printer friendly pageHISTORY 246: The Dynamics of Change in Africa (AFRICAST 301A, HISTORY 346, POLISCI 246P, POLISCI 346P)
Crossdisciplinary colloquium; required for the M.A. degree in African Studies. Open to advanced undergraduates and PhD students. Addresses critical issues including patterns of economic collapse and recovery; political change and democratization; and political violence, civil war, and genocide. Focus on cross-cutting issues including the impact of colonialism; the role of religion, ethnicity, and inequality; and Africa's engagement with globalization.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Roberts, R. (PI)
HISTORY 247J: History and Memory in Africa (HISTORY 347J)
Scholars, like the English social historian H. Trevor-Roper and the philosopher-historian Georg Hegel, once denied that Africa even had a history worth telling. We know better. Rich accounts of African pasts have been constructed by historians who pioneered linguistics, oral tradition and folklore research, documentary analysis, archaeology, and other methods. At the same time, Africans' own accounts of the past are often passed down through memories and commemorations that are shared, disputed, and memorialized within their communities. In many cases, historians and African communities manage to work together to construct shared understandings of the past, but sometimes their interpretations conflict with each other. In this course, we will look at the ways that history and memory overlap in Africa, beginning with the Atlantic slave trade and focusing on two particular events -- the Ethiopian victory over Italy at the Battle of Adwa and the abortive 19th century West African attempt to construct an independent state known as the Fante Confederation. We will work with all kinds of primary sources from the past as well as music videos, architecture, documentaries, official celebrations, museum exhibitions, and performances to construct arguments that take into account methodology, ethics, and philosophy within and beyond the discipline of history.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Getz, T. (PI)
HISTORY 248S: Colonial States and African Societies, Part I (HISTORY 448A)
Colonialism set in motion profound transformations of African societies. These transformations did not occur immediately following military conquest, nor did they occur uniformly throughout the continent. This research seminar will focus directly on the encounter between the colonial state and African societies. The seminar will examine problems of social transformation, the role of the colonial state, and the actions of Africans. Following four weeks of collloquim style discussion, students then embark on independent research on the encounter between one colonial state and its constituent African societies.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-SocSci, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Roberts, R. (PI)
HISTORY 249S: Colonial States and African Societies, Part II (HISTORY 448B)
Second part of the research seminar offered in the Winter. Students continue their research and present their penultimate drafts in week 8.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Roberts, R. (PI)
HISTORY 250A: History of California Indians (CSRE 117S, NATIVEAM 117S)
Demographic, political, and economic history of California Indians, 1700s-1950s. Processes and events leading to the destruction of California tribes, and their effects on the groups who survived. Geographic and cultural diversity. Spanish, Mexican, and Anglo-American periods. The mission system.
Last offered: Autumn 2015
| UG Reqs: GER:EC-AmerCul, WAY-EDP
HISTORY 250E: Taxing America: From the Puritans to Prop. 13
Taxes have shaped American society and politics since before the Revolution. And they've been extremely controversial just as long. In this course we'll try to understand American society and government by looking at the politics of taxation from the colonial period to the twentieth century. Topics include the legitimacy of taxation, the constitution, economic development, inequality, gender, and race.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
HISTORY 252B: Diplomacy on the Ground: Case Studies in the Challenges of Representing Your Country (INTNLREL 174)
The tragic death of Ambassador Chris Stevens has recently highlighted the dangers of diplomacy in the modern era. This class will look at how Americans in embassies have historically confronted questions such as authoritarian rule, human rights abuses, violent changes of government, and covert action. Case studies will include the Berlin embassy in the 1930s, Tehran in 1979, and George Kennan's experiences in Moscow, among others. Recommended for students contemplating careers in diplomatic service. * Course satisfies the WiM requirement for International Relations majors.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Rakove, R. (PI)
HISTORY 253F: Thinking the American Revolution (HISTORY 353F)
No period in American history has generated as much creative political thinking as the era of the American Revolution. This course explores the origins and development of that thought from the onset of the dispute between Great Britain and its American colonies over liberty and governance through the debates surrounding the construction and implementation of the United States Federal Constitution. Readings will principally be based in primary sources with some weeks supplemented by secondary sources.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Gienapp, J. (PI)
HISTORY 254: Popular Culture and American Nature
Despite John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Rachel Carson, it is arguable that the Disney studios have more to do with molding popular attitudes toward the natural world than politicians, ecologists, and activists. Disney as the central figure in the 20th-century American creation of nature. How Disney, the products of his studio, and other primary and secondary texts see environmentalism, science, popular culture, and their interrelationships.
Last offered: Spring 2015
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 254D: Law, Slavery, and Race (AFRICAAM 254D, CSRE 154D, HISTORY 354)
(Same as
LAW 747.) This course will explore the interaction of law, slavery and race in the United States, as well as from a comparative perspective. We will read original documents, including excerpts of trial transcripts, appellate opinions, treatises, codes, and first-person narratives. We will study the way law, politics and culture interacted to shape the institution of slavery and the development of modern conceptions of race. Course lectures and discussions will focus on questions such as: Did different legal regimes (Spanish, French, British) foster different systems of race and slavery in the Americas? How did/does law work "on the ground" to shape the production of racial hierarchy and creation of racial identities? In what ways did slavery influence the U.S. Constitution? How has race shaped citizenship in the U.S., and how can we compare it to other constitutional regimes? The course will begin with the origins of New World slavery, race and racism, and move chronologically to the present day.
Last offered: Winter 2015
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