HISTORY DEPT COURSE OFFERINGS FOR FALL 2026

(SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO SEE OFFERINGS FOR SPRING 2027)

Whether you’re a major, minor, or just eager to experience the intellectual depth and breadth the study of history offers, there’s sure to be a course (or two or three!) on the list below to interest you. Most of our courses do not have prerequisites, and many are appropriate for first year students.  (Prerequisites, when required, are noted.)      Learn more about the faculty teaching these courses here.  Thinking about declaring a history major or minor?  Check out the helpful information here.    

REGIONAL HISTORY COURSES
Learn the history of a geographical place during a particular time-period, either broadly (100-level courses) or in closer focus (200-levels)

HIST 101, The Age of Faith:  Medival Europe Between Church and State (Prof. Schadler), MWF 10:30-11:20AM
Cross-listed with RELG 209-01. This survey course will study the development of European civilization during the period c.400 to 1500 with special attention to the rise of the papacy and religious conflict. It will consider the impact of such events as the decline of the Roman Empire, the Germanic invasions, the development of Christianity and the Church, the emergence of feudalism, the expansion of Islam and the Crusades, and the creation of romantic literature.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Humanities DVHM, HIST European History Course HEUR, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, INST European Course ISWE. MEMS Elective MEMS

HIST 117, American History to 1877 (Prof. Bilodeau) – MWF 8:30-9:20AM
This course covers colonial, revolutionary, and national America through Reconstruction. Include attention to historical interpretation. 
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI; Social Sciences DV2; Appropriate for First-Year FY; US Diversity US; HIST North American Hist Crs; Pre-1800 History Course

HIST 118, American History from 1877 (Prof. Pinsker) – TR 9 - 10:15AM
This course covers aspects of political evolution, foreign policy development, industrialization, urbanization, and the expanding roles of 20th century central government. Includes attention to historical interpretation. 
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI; Social Sciences DV2; Appropriate for First-Year FY; US Diversity US; HIST North American Hist Crs; Post-1800 History Course

HIST 120, History of East Asia From Ancient Times to the Present (Prof. Young), TF 1:30-2:45PM
Cross-listed as EASN 120.This course explores the diverse and interrelated histories of the region currently composed of China, Korea, and Japan, over the past two thousand years. We begin by studying the technologies and systems of thought that came to be shared across East Asia, including written languages, philosophies of rule, and religions. Next, we examine periods of major upheaval and change, such as the rise of warrior governments, the Mongol conquests, and engagement with the West. The course concludes by tracing the rise and fall of the Japanese empire and the development of the modern nation states that we see today.This course is cross-listed as EASN 120.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, East Asian Social Sci Elective EASS, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Asian History Course HASI, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, INST Asia Course ISAS

HIST 121, Middle East to 1750 (Prof. Commins) – MR 1:30-2:45
This course is cross-listed as MEST 121. The rise of Islam, the development of Islamic civilization in medieval times and its decline relative to Europe in the early modern era, 1500-1750
Attributes: Appropriate for First-Year, Global Diversity, HIST Middle Eastern Hist Crs, INST Middle East/N Africa Crse, Pre-1800 History Course, Social Sciences

HIST 130, Early Latin American History to 1800 (Prof. Borges), TR 9 -10:15AM
This course is cross-listed as LALC 230. Survey of pre-Colombian and colonial Latin American history. Students explore the major ancient civilizations of the Americas, the background and characteristics of European conquest and colonization, the formation of diverse colonial societies, and the breakdown of the colonial system that led to independence. The course includes both the Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Americas from a comparative perspective.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, FLIC Portuguese FLPO, FLIC Spanish FLSP, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Latin American Hist Crs HLAT, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, INST Latin America Course ISLA, Lat Am, Latinx, Carib St Elect LALC, MEMS Elective MEMS, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies PBST, Sustainability Connections SCON, SPAN/PORT Elective SPST

HIST 170, African Civilizations to 1850 (Prof. Ball) - MWF 9:30-10:20
This course is cross-listed as AFST 170. This course provides an overview to the political, social, and ecological history of Africa. We will examine the peopling of the continent, the origins of agriculture, the growth of towns and the development of metal technology. Written sources before the 1400s are almost nonexistent for most of Africa, and so we will use archaeological and linguistic sources. The geographic focus of the course will be the Middle Nile, Aksum in Ethiopia, the Sudanic states in West Africa, Kongo in Central Africa, the Swahili states of the East African coast, and Zimbabwe and KwaZulu in Southern Africa. We will also examine the Atlantic Slave Trade and the colonization of the Cape of Good Hope.
Attributes:  AFST - Africa Course AFAF, Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST African History Course HAFR, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, Sustainability Connections SCON

HISTORIES OF SOCIETIES & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS; WAR, DIPLOMACY, & POLITICS;  RELIGION; AND CULTURE
Compelling, complex topics in historical perspective

HIST 211-02, The Civil Rights Movement:  North and South (Prof. Burgin) - TR 9 - 10:15
Cross-listed with AFST 220-01. The post-World War II movement for African Americans' civil rights is often considered solely in terms of Southern-based groups and events. This class will explode the myth that the civil rights movement was confined to the South by exploring the national character of inequalities, segregation and the movement for Black freedom. With special attention to the years 1945-1975, this class will consider how segregation formed differently in Birmingham versus Alabama, how the fight for school de-segregation included battles in both Little Rock and New York, and how gender shaped protest politics and tactics of the movement across the nation. Key topics will include Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X and ideas of leadership; key campaigns in Birmingham, New York, Detroit and elsewhere; important groups like the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; and how ideas about masculinity and femininity shaped the movement. An important thread throughout the class will be understanding how racial inequalities came to be "baked into" the structures and systems that shape life in the United States - from housing to education to employment. We'll learn about structural racism through the prism of Black resistance to it.
Attributes:  AFST - Diaspora Course AFDI, AMST American History Elective AMHI, Social Sciences DV2, Food Studies Elective FDST, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, US Diversity US

HIST 211-03, Remembering 1776 (Prof. Pinsker) - TR 10:30 - 11:45  
On the nation's 250th anniversary, this topics course will examine how Americans have commemorated the nation's founding through the decades and have argued over its meaning right up to the present day.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM

HIST 213-01, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe (Prof. Sweeney), MWF 9:30 - 10:20AM
Cross-listed with MEMS 200-01. This course will explore the everyday culture of early modern Europe including careful consideration of how people made sense of their world. It will range from examining religious rituals and objects such as relics to natural magic and the popular science that came with the Scientific Revolution. We will also examine the relationship between commoners and the elites while looking at how ideas spread whether by oral culture, images or the new technology of printing.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, MEMS Elective MEMS

HIST 248, The American Revolution (Prof. Bilodeau), MR 1:30-2:45PM
This course will focus on the period between 1763 and the first decade of the 1800s in North America, a time of tumultuous upheaval, intellectual ferment, and sporadic but intense violence which culminated in the creation of the United States. It will cover topics such as the expulsion of the French from North America, the rise of the a bourgeois public sphere, colonial contestation over sovereignty with Great Britain, the role of the military and violence in the new nation, republicanism, and the immediate ramifications of independence on a wide variety of groups within North America, such as women, American Indians, and free and slave African Americans.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, US Diversity US

HIST 259, Islam (Prof. Commins), MR 3-4:15PM
This course is cross-listed as MEST 259 and RELG 259. An introduction to Islamic beliefs and practices in their classical forms: rituals, law, mysticism, and other topics. The course will consider aspects of Islamic cultures and societies in medieval and modern times. 
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Humanities DVHM, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Middle Eastern Hist Crs HMDE, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, INST Middle East/N Africa Crse ISME, MEMS Elective MEMS, Middle East Humanities MHUM, Middle East Social Science MSOC, Religion - Western Traditions RWST

HIST 262, Life and Death in the Age of Samurai and Geisha (Prof. Young), TF 3 - 4:15PM
This course is cross-listed as EASN 262. In this course, we critically investigate the surprising origins behind some of the most pervasive icons of premodern Japan. By analyzing a variety of historical sources, including diaries, picture scrolls, and woodblock prints, students will gain insight into what it was like to live in the 12th–19th centuries. Topics include the rise of the samurai as a military and political force, the development of geisha as skilled entertainers, and how those figures featured in everyday life. By analyzing these sources and engaging with new, innovative scholarship, students will learn how to craft original and compelling arguments that change the way we understand premodern Japanese society and culture.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, EASN Japan Elective EAJP, East Asian Social Sci Elective EASS, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Asian History Course HASI, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, Japanese Social Science Elect JPSS, MEMS Elective MEMS

HIST 272, The Atlantic Slave Trade and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World (Prof. Ball), TR 10:30 - 11:45
This course is cross-listed as AFST 272 and LALC 272. During several centuries of European colonization in the New World, a thriving slave trade forced the emigration of millions of Africans across the Atlantic-an immigration far larger than the simultaneous immigration of Europeans to the same regions. We will address not only the workings of the slave trade on both sides (and in the middle) of the Atlantic, but also the cultural communities of West and West-Central Africa and encounters and exchanges in the new slave societies of North and South America. Through examination of work processes, social orders, cultural strategies and influences, and ideas about race and geography, across time and in several regions, we will explore the crucial roles of Africans in the making of the Atlantic world.
Attributes:  AFST - Africa Course AFAF, AFST - Diaspora Course AFDI, AMST American History Elective AMHI, AMST Struct & Instit Elective AMSI, Social Sciences DV2, Global Diversity GD, HIST African History Course HAFR, HIST Global Comp Hist Crs HGLC, HIST Latin American Hist Crs HLAT, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, Lat Am, Latinx, Carib St Elect LALC, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies PBST

HIST 273, African Americans Since Slavery (Prof. Burgin), TF 1:30 - 2:45PM
This course is cross-listed as AFST 221. Focuses on the history of Americans of African ancestry in the years following the American Civil War, which ended in 1865. The course examines several important transformations of African Americans as a people. In the first, we consider the transition from slavery to a nominal but highly circumscribed "freedom," which ended with the destruction of Reconstruction governments in the South. We consider the institution-building and community-building processes among African Americans, and the development of distinctive elite and folk cultures among various classes of black people. We examine the Great Migration north and west between 1900 and 1920, and the urbanization of what had been a predominately rural people. Fifth, we consider the differential impact of World War I, the Great Depression, and the New Deal and World War II on African Americans, and the creation of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950's - 1980's.
Attributes:  AFST - Diaspora Course AFDI, AMST American History Elective AMHI, Social Sciences DV2, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, US Diversity US

HIST 311-01, Modern History of Policing and Incarceration in the US (Prof. Burgin), TF 3 - 4:15PM
Cross-listed with AFST 320-01. The United States of America imprisons more of its residents than almost any other country in the world. How did mass incarceration come to define this country? In this class, we will explore this question by looking at the multiple ways that the US policed and incarcerated various groups throughout the 20th century. We will pay special attention to the ways that lawmakers, police and the courts have historically targeted African Americans, but we will also study how other people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, and workers were criminalized. A major learning goal for this class will be understanding that "deviance" and "crime" were constructed categories. We will consider how the meaning of these categories shifted over time and why. Major topics will include chain gang prisoner exploitation; eugenics, the psychiatric creation of "feeble-mindedness," and asylum incarceration; the criminalization of sex work, interracial relationships, labor organizing, and political dissent; jingoism, a "new" Yellow Peril, and Japanese internment; and outlawing drug use and mass incarceration. To gain a deeper understanding of how the criminal courts actually work, students on this class will participate in a court-watching program, for which everyone will receive training.
Attributes: AFST - Diaspora Course AFDI, AMST American History Elective AMHI, AMST Struct & Instit Elective AMSI, Social Sciences DV2, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, US Diversity US

HIST 358, 19th-20th Century European Diplomacy (Prof. Sweeney), MWF 11:30AM - 12:20PM
This course is cross-listed as INST 358.  European diplomatic history from the Congress of Vienna through World War II. 
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Diplomatic History Course ISDH

HIST 375, Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, and the Rise of Authoritarianism (Prof. Qualls), MR 3-4:15PM
This course is cross-listed as GRMN 275. Contrary to the hope of contemporaries, World War I was not "the war to end all wars." Instead, at its end Europe emerged into a world of unprecedented turmoil and confusion, a time that was nonetheless permeated with hope, idealism, and possibility. This course explores European politics, society, gender, economics, and culture between 1918 and 1945, focusing on the extreme developments in Germany, Russia, and Italy during this time. We will examine the emergence, development, form, and consequences of the rule of Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini while also comparing to executive state expansion under FDR. Students will learn to think about modern state practices rather than lumping countries into unhelpful and inaccurate categories like “totalitarian.”
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, Italian Studies History ITHI, Taught in English TENG

HISTORIES OF SCIENCE, MEDICINE, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

HIST 151, History of Environment (Prof. Pawley), MWF 10:30-11:20AM
Examines the interaction between humans and the natural environment in long-term global context. Explores the problem of sustainable human uses of world environments in various societies from prehistory to the present. Also serves as an introduction to the subfield of environmental history, which integrates evidence from various scientific disciplines with traditional documentary and oral sources. Topics include: environmental effects of human occupation, the origins of agriculture, colonial encounters, industrial revolution, water and politics, natural resources frontiers, and diverse perceptions of nature.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, ENST Env Stud Spec (ESSP) ESSP, Food Studies Elective FDST, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST Global Comp Hist Crs HGLC, INST Sustain & Global Environ ISGE, Sustainability Investigations SINV

HIST 207, History of the Climate Crisis (Prof. Pawley), TF 3-4:15PM
While we may think of climate change mostly in terms of the futures it threatens, it’s a human-created disaster and so has a human history. So too do the solutions currently underway to respond to it.  In this class we’ll examine the rise of fossil fuels, the building of unequal and vulnerable landscapes, the birth and development of climate science,  the intentional construction of climate denial, and the consequent failures of climate politics.  However, we’ll also look at the histories of renewable energy, soil building, mass forest planting, ocean farming, organic farming, protest, movement-building, regulation, and political action.  In doing so, we’ll help create usable histories for a survivable and ethical future.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, ENST Env Stud Spec (ESSP) ESSP, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Sustain & Global Environ ISGE, Sustainability Investigations SINV, Writing in the Discipline WID

HIST 284, Ecological History of Africa (Prof. Ball), TF 1:30-2:45PM
This course is cross-listed as AFST 284.This course provides an introduction to the ecological history of Africa. We will focus in some detail on demography, the domestication of crops and animals, climate, the spread of New World crops (maize, cassava, cocoa), and disease environments from the earliest times to the present. Central to our study will be the idea that Africa's landscapes are the product of human action. Therefore, we will examine case studies of how people have interacted with their environments. African ecology has long been affected indirectly by decisions made at a global scale. Thus we will explore Africa's engagement with imperialism and colonization and the global economy in the twentieth century. The course ends with an examination of contemporary tensions between conservation and economic development.
Attributes:  AFST - Africa Course AFAF, Social Sciences DV2, ENST Env Stud Spec (ESSP) ESSP, Global Diversity GD, HIST African History Course HAFR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Africa Course ISAF, INST Sustain & Global Environ ISGE

HISTORICAL METHODOLOGIES
Study and practice the skills and approaches historians use to think about, research, represent and write about the past: 

HIST 204, Intro to Historical Methodology (Prof. Borges), W 1:30-4:30PM
Local archives and libraries serve as laboratories for this project-oriented seminar that introduces beginning majors to the nature of history as a discipline, historical research techniques, varied forms of historical evidence and the ways in which historians interpret them, and the conventions of historical writing.  Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2; Writing in the Discipline WID
Prerequisite:  One previous course in history at Dickinson. 

HIST 211-01, Archives and Practicing Public History (Prof. Varner), TR 10:30 - 11:45AM
This course investigates the intersection of archival studies and public history, examining how society preserves its past and how institutions engage with the public using archival resources. Students will master the core principles of record management, preservation, the ethical stewardship of historical materials, and emerging technologies in the field. Through site visits to local repositories and direct engagement with professionals, students will bridge the gap between academic theory and professional application in the modern archive.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM

HIST 404, Senior Research Seminar (Topic: The Social History of Medicine in the 18th and 19th Centuries, with Prof. Young), W 1:30-4:30PM
This senior seminar is an exploration of the social history of medicine in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries from a global perspective. A key aim of the course is to understand the nature of medical knowledge as a social and cultural construct, as well as they ways in which illness and therapy have been woven into daily life and popular culture. We will consider a wide range of topics that have generated compelling intellectual dialogue, including the relationship between medical knowledge and authority, the agency of patients in determining their course of treatment, and the social and cultural meanings of illness and therapy. While reading landmark works in the field, we will also dedicate much of the course to the craft of research and writing. Students will contribute to scholarly debates by writing their own original research papers over the course of the semester. These papers will engage with scholarship in the students’ chosen geographic and thematic subfields and make new arguments based on original readings of primary historical sources.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2
Prerequisites:  History 204 and a 300-level history course, or permission of instructor

HISTORY DEPT COURSE OFFERINGS FOR SPRING 2027

Whether you’re a major, minor, or just eager to experience the intellectual depth and breadth the study of history offers, there’s sure to be a course (or two or three!) on the list below to interest you. Most of our courses do not have prerequisites, and many are appropriate for first year students.  (Prerequisites, when required, are noted.)      Learn more about the faculty teaching these courses here.  Thinking about declaring a history major or minor?  Check out the helpful information here.    

REGIONAL HISTORY COURSES
Learn the history of a geographical place during a particular time-period, either broadly (100-level courses) or in closer focus (200-levels)

HIST 106, Early Modern Europe to 1799 (Prof. Sweeney), MWF 9:30 - 10:20 AM
Society, culture, and politics from the Renaissance through the French Revolution.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST European History Course HEUR, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, INST European Course ISWE, MEMS Elective MEMS

HIST 117, American History 1607 - 1877 (Prof. Pinsker), TR 9 - 10:15 AM
This course covers colonial, revolutionary, and national America through Reconstruction. Include attention to historical interpretation. 
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI; Social Sciences DV2; Appropriate for First-Year FY; US Diversity US; HIST North American Hist Crs; Pre-1800 History Course

HIST 118, American History 1877 - present (Prof. Burgin), WF 11:30AM - 12:45PM
This course covers aspects of political evolution, foreign policy development, industrialization, urbanization, and the expanding roles of 20th century central government. Includes attention to historical interpretation. 
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI; Social Sciences DV2; Appropriate for First-Year FY; US Diversity US; HIST North American Hist Crs; Post-1800 History Course

HIST 131, Modern Latin American History Since 1800 (Prof. Borges), TR 10:30 - 11:45 AM
Introduction to Latin American history since independence and the consolidation of national states to the recent past. Students explore social, economic, and political developments from a regional perspective as well as specific national examples. This course is cross-listed as LALC 231.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, FLIC Portuguese FLPO, FLIC Spanish FLSP, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Latin American Hist Crs HLAT, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Latin America Course ISLA, Lat Am, Latinx, Carib St Elect LALC, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies PBST, Sustainability Connections SCON, SPAN/PORT Intro Cult/Ling/Lit SHCL, SPAN/PORT Elective SPST

HIST 221, Roman History (Prof. Farrington), MW 11:30AM - 12:45PM
An introduction to the history of ancient Rome focusing on the rise and fall of the Republic, the Augustan Age, and the Principate. Topics include race, gender, and sexuality. Students develop habits for reading ancient and modern sources critically. Assignments introduce students to the primary tools, methods, and conventions of researching and writing in the field of ancient history. Cross-listed as CLST 253.
Attributes:  ARCH Area A Elective AARA, ARCH -Mediterranean Arch Elect AMAE, Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE, Writing in the Discipline WID

HIST 254, Revolution, War and Daily Life in Modern Russia (Prof. Qualls), MWF 10:30 - 11:20 AM
This course explores Russia's attempts to forge modernity since the late 19th century. Students will explore the rise of socialism and communism, centralization of nearly all aspects of life (arts, politics, economics, and even sexual relations), and opposition to the terror regime's attempts to remake life and the post-Soviet state's attempts  to overcome Russia's past.This course is cross-listed as RUSS 254. 
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST European History Course HEUR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Russia/USSR/Post-Soviet ISRU, INST Global Security ISSE, Security Studies Course SEST, Taught in English TENG

HISTORIES OF SOCIETIES & SOCIAL MOVEMENTS; WAR, DIPLOMACY, & POLITICS;  RELIGION; AND CULTURE
Compelling, complex topics in historical perspective

HIST 213, Fashion Backward:  Clothed Bodies Since the Renaissance (Prof. Sweeney), MF 11:30AM - 12:45PM
This course will investigate the history of clothing and the development of fashion from the Renaissance into the twentieth century, looking mainly at Europe. Clothing has been intertwined with vital elements of society including definitions of class, gender, race, and national identities. We will explore the role apparel played in courtly consumption, how industrialization transformed how garments were produced, and the rise of fashion houses. The class will also look at representations of clothing and the body - whether in art, advertising or propaganda posters - keeping in mind that the body itself has a history of important changes, for example, in average heights and a dramatic increase in life expectancy and well-being. We will also examine what views of the ideal body were in different historical periods.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, MEMS Elective MEMS

HIST 274, The Rise and Fall of Apartheid (Prof. Ball), TR 9 - 10:15 AM
The peaceful transition from apartheid to democracy in South Africa in the early 1990s was widely hailed as the "South African Miracle." This course asks why such a transition should be considered miraculous. In order to answer our question, we will begin with South African independence from Britain in 1910 and study the evolution of legalized segregation and the introduction in 1948 of <i>apartheid.</i> After reviewing opposition movements we will move to a discussion of the demise of apartheid and the negotiated political order that took its place. We will examine the machinery and the deliberations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and debate its accomplishments. The course ends with an examination of memory and history This course is cross-listed as AFST 274.
Attributes:  Africana Studies Elective AFST, Social Sciences DV2, Global Diversity GD, HIST African History Course HAFR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Africa Course ISAF

HIST 283, Latin American-US Relations (Prof. Borges), MW 11:30AM - 12:45 PM
A study of political, economic, and cultural relations between Latin America and the United States from the early 19th century to the present. The evolution of inter-American relations is analyzed in light of the interplay of Latin American, U.S., and extra-hemispheric interests.This course is cross-listed as LALC 283.
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI, AMST Struct & Instit Elective AMSI, Social Sciences DV2, FLIC Portuguese FLPO, FLIC Spanish FLSP, HIST Latin American Hist Crs HLAT, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, INST Latin America Course ISLA, Lat Am, Latinx, Carib St Elect LALC, Portuguese & Brazilian Studies PBST, SPAN/PORT Elective SPST

HIST 286, New Nation (Prof. Bilodeau), MR 1:30 - 2:45PM
Reading and research in the political, economic, and social developments of the U.S. during the first generations of official nationhood, from the writing and ratification of the Constitution to the end of the Mexican War.
Attributes:  AMST American History Elective AMHI, AMST Struct & Instit Elective AMSI, Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Pre-1800 History Course HPRE

HIST 321, Gender and Sexuality in Modern Japanese History (Prof. Young), W 1:30 - 4:30 PM
This course explores how sexuality and gender have been continually redefined and experienced throughout modern Japanese history. We will analyze the changes Japanese society underwent from the 19th century to the mid-20th century, paying particular attention to transformations in eroticism, same-sex love, family structure, and gender roles. A key theme of the course is the socially-constructed nature of gender norms and how women and men frequently transgressed feminine and masculine ideals, a theme that we will explore through both primary sources in translation and secondary scholarship. This course will also acquaint students with the skills and tools of historical research and writing. Building upon in-class workshops and a series of short-essay assignments, the final goal of the course will be to produce a paper that analyzes the development of this dynamic field of history. This course is cross-listed as EASN 321 and WGSS 321.  
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, East Asian Social Sci Elective EASS, Global Diversity GD, HIST Asian History Course HASI, Post-1800 History Course HPST, WGSS Hist/Theories/Represent WHTR, Writing in the Discipline WID, WGSS Transntl/Global Perspect WTGP

HIST 374, African Women's History (Prof. Ball), MWF 9:30 - 10:20 AM
This course examines the role of women in African societies since the nineteenth century. Lectures and readings will be arranged thematically. Themes include sexuality and reproduction, the household, women's economic activity, political power, religion, colonialism, and democracy. After a discussion of gender, we will analyze pre-colonial production and reproduction, family life and religion in the twentieth century, women's roles in nationalist politics, the politics of female genital mutilation, and the lives of two contemporary African women leaders. Readings, including historical studies and novels, songs, and art, will be drawn from across the cultures and languages of Africa.This course is cross-listed as AFST 374 and WGSS 374. Offered every two years.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Global Diversity GD, HIST African History Course HAFR, Post-1800 History Course HPST

HIST 376, The Holocaust (Prof. Qualls), MR 1:30 - 2:45PM
The course explores the causes of the Shoah/Holocaust, including anti-Semitism, the eugenics movement, the growth of the modern state, and the effects of war. Themes will also explore perpetrator motivation, gendered responses, bystanders and rescuers, and the place of the Holocaust among other genocides. Students will approach the Holocaust through its historiography, which will equip them to interpret facts and understand how and why scholars have shifted interpretations over time. This course is cross-listed as GRMN 276 and JDST 316. Offered occasionally.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, HIST European History Course HEUR, Post-1800 History Course HPST, Judaic Studies Elective JDST, Religion - Western Traditions RWST, Taught in English TENG, Writing in the Discipline WID

HIST 389, Native Peoples of North America (Prof. Bilodeau), MR 3 - 4:15 PM
A survey of major development among Native Americans east of the Mississippi River from approximately A.D. 1500 to the present, using the interdisciplinary methodologies of ethnohistory. Topics to be addressed include 16th and 17th century demographic, economic, and social consequences of contact with European peoples, 18th century strategies of resistance and accommodation, 19th century government removal and cultural assimilation policies, and 20th century cultural and political developments among the regions surviving Indian communities.  Cross listed with ANTH 205-01.  
Attributes:  ARCH-Arch, Anth & Environment AAAE, ARCH Area B Elective AARB, AMST Struct & Instit Elective AMSI, Social Sciences DV2, Global Diversity GD, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST, US Diversity US

HISTORIES OF SCIENCE, MEDICINE, TECHNOLOGY, AND THE ENVIRONMENT

HIST 211-01, Atomic Peril:  The Manhattan Project and the Atomic Bomb (Prof. Thompson), MR 3 - 4:15 PM
This class will explore the science and the history of the atomic bomb and examine the earliest tensions and fears surrounding its use. This includes studying and understanding the science behind fission and fusion bombs alongside how the scientists developing these weapons grappled with the consequences. Beginning with the Manhattan Project, we will use magazines, films, newspapers, books, and more to explore how scientists, politicians, and the public understood and feared nuclear weapons. How did every day actions and habits change to reflect the anxiety during the Cold War? How has that history shaped how we treat nuclear science and nuclear weapons?
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST North American Hist Crs HNAM, Post-1800 History Course HPST

HIST 218, Food and the Environment in Caribbean History (Prof. Pawley), TF 3 - 4:15PM
Cross-listed with LALC 200-01. Part of the Grenada Mosaic. Open only to mosaic participants. Environments of the Caribbean have been central to world historical processes and ideas of nature in many cultures since the 1400s. In this course we will study the emergence of these processes and ideas, covering, for example, the links between the origins of capitalism and the Caribbean sugar complex, the emergence and spread and transformation of the plantation form, the use of West African and Indigenous knowledge, the development of both global tourism and agritourism, and the complex sequences and legacies of colonial and post-colonial history. Students will prepare for and process their research trip and broader research project by researching the landscapes and labor histories connected to the cuisines covered in Afro-Caribbean Foodways and Culture, tracing the histories of cassava, rum, nutmeg, chocolate, producing text and image interpretations that can be integrated into and inform their larger research project.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, Appropriate for First-Year FY, HIST Latin American Hist Crs HLAT, Lat Am, Latinx, Carib St Elect LALC, Mosaic MOSA, Sustainability Investigations SINV

HIST 261, History of Medicine and the Body in East Asia (Prof. Young), TF 1:30 - 2:45
This course is an introduction to the history of medicine in East Asia. We will begin by exploring the theoretical and practical underpinnings of classical Chinese medicine, which was the foundation of healing practices in premodern China, Korea, and Japan. We will then move on to trace the introduction of modern bio-medicine and the eventual reemergence of "Traditional Chinese Medicine" (TCM) as an alternative style of therapy in the 20th century. We will also consider a wide range of topics that have generated compelling intellectual dialogue, including the relationship between doctors and patients and between medicine and the state. The history of medicine in East Asia is a lively field filled with intriguing problems and compelling arguments. A key aim of this course is to weigh the efficacy of these arguments while crafting your own position regarding the place of healing in society. This course is cross-listed as EASN 261-01.
Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2, EASN China Elective EACH, East Asian Social Sci Elective EASS, Appropriate for First-Year FY, Global Diversity GD, HIST Asian History Course HASI, Health Studies Elective HEST, Post-1800 History Course HPST, NRSC Non-Div 3 Elective NDV3

HISTORICAL METHODOLOGIES
Study and practice the skills and approaches historians use to think about, research, represent and write about the past: 

HIST 204, Intro to Historical Methodology (Prof. Burgin), W 1:30 - 4:30
Local archives and libraries serve as laboratories for this project-oriented seminar that introduces beginning majors to the nature of history as a discipline, historical research techniques, varied forms of historical evidence and the ways in which historians interpret them, and the conventions of historical writing.  Attributes:  Social Sciences DV2; Writing in the Discipline WID
Prerequisite:  One previous course in history at Dickinson. 

HIST 404, Senior Research Seminar (Topic: Slavery and Abolition, with Prof. Pinsker), TR 10:30 - 11:45 AM
An examination of the historiography of a major topic, culminating in a substantial research paper based in significant part on the interpretation of primary sources.Prerequisite: 204 and 304 (or its equivalent), or permission of instructor. Topic information text:
This senior seminar will explore key areas of interpretive argument concerning the history of American slavery and abolition, with a special focus on its rise, destruction, and legacy within the United States.
Attribute:  Social Sciences DV2