History

An introduction to the history of Asia to 1800 CE. The course focuses on several themes, all turning around how cultures and societies evolve and develop in interaction with each other. We explore cultural encounters through trade, war and diplomacy, personal encounters between individuals of different cultures and the processes of cultural diffusion, and pay attention to geography and the critical use of primary documents. Also offered through Asian Studies and Peace Studies. Fulfills HU and DIV13 requirements.

A survey of the social, political, cultural, and economic history of African Americans from the 1600s to the end of the Civil War. Topics include the Atlantic slave trade, colonial and antebellum slavery, family life, resistance to slavery and African-Americans’ participation in the Civil War, and contributions to the building of the nation. Fulfills HU requirement.Also offered through African-American Studies.

On July 1, 1867, the three British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the United Province of Canada (early Québec and Ontario) joined to create the Dominion of Canada. From the time of Confederation to the end of the Great War, Canada remained in the shadow of Great Britain. In the period following the war, the dominion moved toward closer relations with the United States. It is between these two empires, one across the Atlantic Ocean, the other on the North American continent, that Canada’s evolution as a nation might be understood in the broadest sense.

Early Canada, 1534-1867.   After laying eyes upon the eastern coast of Canada in May 1534, the French explorer Jacques Cartier remarked that it resembled the “land that God gave to Cain.” Despite Cartier ’s initial misgivings, Canada presented numerous opportunities to Europeans, as it had for the First Nations.

The United States and the Soviet Union were the rival superpowers in the Cold War, but European, African, Asian, and Latin American and Caribbean nations also were enmeshed in the conflict, sometimes in “hot” wars that killed hundreds of thousands of people and devastated communities and natural environments. In class lectures, discussions, and research-based presentations, this course explores answers to such questions as: What caused the Cold War, and could it have been avoided?