History Department

Expanded Course Descriptions

The Department of History scheduled these undergraduate courses for FALL QUARTER 2022. This list and descriptions are subject to change, so please check back often.

Registration appointment times available on Schedule Builder and myucdavis.

• Lower Division
• HIS 2Y: Introduction to the History of Science & Technology (World) - Professor Stolzenberg (cross-listed with STS 2Y)
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Introduction to topics and methods of the history of science and technology. Emphasis on understanding the role of science and technology in the modern world through a long-term historical perspective. (Same course as STS 002.) GE credit: AH, SL, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2017 Fall Quarter.
  Description: This class explores the history of the investigation of nature and its technological manipulation, focusing on three case studies: (1) Alchemy and Chemistry from Antiquity to the Enlightenment (2) Evolution and Energy in the Age of Empire (3) Science, Technology, and the Cold War. Course material is non-technical and accessible to students from all majors. Required text: Course Reader. This course fulfills the GE for Scientific Literacy (SL) as well as AH, SS, WC, and WE.
  
  HIS 4A: History of Western Civilization (Europe) - Professor McKee
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Growth of western civilization from late antiquity to the Renaissance. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Description: The boundaries of “Western Civilization” have never been fixed. Trying to locate where the West begins or ends raises more questions than it answers. Does the West map onto the old Roman Empire? Not by a long shot. Have the people of Scandinavia always been Western? Not really. Can the people of Eastern Europe and Russia claim to be part of Western Civilization? It depends on who you ask. Does the West coincide with the borders of Christian Europe? The answer depends on the period and leaves out the non-Christians who lived in Europe over the past two millennia. Whichever way “Western Civilization” may be defined, the history of the political, cultural, and economic landmass known as Europe challenges us to question the concept of the West.

  Because Rome and its history looms so large in public perceptions of Europe’s past, this course begins in the 8th century BCE (Before the Common Era), when the city was founded, and continues up to the start of the 1500s CE (Common Era). We will consider the impact of climate and disease on the political and economic fortunes of the Roman Empire, the foundation of Christianity and the evolution of the Church, the impact of Scandinavians on western Europe, the Middle East, and Russia, medieval slavery, the impact of the bubonic plague starting in the 14th century, and the rise of new cultural forms. Most importantly, we will focus on the places and fields of study where Europeans and non-Europeans encountered each other, collaborated, and fought over resources. The 2,000 years prior to the age of European exploration were centuries of cultural, ethnic, and religious fluidity.
       1. Kidner et al., The Global West, vol. 1, 3rd ed. (rentable on Amazon)
       2. Kyle Harper, The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the Fall of an Empire. (e-book; paperback)
       3. The Age of the Vikings, Anders Winroth (ebook and paper)
       4. Recent PDF article on the 14th c. bubonic plague (provided for free).

  
  HIS 7A: History of Latin America to 1700 (Latin America) - Professor Walker
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Introduction to the history of Spanish and Portuguese America from the late pre-Columbian period through the initial phase and consolidation of a colonial regime (circa 1700). Topics include conquest, colonialism, racial mixture, gender, and labor systems. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2004 Fall Quarter.
  Description: This course examines "The Americas" (a term we'll discuss at length) in the centuries before European conquest up until 1700. We will focus on social history, how different people and peoples lived this period of rapid change, with mass global implications. We will begin with some of the major Pre-Columbian civilizations (Mayas, Incas, Aztecs); examine the Conquest closely; and then explore the creation of colonial societies in North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean.
  Requirements & Grading: 
  - Mid-Term
  - Final
  - Participation
  - Two essays
  There are four books for the course:
  - Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
  - Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest
  - Kris Lane, Potosí: The Silver City that Changed the World
  - Catalina de Erauso, Lieutenant Nun: Memoir of a Basque Transvestite in the New World
  
  HIS 9A: History of East Asian Civilization (Asia) - STAFF
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Surveys traditional Chinese civilization and its modern transformation. Emphasis is on thought and religion, political and social life, art and literature. Perspectives on contemporary China are provided. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  
  HIS 10B: World History, c. 1350-1850 (World) - Professor Harris
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Major topics in world history from the 14th century to the beginning of the 19th century. Topics will vary but may include: oceans as systems of human communication and conflict; the global consequences of "industrious revolutions" in Europe and Asia, etc. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2001 Winter Quarter. 
  GE Topical Breadth and Core Literacies: This course is qualified for the following GE Topical Breadth Components: Arts and Humanities and Social Sciences. It is also qualified for the following GE Core Literacies: World Cultures and Writing Experience.
  Description: HIS 10B is an introduction to the large-scale structures and processes that transformed the world between the mid-fourteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries. These five centuries marked an era in which cross-cultural contacts between the peoples of the world increased dramatically, laying the foundations for today’s global connectedness. We will explore these interactions and their effects on peoples and cultures around the world. Because this course is truly global, coverage cannot be comprehensive. Instead, we will take a topical and chronological approach, focusing in on major events and trends through the broad and interrelated themes of networks, such as ocean systems, cultural zones, empires, and long-distance trade; identities, including national affiliations and cultural, religious, and ethnic identifications; and cross-cultural interaction, including global religions, colonial and creole cultures, and the complicated interrelations of tradition and change. Together, the lectures, readings, discussions, and assignments will explore these themes at both the macro and micro levels, considering global trends and changes and their effects at the regional and local levels.
  Readings: Our readings will include a textbook and a reader of primary sources. Other readings include:
       1. Ibn Battuta, Ibn Battuta in Black Africa, trans. Noel Q. King, ed. Said Hamdun (Princeton,2005).
       2. Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, Castaways: the narrative of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, ed. Enrique Pupo-Walker, trans. Frances M. López-Morillas (Berkeley, 1993)
       3. Galawdewos, The Life of Walatta-Petros: The Biography of a 17th-Century African Woman, trans. and ed. Wendy L. Belcher and Michael Kleiner (Princeton, 2018)
  
  HIS 15B: Africa Today (Africa)- STAFF
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). Survey of major themes in colonial and postcolonial sub-Saharan African history, including colonialism, decolonization, nationalism and politics, economic history and labor, urbanization, popular culture, gender, marriage, and family life. GE credit: AH, SS, WC.
  
  HIS 17A: History of the United States (United States)- Professor St. John
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). The experience of the American people from the Colonial Era to the Civil War. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Description: This class will provide a broad introduction to the history of the territory that is now the United States from the first encounters between Americans and Europeans through the mid-nineteenth century and the crisis of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Don’t let the course title fool you; this is not just a history of the United States (which, of course, did not begin to become a nation until 1776). In addition to focusing on the first century of U.S. history, this course will go back hundreds of years to briefly touch on North America before the arrival of Europeans before exploring how European colonists, Indigenous Americans, and enslaved Africans created a new world together on the continent. We’ll then move on to discuss the founding of the United States and the development, near collapse, and rebuilding of the nation in the years leading up through the Civil War and Reconstruction. 

  The course will introduce students to some of the central themes in American history and how historians have developed this understanding by analyzing primary source material and assembling narratives. Course themes include imperialism and colonization, slavery and labor regimes, trade, resource extraction, and the emergence of capitalism, family and community formation and the evolution of American cultures, the rise of nation-states and the dispossession of Native polities, and politics and the ideology of freedom and democracy.  
  This is a lot of ground to cover in a short amount of time, but the class will seek to balance the big picture of American history with the texture of individual experiences and day-to-day life.  
  In addition to introducing some of the central figures and events in American history, this course is intended to help students hone a range of skills in critical reading and thinking, written and oral communication, and historical analysis and writing.
   

  HIS 17B: History of the United States (US) - Professor Rauchway
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion—1 hour(s). The experience of the American people from the Civil War to the end of the Cold War. Not open for credit to students who have completed HIS 017C. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Description: This course provides an introduction to the history of the United States since the Civil War. We will explore social, economic, cultural, and political changes on the domestic front as well as the nation’s expansion abroad. Course topics include industrialization, immigration, race relations, the role of the federal government, foreign policy, reform, and social protest movements. As a survey, the course is designed to introduce key themes and events in modern American history, and to develop students’ critical thinking, writing, and reading skills. 
  
  HIS 80: The History of the United States in the Middle East (United States) - Professor Tezcan
  Lecture—2 hour(s). History of the United States in the Middle East from 1900 to the present. Examination of U.S. foreign relations toward the Middle East, their regional ramifications and domestic repercussions. GE credit: ACGH, AH, SS, WC. Effective: 2018 Spring Quarter.
  Description: After September 11, 2001, President George W. Bush delivered an address to the American people asking, “Why do they hate us?” The question – and his answer – resonated with a popular “Clash of Civilizations” thesis that argues that conflict between Islam and the West is inevitable for the long-term.
  Aiming for a deeper understanding of the stories that fill the headlines, this course interrogates that proposition by looking at the long history of United States involvement in the Middle East, from the Barbary pirates to recent beheadings, from missionaries to missiles, from Cold War concerns to moments of cultural exchange, to today’s presidential race.
  Textbook: Rashid Khalidi, Resurrecting Empire: Western Footprints and America's Perilous Path in the Middle East (Boston: Beacon Press, 2005). Digital copies of additional reading assignments will be available on Canvas.
  Grading: Quizzes: 30%; mid-term: 35%; final exam: 35% Quizzes will be online during class time, based on the lecture on the day of the quiz.
   
• Undergraduate Seminars
• HIS 102D:  Modern Europe to 1815 (Europe) - Professor Stuart
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Limited enrollment. Designed primarily for history majors. Intensive reading, discussion, research, and writing in selected topics in the various fields of history. Modern Europe to 1815. May be repeated for credit. GE credit: WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: History of Homicide in Early Modern Europe
  Description: In this class, we explore the history of murder, “real” and imagined, from the Middle Ages through the Nineteenth Century. Throughout the Middle Ages most condemned criminals were executed for theft, not murder. Murderers frequently avoided punishment by reaching private settlements with their victims’ families. Only over the course of the sixteenth century was murder effectively criminalized and a new consensus emerged that murderers should be punished by death. We explore how changes in law, politics and culture brought about this change. Even after criminalization, murder did not equal murder. The outcome of murder trials was shaped by notions of gender, class and religious doctrine. We pay particular attentions to the intersection of homicide and gender. We examine the role of forensic medicine in the detection of murder and in the application of the insanity defense. Early modern people viewed suicide as “Self-Murther.” We study the criminalization of suicide in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and its decriminalization in the nineteenth century. We study the imaginary murders associated with the blood libel to trace how a narrative developed in the thirteenth century and adapted over the centuries to remain relevant in the modern era. We study the history of capital punishment and its development from a “theatre of horror” in the early modern period to a “civilized,” “humane” practice in the nineteenth century.
  
  HIS 102E:  Europe Since 1815 (Europe) - Professor Stolzenberg
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Limited enrollment. Designed primarily for history majors. Intensive reading, discussion, research, and writing in selected topics in the various fields of history. Europe since 1815. May be repeated for credit. GE credit: WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: Charles Darwin and His World: The Social Life of Science in the Nineteenth Century
  Description: Among the most influential and controversial figures in modern history, Charles Darwin became a global celebrity following publication of his theory of evolution by natural selection in 1859. We will explore the life and thought of Darwin and his contemporaries through published works and private papers, placing them in the context of historical developments, such as the transformation of society and culture in the wake of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of Britain's global empire. Students will learn how to conceptualize, investigate, and write a historical research paper. Individual projects may focus on a wide range of topics related to nineteenth-century science, politics, empire, gender, sexuality, religion, race, capitalism, social movements, and so forth. 
  Required texts: Janet Browne, Darwin’s Origin of Species: A Biography; Charles Darwin, Evolutionary Writings
   
  HIS 102M:  United States Since 1896 (United States) - Professor Tsu
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Limited enrollment. Designed primarily for history majors. Intensive reading, discussion, research, and writing in selected topics in the various fields of history. United States since 1896. May be repeated for credit. GE credit: WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: America in the 1980s
  Description: This seminar examines the political, economic, social, and cultural history of the United States during the 1980s, one of the most tumultuous and controversial decades in popular memory. Topics include the rise of a new conservative movement, the collapse of the Cold War, growing economic inequality, changing family and gender values, the impact of new influxes of immigrants and refugees, and redefinitions in popular culture in the era of action heroes, cable television, and MTV. We will draw on primary documents—political speeches, newspaper articles, films, song lyrics, music videos, and fiction,—and consider the ways in which scholars have analyzed this recent history. While we will devote the bulk of our attention to the 1980s, this course will also reach back to the 1960s and 1970s, as well as evaluate the continued legacy of the 1980s in contemporary America
  
  HIS 102N: Japan (Asia) - Professor Kim
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Limited enrollment. Designed primarily for history majors. Intensive reading, discussion, research, and writing in selected topics in the various fields of history. Japan. May be repeated for credit. GE credit: WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: Japanese Colonialism in Late 19th and 20th Century
  Description: This course examines Japanese colonialism in late 19th and 20th century.  Japan was the only non-Euro-American nation-state to build a modern colonial empire, subjugating other Asian peoples and attempting to integrate them into the larger framework of a multicultural, multiethnic imperial regime. In its heyday, the Japanese empire stretched from Manchuria to the Philippines; half of what is today called the Pacific Rim Regions was under its domination.  No Asian and Southeast Asian country/region today, and neither Russia nor the United States, has been free from the significant impact of the rise and fall of the Japanese empire.
  Students will explore the rise and fall of the Japanese colonial empire, its global and regional economic impact and political/administrative structures, cultural clashes and patterns of assimilation operating between Japan and the colonized nations, as well as literary expressions and intellectual discourses produced by the colonization process. The course is mainly focused on the Japanese colonization of Taiwan and Korea, its two formal colonies, but will also discuss the informal colonies in Manchuria (Northeast Asia) and Southeast Asia. You will be trained to approach documents and scholarly works critically and cautiously, and also not to trust blindly what webpages and journalistic accounts tell of this complicated subject. 
  You are forewarned that History 102N is a very reading- and writing-heavy and competitive course. You are required to write short papers every other week at the very least, and a longer term paper. There is no examination.  If you are not interested in the history of East Asia, I recommend you not to register for this course.
  Although it is intended for History majors, non-majors are welcome. If you have any questions regarding these issues, consult the instructor individually.  No language other than English is used for the class. However, those who can read any non-English language including Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Vietnamese, Dutch or others are highly recommended to write their research papers or explore supplementary materials using the source materials in these languages.
  Readings: 

      - Ming Cheng Lo. Doctors within Borders. 
      - Theodore Jun Yoo.  Politics of Gender in the Colonial Korea. 
      - Prasenjit Duara. Sovereignty and Authenticity.
      - Michele Mason, Helen Lee, eds. Reading Colonial Text. (main textbook).
      - Other readings available through Smartsite and webpages. 
  Grading:  There will be weekly reflection papers or graded oral presentations and a long research paper. All students are required to participate in the class discussions.  Grade distribution is not based on a curve. All participants may receive A grades or, conversely, D grades, depending on how well they do. Discussion participation: 160 points, Oral presentations/Weekly reflection papers: 160 points Preparation for final paper/Final paper: 180 points. Total: 500 points 

• Upper Division
• HIS 109: Environmental Change, Disease & Public Health (World) - Professor Davis (cross-listed with SAS 109)
  Lecture/Discussion—3 hour(s); Project (Term Project). Analysis of environmental changes from pre-history to the present and their influence on disease distribution, virulence and public health. Focus on critical study of many human-driven environmental changes and the accelerated transformation/spread of pathogens under globalization. Not open for credit to students who have taken HIS 109B. (Same course as SAS 109.) GE credit: SE, SL, SS, WC. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
  Fulfills the GE Science & Engineering; Social Science; & Scientific Literacy requirement.
  Description: This course analyzes environmental change at multiple scales and how these changes have influenced public health over time. It takes as a starting point that the “environment” includes not only deserts, mountains, plains and rivers, but also slaughter houses, hospitals and our own and other animal bodies. The changes that have taken places in these varied environments have included the obvious like deforestation and the damming of rivers and the not so obvious like creating antibiotic resistance, and creating the conditions for super contamination of large quantities of food with pathogenic organisms such as E.coli 0157:H7, Listeria, and salmonella. Furthermore, these transformations may be changing our epigenomes with what we eat, drink and breathe in ways that induce illness. All of these changes have had impacts on human health. Many of these environmental changes have been driven by human action over the last several millennia. The pace and scope of such changes have become quicker and more pervasive during our era of “globalization.” It is critical to understand these changes in order to build a more sustainable future for people and the planet.
  This is a 10 Day Drop Course and is not a writing course.
  
  HIS 114: Histories of 20th Century Partition (World) - Professor Fahrenthold
  Lecture/Discussion—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Politics of territorial separation in Ireland; Greece/Turkey; India/Pakistan; Palestine/Israel; the U.S./Mexico border, etc. Partition as a focus area in international governance; on refugee migration; race; problems of national citizenship; and the politics of hard borders. Not open for credit to students who have previously completed an upper division history course in histories of 20th Century Partition. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2021 Fall Quarter.
  Description: "When Borders Cross Us: Comparative Histories of Partition" is a comparative course on experiences of partition in the 20th-21st centuries. We will closely examine partition politics in Ireland; Greece/Turkey; India/Pakistan; Palestine/Israel; and the U.S./Mexico border. Special attention will be paid to issues of international governance (how bodies like the League of Nations/United Nations/UNRWA participate in territorial separation); partition’s implications for forced migration; refugee provisions; and problems of national citizenship. In a world with multiplying, increasingly militarized borders, what does it mean to be a (re)moveable person under the law? How do territorial concepts of the nation-state produce the figure of the refugee, and how does refugee politics shape our own conceptions of citizenship? We will also deal with the emergence of border walls, and the politics of hard borders across the five case studies. Consulting readings, primary materials, and podcasts, students will prepare midterm (2) and final (1) essays analyzing border disputes of their choosing.+
  By the end of this course:
   - Students will assess the relationship between partition and forced migration across multiple historical contexts.
   - Students will deeply analyze how partition has impacted the politics, societies, and cultures in one primary case study.
   - Students will prepare 2,500-4,000 of historical analysis on the topic of Partition (Writing Experience credit).  
  Representative Readings (please email Dr. Fahrenthold for syllabus, additional articles to appear on Canvas):
   - Bruce Clark, Twice a Stranger: the Mass Expulsions that Forged Modern Greece and Turkey
   - Jason De Leon, The Land of Open Graves: Living and Dying on the Migrant Trail
   - Robert Lynch, The Partition of Ireland, 1918-1925
   - Shira Robinson, Citizen Strangers: Palestinians and the Birth of Israel’s Liberal Settler State
   - Laura Robson, States of Separation: Transfer, Partition, and the Making of the Modern Middle East
   - Uditi Sen, Citizen Refugee: Forging the Indian Nation after Partition
  
  HIS 119: World War I (World) - Professor Campbell and Professor Rauchway
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Extensive Writing. The First World War and the settlement that followed from 1914-1919. Causes, conduct, and consequences of the war including military, political, economic, social, and cultural factors, with special emphasis on connections between the home front and the battlefield. GE credit: SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2016 Spring Quarter.
  Description: The war to end all wars; “goodbye to all that.” Global observers viewed 1914-1918, the years of World War I, as an epoch-defining cataclysm. The demands of total warfare placed nations and societies under unprecedented stress; they ripped apart empires and families as surely as they did bodies in the trenches. This course presents a multifaceted view of World War I, one that is rooted in operational history (guns, tanks, battles) but reaches beyond to consider the social, cultural, and economic entanglements of the conflict. Beginning from the hotly contested debate about the war’s origins, we will narrate the conflict in all theaters and consider its global legacies. We will pay special attention to the individual experience of violence heretofore impossible to imagine, which we will explore by reading targeted primary sources –novels and memoirs. Students will take several quizzes during the quarter and complete two essay-based exams (a midterm and a final). No prior knowledge is required or assumed. 
  
  HIS 130B: Christianity & Culture in Europe: 1450-1600 (Europe) - Professor Harris
  Lecture—3 hour(s). History of the Lutheran, Zwinglian-Calvinist, Radical, Anglican, and Catholic Reformations as foundation stones of a new culture in Europe, with special attention to the interconnections between the revival of antiquity and the different reform movements. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Description: Between 1450 and 1600, Christianity in Europe underwent dramatic transformations that permanently redefined the continent’s religious landscape. While most medieval Europeans had shared a common Catholic faith, by the end of the sixteenth century, uniformity of belief and identity were permanently destroyed, replaced by a kaleidoscope of competing churches, sects, and factions. Together, we will explore the ideas and events of the European Reformations, both Protestant and Catholic, devoting particular attention to changing concepts of community and identity and the links between religious beliefs and social, political, and cultural change. Our readings, discussions, and assignments will examine not only the ideas of the key thinkers of the period, such as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and Loyola, but also the effects of their ideas on Europeans of all walks of life.
  
  HIS 138B: Reform & Revolution in Tsarist Russia, 1825-1917 (Europe) - Professor Campbell
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Processes of state reform and social change in the 19th century; failure of reform and collapse of the Russian Empire; the revolutions of 1917. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
  Description: Could the October Revolution have been avoided? In this course, we’ll find out. Russia in 1825 was a colossus with feet of clay. More than a century after Peter the Great’s reforms, the country had played a leading role in the defeat of Napoleon, and maintained a central role in European politics. Yet some of its elites looked longingly at the political reforms that western Europe was experiencing while Russia remained an autocracy; the system of serfdom, which bound tsar and nobility together, also acted as a brake on the country’s economic development. In short, impulses for change existed within and outside of Russia’s political order. The near-century between 1825 and 1917 was defined by the twin poles of reform and revolution. In this course, we will explore Russia’s efforts to transform itself, placing it on a continuum with other European states rather than treating it as an exceptional case. We’ll also study the ways in which reformers, reactionaries, and revolutionaries influenced one another, and the ways that their competing visions of Russia’s future evolved. No prior knowledge of Russian history, culture, or language is assumed. Students will be evaluated on the basis of short response papers, a longer book review, and a final exam.
  Selected readings:
       - Nikolai Gogol, The Inspector General
       - David Moon, The Abolition of Serfdom in Russia, 1762-1907
       - Olga Semenova-Tian-Shanskaia, Rural Life in Late Tsarist Russia
       - Additional readings on Canvas

   

  HIS 161: Human Rights in Latin America (Latin American) - STAFF (cross-listed with HMR 161)
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. History of the origins, denial and protection of Human Rights in Latin America. Emphasis on dictatorships, political violence, social resistance, democracy, justice, accountability, truth commissions, memory. (Same course as HMR 161.) GE credit: AH, SS, VL, WC, WE. Effective: 2015 Spring Quarter.
  
  HIS 164: History of Chile (Latin America) - Professor Schlotterbeck
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Emphasis on the history of Chilean political economy from 1930 to the present. Various strategies of development (modernization, Marxism, Neo-Liberalism); the rise of mass politics; the course of foreign relations; and the richness of Chilean literature. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
  Description: In 2011, Chilean students occupied the streets and their schools en masse. Like the nearly simultaneous Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements, the “Chilean Winter” struck a deep chord of discontent over growing inequality. What began as protests over education quickly morphed into a challenge of the dictatorship’s market-driven policies – and by extension – the legitimacy of a political system that still maintained them twenty years after General Augusto Pinochet left office. Born after the 1990 democratic transition, this so-called generation without fear has returned not just to the streets but also to politics in new and exciting ways.  
  This course situates contemporary student protests within the long sweep of Chilean history from the 1500s to the present. Three central questions will guide our thinking: how did everyday people experience key moments of social and political transformation? What role have young people played historically as agents of change? And finally, how does taking the historical agency of marginalized subjects—in this case, the urban working poor and children—into account challenge our larger assumptions about history?  

  Beginning with the construction of the Chilean nation in the 19th century, we will examine how states are formed from colonial territories and how national communities are defined and consolidated along exclusionary lines of race, class, and gender. Turning to the 20th century, we will assess competing strategies for economic development and demands by different sectors for political, social, and economic inclusion. The final unit on historical memory in the post-dictatorship era considers how the past continues to act on the present and asks what elements of this history might be of value in imagining alternatives in the present and future. 

  
  HIS 171B: Civil War Era (United States) - Professor Downs
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Examination of the political and social history of the United States from the Compromise of 1850 to the end of the Civil War in 1865. Causes of the war the war itself and the problems of reconstruction after the war. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 2017 Spring Quarter.
  Description: This course explores the Civil War Era, both the deadliest war in American history and the explosive political fights over slavery that brought on the war and the extraordinary, if short-lived, revolutionary experiments with biracial democracy in the Reconstruction that followed. The course thus covers not just battlefield contests but also the expansion of plantation slavery and the development of a powerful pro-slavery politics in the South, and the creation of a free labor ideology in an industrializing North. The course also investigates the development of civil and political rights during Reconstruction and the centrality of the West in shaping the coming and outcome of the war that continues in many ways to shape the nation.
  
  HIS 174C: The United States Since World War II, 1945 to the Present (United States) - Professor Olmsted
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. America's struggle to respond to new complexities in foreign relations, social tensions, family changes and media. Emphasis on such topics as: Cold War; anticommunist crusade; civil rights, feminist and environmentalist movement; New Left; counterculture; Vietnam; Watergate; and the moral majority. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Description: This course examines the history of the United States from the end of the Second World War to the present.  We’ll examine social movements (civil rights, feminism, black power, gay rights, environmentalism, the New Right); economic changes; the Cold War and its domestic effects; the growth of executive power; political realignments; and post-Cold War foreign policy. 
  
  HIS 177A: History of Black People & American Race Relations: 1450-1860 (United States) - STAFF
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. History of black people in the United States from the African background to Reconstruction. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 2010 Winter Quarter.
  
  HIS 189: California History (United States) - Professor Tsu
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Term Paper. California history from the pre-colonial period to the present including dispossession of California's Indians, political economy of the Spanish and Mexican periods, Gold Rush effects, industrialization, Hollywood, water politics, World War II, Proposition 13, and the emergence of Silicon Valley. Not open for credit to students who have completed two of HIS 189A, HIS 189B, HIS 189C. GE credit: ACGH, AH, DD, SS, WE. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
  Description: This course provides a comprehensive overview of California history from pre-European contact to the present, structured around the themes of how diverse individuals, groups, empires, and nations have struggled to control and define the geographic space called California, and the myths and realities that have shaped the lives of Californians. Topics include: experiences of California Indians, the political economy of the Spanish and Mexican period, effects of the Gold Rush, industrialization, race relations, immigration, agricultural development, Progressive-era politics and reform, environmental battles, urbanization and suburban sprawl, and the creation of a distinctive regional culture in the country’s most diverse and populous state today.
  
  HIS 190C: Middle Eastern History III: The Ottomans, 1401-1730 (Middle East) - Professor Tezcan
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Extensive Writing. Middle Eastern history from the foundation of the Ottoman Empire on the borderlands of Byzantine Anatolia through its expansion into Europe, Asia, and Africa, creating a new cultural synthesis including the Arab, Greek, Islamic, Mongol, Persian, Slavic, and Turkish traditions. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
  Description: This course focuses on Middle Eastern history from the foundation of the Ottoman Empire on the borderlands of Byzantine Anatolia through its expansion into Europe, Asia, and Africa, creating a new cultural synthesis including the Arab, Greek, Islamic, Mongol, Persian, Slavic, and Turkish traditions.

  The course starts with offering a background on the history of the Middle East before the Ottomans. The chronological survey of the period takes the first two weeks, leaving the rest of the term for the exploration of three interrelated themes: pre-modern imperialism, pre-modern identities, and the development of the early modern self and society.
  With the feudal economic and legal structures it inherited, the Ottoman Empire was a perfect example of a pre-modern empire. The second part of the course will examine these structures and certain aspects of Ottoman imperialism in the Middle East, North Africa, the Mediterranean, Europe, and the Indian Ocean. How the Ottomans projected their imperial image to their rivals and subjects will be one of the questions we will address. Last but not least, we will discuss the limits of pre-modern imperialism in the face of the rise of merchant capitalism in northwestern Europe.
  The third part of the course will concentrate on pre-modern identities. The Ottoman Empire presents one of the most diverse social entities of the pre-modern times, with its Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities which were sub-divided into further religious communities, such as the Gregorian and the Orthodox Christians, or ethnic groups, such as the Arabs, Kurds, and Turks. Needless to say, the people of the empire were also differentiated by their gender and socio-economic status. What makes this diversity of identities most fascinating in the pre-modern times is the ease with which one could cross most of their boundaries.
  Finally, the last part of the course will focus on the development of the early modern self and society. A critical approach to the historical question of the Ottoman decline will lead us to new ways of looking at the history of the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. One of the paths we take will make us observe that this period witnessed a proliferation of public spaces in Ottoman cities. Another venue we will follow is early individuation, that is to say the first stages in the development of the modern self. At the end, we will all re-consider the question of the impact of the West on the East as far as the question of modernization is concerned.
  Textbook: None; students are expected to read the assigned pieces uploaded on Canvas.
  Grading: Lecture participation: 10%; first paper (5-7 pages): 25%; second paper (5-7 pages): 30%; final

  
  HIS 195B: History of Modern Korea (Asia) - Professor Kim
  Lecture—3 hour(s); Discussion/Laboratory—1 hour(s). Prerequisite(s): Upper division standing recommended. History of Modern Korea, from Yi dynasty period to 1990s. Covers the political and socioeconomic changes in 19th century, modernization under Japanese colonialism, postwar economic growth and effects of the Cold War. GE credit: AH, SS, WC, WE. Effective: 2016 Fall Quarter.
   

  HIS 201W: Sources & General Literature of History: Advanced Topics in World History - Professor Fahrenthold
  Available for registration for select Undergraduate Students, please contact Prof. Stacy Fahrenthold with your questions (email: sfahrenthold@ucdavis.edu)
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Prerequisite(s): Consent of Instructor. Designed primarily for students preparing for higher degrees in history. Advanced Topics in World History. May be repeated for credit when subject differs. Effective: 2007 Spring Quarter.
  Topic: Diaspora in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Histories
  Description: This is a course in comparative world history dealing with modern (post-1800) diaspora across three world regions: the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Together we read and discuss critical theory in diaspora, mobility, colonialism, and border making/border subversion alongside new monographs using these ideas across world regions. Students prepare weekly reading responses culminating to a critical essay on world historical “source-making” as it relates to their primary research field. Occasional presentation of readings required.

  This course is listed as 201W but may also be credited toward MESAA major fields; to discuss this option, please contact Dr. Fahrenthold via email.

  By the end of this course:
  - Students will understand the history, core questions, and fundamental critiques advanced by scholars in diaspora and mobility studies, as well as area studies counter-critiques.
  - Students will articulate how theories of diaspora/mobility iterate across multiple world regions and will assess these claims comparatively (world history competency).
  - Students will analyze how diaspora/mobility theory influences their own major field, constructing a possible intervention for further research.

   
• Graduate Seminars

• HIS 201Q: Sources & General Literature of History: Cross-Cultural Women's History - Professor Schlotterbeck
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Prerequisite(s): Consent of Instructor. Designed primarily for students preparing for higher degrees in history. Cross-Cultural Women's History. May be repeated for credit when subject differs. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: Childhood and Family History in the Modern World 
  Description: This year’s Cross-Cultural Women and gender History (CCWgH) course examines the history of childhood and family in the modern world.  Far from an unchanging or natural category, the meaning of childhood is constructed daily and differently around the world. We will discuss shifting understandings of childhood as a gendered social and cultural category, as well as the role of race, class, sexuality, politics, and economics in shaping the experiences of children and families in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia.  
  
  HIS 201W: Sources & General Literature of History: Advanced Topics in World History - Professor Fahrenthold
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Prerequisite(s): Consent of Instructor. Designed primarily for students preparing for higher degrees in history. Advanced Topics in World History. May be repeated for credit when subject differs. Effective: 2007 Spring Quarter.
  Topic: Diaspora in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Histories
  Description: This is a course in comparative world history dealing with modern (post-1800) diaspora across three world regions: the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Together we read and discuss critical theory in diaspora, mobility, colonialism, and border making/border subversion alongside new monographs using these ideas across world regions. Students prepare weekly reading responses culminating to a critical essay on world historical “source-making” as it relates to their primary research field. Occasional presentation of readings required.

  This course is listed as 201W but may also be credited toward MESAA major fields; to discuss this option, please contact Dr. Fahrenthold via email.

  By the end of this course:
  - Students will understand the history, core questions, and fundamental critiques advanced by scholars in diaspora and mobility studies, as well as area studies counter-critiques.
  - Students will articulate how theories of diaspora/mobility iterate across multiple world regions and will assess these claims comparatively (world history competency).
  - Students will analyze how diaspora/mobility theory influences their own major field, constructing a possible intervention for further research.
   

  
  HIS 202H: Major Issues in Historical Interpretation: United States - Professor Downs
  Seminar—3 hour(s); Term Paper. Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing. Fundamental issues and debates in the study of history. United States. Readings, papers, and class reports. May be repeated for credit when subject differs. Effective: 1997 Winter Quarter.
  Topic: Major Themes in the Study of the 19th Century United States
  Description: This seminar introduces students to major themes in the study of the 19th century United States--especially slavery, settler colonialism, the growth of reform movements, emancipation, Reconstruction, Chinese exclusion, and the labor and industrial battles of the late century. The class aims to prepare US students for the 19th century portion of the field exam, but the final project can be tailored to be useful for students in other areas who wish to build comparisons with their fields of study. The class includes short research and writing assignments, leadership of class discussion, and a final historiography essay. Readings will come from books, chapters, and articles by a number of historians, including Steven Hahn, Stephanie Jones-Rogers, Elsa Barkley Brown, Claudio Saunt, Kate Masur, Chris Bonner, Gabrielle Foreman, William Cronon, Beth Lew-Williams, Julian Lim, Hidetaka Hirota, and others. Students in the US field should leave with a clear idea of the main topics for their field exam, a range of works that can be included on their list, and a sense of which areas to expand upon as they prepare for field exams in their third year. (Students currently preparing for field exams but not generally taking classes are also encouraged to sit in on the class even if they don't take it for a grade.)
  
  HIS 203A: Research Seminar - Professor Olmsted
  Seminar 3 hour(s), Tutorial 1 hour(s). Designed for students preparing for higher degrees in history. Individual research and analysis resulting in substantial research paper of publishable quality. Completion required of all Ph.D. candidates. The three courses must be taken in continuous sequence, ordinarily during second year.
  
  HIS 204: Historiography - Professor St. John
  Seminar 3 hour(s), Term Paper. Major issues in the philosophy and methodology of history.