm
- Instructor: Dr. D. Dee
- Prerequisite: HI401 (offered in fall 2023)
Faces of Battle: the Experience of Combat in the West. In this seminar, students will produce a long research paper based on primary sources on the experience of combat during one of five periods in western military history: Classical Greek hoplite battle; the Crusades; early modern European gunpowder warfare; and the Eastern Front in the Second World War. In addition to researching and writing their papers, students will present their work to the seminar.
- CRN: 3629
- Time: T 11:30–2:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Susan Neylan
- Prerequisite: HI430 (offered in fall 2023)
HI480 builds on the content and experiences students were introduced to in HI430, Readings Seminar on 20th Canada, by allowing them to engage in doing history themselves. In this research seminar students will formulate a research project and process for a topic in 20th Canadian history of their choosing. With close and regular consultations with the instructor, through presentations and peer-reviewing of their fellow students’ work, the ultimate goal of this course is the production of an article-length, original research essay (typed double-spaced 20-25 pages or 5000-6500 words in length. Students are not obliged to write on a topic related to their HI430 papers, but you can if you want to.
- CRN: 4013
- Time: T 5:30–8:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. D. Weiner
- Prerequisite: HI445 (offered in fall 2023)
This seminar begins with an assessment of antebellum politics and society, including the breakdown of national institutions during the 1850s. Abolitionism, the rise of the Republican Party, and westward expansion of slavery will receive careful study. The war itself will be placed within a broad social context, including the impact of conventional and guerrilla warfare on soldiers, civilians, slaves and freed people.
- CRN: 3631
- Time: R 5:30-8:20 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Darren Mulloy
- Pre-requisite: HI405H (offered in fall 2023)
This course examines the impact of the Cold War on the United States, politically, culturally, and in terms of its foreign policy. Topics to be addressed include the development of the national security state, McCarthyism, the civil rights movement, Hollywood films, protest music, and the Vietnam War.
- CRN: 1429
- Time: M 1-3:50 p.m.
- Instructor: Dr. Karljurgen Feuerherm
- Prerequisite: HI448 (offered in Fall 2023)
This seminar involves research and the creation of projects dealing with selected topics in the history and culture of the Ancient World.
- CRN (fall): 1255
- CRN (winter): 1753
Directed study and research on a topic appropriate to the student’s specialization and chosen in consultation with the faculty supervisor. Students in the single honours History BA program who receive departmental permission to take this course must also take two 400-level seminars (either two readings seminars or one readings seminar and one research seminar). Students in the combined honours History BA program must also take a 400-level readings seminar.