History 302W.001: Asian and Latino immigration into the United States
Schedule #: 915454
T 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Grace Delgado
This course analyzes the causes and consequences of Asian and Latino immigration into the United States from 1882 to 1996. Students will explore the relationship between U.S. economic and foreign policies and immigration, transnational ties between immigrants and their homelands, and the economic, political, and cultural influences of Asian and Latino immigrant communities on American society.
Historically, the United States has favored European immigration over Asian and Latino immigration with the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882 and the National Origins Act of 1924. In 1952, however, Congress removed racial barriers to immigration and naturalization, abolished the national‑origin quota system in 1965, and provided amnesty for 3.7 million undocumented immigrants under the Immigration Act of 1986. Furthermore, U. S. intervention in Southeast Asian, Central America, and the Caribbean spurred the entry of refugees into the United States. Today, Asians and Latinos are the fasting growing populations in the United States, due mostly to immigration.
Students will investigate:
1) Domestic and international forces shaping immigration patterns both recent and historical
2) The history of U. S. immigration laws (e.g. Chinese exclusion, Gentleman’s Agreement, IRCA)
3) War-time hysteria and Japanese Internment and the internment of Peruvian Japanese
4) Varieties of immigrant experiences, contrasting arrival/survival experiences (border/non-border)
5) Immigration laws and current debates about U.S. immigration/refugee policy; Proposition 187 in
California (1994), anti-immigrant Congressional laws of 1996
6) The post-industrial economy (economic restructuring, NAFTA) and immigrant labor
History 302W.002: Health and Disease in America
Schedule #: 915457
R 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Alan Derickson
This course will explore changing patterns of health and disease in the United States from the colonial era to the present, with an emphasis on the twentieth century. The class will provide an opportunity for students to do original research into the biological, cultural, economic, political, environmental, behavioral and other determinants of health status. The course will consider not only underlying factors in health and disease but also dramatic events, such as the discovery of HIV and the outbreak of influenza in 1918-19 that killed more Americans than did World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. Students will have the option to write either one major research paper or a number of shorter ones.
History 302W.003: The World of Matteo Ricci
Schedule #: 915460
W 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: R. Hsia
The Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), a Catholic missionary, is one of the most famous western travelers to China. This course will use his Journal and writings to explore his life and times: from the Counter-Reformation Italy of his youth, to his sojourn in the Portuguese colonies of India and Macau, and, following his footsteps in China after 1583, exploring the reasons for his great success among the Chinese elites. In addition to studying the biography of Ricci, readings will explore Chinese society, politics, and culture of the Late Ming dynasty, the cultural and economic relations between Europe and Asia, and the interplay between Christianity, Confucianism, and Buddhism.
History 302W.004: Religious Conversion in the Early Modern Mediterranean
Schedule #: 915463
M 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Tijana Krstic
This course will set up a comparative framework for the study of religious conversion in three major monotheistic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), in the context of the early modern Mediterranean world. It will explore specific historical processes and contexts (Spain, Italy, France, North Africa and the Ottoman Empire, etc.) where different religious traditions came into contact, as well as the ways they informed each others’ conceptualization of religious conversion. The course will also consider different disciplinary approaches to the concept of conversion (psychology, sociology, anthropology, religious studies, etc.) and examine related phenomena such as religious syncretism, eschatological trends, apostasy, crypto-conversion, neomartyrdom, etc. Course requirements will include presentations, response papers and a research paper.
History 302W.005: TBA
Schedule #: 915466
R 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Mrinalini Sinha
History 302W.006: Themes in American Southern History
Schedule #: 915469
F 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Daniel Letwin
What, historically, has it meant to be a “southerner”? In what ways has the South contributed to -- and in what ways deviated from -- the American identity as a whole? Which (if any) generalizations on southern “character” can hold up against the region’s enormous diversity of background, perspective, and experience? This seminar will probe the many mysteries and paradoxes that make up the southern past. Drawing on a mix of original documents and historical writing, we will explore not only the history of the South itself, but also the great controversies over how that history should be understood, and presented.
The course will trace the history of the American South from its colonial beginnings to the present. Among the topics explored will be the origins and development of southern slavery, the evolving ideals of southern “womanhood,” the relations between the planter elite and the “common folk,” the roots and outcome of the Confederate rebellion, emancipation and the meanings of freedom, southern farmers and workers in revolt, the rise of Jim Crow, traditionalism and modernism in New South culture, the civil rights revolution, and the direction of the South today.
Although reading and discussion are an essential feature of the seminar, writing is equally important. In addition to weekly two-page responses to the readings, each student will develop (in consultation with the instructor) a carefully designed research project, involving extensive use of primary sources. Through a series of prospectuses and drafts, the research project will culminate in a 20-25 page paper.
History 302W Course Descriptions - Fall 2008
HIST 302W.001: Growing Up and Raising Children in American Consumer Society
Schedule #: 988414
M 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Gary Cross
Across the 20th century, consumption has both radically redefined the years from birth through young adulthood and problematized parenting and relations across generations. We will draw on the emerging historical literature of childrearing, changing forms and meanings of play, the commercialization of children’s imagination and peer culture, distinct gender patterns of youth consumption, the rise of teenage-targeted products and media, the moral panics of parents in response to change, and the increasing fluidity of age roles. After a focused reading and discussion of exemplary documents and secondary literature, students will identify primary sources (for example, children or teen magazines and literature, documentation of adult attempts to regulate the sale of comic books, cigarettes or video games to kids, recollections of childhood holiday experiences, and changes in toy and game advertising) to write a thesis based research paper.
HIST 302W.002: Health and Disease in America
Schedule #: 988417
T 11:15A - 02:15P
Instructor: Alan Derickson
This course will explore changing patterns of health and disease in the United States from the colonial era to the present, with an emphasis on the twentieth century. The class will provide an opportunity for students to do original research into the biological, cultural, economic, political, environmental, behavioral and other determinants of health status. The course will consider not only underlying factors in health and disease but also dramatic events, such as the discovery of HIV and the outbreak of influenza in 1918-19 which killed more Americans than did World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined. Students will write one major research paper.
HIST 302W.003: Mexican War
Schedule #: 988420
R 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Amy Greenberg
This seminar will seek to remember America's "forgotten war," the 1846 conflict between the United States and Mexico that transferred half of Mexico's territory to the United States. The impact of this war was not limited to the Southwest. It transformed the political, cultural, social, and economic development of both countries, helped precipitate the American Civil War, and has had an impact on American foreign policy that has lasted to the present. The twin purposes of the course are to introduce you to some major issues in the history of this war and its legacy, and to acquaint you with "historical method," those techniques historians use to research and interpret history. Your main project in this seminar will be a substantial research paper on some aspect of this conflict, based on primary sources.
The first half of the semester we will focus on readings that consider the social, cultural, and political contexts of the war, the experience of the common soldier, the role of Native Americans in the conflict, and the evolving memory of the war in both the United States and Mexico. We will consider the relationship between the primary sources these historians used, and the methodology they chose to employ as historians. We will examine the arguments of these historians critically, and will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of their historical approaches. In the process, you will have the opportunity to gain a background in the history of the U.S.- Mexico War, and to learn something about historiography as well.
The "w" in 302w stands for writing intensive, and this course will require a substantial amount of sophisticated historical composition.
The second half of the semester will be devoted to the research and writing of your 15- 20 page term papers based on original research on the conflict. The class will meet to discuss proposals and drafts of the term papers, and students will meet individually with me as well.
The focus of this part of the semester will be on research, writing and rewriting. By the end of the semester the tables will have turned: instead of studying historians, you will have become the historians.
History is yours to make.
HIST 302W.004: The Production and Use of History in Traditional China
Schedule #: 988423
W 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: On-cho Ng
This course examines the ways in which histories were conceived, compiled, used and manipulated in traditional China, from antiquity to the 18th century. It explores traditional Chinese historiography on two levels: first, the writing of historical narratives by marshaling raw materials so as to coherently tell what happened in the past; second, the philosophical reflection on historical patterns and trends in order to establish the meanings of the past. It ponders how the Chinese historians, while seeking to convey the truth about past occurrence by 'telling it like it is,' were also dedicated to the didactic ideal and function of history as moral exemplar and political guide.
HIST 302W.005: Iran and Iraq Study Group
Schedule #: 988426
T 02:30P - 05:30P
Instructor: Janina Safran
The intensive current interest in Iran and Iraq has resulted in the production of much political commentary but also interesting and insightful investigative journalism and renewed (and reprinted) scholarship; current events have also generated more avenues for study with increasing availability of film, literature and documentary sources. This course will study the foundation of the modern states of Iran and Iraq and the history of their politics, societies and cultures within the larger context of the history of the Middle East and the interests and involvement of outside powers, up to the present day. Students will be expected to read a book a week for discussion for 2/3 of the semester and will be asked to identify, read and discuss primary sources in the last 1/3 of the semester while preparing their research papers. Written assignments include 1-2 page synopses of the books read for class and a 12-15 page research paper due at the end of the semester.
