History

History starts here, with the news and public debates of today. This general interest course examines how our understanding of the world we live in is shaped by our knowledge of history. The course is divided into two or three modules (depending on available instructors), which will vary from year to year, and will range in focus from world crises to popular culture.

This general interest course examines major themes in global history since the end of the Second World War. Topics to be examined include the origins, evolution, and end of the Cold War; the emergence of new nations in Africa and Asia; comparative social change; cultural revolutions and the status of women; and recent responses to globalization and armed conflict. 

This general interest course analyzes the history of a current conflict by exploring the domestic and international contexts and options for ending the conflict. Combines lectures, discussion and simulations, to examine the role of allies, armies, paramilitaries, agents provocateurs, multinational corporations, non-government organizations and the United Nations.

This general interest course examines how the body has been imagined, experienced, controlled, and understood, both historically and today, by art, medicine, technology, religion, science and popular culture. Considers the sexualized and pregnant body, the sinful and diseased body, the aesthetic and the medicalized body, and the body as machine from Galen and Descartes to the age of the computer, the cyborg and the gene.

This general interest course introduces students to the complex and fascinating realm of religious and scientific beliefs and magical practices maintained by people living during the high and late Middle Ages in Europe and the Middle East, from about 1200 AD to 1600 AD. Considerable attention will be paid to the development of the Inquisition against heresy, the growing fear over supposed diabolical conspiracies and the development of the diabolical witch stereotype in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 

This general interest course explores the changing perceptions of epidemic disease from the fourteenth century through to the present day. By focusing on infectious illnesses such as plague, smallpox, cholera, and influenza, this course considers the various socio-cultural, medical, and governmental responses to epidemics throughout this lengthy period of history. Particular attention is given to both change and continuity over time, posing (and seeking answers to) questions such as: how have responses to epidemic disease changed over time? how have they remained the same?

This general interest course provides an introduction to the history of Rome from the Baroque period to the modern age. Normally taught on location. May not be taken by students who have taken HIST 2133 or HIST 3133.

This general interest course introduces the historical method while exploring the controversial theme of prohibition. Examines both protagonists in the struggle: prohibitionists, whose ideology was rooted in evangelical religion and an early strain of feminism, and the "Rummies" who fought to preserve a recreational drinking culture and the economic opportunities that it made possible.

This general interest course introduces the challenges of studying history on film by examining selected themes in Canadian history and their representation in documentary and dramatic films.

This general interest course addresses the major issues of contemporary Canadian history, including post-war reconstruction, the emergence of the welfare state, the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, Canadian external relations, immigration policy, regional disparity, political leadership, and national identity. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2325 . 

This general interest course is designed to acquaint students with the use of visual sources as historical evidence. Studies a broad range of visual culture, from paintings to advertisements to television, according to their historical meanings. Considers how historical images accrue meaning for the contemporary. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2715 . 

This general interest course provides an introduction to the study of tactics, technology, battle control, logistics and management. Developments will be examined by studying selected campaigns and battles. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2815. 

This entry level course, which is recommended for both first-and second-year students, provides a survey of Western Europe from the end of the Roman Empire and the appearance of the German peoples until the end of the twelfth century. Focuses especially on the major political and social developments of medieval Europe, such as feudalism, the revival of towns, the conflict between Popes and Emperors, the crusades, the flourishing of medieval thought and the role of both women and men in medieval society. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have completed HIST 1010 or HIST 1005 . 

This entry-level course, which is recommended for both first-and second-year students, continues the survey of the history of Medieval Europe, beginning c. 1200 and ending with the Renaissance. Focuses especially on the several crises facing Europeans during the later Middle Ages: popular uprisings, famine, the Black Death, the 100 Years War, Papal schism and the new heretical and intellectual challenges to orthodoxy. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have completed HIST 1010 or HIST 1006 . 

This entry-level course, which is recommended for both first-and second-year students, surveys Western European history by examining aspects of the Italian and Northern Renaissances, early contact with Non-Western peoples, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations and the growth of nation states. Emphasizes developments in the economy and society, education, religion, culture and government. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have completed HIST 1020 . 

This entry level course, which is recommended for both first- and second-year students, continues the survey of Western European history by examining aspects of the rise of absolutist states, the Scientific Revolution, the Witch Hunts, the Enlightenment, overseas expansion and the French Revolution. Stresses developments in the economy and society, government, secular thought, culture, international relations and war. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have completed HIST 1020 . 

This entry level course, which is recommended for both first- and second-year students, surveys European history from the era of the French and Industrial Revolutions to the eve of the First World War. Topics to be covered include: the French Revolution and Napoleon; the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the working class; evolving political ideologies and movements; the forging of new nation states; changing class and gender relations; cultural upheaval; the motives for imperialism; the origins of the First World War. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 1100 or HIST 2100 . 

This entry level course, which is recommended for both first-and second-year students, surveys European history from the First World War to the present. Topics to be covered include: the First World War; the Russian Revolution; interwar cultural and social change; the Great Depression and political upheaval; the origins and course of the Second World War; Europe and the Cold War; social change after 1945; the impact of decolonization; the rise of the European Union; European debates over national identity. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 1100 or HIST 2100 . 

This entry-level course, which is recommended for both first-and second-year students, surveys American history from the earliest European settlement through the Civil War. Topics include exploration and expansion, the European-Aboriginal encounter, colonization and Christianity, revolutionary ideas and independence, the early Republic, the frontier experience, slavery and resistance, antebellum culture, and sectional discord and conflict.

This entry-level course which is recommended for first-and second-year students, surveys the modern history of the United States. The course considers national reconstruction following the Civil War, late nineteenth century industrial and geographic expansion, social unrest and progressive reform in the early twentieth century, the "roaring twenties", the "dirty thirties", the New Deal, the "Good War" of the 1940s, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, liberalism and conservatism, the "Bad War" in Vietnam, the rebellions of the sixties, the Reagan era and beyond. Completion of HIST 2403 recommended but not required. 

This survey course introduces students to a history of the Caribbean region from the indigenous era, beginning around 6000BC, to the late-eighteenth century. Topics covered include: indigenous politics, cosmology, and culture; European conquest and indigenous responses and resistance to conquest; Variations in politics and cultures between empires; the Middle Passage; plantation and urban slavery; the everyday lives of the enslaved.

This survey course introduces students to a history of the Caribbean from the Haitian Revolution in the late eighteenth century to the Cuban Revolution and rise of Fidel Castro in the mid-20th century. Topics covered include: the abolitionist movement; slave emancipation and struggles to define freedom; Indian indentureship; nationalist and independence struggles; the U.S. occupation of Cuba and Puerto Rico; Afro-Atlantic civil rights movement; Che Guevara; the Caribbean and international affairs.

Examines contact and conflict among the Latin Kingdoms of Europe, the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Empire. Considers the crusades, crusader states, the position of the Jews, and the role of trade and intellectual development in the period.

The sixteenth century was one of the most tumultuous eras in European history, with the Reformations dividing Europeans into warring religious camps and religious dissenters facing widespread discrimination and persecution. This course will examine the religious, social and political transformations of Europe and Britain throughout the century. It will explore why Europeans wanted to reform their religious beliefs and institutions and how they went about it. Reform was applied also to political, economic, and medical beliefs and systems. Ordinary folk also sought reform, leading to the so-called “Peasants’ War of 1525” and the Anabaptist kingdom of Münster, 1534-35, as well as to the destruction of religious art during the iconoclastic fury. The course concludes with how the religious passions unleashed by the Reformations led to new political-religious states, new attitudes toward religious diversity and tolerance, and to the intensification of anti-Semitism and the revival of witch hunting.

Examines the expansion of European imperial power during the nineteenth century, focusing upon developments in Asia and Africa. Explores the reasons for the renewal of European imperialism with a focus on the role of exploration, profit, religion, technology, and violence. Focuses on Asian and African responses to European imperial expansion, and the impact that colonial rule had on structures of class, gender, and race. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3008. 

Examines challenges to European colonialism during the twentieth century. Explores structures of colonial rule and how they affected class, gender, and race relations in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Analyses the rise of anti-colonial movements and their challenges to imperial rule, within the context of the global crises of the years between 1914 and 1945. Concludes with examinations of the struggles for national independence after the Second World War, and the legacies of colonialism.

Explores how many populations, including the ancient Greeks, Romans, medieval and early-modern Europeans, molded their particular identities by constructing negative images of the “foreigner” or “other” based on perceived religious or ethnic differences. It examines in particular the formation and dissemination of religious and racial stereotypes and the inflaming of prejudicial passions that have led to violence. Particular emphasis will be placed on the long history of anti-semitism, and comparisons will be made with Byzantine and Muslim cultures. While it will focus on the subject primarily as a historical problem, the course will be interdisciplinary in approach, involving specialists from a range of disciplines. 

Building upon HIST 3015 , this course explores how, in the era of the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the growth of religious tolerance, the rise of nationalism, and the increasing secularization of western society, racism and anti-semitism continued not only to spread, but to be given a pseudo-scientific foundation, resulting in a variety of conspiracy theories and ultimately leading to the horrific Holocaust and racial and ethnic cleansing of the twentieth century. While it will focus on the subject primarily as a historical problem, the course will be interdisciplinary in approach, involving specialists from a range of disciplines. 

Examines the political, social, and cultural history of France during a century of upheaval. Topics to be covered include the Dreyfus Affair; the First World War; culture and society between the wars; the Great Depression and the era of the Popular Front; the rise of French fascism; the Second World War and the Vichy regime; collaboration and resistance; postwar social and cultural change; intellectuals and politics; the government of General de Gaulle; and recent debates over immigration and identity. France’s role as a colonial and postcolonial power is also a central theme in the course.

Offers a comprehensive introduction to the First World War, examining its causes, course, and aftermath within a military, political and social context. It focuses on how the war was experienced on both the war and home fronts, by soldiers and civilians alike.

Beginning with the 1871 unification of Germany, and ending with the Third Reich’s defeat in the Second World War, this course explores numerous themes, including: political and cultural innovation, diplomacy, violence, gender relations, everyday life under democracy and dictatorship, memory and commemoration, war and genocide, and the changing place of Germany within Europe. We discuss the fractures and divisions within Imperial German society, the home and fighting fronts of the First World War, the short-lived but influential Weimar Republic, the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Volksgemeinschaft of the Third Reich, and the Nazi “Final Solution to the Jewish Problem” in Occupied Europe. 

This course examines German history from the end of the Second World War to the present. Beginning with the Allied occupation of Germany in 1945, the course investigates the formation of two separate states: the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany. Using the tools of social, cultural, political, and gender history, the course considers themes such as: everyday life under communism and capitalism, Cold War politics, protest and terrorism, the memory of Holocaust crimes, the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and the many challenges facing Germany in the post-unification era. 

Examines the evolution of the Cold War from 1945 to 1991. Topics to be examined include: the debate over the origins of the Cold War; the creation of opposing alliance systems in Europe; the Asian dimensions of the Cold War; the significance of the Cold War for Africa and Latin America; the rise and fall of détente; the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet bloc. Attention is paid to the social and cultural impact of the Cold War. 

Studies the impact of the Catholic Reformation on Baroque Rome, the end of Papal Rome with the unification of the Italian nation, the urban expansion of the late nineteenth century, and Rome's emergence as the capital of Mussolini's New Empire. The creation of the Vatican City State is studied, and contemporary Roman life and politics will be experienced. Normally taught on location.

As the decades of faith in Enlightenment reason gave way to the emotional backlash of the Romantics, Rome provided a context for many of the aims of the new generation: the balance between Classicism and Romanticism, between the ruins of civilization and the struggle for a new political order, between nature and the imagination, between the past and the future. Designed as an interdisciplinary exploration of these subjects as they manifested themselves in late eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Rome, this course considers literature, music, art and philosophy as forces of innovation that helped shape the experience of social and cultural transformation. By visiting, seeing, reading and listening to the new styles of expression embodied by Romanticism, we explore the political issues central to the new aesthetic that inspired poets and patriots in Rome’s Revolution of 1848. Normally taught on location. 

Examines the politics, society and culture of Italy from 1945 to the present. Normally taught on location.

Beginning with an examination of the late medieval and Renaissance papacy, this course focuses on the role of the papacy in and its response to the Protestant and Catholic Reformations. The course gives special attention to Rome as the catalyst, locus and expression of reform. Normally taught on location. 

Early modern London was an exceptional city in many ways and it played a unique and pivotal part in the history of England, Europe and increasingly during this period, in a global context. This is an advanced level course designed to explore the nature of London and Londoners from 1485-1714. Normally taught on location.

Surveys major governance, social and cultural themes of British history for the period 1485-1688. Explores religious, political, dynastic, economic, intellectual, and social transformations in England (and, to a lesser extent, Wales, Scotland and Ireland) during the Tudor and Stuart eras. Topics include: the rise of the Tudor state; the nature of English society; the English Reformation; overseas exploration, trade, and settlement; the coming of the Stuart monarchy; the Scientific Revolution; the Civil Wars and Interregnum; the Glorious Revolution. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3170, HIST 3202, HIST 3204, or HIST 3242 . 

Surveys major governance, social and cultural themes of British history for the period 1688-1830. Explores religious, political, dynastic, economic, intellectual, and social transformations in England, Scotland, and Ireland during the reign of Stuart and Hanoverian monarchs. Topics include: the Glorious Revolution; the unions of England, Scotland, and Ireland; the Enlightenment; industrialization; eighteenth-century politics; the quest for empire; the American and French Revolutions; the Napoleonic Wars. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3170 or HIST 3242 . 

Examines popular religion and magic in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe and official efforts to transform "popular culture". Emphasizes the medieval inquisitions against heresy (twelfth to fifteenth centuries) and especially the phenomenon of European witch-hunting (fifteenth to seventeenth centuries). Explanations of the causes of the witch-hunt, its victims and eventual decline are highlighted.

Studies society and culture in Europe, especially Italy, from the mid fourteenth century to about 1530. This was one of Europe’s greatest periods of intellectual and cultural ferment and creativity, marked by great achievements in commerce, education (humanism) and the arts. It was also a period of considerable upheaval, including the plague, political intrigue, warfare, economic and social crises, witch-hunting and the devastating effects of the conquest of the Americas. The course will also examine the lives of women and men in the urban environment.

Examines the ways in which the lives of women from Europe, Africa, and the Americas were shaped by "Atlantic World" experiences from the sixteenth through early nineteenth centuries. Considers how race and socio-economic/legal status influenced female experiences of patriarchy, sexuality, work, and agency by placing them into the broader social, cultural, political, and religious contexts of the early modern Atlantic World. 

This course explores the fresh emphasis that early modern Europeans placed on learning, the exploration of nature, and new critiques of the societies in which they lived.  The Scientific Revolution, social activism (such as the antislavery movement and early feminism), and the rise of republicanism are examined in the light of contemporary thought and social currents.

Focuses on the European home fronts of the First World War, a conflict George Kennan termed the seminal catastrophe of the twentieth century. Historians increasingly refer to the First World War as the first “total war”, as entire societies were scaled toward supporting the massive armies on the fighting fronts. The course takes students deep into the everyday experiences of European men and women on the home fronts.

Provides a thematic survey of the Nazi destruction of the European Jews. Examines the ideological underpinnings of the genocide, the policies leading up to and including the so-called “Final Solution” of the “Jewish problem”, perpetrator motivations, Jewish responses to persecution and survival strategies in the camps. Also explores how the Holocaust unfolded in various European countries and the responses of nations, institutions and individuals to the mass murder of the Jews. Concludes with an examination of the post-war trials of war criminals and considers the definition of genocide after the Holocaust. Primary documents are discussed in the lectures, and several on-going historiographical are debates examined during class discussions. 

Examines the international history of the period between 1919 and 1941. Topics to be covered include the Paris Peace Settlement of 1919; the attempt to rebuild the international system in the 1920s; the impact of the Great Depression; the evolution of alliances in the 1930s; the role of ideology in international relations; military and strategic influences on foreign policy; and the significance of both intelligence-gathering and public opinion. The course will focus on the foreign policies of Great Britain, France, Fascist Italy, Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, Japan, and the United States.

From the crisis of Liberal Italy in the First World War, this course studies the rise and decline of Mussolini's Fascism and the establishment of the Christian Democratic hegemony after 1945. The challenge of Italian Communism is examined as are the policies of the Vatican in the twentieth century.

Examines the changing meanings and representations of social status in Britain during the ‘long eighteenth century,’ circa 1688-1832. Considers whether (and to what degree) Georgian Britons may be regarded as “a polite and commercial people”. Topics include: rank and status; gender roles; manners, politeness, and emulation; consumerism and consumption; mercantilism, trade, and the pursuit of wealth; the ‘middling sort’ and the rise of the middle class; urbanization and non-landed elites; early industrialization.

Examines the changing pattern of immigration to Canada from the early seventeenth century to the present, and the contribution of the various immigrant groups to the creation of a sense of Canadian identity.

Explores the social history of health, disease, caregiving, and medical practice from a gender perspective. Will focus on nineteenth- and twentieth-century Canada and the United States. Classes will be arranged to allow for the thematic discussions on the topics such as changing beauty ideals and their link to "wellness", notions of physical "fitness" and health promotion, the medicalization of life cycle events such as puberty and child bearing/rearing, as well as the gendered experiences of a wide variety of health care-providers and patients involved in clinical encounters over the last two centuries. Intended for a multi-disciplinary cohort of students.

This course explores the history of health and health care in Canada, from the era of the First Nations' initial contact with Europeans, to the present day. Topics include: Aboriginal and European conceptions of health and illness; the impact of western infectious diseases on First Nations society; the health implications of rapid industrialization in the nineteenth century; the role of the state in sanitary reform and public health; the emergence of the medical and nursing professions; Canadian scientific research in medicine; the Canadian eugenics movement; and the origins and development of universal health care in the twentieth century. Race, class, gender, alternative medicine, and regional inequality will feature in small group discussions.

The working-class experience in the age of Canada's industrial revolution, focusing on the transformation of the workplace and the rise of the labour question.

The working-class experience in Canada since the time of the Great War, focusing on the changing relationships between labour, capital and the state.

Surveys the evolving relationship between Canada and the United States from the American Revolution to the Free Trade Agreement. Stresses the twentieth century when Canada gained autonomy over external affairs. Beside the major political and economic components of the relationship, the course also examines cultural, social and environmental issues. Restriction: Credit may not be obtained for both HIST 3364 and POLS 3242 (Canadian-American Relations). 

Situating the truth and reconciliation in process in Canada within similar efforts in other countires such as Rwanda and South Africa, this course focuses on the work of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission to bring to light the nature and extent of the policies aimed at promoting the assimilation of Indigenous peoples into the Canadian settler society since the mid-19th century - particularly through the residential schools - and the varied and often harmful impact that these policies have had. The course also examines the divesity of reactions to the work of the commission, the extent of the success in implementing the commission's 94 "Calls to Action", and the potential of these Calls to Action to meet the challenges currently facing Indigenous People in Canada.

Examines the relationship of humans in their environment from the end of the last glacial period to the late 20th century. Topics include the impact of climate on the development of Canadian society, the evolution of human-animal relationships, changing ideas about nature, and political discourse on and regulatory solutions to pollution and other forms of environmental degradation. 

Examines the complex relationship between First Nations and Canadian settler society, including in New France, in British North America, and during the first years after Confederation. Emphasizes the efforts of First Nations people to preserve their cultures and independence in the face of an increasingly powerful colonial state. Topics include pre-contact First Nation and European societies, early contact, the fur trade, treaties of peace and friendship, the Royal Proclamation of 1763, land surrender treaties, and the policy of the assimilation of First Nations people into Canadian settler society. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3374.

Examines the complex relationship between First Nations and Canadian settler society, and emphasizes the federal government’s attempts to assimilate First Nations people into Canadian settler society and the resistance by First Nations people to these efforts through such means as court cases, protests, and cultural revitalization movements. Topics include the Indian Act and subsequent amendments, Indian residential schools, government agricultural policies, First Nations political organizations, the 1969 White Paper, the push for First Nations rights and self-government, land claims, and the federal government’s apology for residential schools. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3374.

A course in social history focusing on the changing roles of women in the public and private spheres in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with special emphasis on the role of women in the work force.

Surveys the region from before the advent of written records to its entry into Confederation. It treats the impact of immigrant cultures, struggles for empire, the development of a cultural mosaic, the emergence of distinctive provincial societies and the forces that led to union.

Surveys the history of the region from Confederation to the present day, with focus on the vicissitudes of the Maritimes within Confederation and movements for social, economic and political reform.

Emphasizes social and administrative history. Topics include the establishment of government (especially administrative and legal systems); Loyalist, British, Acadian and Native interaction; church-state relations; education and schooling; management of Crown lands and the economy; family, household and society. (This course is recommended for students in the Law in Society Program.)

Emphasizes the changing role of government in provincial life. Topics include the background of Confederation; religion, language and education; transformations in local government; the politics of railways, energy and highways; transfer payments and social welfare; the growth of the provincial bureaucracy; and the emergence of Acadian and Native issues. (This course is recommended for students in the Law in Society Program.)

Examines the causes, results and nature of the American Revolution. Themes include imperial relations, the internal development of the colonies and states, the development of revolutionary ideas, and the formation of the federal government.

Studies the American Loyalists before, during and after the American Revolution. The first half deals with their emergence, 1763-1776, their role in the War of Independence, their treatment by the rebels, and the Peace Treaty of 1783. The second half deals with their exile in Britain, Sierra Leone, the West Indies, the Bahamas, Bermuda and what became Canada, to about 1814. An epilogue traces their myths, revivals and long-term effects down to the present.

Deals with the political, economic, diplomatic, and military dimensions of the civil War. Discusses the development of reconstruction policies both during and after the war and their implementation in the South.

A survey of American social and political movements for change from the founding of the United States to the present. Considers the radical legacy of the revolutionary era, the women's suffrage and abolitionist movements, utopianism, populism, progressivism, radical unionism, anarchism, socialism, communism, African American struggles for civil rights, the new social movements of the sixties, identity politics, and recent resistance to capitalist globalization. 

A survey of African American history from slave times to the present, the course will focus on culture and politics. Among the themes we explore are ideologies of racism, systems of domination, the nature of resistance, movement building, liberation strategies, African American identity, and the intersection of racial, class, and gender politics.

Surveys the history of the foreign relations of the United States from its emergence as a world power late in the nineteenth century to its current global pre-eminence. Topics include the "New Imperialism", Wilsonian idealism, inter-war isolationism, the "Good War", the Cold War, Vietnam, "realpolitik", the "New World Order", globalization, and the "War on Terror". 

An exploration of films as reflections of American history and of American history as it is projected in films. Students learn to "read" films as historical documents and  consider the role of films in shaping understandings of history. The course will concentrate on a small number of themes, genres, and problems, and endeavour to illuminate these through the critical analysis of select films in historical context. 

Addresses developments within and among North American cities and explores changes in the conceptions of cities in North American thought and culture. Using New York City as a case study, examines some historical literature of cities and enters the debates among historians over the significance of class, ethnicity/race, gender and region in urban history. Also studies the lives of urban dwellers, and chart shifts in the way people organized their lives in cities. Major themes for this course include the changing physical structure and form of cities over time; processes of urbanization and sub-urbanization; city planning; the economies of cities; urban institutions; urban populations; and city politics. Normally taught on location. 

Examines the cultures and economies of Black slavery in North America and the Caribbean, and the role of the American Revolution in creating a slavery diaspora in such disparate locations as Nova Scotia, London, Sierra Leone, and Australia. Particular attention is given to slavery in Canada, including Canada’s role in the Underground Railroad movement, and the larger legacy of slavery and anti-Black racism in Canada and in North America more generally. A central theme is slave resistance, embodied in such actions as talking back, running away, committing arson, and participating in slave revolts and insurrections.

Examines the development of New York City from its establishment by the Dutch as New Amsterdam in the 1600s, through its development as one of a handful of "world" cities whose influences extend around the globe today. Will consider such historical themes as urban form and architecture, city people and populations, culture and recreation, city politics and social movements, the environment, and economics of cities. Will explore the history of New York City in comparative perspective, using this city as our main case study. Normally taught on location.

Begins by considering some of the major themes, controversies and personalities in African American history, 1865-1920, in an attempt to contextualize the surge of Black cultural production known as the Harlem Renaissance. The course then focuses on the Renaissance itself, and particularly on the racial, class and gender politics that informed the creation of literature, music and art by African Americans in New York City in the 1920s and 1930s. Normally taught on location in New York City. Restriction: Students cannot obtain credit for both HIST 3455 and HIST 4455.

Examines the nature and evolution of American policies toward the Native peoples within its borders. Topics include the forcible seizure of Indian lands through war, the treaties and the creation of reserves, the drastic reduction of the reserves by the mid-20th century through “allotment,” subsequent federal government attempts to end its trusteeship of Indian lands and relocate Native people to the cities, and how – beginning in the 1960s – Native people began to assert significant control over their lives and lands. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 3375. 

An examination of the most tumultous period in the recent history of the United States. Topics include the Cold War, the African American freedom movement and Black Power, the sexual revolution, the new left and the counterculture, the psychedelic movement, women's liberation, Vitenam and the anti-war movement, the conservative backlash, and the sixties in myth and memory. The central focus of the class is how the events of this watershed decade continue to shape American culture and politics? 

Traces the history of cultural studies from its debated foundation through the Birmingham school in post-war Britain, to its reshaping by post-Marxist, postmodernist, feminist, postcolonial, and diasporic perspectives. Analyzes the key debates in cultural studies at the onset of the twenty-first century, which include the field’s reorientation towards the study of popular culture, activism through cultural politics, the politicization of knowledge and of the academy, and “the cultural turn” of the humanities and social sciences.

Examines the development of painting, sculpture and architecture from 1863 until approximately 1950 in Europe and the United States.

Examines the production, diffusion, and consumption of visual and material culture in Canada from the end of the nineteenth century to the present day. Topics include the state use of art for nation-building; modernity and antimodernism; indigenous self-representation and sovereignty; the intersections of public history with cultural “difference” and racialization; video art and cultural performance as a site of resistance; and the framing of the local through artistic practice. From year to year, this course draws on such visual resources as the permanent collection and temporary exhibitions of the Beaverbrook Art Gallery and documentary film and video art.

Introduction to music between 800 and 1600, studying representative styles and putting this music in a historical perspective.

Begins with an examination of the stylistic background of music of the Baroque Period, and follows the development of musical form and style through the late Baroque and Classical eras, i.e., from c. 1700 - c. 1830. Some attention will be given to the role of the musician in the context of the social history of the time.

Traces musical development in nineteenth century Europe in its cultural-historical milieu, mainly in France and Germany. Examines the development of the orchestra, and the French and Austro-German contribution to that development, the role of nationalism in music and the role of the opera.

Begins with an examination of the Post-Romantic composers, particularly Mahler and Strauss. Studies Debussy and the Impressionists, the Second Viennese School (Berg, Schoenberg, Webern) and its impact on twentieth-century music and the tonalist composers of the first half of the century. Examines music as an art form in North America.

An examination of the theoretical constructs behind Wagner's music dramas, the compositional histories of some of the dramas of the 1840's, and then of the Ring Cycle itself. Some attention will be given to the performance history of the dramas as well.

Considers the relationship between artistic practice, tourism, and modernity. Examines objects of art and culture as they intersect with the structuring of social relations, such as those between centre and periphery, First and Third Worlds, “developed” and “developing” areas, metropolis and countryside. Makes significant use of historical film and contemporary video art as visual resources. Note: a field trip may be required. Cost varies to a maximum of $30.

Examines how selected themes in the history of war have been represented in both documentary and dramatic films, how film has shaped our understanding of the nature of war, and how it is used as an historical document by military historians.

This course introduces students to Royal Navy history through touring the surviving ships and dockyards, study of naval artifacts in museums, and archival research. Tours will be supported by a limited amount of class-room instruction in London. Normally taught on location. 

Introduces the military and diplomatic history of the Second World War through an in-depth look at the Mediterranean campaigns, intrigues and deception conducted by the Western Allies against Italy and Germany. These campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and the Balkans generated a mixture of tension and compromise between American, British and Russian decision makers as well as the 27 separate contributing nations from Commonwealth Canada and India to free Poland, France and lesser known Brazil and Palestine. Focuses on the formulation of grand strategy, the links between civil and military war objectives, the problems of multi-national coalition warfare, and the planning and execution of combat operations in some of the most difficult and rugged terrain of the war.

This team-taught course explores the rise of Fascist Italy, its alliance with Nazi Germany and the bitter struggle waged against them by the Allies and anti-fascist Italians from 1943-45. Will be taught on location throughout Italy, and centres on visiting historic sites, monuments and battlefields. Italy's unique geography made the campaign especially difficult for its participants and provides students with the subject for much of their study. Although the course addresses the campaign as a whole, special attention is paid to the highly successful, yet little-known, Canadian contribution to the battles at Ortona, the Liri Valley and the Gothic Line. 

This course explores the rise to prominence of unconventional warfare since 1945. It discusses the reasons for dominance of these forms of warfare and the implications of it for governments, military forces and civilian populations. The course introduces students to the concepts of revolutionary war, guerrilla warfare, terrorism, covert action, and counter-insurgency, the theories and their theorists. These themes will be illustrated through a series of case studies, from the insurgencies of the post-1945 anti-colonial period to the ethnic conflicts and genocides of the post-Cold War era.

Examines the sources and conduct of warfare in the modern Middle East from the First World War to the Persian Gulf Conflict, against the background of emerging nationalism and new states, and great power intervention and diplomacy.

This course examines the causes, conduct, and consequences of the major conventional wars fought since 1945. It will explain reasons for the shift of war from Europe to the non-European world; changes in the way war has been conducted, with particular emphasis on technological change and the impact on the battlefield and on non-combatants; and changes in the way military forces are created, commanded and used. These themes will be illustrated through a series of case studies from the Korean War to the war in Iraq. 

Explores the uses, abuses and development of military power within Western society since 1500. Focuses on how military power is shaped and limited by the technological, social, political, ideological and economic factors of the day. Restriction: Credit will not be given for both HIST 1004 and HIST 3825; and this course is not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2825. 

Examines how Canadian history has been shaped by military action or the threat of it. Studies Canada as a battleground for European empires in the colonial period, later as an element of British imperial defense policy against the United States, and finally Canada's emergence as an independent player in the major conflicts of the twentieth century. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2835 . 

Examines the nature of warfare in Europe and North America in the Early Modern period.

A military history of the First World War, relating events on the various fronts to their social, political and strategic contexts and looking at tactical, technological and doctrinal developments in the use of arms.

Examines the campaigns, their technical and tactical developments, and principal personalities.

After sketching the period of British military responsibility, this course traces the development of Canadian defence policy and the emergence of Canada’s military forces from Confederation to the Korean War. The primary focus of the course is on the way in which hastily mobilized citizen armies fought the two world wars of the twentieth century and developed a high degree of professionalism in the process.

This course traces the evolution of Canadian defence policy and the Canadian Forces through the Cold War and its aftermath. Special attention is paid to Canada’s role in conflict zones around the world as part of the United Nations, NATO and other international coalitions, and to the often vexed relationship between Canada and its professional Armed Forces

The use of seapower as an instrument of state policy during the period 1500 to ca. 1850. Examines institutional, theoretical, economic, political, social, and technological factors that shaped seapower over the period, with particular attention to Britain's experience.

Focuses on the use of seapower and navies as instruments of state policy in the modern world since 1850. Emphasis will be placed on technological, political and strategic use of the sea in peace and war, with particular concentration on the use of seapower in the two world wars of the twentieth century.

Examines the military experience of the soldier from the Greek hoplite to the modern warrior. Focuses on such subjects as recruitment, training and preparation for battle and wartime experience, through the vast primary literature that chronicles the life of the soldier.

Examines the growth and function of national intelligence communities in Britain, the United States, and the Soviet Union in the twentieth century. Explores the tradecrafts of intelligence and its impact on decision-makers, on military operations, and on diplomacy.

Examines legal restraints on armed combat since circa 1500. Explores, among other topics, the recent influence of international legal regimens on military strategy, on land, sea and air action, and on peace-keeping. 

This course examines the use of terrorism as an agent of political change and repression in history. It introduces students to the debates over the definition and nature of terrorism and over the causes of the phenomenon. It explores the use of terrorism by institutional and state apparatus and by non-state groups, and the theories and theorists which underpinned its use. The course also discusses the impact on victims and societies, and efforts by nation-states and the international community to deal with the issue. Cases used to illustrate the course themes will cover the span of history, but will concentrate primarily on the 20th century. 

Examines contemporary ideas about how technology shapes and is shaped by society and culture, historically and today. Considers theories of technological determinism, technology and religious thought, the role of innovation in industrialization and economic growth; the problems of regulating risky technologies; the impact of Information Technology, and the shaping of Canadian science and technology policy. Restriction: Not open to students who have taken HIST 2925. 

Explores the struggle between vitalistic and mechanistic conceptions of life in the development of biology, the emergence of evolutionary theory and its social and religious consequences, and the technological influence of the life sciences on the rise of modern medicine and genetic engineering. No scientific background expected. Restriction: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 2915. 

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under the direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements.

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under the direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements.

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under the direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements. 

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under the direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements.

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements.

A detailed study of a specific historical topic. Working under the direction of a member of the Department or an associate of the Department, the student will complete directed readings, written assignments and/or practicum requirements. 

Studies ways in which Western slavery and emancipation were experienced, perceived, explained, symbolized and related to European attitudes. Focuses on the lives of African slaves.

Examines the motives behind and relationships between the various movements of reform and popular revolt which convulsed Northern Europe in the sixteenth century. Topics include the learned reform proposals of Erasmus of Rotterdam, Martin Luther and Jean Calvin; the transmission of ideas in the sixteenth century; the rise of popular movements of reform; the role of women in early reform agitation; the Peasants' Revolt of 1524-26; the beliefs of the radical reformers (Anabaptists and Spiritualists) and their suppression; the rise of Catholic Counter-Reformation movements; and the political developments leading to the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 5010. 

Focuses on the broader effects of the European Reformation(s) upon religion, society and the beliefs and practices of people in the second half of the sixteenth century. Examines in particular the relationship between the religious changes and conflict of the Reformation and developments in the governance and regulation of religion, views about women, new ideas about science and magic, the increase in the fear of the devil, and the rise of witch-hunting. Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST 5010 . 

Examines the rise of fascist movements and the development of fascist regimes in twentieth-century Europe. Topics to be covered include: the social and cultural roots of fascism, the impact of the First World War, the structures of dictatorship, society and culture under the fascist regimes, racial policy, foreign policy and war, and neo-fascism after 1945. While the course pays particular attention to Italian Fascism and German Nazism, other movements and regimes will be considered. Students who have taken HIST 5026 and HIST 5027 may not take this seminar for credit. 

A study of "the Final Solution to the Jewish Problem", the program of genocide developed by German National Socialists against the Jews of Europe from 1933 to 1945.

Examines the "mental world" of late medieval/early modern Europeans using the most recent research in the field. Introduces students to the latest studies of popular culture, mentalité, and the "new social history", as applied to Europe. Topics of interest include: the debate over popular vs. elite culture; the universe as conceived by both learned and unlearned; the differences between "popular" Christianity and official religion; the relationship between magic, religion and science; beliefs about illness, health and medicine; views of death and the afterlife; and others.

Investigates early modern gender, race and disease through the movements, interactions, and exchanges between peoples of the Atlantic World (specifically, Europe, Africa, and the Americas) during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Themes include: disease and "the body"; climates and geographies of ill health; trade, empire, and disease environments; constitution, complexion and "race"; gender and sexuality. 

Investigates the social, intellectual, and economic dimensions of early modern English health and medicine, circa 1500-1800. Themes include: knowledge and practice; medical expertise (lay and commercial); the medical marketplace; patient-doctor relationships; the role of the hospital. Considers how factors such as age, gender, and socio-economic status, as well as family and community, shaped various aspects of health and healthcare in England from the sixteenth through eighteenth centuries. 

Examines the different ways in which the Canadian and American governments have attempted to deal with Native peoples living inside their borders. Particular attention is paid to the ideological underpinnings of government policy, the various legislative acts defining the relationship between the immigrant societies and Native peoples, and the responses of Native peoples to government initiatives. 

Examines the uses of visual history in the representation and popularization of the Canadian past. Case studies involve both documentary and feature productions from several periods in the history of Canadian film.

A course in social, political and intellectual history examining the history of the left in Canada from the eighteenth century to the present. Topics include the origins of the radical tradition, utopian and cooperative reform, early socialism and feminism, the Communist Party, the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, the New Democratic Party, the New Left and other alternatives.

Examines the interaction of the peoples of Canada and the United States with the natural environment. Topics include the theory and methodology of environmental history, changing patterns of land use, resource depletion and industrial migration, the environmental implications of urbanization, and the intellectual and institutional development of the conservation/environmental movement.

Explores the political, economic and environmental implications of the dependence on natural resources in Atlantic Canada, through an examination of the historical development of the forest, fishing, agricultural and mining industries from the eighteenth century to the post-Second World War period.

This seminar is designed to encourage students to think about relevant topics and approaches to the history of women in Canada. Using both primary and secondary materials, the seminar focuses on themes drawn from the 19th and 20th century. Themes include, but are not limited to: major approaches to Canadian women’s history; historiography; women’s work and family lives; women and politics, migration/immigration; aboriginal women’s lives; women’s experiences of war; social reform movements; women in professions; women and health; feminism. 

Focuses on nineteenth and twentieth century understandings of health and disease in North America. Stresses how gender, class, race/ethnicity affect historical understandings of disease. 

Introduces students to the emerging fields of digital history and virtual museum studies by combining theoretical readings with practical content on the creation and maintenance of digital archives and web design. At the end of this course students will be familiar with the ways in which historical documents, artifacts and other materials can be framed and reframed digitally to allow for new readings and interactions between them. Depending on enrollments from year to year, this course will have students digitize historical sources; create interactive websites; and prepare written assignments on the digitization process and the ways in which new media create and shape historical consciousness.

Studies the Loyalists during the American Revolution and in exile in British North America, Great Britain, Sierra Leone, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the British West Indies and Central America. Also considers their long-term political and social role particularly in Canada, including the Loyalist myth. One week devoted to local Loyalist remains such as - houses, and museum and art gallery holdings, etc.

Examines themes in the history of the United States at the turn of the nineteenth century, including the development of Populism, Progressivism, imperialism, anti-imperialism, and the impact of America's entry into the First World War. Explores the social, cultural, and political consequences of industrialization and modernization.

Explores the innovations and institutions that made New York City the epicentre of North American modernism. Considers a range of cultural products and processes, including bohemianism, literary and visual culture, the cross-fertilization of "black" and "white" forms and traditions, improvisation and the jazz scene, the grounding of critical authority, the politics of authenticity, and the interplay between the avant-garde and the popular. 

This course explores histories of slavery and the law throughout the Caribbean and North America from European conquest in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries to the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century. We will read primary sources, including slave laws, trial transcripts, treatises, and first-person narratives. Topics include: indigenous forced labour regimes; slave laws; crime and punishment; manumission; the legal position of free persons of African descent; abolition and the meaning of freedom; the transatlantic slave trade and international law; and the origins of human rights.

Examines the historical debates surrounding such key terms in cultural studies as “folk,” “mass,” and “popular” culture, through the lens of late-capitalist visual cultural production and cultural politics. Analyzes the modern implications of folk culture’s invention through Western European philosophy and its historical ties to Romantic nationalism; the creation of mass culture as a commodity form through the modern and global culture industries; and the modern and contemporary framing of popular culture as a contested terrain between state and corporate domination, subaltern resistance, and integral component of everyday life.

Examines the concept of “public history” as the work that history professionals engage in outside the academy. Each year, this course will focus on a particular aspect of the intersection of public history with disciplinary knowledge and cultural institutions. Topics covered from year to year include the historical development of the modern public museum; the relationship between non-Western cultural production and Western cultural institutions; the modern tourism and heritage industries; and video and performance art as a site of social activism. NOTE: A field trip may be required. Cost varies to a maximum of $50.

An in-depth look at the major developments in the theory and practice of war since the fifteenth century. Examines important theorists from Machiavelli to Kahn and such major themes as command, the industrialization of war, logistics and the impact of changing social and political patterns.

Reviews the key points of controversy surrounding the origins, personalities and conduct of the war on the Western Front. Particular attention will be paid to the role of the British Expeditionary Force, of which the Canadian Expeditionary Force was an increasingly important part.

Examines key events and issues of the military campaigns of the Second World War, and wrestles with how historians and writers of memoirs have portrayed them. Provides a survey of the major historical problems surrounding the conduct of the war, including: the collapse of the West, the German invasion of Russia, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, area bombing, Normandy, and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Themes in naval history. Uses selected problems to explore the role of naval power in shaping the modern world

Explores major themes relating to the history of war and diplomacy in the region in the twentieth century, including Zionism, pan-Arabism, decolonization, the super powers, the Palestinians, and fundamentalist Islam.

Examines the conduct of war since 1945 through an exploration of the literature on war in theory and practice. Course will focus on the interaction of strategic theory and doctrine, technology, and society in conventional and revolutionary war.

This course is compulsory for third-year Single Honours students. It introduces them to the nature of historical discipline, examining the evolution of historical writing and method, research skills and techniques, questions relating to the philosophy of history and the application of history in the community. Normally open to History Honours students only. Not available for credit to students who have completed HIST 5900. 

A reading research course for fourth year students to be supervised by a professor with whom the student is enrolled in a 3 or 6 ch seminar. The supervisor's permission must be obtained prior to 1 October. This course is for fourth year students who are enrolled in at least 12 ch of seminars.

A reading and research course open to exceptional Honours students in their fourth year which should be used to produce an Honours Thesis. Permission to take this course must be sought from the professor in the desired field and the project must be approved by the Department. This course may be used as an alternative to a seminar in the fourth year. It requires a CGPA of at least 3.6 in History courses for admission.