302W Sec. 001 - European Trading Empires in the Indian Ocean, 1500-1800
Schedule
No. 582247 Professor
Kumkum Chatterjee
M 2:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
This course is designed around a theme which touches upon the histories
of three
continents: Europe, Asia and Africa and focuses on a process of European commercial
expansion in the Indian Ocean that led to the creation of large and powerful
European trading empires in this region. In many cases, these empires of trade
became in time the precursors of European colonial regimes in this part of
the world. This course traces the processes through which European commercial
dominance was established in the Indian Ocean during the period 1500-1800
and most importantly emphasizes how these trading networks also provided opportunities
for probably the first sustained contact between different groups of Europeans
with indigenous peoples who lived along the Indian Ocean coasts of East Africa,
parts of the Middle-East, the coastal areas of the Indian sub-continent and
South-East Asia. Thus, European activities in this part of the world, during
the 1500-1800 period, allow an exploration and analyses of European and indigenous
Asian, African and Middle-eastern exchanges and interactions about religion,
technology, material tastes, commercial practices etc. etc.
The main objective of the course is to help students develop a research idea which is relevant to the broad theme of the course and to help them and guide them transform the research idea into a well-documented research paper. The readings for the course will include diverse materials ranging from published primary sources, scholarly articles, sections of books etc. to be found mainly in Pattee Library, supplemented occasionally by classroom lectures.
302W Sec. 002 – MONOPOLIES IN AMERICA: A Political, Economic, and Intellectual History
Schedule No.582250 Professor Michael Milligan
W 2:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
This seminar will examine in a sweeping fashion the public’s perceptions and, even more important, governmental responses to corporate “monopolies” in the period of American history extending from the Gilded Age through to the present day. We will study the emergence of massive industrial firms in the late 19th century, the ethos of its creators and defenders—and chronicle the growing public and governmental antipathy towards such “trusts” from around the turn of the 20th century and through the Progressive era. We will, then, consider the New Deal’s ambivalent approach towards big business in the mid to late 1930s, and the ebb and flow of the national government’s anti-trust policies since World War II. Attention will also be paid to such landmark anti-trust legal battles as the Standard Oil case (1911); the 1970s-1980s breakup of Bell Telephone; the regulation of, and litigation against, “big tobacco”; and the recent Microsoft case. There will be a good deal of economics and economic history in this course. And student-centered discussion will be the principal mode of pedagogy and investigation. Students will write approximately three papers of a variety of lengths—and independent, primary research will be a prerequisite of at least one of the papers.
302W Sec. 003 – Reagan's America: Society, Culture and Politics in the 1980s
Schedule No. 582253 Professor Philip Jenkins
T 2:30p.m.-5:30p.m.
This course considers the political and cultural counter-revolution of the 1980s, the social movement that is closely associated with the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Reagan-era conservatism was in many ways an attempt to reverse the radical changes of the 1960s. Though conservatives failed to achieve many of their goals, we can see a marked impact on US politics and foreign policy, as well as on matters as diverse as religion and family life, on attitudes towards gender and sexuality, on law enforcement and internal security. Throughout, we will make extensive use of popular culture, particularly literary and cinematic representations, to understand and illustrate political and social developments.
Students in this writing-intensive research seminar are expected to give class presentations, and to research a topic of particular interest for a final paper. Our weekly meetings are designed to be discussion seminars.
302W Sec. 004 - The Art and Craft of History
Schedule No. 582256 Professor Nina Safran
R 2:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
This course explores history as a mode of inquiry and interpretation. We
will discuss what history is, why people are interested in history, sources
for history, and how people interpret and convey history, in historical and
contemporary terms. We will consider classifications such as political, economic,
social, cultural, environmental and gender history and the differences between
oral and written history. Finally we will explore the limits of history and
narrative strategies, discussing memoirs, historical fiction, and film. Students
will have an opportunity to read seminal works by currently influential writers
such as Carlo Ginsburg, Natalie Davis, Robert Darnton, Simon Schama, Joan
Scott, Benedict Anderson, Edward Said.
We will read 200-250 pages a week most weeks. Students are expected to come prepared and to participate in discussion. Written assignments include brief weekly or biweekly analyses and a long final paper.
