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HST/MES 208 Middle East Since the Rise of Islam - Cheta
This course is an introductory survey of Middle East history from the rise of Islam in the seventh century to 1900. There are no pre-requisites, and no prior knowledge of the Middle East is expected. We will discuss the origins of Islam, and aspects of major Islamic empires such as the Umayyads (7th-8th centuries), the Abbasids (8th-13th centuries), the Fatimids (10th-12th centuries) with greater focus on the Ottomans (14th-20th centuries). In approaching this long history, which unfolded over a vast geography from the Iberian Peninsula and West Africa to Central and South Asia, we will not confine our study to high politics but will also explore intellectual, cultural and social issues such as gender relations, sectarianism, consumerism (coffee, tulips!), gossip and disease. We will also learn how to critically read documentary and material historical traces in order to understand how historical knowledge is constructed as well as the tensions between popular memory and written history. Concentration: Global / Period: Pre-modern
HST 210 The Ancient World - Diem
This course surveys the history of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East and explores the classical roots of modern civilization. We will begin with the first civilizations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the roots of western religion in ancient Israel; then proceed through Bronze Age, archaic and classical Greece, the Persian wars, the trial of Socrates, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic world, the rise of Rome, and end with the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of Christianity. The course will treat political, social, cultural, religious and intellectual history. We will focus on issues that the ancients themselves considered important – good and bad government, the duties of citizens and the powers of kings and tyrants – but we will also examine those who were marginalized by the Greeks and Romans: women, slaves, so-called "barbarians." The course will emphasize reading and discussion of primary sources, in order to provide a window into the thought-worlds and value systems of past societies.
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HST 213 Africa: Ancient Times to 1800 - Shanguhyia
This course is a survey of pre-modern African history, presenting an overview of the main themes and chronology of the development of African culture and society. It provides an exposition of the regional and continental diversity and unity in African political, economic, social and cultural histories with special emphasis on major African civilizations, processes of state formation, encounters with the Euro-Asia world, Africa’s role in the international Trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean and Atlantic trades, ecology, and urbanization.
Concentration: Global the Rise of Islam - Cheta
This course is an introductory survey of Middle East history from the rise of Islam in the seventh century to 1900. There are no pre-requisites, and no prior knowledge of the Middle East is expected. We will discuss the origins of Islam, and aspects of major Islamic empires such as the Umayyads (7th-8th centuries), the Abbasids (8th-13th centuries), the Fatimids (10th-12th centuries) with greater focus on the Ottomans (14th-20th centuries). In approaching this long history, which unfolded over a vast geography from the Iberian Peninsula and West Africa to Central and South Asia, we will not confine our study to high politics but will also explore intellectual, cultural and social issues such as gender relations, sectarianism, consumerism (coffee, tulips!), gossip and disease. We will also learn how to critically read documentary and material historical traces in order to understand how historical knowledge is constructed as well as the tensions between popular memory and written history.
Concentration: Global / Period: Pre-modern
HST 210 The Ancient World - Diem
This course surveys the history of the ancient Mediterranean and Near East and explores the classical roots of modern civilization. We will begin with the first civilizations of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, the roots of western religion in ancient Israel; then proceed through Bronze Age, archaic and classical Greece, the Persian wars, the trial of Socrates, the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic world, the rise of Rome, and end with the fall of the Roman Empire and the coming of Christianity. The course will treat political, social, cultural, religious and intellectual history. We will focus on issues that the ancients themselves considered important – good and bad government, the duties of citizens and the powers of kings and tyrants – but we will also examine those who were marginalized by the Greeks and Romans: women, slaves, so-called "barbarians." The course will emphasize reading and discussion of primary sources, in order to provide a window into the thought-worlds and value systems of past societies.
Concentration: Europe / Period: Pre-modern
HST 300: Absent Presence: History of Palestine - A. KallanderA history of Palestine and Palestinians from the nineteenth century to the present. It begins with Palestinian urban experiences, village histories, and family life in the late Ottoman era. We will then turn to nationalist movements, and anti-colonial resistance under the British Mandate before covering Palestinian histories over the remainder of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. This will include the experiences of Palestinians with occupation whether in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian refugees, Palestinians living inside the Green Line, and in the diaspora. Topics also include women and gender, human rights and international law, poetry, fiction, and film213 Africa: Ancient Times to 1800 - Shanguhyia
This course is a survey of pre-modern African history, presenting an overview of the main themes and chronology of the development of African culture and society. It provides an exposition of the regional and continental diversity and unity in African political, economic, social and cultural histories with special emphasis on major African civilizations, processes of state formation, encounters with the Euro-Asia world, Africa’s role in the international Trans-Saharan, Indian Ocean and Atlantic trades, ecology, and urbanization.
Concentration: Global / Period: ModernPre-modern
HST 300 Economic : Absent Presence: History of Africa Since 1500 - ShanguhyiaThis course analyzes economic trends in Africa from circa 1500 to today. The focus is on the qualitative development of various African sectors such as trade, agriculture, mining, tax regimes, labor regimes, development, oil economies, to mention just a few. It includes an analysis of economic frameworks within which these sectors have evolved, as well as understanding the roles of certain historical agencies in shaping these sectors, notably African peoples/communities, African states—precolonial, colonial, and post-colonial—as well as international/external factors such as Western imperialism and capitalism, global markets/demands, global conflicts, Global Financial Institutions, and international aidPalestine - A. Kallander
A history of Palestine and Palestinians from the nineteenth century to the present. It begins with Palestinian urban experiences, village histories, and family life in the late Ottoman era. We will then turn to nationalist movements, and anti-colonial resistance under the British Mandate before covering Palestinian histories over the remainder of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. This will include the experiences of Palestinians with occupation whether in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Palestinian refugees, Palestinians living inside the Green Line, and in the diaspora. Topics also include women and gender, human rights and international law, poetry, fiction, and film.
Concentration: Global / Period: Modern
HST 300 /HNR 360 Whose Middle Ages? - HerrickEconomic History of Africa Since 1500 - Shanguhyia
This course examines two concurrent developments in medieval history and historiography. The first is scholarship reevaluating race (and ideas about race) in the European Middle Ages. Second is how ideas about race continue to frame discussions about the Middle Ages today, both in academia and in the broader culture. Examples include debates among medievalists about the study of race, and the misappropriation and misrepresentation of the Middle Ages by white supremacists. By discovering that medieval Europe was more diverse than is generally assumed and that ideas about race go further back than most historical accounts recognize, students will better understand how the medieval era shaped the present and is being distorted in the present.Concentration: Europe / Period: Pre-Modern
HST 300 The Big Game: Cultural History through Sports Films - Lasch-Quinn
This course explores cultural history through selected sports films, including documentaries, game reportage, and feature films, connecting filmic sources with readings in history, theory, and literature on the cultural meaning of sports and games. The course involves close-readings of primary and secondary sources, understanding and discussion of differing perspectives and ideas, and reading and writing intensive assignments.
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HST 300 Cultural History in Images - Lasch-Quinn
This is a research and writing seminar on selected ideas/movements/episodes in cultural history, ancient and modern, as seen in images. Through close-reading, students investigate texts, images, and other cultural artifacts. Research centers especially on representations of the self, emotion, and the art of living as reflected in a range of primary sources, including philosophy, literature, art, architecture, music, and film.
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HST 300 World War II in Europe- Allport
The Second World War in Europe lasted for six years and cost the lives of more than 50 million soldiers and civilians. It transformed the continent's politics, economics, society, and culture. Its memory continues to haunt Europe and influences every aspect of the region's current affairs. Studying its causes, conduct, and consequences, then, is an essential precondition for understanding modern Europe. In this seminar we will combine close classroom readings of important primary and secondary sources with independent research on aspects of the conflict chosen by the students themselves. The end goal for each participant will be an original research paper drafted and presented to the class.
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HST 300/JSP 300 Antisemitism in US History - Tevis
What is antisemitism? How and in what contexts has it appeared in the United States? How, if at all, does it resemble other forms of American bigotry? How, if at all, does it resemble antisemitism elsewhere in the world? This course addresses these questions through analysis of anti-Jewish discrimination in the United States between the colonial period and the present. Examining anti-Jewish practices and discourses, students will learn to identify representations of Jews as “others”; determine the origins and sources of anti-Jewish sentiments and policies; and analyze the extent to which, if at all, anti-Jewish bigotry resembled antisemitism in other national contexts and racism and xenophobia in America.
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HST 300 American Jewish History Survey, 1654-Present - Tevis
One hundred and fifty years ago, most of the world’s Jews lived in Europe or the Ottoman Empire. Yet by the middle of the twentieth century the United States was home to one of the largest Jewish communities in the world. Using the tools of social, cultural, and intellectual history, this course examines the lives of Jews in America from 1654 through the present, exploring how they adapted to life in the United States and how the United States adapted itself to the presence of Jews.
Concentration: U.S. / Period: Modernanalyzes economic trends in Africa from circa 1500 to today. The focus is on the qualitative development of various African sectors such as trade, agriculture, mining, tax regimes, labor regimes, development, oil economies, to mention just a few. It includes an analysis of economic frameworks within which these sectors have evolved, as well as understanding the roles of certain historical agencies in shaping these sectors, notably African peoples/communities, African states—precolonial, colonial, and post-colonial—as well as international/external factors such as Western imperialism and capitalism, global markets/demands, global conflicts, Global Financial Institutions, and international aid.
Concentration: Global / Period: Modern
HST 300/HNR 360 Whose Middle Ages? - Herrick
This course examines two concurrent developments in medieval history and historiography. The first is scholarship reevaluating race (and ideas about race) in the European Middle Ages. Second is how ideas about race continue to frame discussions about the Middle Ages today, both in academia and in the broader culture. Examples include debates among medievalists about the study of race, and the misappropriation and misrepresentation of the Middle Ages by white supremacists. By discovering that medieval Europe was more diverse than is generally assumed and that ideas about race go further back than most historical accounts recognize, students will better understand how the medieval era shaped the present and is being distorted in the present.
Concentration: Europe / Period: Pre-Modern
HST 300 The Big Game: Cultural History through Sports Films - Lasch-Quinn
This course explores cultural history through selected sports films, including documentaries, game reportage, and feature films, connecting filmic sources with readings in history, theory, and literature on the cultural meaning of sports and games. The course involves close-readings of primary and secondary sources, understanding and discussion of differing perspectives and ideas, and reading and writing intensive assignments.
Concentration: US/Europe / Period: Modern
HST 300 Cultural History in Images - Lasch-Quinn
This is a research and writing seminar on selected ideas/movements/episodes in cultural history, ancient and modern, as seen in images. Through close-reading, students investigate texts, images, and other cultural artifacts. Research centers especially on representations of the self, emotion, and the art of living as reflected in a range of primary sources, including philosophy, literature, art, architecture, music, and film.
Concentration: U.S./Europe/Global / Period: Pre-Modern/Modern
HST 300 World War II in Europe- Allport
The Second World War in Europe lasted for six years and cost the lives of more than 50 million soldiers and civilians. It transformed the continent's politics, economics, society, and culture. Its memory continues to haunt Europe and influences every aspect of the region's current affairs. Studying its causes, conduct, and consequences, then, is an essential precondition for understanding modern Europe. In this seminar we will combine close classroom readings of important primary and secondary sources with independent research on aspects of the conflict chosen by the students themselves. The end goal for each participant will be an original research paper drafted and presented to the class.
Concentration: Europe / Period: Modern
HST/LIT300: Mystics, Knights and Drunks - Van der Meer
This course introduces students to the surprising width and depth of medieval literature from the Mediterranean and Western Europe, debunking a great deal of commonly held assumptions, such as that these times were ’dark ages’, obsessed with life-denying religiosity, and full of valiant crusaders. Instead, we will discover the cosmopolitan nature of many texts and authors, we will engage with the political and social – at times remarkably advanced - aspects of medieval literatures, and indulge in some really great humor.
Concentration: Europe / Period: Pre-modern
HST 301 Practicum - Cheta, Diem, Hagenloh
What is History? How do scholars “do” history? This seminar introduces history majors to the methods and goals of historical study, and to the skills needed to conduct independent historical research. The first part of the course will be spent discussing what exactly history is and has been. We will then move on to discussing the kinds of history that have developed across the century in the American Historical profession. Finally, students will spend a large portion of the course familiarizing themselves with the analytical and practical skills needed to develop their own research projects.
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This course analyzes the evolution of the modern presidency and its present operation. The focus of our attention will be on the years since 1960. The decision-making process and operation of presidential administrations from Nixon to Trump will be studied in particular detail. We shall consider the various roles that the president plays in government, politics, and society. We will examine the presidency as an institution and as an individual office to identify factors that have contributed to the successes and failures of particular administrations. This course also shall examine the roles and influence of unelected officials (especially senior White House staff), and popular attitudes toward both the symbolic and the practical presidency—particularly as they have been shaped by the traditional and “new” media. We will consider what lasting effects, if any, events during the past quarter century have had on the presidency as an institution. Concentration: U.S. / Period: Modern
HST 347/HNR 360 Modern American Politics Through Film - Thompson
In this course we will examine major themes in the political consciousness and popular culture of modern America, as they are reflected in contemporary films. The focus will be both on particular events and movements and on more generalized and persistent concerns (discrimination, alienation and depersonalization, authoritarianism, violence, gender, sexuality, bureaucratization, corruption). We shall be examining “politics” broadly understood, through the lens of popular culture. The goal is to explore a range of movies as ways of interrogating how Americans understand themes of power, intersectionality, conflict and consensus. This class differs from most at SU in that it is intergenerational. In addition to those enrolled for credit , participants will include approximately ten people from Oasis, a program for “mature learners” (generally, retired professionals and businesspeople) in the Syracuse community. Their lived experiences and perspectives on both the movies and the themes they illuminate will be a major component of what this course is all about.
HONORS ONLY
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HST 354/LIT 300 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Van der Meer
The late Roman Empire and the Mediterranean world from c.200 to c.700. Political, religious, cultural, social history. Rise of Christianity, transformation of classical culture, and the so-called Decline and Fall of Romethat have contributed to the successes and failures of particular administrations. This course also shall examine the roles and influence of unelected officials (especially senior White House staff), and popular attitudes toward both the symbolic and the practical presidency—particularly as they have been shaped by the traditional and “new” media. We will consider what lasting effects, if any, events during the past quarter century have had on the presidency as an institution.
Concentration: U.S. / Period: Modern
HST 347/HNR 360 Modern American Politics Through Film - Thompson
In this course we will examine major themes in the political consciousness and popular culture of modern America, as they are reflected in contemporary films. The focus will be both on particular events and movements and on more generalized and persistent concerns (discrimination, alienation and depersonalization, authoritarianism, violence, gender, sexuality, bureaucratization, corruption). We shall be examining “politics” broadly understood, through the lens of popular culture. The goal is to explore a range of movies as ways of interrogating how Americans understand themes of power, intersectionality, conflict and consensus. This class differs from most at SU in that it is intergenerational. In addition to those enrolled for credit , participants will include approximately ten people from Oasis, a program for “mature learners” (generally, retired professionals and businesspeople) in the Syracuse community. Their lived experiences and perspectives on both the movies and the themes they illuminate will be a major component of what this course is all about.
HONORS ONLY
Concentration: U.S. / Period: Modern
HST 354/LIT 300 Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Van der Meer
At its height in the second century CE, Rome was one of the most powerful states the world had ever seen. By the sixth century, however, the Western part of the Roman world had fractured into a number of smaller kingdoms and the Empire’s Eastern half was forced to reinvent itself, away from the West. The question of how to interpret these dramatic changes and the literary products generated in this time has occupied ancient historians and literary scholars alike. This class will examine the political, social, religious, and literary transformations of the Roman world, west and east. We will not only focus upon the political, military, and social changes that accompanied Rome’s decline, but also devote attention to the impact that these developments had on the lives of individual Romans. We will discuss such themes as the relationship between paganism and Christianity, the impact of social and political change on daily life, and role of violence in the lives of Romans. Students will come to appreciate both the variety of source materials that historians and literary scholars use to analyze details of ancient life and thought, and the challenges that these materials can present.
Concentration: Europe / Period: Pre-Modern
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Concentration: Global / Period: Modern
HST 300 425 Food in Modern Europe - Terrell
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