Introduction to the study of history intended for first- or second-year students. Seminars involve reading, discussion, and writing about different historical topics and periods, and emphasize the enhancement of critical and communication skills. Several seminars are offered each term. Not more than two Introductory Seminars may be counted toward the major in history.

"This course explores the workings of law and sovereignty in a changing world-historical landscape, mixing conceptual readings with concrete case studies across space and time. By exploring the discourses and practices of sovereignty-making across world history, we develop a more grounded approach to the issue and its contours in global politics today, from disputes over the high seas to discourses on ""failed states"" and interventions."

This course provides the opportunity to offer a new topic in the subject area of general history.

This course explores how Africans changed their interactions with the physical environments they inhabited and how the landscapes they helped create in turn shaped human history. Topics covered include the ancient agricultural revolution, health and disease in the era of slave trading, colonial-era mining and commodity farming, 20th-century wildlife conservation, and the emergent challenges of land ownership, disease, and climate change.

This course is an exploration of Japan's imperial project from roughly 1890-1945. We will start by developing a critical theoretical vocabulary with which we will then focus on three recent and important books on Japanese imperialism in East Asia. At the end of the semester we will also look briefly at anti-imperial and decolonization movements as well as the status of the category of 'empire' for analyzing the postwar period.

A small class (not more than 15 students) intended primarily but not exclusively for history majors who have completed two or more courses relevant to the topic of the seminar. The work of the seminar results primarily in the preparation of a substantial (ca. 25 pp. in standard format) research paper. Some restrictions and prerequisites apply to enrollment. See a history advisor or the director of undergraduate studies.

European history, from the Reformation to Napoleon, in global perspective.

This course covers the history of Korean civilization from its archeological and mythical origins to the late nineteenth century. Together students will examine sources on premodern Korean warfare, society, sex, politics, religion, and culture to understand how this seemingly distant past continues to shape Korea's present and future. We will also explore the influence of Korean civilization on regional and global histories beyond the peninsula.

Studies the history of African civilizations from the iron age through the era of the slave trade, ca. 1800. Emphasizes the search for the themes of social, political, economic, and intellectual history which present African civilizations on their own terms.

This course will examine the years after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1900, a period in which Americans witnessed unprecedented economic expansion that profoundly altered political and social arrangements. It explores how the nation "recovered" from the Civil War, how it reconstructed itself, and continued to define the notion of who was an American and who was not. In short, it examines how the nation transitioned from one divided to the threshold of world domination in the age of imperialism.