printer friendly pageHISTORY 112C: What Didn't Make the Bible (CLASSICS 9N, JEWISHST 4, RELIGST 4)
Over two billion people alive today consider the Bible to be sacred scripture. But how did the books that made it into the bible get there in the first place? Who decided what was to be part of the bible and what wasn't? How would history look differently if a given book didn't make the final cut and another one did? Hundreds of ancient Jewish and Christian texts are not included in the Bible. "What Didn't Make It in the Bible" focuses on these excluded writings. We will explore the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse ancient romance novels, explore the adventures of fallen angels who sired giants (and taught humans about cosmetics), tour heaven and hell, encounter the garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake, and learn how the world will end. The course assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. It is designed f
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Over two billion people alive today consider the Bible to be sacred scripture. But how did the books that made it into the bible get there in the first place? Who decided what was to be part of the bible and what wasn't? How would history look differently if a given book didn't make the final cut and another one did? Hundreds of ancient Jewish and Christian texts are not included in the Bible. "What Didn't Make It in the Bible" focuses on these excluded writings. We will explore the Dead Sea Scrolls, Gnostic gospels, hear of a five-year-old Jesus throwing temper tantrums while killing (and later resurrecting) his classmates, peruse ancient romance novels, explore the adventures of fallen angels who sired giants (and taught humans about cosmetics), tour heaven and hell, encounter the garden of Eden story told from the perspective of the snake, and learn how the world will end. The course assumes no prior knowledge of Judaism, Christianity, the bible, or ancient history. It is designed for students who are part of faith traditions that consider the bible to be sacred, as well as those who are not. The only prerequisite is an interest in exploring books, groups, and ideas that eventually lost the battles of history and to keep asking the question "why." In critically examining these ancient narratives and the communities that wrote them, you will investigate how religions canonize a scriptural tradition, better appreciate the diversity of early Judaism and Christianity, understand the historical context of these religions, and explore the politics behind what did and did not make it into the bible.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Penn, M. (PI)
HISTORY 113P: Media and Communication from the Middle Ages to the Printing Press (ENGLISH 13P, ENGLISH 113P, HISTORY 13P, MUSIC 13P, MUSIC 113P)
Did you know that the emperor Charlemagne was illiterate, yet his scribes revolutionized writing in the West? This course follows decisive moments in the history of media and communication, asking how new recording technologies reshaped a society in which most people did not read or write--what has been described as the shift "from memory to written record." To understand this transformation, we examine forms of oral literature and music, from the Viking sagas, the call to crusade, and medieval curses (Benedictine maledictions), to early popular authors such as Dante and the 15th-century feminist scribe, Christine de Pizan. We trace the impact of musical notation, manuscript and book production, and Gutenberg's print revolution. To paraphrase Marshall McLuhan's famous dictum, how did the medium shape the message? Along the way, we will consider how the medieval arts of memory and divine reading (lectio divina) can inform communication in the digital world. This is a hands-on course: students will handle medieval manuscripts and early printed books in Special Collections, and will participate in an "ink-making workshop," following medieval recipes for ink and for cutting quills, then using them to write on parchment. The course is open to all interested students.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
Instructors:
Phillips, J. (PI)
HISTORY 114B: The Crusades: A Global History
(
History 114B is 5 units;
History 14B is 3 units) Questioning traditional western narratives of the crusades, this course studies Latin and Turkic invaders as rival barbarian formations, and explores the societies of western Afro-Eurasia and the Mediterranean in the centuries before western European global expansion. We approach the crusades as a "Christianized Viking raid," and investigate an array of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish sources. In so doing, we emphasize the diversity of perspectives within the Muslim, Christian, and Jewish communities: in the Muslim case, the tangle of Turkic, Arab, and Berber ethnicities; in the Jewish case, Hebrew, Arabic, and Turkic speakers ranging from the Iberian peninsula to India; in the Christian case, the fragmented Greek, Latin, and Arabic traditions. We explore how these barbarian invasions transformed the societies of western Afro-Eurasia, how ancient Greek knowledge in Islamic translation came to medieval Europe, and how a fragmenting Byzantine Empire gave way to the rise of the Ottoman Empire. However foreign, the interactions and encounters between these societies continue to reverberate today.
Last offered: Spring 2022
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
HISTORY 115D: Europe in the Middle Ages, 300-1500 (HISTORY 15D, RELIGST 115X)
(
HISTORY 15D is 3 units;
HISTORY 115D is 5 units.) This course provides an introduction to Medieval Europe from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. While the framework of the course is chronological, we'll concentrate particularly on the structure of medieval society. Rural and urban life, kingship and papal government, wars and plagues provide the context for our examination of the lives of medieval people, what they believed, and how they interacted with other, both within Christendom and beyond it. This course may count as
DLCL 123, a course requirement for the Medieval Studies Minor.
Last offered: Winter 2023
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
HISTORY 116: Traders and Crusaders in the Medieval Mediterranean (HISTORY 16)
Trade and crusade were inextricably interconnected in the high Middle Ages. As merchant ships ferried knights and pilgrims across the Mediterranean, rulers borrowed heavily to finance their expeditions, while military expansion opened new economic opportunities. Course themes include the origins of the Crusading movement; the rise of Venice and other maritime powers; the pivotal roles of the Byzantine and Mongol Empires; relations between Christians, Muslims, and Jews; new military, maritime, and commercial technologies; and the modern legacy of the Crusades.
Last offered: Autumn 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-EDP, WAY-SI
HISTORY 116M: "You Know Nothing, Jon Snow": Representations and Misrepresentations of the Middle Ages in Film
Throughout the history of film, writers, directors and producers have made the Middle Ages one of the most popular settings featured in the medium. Some films attempt to faithfully represent this fascinating period in great historical detail. Other films use a deformed image of the Middle Ages as an inspiration for movies that propagate misleading depictions of this important time. Finally, most films could be placed somewhere on the spectrum between these two extremes. This class will examine eight films and one broad theme (e.g., violence, women, politics, etc.) featured in them. Through examination of primary and secondary sources, students will investigate these themes within the context of medieval history, critique their cinematic representation and discuss medievalism and its proponents.
Last offered: Summer 2020
| UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI
HISTORY 117: Ancient Empires: Near East (CLASSICS 81)
Why do imperialists conquer people? Why do some people resist while others collaborate? This course tries to answer these questions by looking at some of the world's earliest empires. The main focus is on the expansion of the Assyrian and Persian Empires between 900 and 300 BC and the consequences for the ancient Jews, Egyptians, and Greeks. The main readings come from the Bible, Herodotus, and Assyrian and Persian royal inscriptions, and the course combines historical and archaeological data with social scientific approaches. Weekly participation in a discussion section is required.
Terms: Aut
| Units: 4-5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI
Instructors:
Liu, H. (PI)
;
Morris, I. (PI)
HISTORY 120A: The Russian Empire, 1450-1800 (SLAVIC 110)
(Same as
HISTORY 20A. 120A is 5 units, 20A is 3 units.) The rise of Russian state as a Eurasian "empire of difference"; strategies of governance of the many ethnic and religious groups with their varied cultures and political economies; particular attention to Ukraine. In the Russian center, explores gender and family; serfdom; Russian Orthodox religion and culture; Europeanizing cultural change of 18th century.
Last offered: Winter 2023
| UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, GER:EC-GlobalCom, WAY-SI
HISTORY 124B: The Balkan World: History, Culture, Politics (HISTORY 24B, REES 224C)
The Balkans is a region that is often marginalized, even though throughout modern history it has stood at the crossroads between East and West and has been the locus of the major developments of the 19th and 20th centuries - the site of Great Power competition, the first de-colonization movements, the rise of the modern nation-state, the outbreak of the First World War, Nazi occupation and resistance, genocides, the rise of emancipatory communist regimes that have challenged the hegemony of the Soviet Union, the leader of the Non-Aligned Movement, and a challenge for democratization and western-based military intervention. Today the Balkans are a region where the European Union, Russia and the China vie for control. This course draws on a range of primary and secondary, literary, historical and policy sources as well as a range of scholars from a variety of disciplines to explore the significance of the Balkans to global affairs in historical and contemporary contexts. Section
REES 224C is offered for graduate student enrollment.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, WAY-EDP
Instructors:
Lazic, J. (PI)
HISTORY 133A: Blood and Roses: The Age of the Tudors
(Same as
HISTORY 33A. 133A is 5 units; 33A is 3 units.) English society and state from the Wars of the Roses to the death of Elizabeth. Political, social, and cultural upheavals of the Tudor period and the changes wrought by the Reformation. The establishment of the Tudor monarchy; destruction of the Catholic church; rise of Puritanism; and 16th-century social and economic changes.
Terms: Spr
| Units: 5
| UG Reqs: WAY-SI, GER:DB-Hum
Instructors:
Como, D. (PI)
;
Martel-Dion, A. (TA)
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