Please note: In fall 2005 the history department instituted a new policy
for junior/senior seminars. A student will only have one opportunity to
complete this course successfully. Only in extraordinary circumstances
will this policy be waived and only with permission of the undergraduate
coordinator.
AMH 4930 The South Since 1860
Instr.: Jack Davis Wednesdays, periods 6-8, Flint 113
The seminar on the New South will explore important political, social, and
environmental issues of the American South from 1877 to the present. Students
will read and discuss major scholarship on the subject and undertake written
reviews of these works and an original research paper closely examining a
specific related subject.
AMH 4930 American Reformers and Radicals
Instr.: Eric Morser Tuesdays, periods 5-7, Flint 115
The historian Eric Foner once argued: “Throughout American history,
radical movements have challenged Americans to live up to their professed
ideals.” In this research seminar, we will read and discuss a variety
of scholarly works and primary sources to understand what Foner meant. We
will cover a wide range of topics, such as religious dissent in the colonial
era, radicalism and the origins of the American Revolution, abolition and
other antebellum reform movements, socialism and critiques of capitalism
in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and the rise of the New
Right in modern America, to name a few. Each student will take part in discussion,
sharpen their research skills, present their work to the class, and produce
an original research paper between 15-20 pages in length. In the end, we
will explore how dissent has been a crucial theme in American history that
has profoundly shaped the world around us today.
AMH 4930 History of American Religion
Instr: Alan Petigny Tuesdays, periods 6-8, Flint 101
The seminar will focus on the history of religion in the United States from
the 1880s to the present. The battles between Modernists and Fundamentalists,
religion's embrace of modern psychology, the Americanization of the Catholic
Church, and the debate over secularization, and the rise of religious conservatives
will be among the themes tackled on a week-to-week basis. This is a research
seminar, so while there will be a set of common readings each week, an important
part of the grade will involve the writing and presentation of a 15-20 page
research paper.
ASH 4930 Gender and Sexuality in Japan, 1600 - Present
Instr.: Sarah Kovner Tuesdays, period 8-10, Little 217
This seminar uses the analytical lens of gender to examine society, culture,
and politics in early modern and modern Japanese history. Placing equal emphasis
on women and femininity, men and masculinity, the course examines a wide
array of topics ranging from sexuality and sexual relations to population
control to the politics of age and aging. Course requirements include presenting
your work to the seminar and completing a 20-page research project.
EUH 4930 World War I
Instr.: Peter Bergmann Wednesdays, periods 8-10, Flint 101
This seminal event will be examined from a variety of perspectives and will
utilize newspapers as a vehicle of primary research. Topics will include
the causes of the war, the mobilization of civilians and combatants, the
military course of the war, the social and political upheavals on the home
front, the role of the United States as leading neutral and later key belligerent,
and the culture of war, defeat and the aftermath.
EUH 4930 Writing the Postwar Period in Europe
Instr.: Sheryl Kroen Tuesdays, periods 7-9, Flint 113
"Writing the Postwar Period in Europe": In this seminar we will
study a wide range of first-hand accounts, or efforts to write the period
following WWII in Germany, France, and Britain. Most of our readings will
be novels; some will take the form of memoirs; we will even look at a couple
of examples of efforts to capture the post-war experience through film. We
will also watch and read some propaganda prepared by Marshall Plan information
officers themselves representing the postwar period in various countries
receiving Marshall Aid. Since this course will be as much about the question
of how best to write history as it is about the post-WWII period itself,
students in this seminar should be interested in the problem of representing
the past.
HIS 4930 Scientific Biography
Instr.: Fred Gregory Mondays, periods 5-7, Flint 121
Historians have selected numerous factors in their attempts to provide a
view of past events. Some emphasize the social and cultural context, noting
especially the relations of power that exist at a given time and place. Others
focus on ideas, economic conditions, institutions, or other historical parameters
to provide insights into history. In this course we will utilize biography,
which, while focused on the individual, integrates virtually all the factors
listed above just as the people affected by them must during the course of
their lives. Our concern is with the lives of scientists and natural philosophers.
We will consult historians who have written about the art of biography and,
at least on occasion we will utilize different biographies of the same individual
to see how portraits can differ. Students will research the life of a natural
philosopher or scientist, prepare a 20 page description of her or his life,
give a presentation based on the research at which time classmates will pose
questions in our attempt to get to know the subject.
Spring 2008 Research Seminars
