Good Afternoon!

Please be advised that the Fall 2018 Schedule of Classes is now available to view on PatriotWeb. Graduate students may begin registering for fall classes on Tuesday, April 3^rd. (Logon to PatriotWeb to verify your registration time and to make sure you have a record free of holds that prevent registration.)

Fall 2018 Course Offerings

PhD & MA History Program

(August 27 – December 8)

HIST 535-002 / HIST 615-001 / HIST 635-003: Cultural Globalization | 3 credits

(CRN: 79253 / 72821 / 79272)

Professor Sam Lebovic

Mon., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 211

How have the rise of new forms of media and communication shaped the modern world? To what extent have cultural experiences become more homogenous in an increasingly interconnected globe? In this seminar, we will read widely in the history of cultural globalization in order to understand how international capitalism, imperialism, nationalism, and technological change have shaped the movement of culture at different moments in the past. Readings will range across the globe, particularly from the mid-nineteenth century until the present, and will cover such cultural forms as the telegraph, the radio, popular music, cinema, satellites, and the internet, as well as the cultural and social histories of consumerism, standardized time, decolonization, and selfhood. The course will provide both an overview of the history of cultural globalization, and offer an introduction to the interdisciplinary methods scholars use to study this complicated subject.

HIST 610-002: Study and Writing of History | 3 credits
(CRN: 70120)
Professor Joan Bristol
Thurs., 7:20pm – 10:00pm
Music Theater Bldg., Rm 1008

This course examines trends in historical analysis and focuses primarily on the work of twentieth- and twenty-first-century scholars working in the United States. Although most of the scholars whose work we will examine wrote on early modern Europe and the Americas, this class is focused on historiography rather than on a specific region or time period. We will discuss the way that historians choose and interpret their sources, the elements that affect their interpretations, and how and why these interpretations have developed and changed over time.

HIST 610-003: Study and Writing of History | 3 credits

(CRN: 79343)

Professor Stamatina McGrath

Wed., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 330

Articulating the purpose and methods of history seems simple and intuitive, however, closer examination reveals that a variety tools, methods, and ideas influence history writing in significant ways. In this class we will examine some of the most influential ways of thinking about history and history writing in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. Our goal will be to become familiar with the broader scholarly discussion and to consider examples of historical writing that illustrate specific tools and analytical perspectives. Our outlook will be global recognizing at the same time the influence of western ideology on the discipline. Over the course of the semester, students will also have the chance to sharpen their skills in analytical thinking, reviewing scholarly work and evaluating historiographic traditions within a topic of their choosing. The purpose of this class is to help prepare students for graduate work in history.

HIST 613-001: Colonial Origins in American Society | 3 credits

(CRN: 80981)

Professor Randolph Scully

Tues., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Research Hall, Rm 201

This course provides a graduate-level introduction to the history and historiography of North America from (very) roughly the beginnings of European colonization to the end of the Seven Years’ War. We will explore the changing parameters and definitions of the field, including its most recent incarnation as #VastEarlyAmerica, and we will consider the various themes of encounter, exchange, empire, conflict, community, and consolidation that historians have developed to make sense of this complex, multiethnic, and transnational world. The British colonies will remain the main (though not exclusive) focus, but we will explore ways of understanding those colonies within larger continental, Atlantic, and world-historical frameworks.

HIST 615-002 / HIST 635-001: Disease, Medicine & Society | 3 credits

(CRN: 70121 / 71903)

Professor Sun-Young Park

Thurs., 4:30pm – 7:10pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 323

The experience of illness and health, whether physical or mental, is familiar to all of us, as are concerns related to germs, hygiene, and sanitation. Beginning with our commonly held assumptions about these shared aspects of modern life, this seminar will explore the history of medicine as it has intersected with other political, social, and cultural developments, focusing on Europe and the U.S. from the late 18th to 20th centuries. How have understandings of health and disease both reflected and shaped changing ideas and attitudes about modern society and culture? How does scientific knowledge construct and produce its object of study? How are medical ‘truths’ translated into practice and diffused into local cultures? Discussion topics will include the historical and social constructions of disease and wellness; cultural components of illness; politics of public health and hygiene; social determinants of health; medical technologies and their ethical, social, and cultural implications.

HIST 615-003 / HIST 685-001: Creating Usable Pasts | 3 credits

(CRN: 73770 / 78271)

Professor C. Joseph Genetin-Pilawa

Thurs., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Research Hall, Rm 201

This class explores the role of historical memory in shaping our understanding of the past by examining the history of museums in the United States, the role of movies in shaping public conceptions of American history, and the influence of celebrations, commemorations, and monuments in creating usable pasts. We will start by examining the role of museums and public performances, such as pageants and parades, in American society and try to come to a better understanding of how places of public celebration and ceremony influence the telling of America’s past. We will focus especially on the forty-year span between the 1880s and the 1920s when many of the United States' best known museums and monuments were created. Students in the class will take trips to local museums, meet with museum professionals, and explore parts of Washington for sites of adaptive reuse. In the end, we will examine the role of museums in shaping our understanding of an increasingly diverse American population.

HIST 615-008: The Civil War Era | 3 credits

(CRN: 77568)

Professor Christopher Hamner

Thurs., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 316

Course description forthcoming.

HIST 615-009: Antebellum South | 3 credits

(CRN: 79268)

Professor Jane Censer

Mon., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 317

What kind of society arose in the American South? This course examines the South built by whites, Native Americans, and African Americans between 1780 and 1861. Examining culture, politics, and religion, the course also explores the South as a slave society. Also important is the extent to which the South constituted a separate and distinctive enclave in North America and the extent to which this distinctiveness fostered secession in 1860-61. This course fulfills the Origins to 1861 requirement.

HIST 615-010: Race/Gender/Lynching | 3 credits

(CRN: 81745)

Professor Yevette Richards Jordan

Tues., 4:30pm – 7:10pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 133

Course description forthcoming.

HIST 629-001: The Gilded Age/Progressive Era | 3 credits

(CRN: 80982)

Professor Michael O’Malley

Tues., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Research Hall, Rm 202

Course description forthcoming.

HIST 635-004: Stalinism | 3 credits

(CRN: 80983)

Professor Steven Barnes

Wed., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Research Hall, Rm 202

Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from his victory in a succession battle after Vladimir Lenin’s 1924 death until his own death in 1953. During that time, the Soviet Union went from a “backward” peasant economy to a heavily urbanized and industrialized “socialist” country that emerged victorious in World War II. “Building socialism” in Stalin’s Soviet Union was “accomplished” at the cost of millions of lives. This course will explore differing interpretations of the history of Stalinism. Topics for discussion will include Soviet ideology, terror, Stalinist culture and society, the politicization of everyday life, industrialization and urbanization, collectivized agriculture, nationalities policies and foreign policy—all of which combined to create the strange new culture that has been called Stalinism.

HIST 685-002: Narrative History | 3 credits

(CRN: 81649)

Professor Scott Berg

Tues., 4:30pm – 7:10pm

Thompson Hall, Rm 1017

Course description forthcoming.

HIST 692-001: Historical Editing | 3 credits

(CRN: 81573)

Professor TBD

Wed., 4:30pm – 7:10pm

Arlington Campus, ARLFH 479

Introduces fundamentals of historical editing of documents, including microform, word processing, and computer techniques. Designed for those seeking introduction to various areas of applied history, and those intending to edit historical documents for publication.

HIST 696-001: Clio Wired: History of New Media | 3 credits

(CRN: 71368)

*Enrollment into this course is controlled. Contact Emily Gibson at [log in to unmask] for approval to register.*

Professor TBD

Mon., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 336

Introduces changes that new media and technologies are bringing to how we research, write, present, and teach about the past. Students explore theoretical and historical issues as well as learn hands-on skills in digital history.

HIST 794-XXX: Internship in Applied History | 1 to 6 credits

(CRN: 79598)

*Enrollment into this course is controlled. Contact Suzanne Smith at [log in to unmask] for approval to register.*

Professor Suzanne Smith

August 27 – December 19

Location(s)/Experiences Vary and Must Be Approved by Internship Director

Introduces applied history through work and study at historical museum, site, library archive, editing project, or other approved agency.

HIST 797-001: Disasters in History | 3 credits

(CRN: 80984)

Professor Cynthia Kierner

Wed., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 316

This research seminar will examine disasters--famines, earthquakes, hurricanes, epidemics, shipwrecks, fires, etc.--as lived experiences and cultural constructions from the early modern period through the industrial era. The course objective is for each student to write a major paper (25-30 pages) based on research in primary sources and situated in its appropriate historiographical context. After completing some introductory readings at the beginning of the semester, students will spend most of their time researching, writing, and revising their papers. Because finding and refining a research topic can be extremely time-consuming, students who register for this class are strongly encouraged to do some preliminary general reading and email the professor with ideas for possible topics before the first class meeting ([log in to unmask]).

HIST 797-002: War and Society | 3 credits

(CRN: 80985)

Professor Meredith Lair

Tues., 7:20pm – 10:00pm

Innovation Hall, Rm 323

Course description forthcoming.

HIST 810-001: History Doctoral Colloquium | 1 credit

(CRN: 81885)

*Enrollment into this course is controlled. Contact Emily Gibson at [log in to unmask] for approval to register.*

Professor Sam Lebovic

Mon., 5:30pm – 7pm (Does not meet weekly - specific Monday meeting dates TBA)

Merten Hall, Rm 1203

Introduces array of scholars and scholarship through discussions of innovative historical events, important theories, and significant methological breakthroughs in history.

HIST 998-XXX: Doctoral Dissertation Proposal | 1 to 6 credits

*Enrollment into this course is controlled. Contact Emily Gibson at [log in to unmask] for permission and CRN to register.*

Work on research proposal that forms basis for doctoral dissertation.

HIST 999-XXX: Doctoral Dissertation Research | 1 to 12 credits

*Enrollment into this course is controlled. Students must email [log in to unmask] for permission and CRN to register.*

Doctoral dissertation research and writing under direction of student’s dissertation committee.

Emily Gibson | Graduate Coordinator

office hours: 8:30am-5:00pm, Monday-Friday