Course Descriptions - Undergraduate Calendar 2023-2024

The course will focus on the history of global connections such as migration, war, trade, cultural interactions, international organizations and activism, human rights, technological innovation, environmentalism, and imperialism. What insights do we gain by taking a "bird's eye" view of history? The course's timeframe is the modern era of global history from the 18th to the 21st century.

This course explores the impact of World Wars 1 and 2 on European society, with a special emphasis on the experiences of the ordinary person.

An examination through lectures and films of the lives of Canadian men and women who have played formative roles in developing the Canadian nation. Examples will be drawn from such areas as politics, religion, business and labour, social reform, arts and entertainment, and sports.

An exploration of some of the questions and answers posed by thinkers on the human predicament from Renaissance and Reformation times to the modern period. Readings range from Luther to J.P. Sartre, Shakespeare to Marx and Freud.

This course explores the politics, culture, media, race relations, and gender relations of the United States after 1945 through the lens of rock and roll.

This course introduces students to the ways in which historians have examined Canada's military experience. Beginning with the Boer War, and continuing through the two World Wars and the post-war era, students examine the political, social, as well as military effects of war on Canada.

Focusing on ten different days that forever transformed the world's history, this course introduces students to moments of dramatic change in diverse time periods and places. Topics may include the Fall of Ancient and Modern Regimes; the Age of Discovery; Religious Cataclysm; Revolutionary Wars; Technological, Intellectual, and Scientific Inventions. Students are introduced to the differing methods that historians use to understand the past.

This course will survey the emergence and development of the Western world, from prehistory to 1715. Complementing the chronological and narrative overview of Western culture and civilization will be thematic surveys of developments in the arts and humanities, science, and socio-political structures.

This course will survey the emergence and development of the Western world from the 17th century to the present. Complementing the chronological and narrative overview of Western culture and civilization will be thematic surveys of developments in the arts and humanities, science, and socio-political structures.

This course examines the role of individuals in the growth of business in Canada. While there will be general examination of Canadian economic development, the principal focus will fall upon leading Canadian business persons and their interests and innovations. The relationship to the state of business, the place of education, and the impact of immigration are other topics that the course will consider.

This course examines the historical events and cultural assumptions that led to the European phenomenon of crusading, or holy war, between 1095 and 1453.

One or more topics courses will be offered from time to time as announced by the History Department and geared to first-year students. Topics will be dependent upon special interest and/or instructional interests by non-regular or visiting faculty.

An introduction to issues in modern cultural history through the study of selected narratives and documentary films with supplementary reading, lectures, and discussions.

Beginning with Columbus, this course introduces the history of early America as it was shaped by the encounters between colonizers and colonized. Particular attention is paid to the varied nature of these encounters, and their contested interpretation by historians and others.

This course introduces students to the core methodologies of public history: archival research, oral history, material and visual culture, and digital history.

This course exposes students to several different forms of public history, which may include historic mapping, digitization, genealogy, public policy research, corporate history, legal research, tourism, the commemoration industry, historical fiction and creative non-fiction, heritage issues, and the making of historical documentaries. The specific mix of topics addressed in any particular year will vary, depending on the instructor.

This course considers the historical impact of Western sport. It traces the history from individual play through amateurism to professionalism, big business, and media. It examines sport's social role within local, national, and international communities, and its relationship to class, gender, leisure, race, and politics.

During the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901), Britain experienced profound change with the expansion of its population, industry, and empire. Poverty and gender and racial discrimination persisted in spite of a marked expansion in political rights. This course will address both progressive and regressive forces during this era, focusing on issues of culture, politics, imperialism, and society.

The Beatles - their lives, their music, their films, and their impact - are this course's lens to examine the social, political, and cultural upheavals and transformations of the 1960s, and to consider memory, nostalgia, and mythmaking about that storied decade. Primary focus is on the U.K. and U.S., with consideration of Beatlemania as a global phenomenon.

Starting with Aboriginal medicine, the course examines topics such as the rise of the medical and nursing professions, changing public attitudes to health and disease, and the evolution of the Canadian health insurance system.

A historical introduction to law in the ancient world. Babylonian, Assyrian, Hittite, and Roman law, legal practices, and concepts will be examined.

A survey of the main stages in the transition of Britain from a remote province of the Roman Empire to a prominent state in post-Reformation Europe. Within the chronological framework, political and constitutional as well as ecclesiastical and social developments will be examined.

This course examines the historical and current relationships between computer technology and society. It explores the impact and consequences of computing from a societal perspective, but also considers various nontechnical factors and values that have shaped computing technology and practice. The scope of the course will range from early mechanical aids, through the mid 20th century invention of electronic digital computers, to the networks and mobile applications of the 21st century. Technological studies relating to gender, education, employment, and war will be used as focal points. Material artifacts will form a core element of the course.

This course introduces students to the history of Western popular culture and may include the study of popular literature, spectacle and performance, witchcraft, crime, sexual attitudes, consumption, sports, advertising, and the media.

This course will examine women's social, political, cultural, and economic position in the United States from 1920 to the present. We will study the evolving understandings of women's "proper place" in society, which has varied based upon race, class, ethnicity, and region. We will consider women's daily lives and the forces that brought women into the public sphere. Topics covered will include women's political activism, legal position, sexuality, and paid and unpaid labour.

This course contextualizes the information age around us: it examines both the technological story of the rise of the Internet, and the longer human story about the evolving concept of information, communication over time and space, and the ubiquity and complexity of the systems at the heart of our globalized world.

The Vietnam War, the longest war in U.S. history, was fought on two fronts, by American GIs abroad and anti-war protesters at home. Those two subjects, as well as a history of the war from Vietnamese perspectives, are the focus of this course.

The "race problem" has appeared on the Canadian public agenda, but the issue is not of recent origin. This course examines Euro-Canadian attitudes and practices toward non-European minorities from pioneer times to the present and sets racial policies in the context of the evolution of a Canadian national identity.

An examination of the Holocaust in the context of the history of modern racism. Study topics will include historic anti-Judaism, scientific racism and the development of modern antisemitism, Nazi "race" ideology, wartime policies from ghetto to genocide, resistance movements, Nuremberg trials, Holocaust denial, and universal lessons from the Holocaust.

This course will examine the role of foodstuffs and foodways in world history, with an emphasis on Canada in the 20th century. Themes such as colonialism, immigration, ethnic identity, religion, gender, famine, and political policy will be examined to explore how food, and its associated habits and customs, has been central to the evolution of cultural patterns of the past.

This course considers the development of education as an institution within Canadian society and provides an understanding of significant educational issues and policies from a historical perspective.

The Canadian experience in World War 2 is still a subject of considerable debate. This course will employ lectures, films, and discussion groups to examine the war's impact on the social, economic, political, and military life of the country from 1939 to 1945.

This course will examine the causes and consequences of the French Revolution and the impact of Napoleon's reign in France and Europe.

This course examines the modern political history of the Middle East, with an emphasis on international affairs. It examines the colonization of the Middle East, the rise of national self-determination and nation-states, enduring Arab-Israeli conflicts, the Cold War, and the impact of U.S. foreign policy in shaping the modern Middle East.

This course examines the evolution of the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean communities in Canada as well as their significance for Canadian economic, social, and political life in the 19th and 20th centuries.

A survey of individuals and groups that have created popular movements for peace globally and locally throughout history. The scope will be international, with a particular focus on the 19th and 20th century movements. The choice of peace movements will allow for a contrast in comparison of ideology, strategy, and impact.

Using a variety of methods this course critically examines the role played by the Catholic Church in the social, political, and economic life of Canada from 1608 to the present.

The development of Christianity in its Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Protestant traditions from the time of Christ to the present.

A study of the laws and legal procedures of the Middle Ages. This course examines the relationship between legal procedures and institutions and the medieval societies that produced them.

A study of the civilizations of the ancient Near East focusing on Mesopotamia (Sumer and Akkad, the Babylonian Dynasty, and the Third Dynasty of Ur), Hatti, Assyria, Egypt, and Persia.

Some of the topics studied in this course include: the three stages of warlordism, the May Fourth Movement, and the structure of society in the People's Republic of China.

A survey of ancient Greek history, from the Bronze Age to Alexander the Great, emphasizing particularly its political and military aspects.

This course examines the changing nature of work and the workplace in Europe and the impact of those changes on European society. The objective of this course is to develop a better understanding of today's workplace and its challenges by exploring its historical roots and the forces that gave it shape.

This course covers Mennonite origins, teachings, migrations, settlement patterns, divisions, leaders, institutions, and religious and social practices, indeed all facets of Mennonite history in various national settings.

This course provides a collegial learning setting within which students are introduced to techniques of historical writing and research, and some examples of the best of recent historical scholarship.

A survey of ancient Roman history, from the Republic to the Empire, emphasizing particularly its political and military aspects.

This course examines the major themes in pre-Confederation Canadian history including the rise and fall of New France, the creation of British North American societies in the Maritimes and Upper Canada, and economic and political development.

This course examines Confederation, the rise of political parties, Canadian external relations, western discontent, the impact of both World Wars, and political and economic changes in Canada since 1867.

This course offers a Canadian history of childhood and youth. While childhood may seem like a timeless, eternal concept, it is actually a modern one. This course considers age as a category of analysis, complementing other key concepts such as gender, class, and ethnicity/race.

This course examines several major murder cases in Canadian history in order to provide insight into Canada's history and explore how the nation has developed legally, politically, economically, and socially.

This historical survey focuses on the emergence of the United States as a nation. The topics explored may include Indigenous peoples, slavery, race, gender, labour, immigration, urbanization, culture, sectionalism, politics, and ideologies.

This course begins in the aftermath of the Civil War and ends at the present day. Topics may include major social movements, the place of the United States in world politics, immigration and imperialism, and the economy.

The political, cultural, economic, and ecclesiastical development of Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the high middle ages.

This course examines European life in the Early Modern Period (1450-1700) and investigates the social, political, religious, and intellectual changes during the Renaissance, the Reformations, and the era of explorations.

This period marks the emergence of modern-day Europe. The course focuses on the way in which European society, politics, and culture changed, and why. It also examines the continent's descent into war in 1914.

An introduction to the social, economic, and political history of the countries of Eastern Europe since 1945. Topics may include the implementation of Communism, daily life, the secret police, women, opposition, and revolution.

This course assesses the transformation of the British Empire from its position of comparative strength in the mid 19th century to decolonization and the emergence of the Commonwealth after the Second World War. Topics of study include systems of power and control, the impact of Empire at home, and the manner in which imperialism influenced colonial subjects.

This course examines the role of empires in modern history. It examines how empires were formed, how they functioned, how they were resisted, and how they collapsed. While the focus will be on the European empires, we also assess other examples, including the empires of the Ottomans, the Japanese, the Chinese, and the United States.

This course examines the histories of Indigenous peoples (First Nations, Inuit, Métis) in local and national contexts. It emphasizes the relationship between Indigenous peoples and settler society, including histories of treaty-making and colonial policies of dispossession and assimilation such as the Indian Act and the Indian residential school system. We will highlight forms of Indigenous resistance and resurgence, assertions of land rights, and the diversity of communities and cultures.

This course examines the histories of Indigenous peoples from around the world, covering areas such as educational assimilation, the internationalization of Indigenous rights, lands and resource development conflicts, Indigenous-state relations, language and cultural revitalization, and international political activism. We examine local Indigenous histories and place these experiences into the larger global context.

This course provides an introduction to African history from antiquity to the present. The first half of the course examines issues of representation, identity, and evidence in the study of Africa's past. The second half is organized chronologically, tracing key historical processes, encounters, and ideas that have shaped the history of the continent. Students will learn about Ancient Egypt, the Mali Empire, and other precolonial societies; consider the effects of slavery and colonialism; and examine nationalism, decolonization, and postcolonial statebuilding. This course will introduce students to some of the key themes and debates in the historiography while also drawing on archival and oral sources, music, literature, and film.

This survey of the 20th century explores the non-Western world's response to a series of selected global themes: the rise of the West; post-colonialism; war and peace; human migration; culture; international organizations; climate change; human rights; disease; and globalization.

This course examines the Canadian legal system from colonial times to the present with particular emphasis on such themes as law and the economy, courts and judiciary, the legal profession, family and criminal law, women and the law, and civil liberties.

This course examines the Eastern Front in World War 2. It investigates such themes as the impact of totalitarian state systems and radical ideologies on the war, interwar diplomacy, key campaigns, genocide, the wartime economies, propaganda, resistance and collaboration, the plight of prisoners of war, women on the battlefield, and relations among members of the opposing coalitions.

This course provides an overview of the political developments and conflicts that have shaped modern South Asia from 1750 to 2000 through an examination of the region's cultures, political systems, encounters with Western imperialism, nationalist movements, and the impact of the Cold War.

This course re-examines John F. Kennedy's presidency, refuting myths about his decision-making in war and peace. Students grapple with historical sources in a trans-media platform. They are invited to relate the past to contemporary issues of war and peace in an intensive learning experience.

One or more term courses will be offered from time to time as announced by the History Department. Topics will be dependent upon special research and/or instructional interests of faculty.

This course provides the opportunity to design, research, and produce a history project in a multimedia format. Students incorporate archival, visual culture, and oral history research in their projects and examine the politics, ethics, and practice of historical research and its presentation to wide audiences.

Digital history, the application of new and emerging technologies to the study of history, is an exciting new field. This course explores the literature on digital history and then puts theory into practice by exploring the digital collection, evaluation, and production of historical knowledge.

An exploration of the impact of social crises on late medieval religious modes of expression. Topics will include the Great Famine, the Black Death, the Avignon Papacy and Western Schism, the development of heretical movements, and the eventual disintegration of European religious unity.

What factors create a national identity: historical events or socially-constructed historical memory? By analyzing key themes such as elite and popular culture, historical sites and commemorations, sports, and iconic public events, this course demonstrates how nation-states and other communities have created a series of evolving national identities.

A study of the social, historical, and rhetorical dimensions of collective action. Topics may include health and welfare movements, civil rights and anti-war protests, and environmentalism.

This course examines the international relations of the great powers from the rise of Wilhelmine Germany in the 1890s to the first steps of European integration in the early 1950s. Attention will be paid to the formation of foreign policy, alliances, leadership, war-making, and peace-making.

This course examines the origins, conduct, and wider international legacy of the First World War. The course has an international outline, but with a particular Canadian focus as it explores tactics, strategy, and the soldier's experience, as well as the War's lasting economic, political, and cultural impacts.

This course will consider the history of private interactions between family members in North America, as well as the family's relationship to public forces such as politics, the law, social movements, and the economy. Other topics covered in this course include changing conventions of courtship and dating, marriage, divorce, parenthood, and childhood.

This course will explore the Civil Rights movement in the United States from the 1950s to the 1970s. Topics will include the origins and evolution of the movement, tactics, key figures, and the role of the federal government.

This course examines the history of foreign relations of the United States from the "Age of Imperialism" through the "War on Terror". Topics will include the Great War, Wilsonianism, World War 2, the Cold War, human rights, and post-9/11 U.S. foreign policies.

This course traces the history of the Russian Revolution from 1861 to 1924. It examines the intellectual and social roots of the Revolution, a variety of revolutionary theories, parties, agendas and methods of power struggle, the Bolshevik seizure of power and the ensuing civil war, culminating in the establishment of a communist dictatorship.

This course introduces students to the history of Western sexuality, beginning with the ancient world and focusing primarily on the Middle Ages and the transition to modernity.

This seminar introduces students to the history of sexuality. The course focuses on the 19th and 20th centuries.

A detailed analysis of selected topics in the history of human rights. Special attention will be paid to revolutionary developments since World War II, and to the emergence of modern human rights policies. Topics will be examined through assigned readings, lectures, and films.

This course explores how and why the "camp" emerged as a major site of confinement and punishment, focusing in particular on the 20th century. Students will consider a range of spaces that fall within the category of the camp, including detention camps, concentration camps, and forced labour camps.

This course examines the global history of the prison, from its origins in the 18th and 19th centuries to contemporary debates about mass incarceration and the use of punishment as a form of social control. Students will explore how the prison became a nearly universal institution, considering the ways in which colonialism was a driving force for its expansion. They will examine how colonial powers presented prisons as symbols of "civilization" and "modernity," as well as how they became sites of anti-colonial resistance. Students will investigate these themes through case studies drawn from a range of geographical areas and time periods. A variety of sources will be used including academic texts, memoirs, media, poetry, visual sources, music, and film. The course will develop students' methodological skillset and their ability to critically examine the connections between penal institutions, power, and knowledge production. Overall, this course will help students to understand the place of the prison in our global society, past and present.

A study of the common law of England from its introduction in the 11th century to the 15th century. Original documents and court cases will be examined.

European society amidst the dramatic changes of the 19th century. Emphasis is given to the impact of the French and industrial revolutions on class, the family, religion, and living conditions.

This course examines the nature and impact of Nazi occupation on Western and Eastern Europe preceding and during World War II and the responses of the people occupied.

This course explores the ways in which Early Modern European women experienced, participated in, shaped, and responded to the world they inhabited. It investigates the ways in which women negotiated the Early Modern world as it unfolded in the Renaissance, the Reformation, European encounters around the world, and the challenges of everyday life.

A study of 16th century Anabaptism - a religious Reformation movement dissenting from both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism - its origins; its social, political, and theological content; and its relationship to such independent dissenters as Sebastian Franck.

This course will examine the economic, cultural, and diplomatic aspects of Canada's relationship with the United States, Latin America, and the Commonwealth Caribbean from the time of the American Revolution to the present.

Immigrants and immigration have always been central to Canadians' perceptions of themselves as a country and as a society. This course will examine the immigrant experience and Canada's changing policies and attitudes toward immigration and immigrants from New France to the present.

This course examines the history of Russia and the Soviet Union from the beginning of the 20th century to the present. Topics include: origins and nature of the Russian Revolution, communist society, Stalinism, the Cold War, and impact of the communist experience on contemporary Russia.

An examination of the social, economic, and political history of Nazi Germany. Topics may include the rise of the Nazis, the secret police, war, population policies and mass murder, culture, and women.

This course offers a comparative analysis of fascism in Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Ukraine. Topics include social conditions facilitating the emergence of fascism, fascist ideologies, the popular appeal of fascism, the social composition of fascist parties, and the methods fascists used to take and keep power.

This course examines the history of Africa in the 20th century, a time of tremendous upheaval and change on the continent. In the first half of the course, students will learn about the introduction and expansion of colonial rule, considering how the colonial state was imagined, enacted, experienced, and overthrown. The second half of the course focuses on the postcolonial period, illuminating how states and citizens navigated the challenges and opportunities that emerged following independence. Within each part of the course, students will learn about a range of case studies from multiple regions of the continent. Overall, students will engage with the key debates, themes, and methods that have shaped the study of twentieth-century Africa, focusing in particular on questions of identity, state-building, resistance, gender, violence, and memory.

This course examines the break-up of empires in the mid/late 20th century, and assesses how the colonial experience has shaped relations between and among former imperial polities to the present. Focus is given to questions of political identity in colonial and post-colonial societies, and how these identities shape current political challenges.

The United Kingdom underwent a remarkable transition in the second half of the 20th century. It lost an empire, experienced large-scale immigration from around the world, joined the European Economic Community (now the European Union), and became a global cultural engine. This course examines the history of Britain from the end of the Second World War until recent events including the death of Princess Diana and Brexit. In this course you will study decolonization and its impact on British society, the creation and expansion of the welfare state, the "White Heat" of the "Swinging Sixties," shifting dynamics of class and gender, British popular culture from James Bond to David Bowie to Britpop, Irish and Scottish nationalism, the rise of Margaret Thatcher and neo-liberalism in the 1980s, New Labour in the 1990s, and developments in the new millennium.

A focus on social and economic determinants of Irish History from the Penal Era to the 19th century struggle for Catholic emancipation and the Great Famine.

An exploration of the political, social, and cultural history of Ireland from the Famine to the end of the 20th century including the formation of the Irish State, the Republic, and the "Troubles".

A topical consideration of key themes, approaches, and chronologies in the history of society in Canada.

This course examines the origins, developments, and contemporary implications of the Cold War in East Asia.

A study of the major 16th century reformers, and their intellectual background in humanism and late medieval scholasticism. Special attention will be given to the Lutheran and Reformed traditions, and their ideological, social, and political expressions.

The idea of "northerness" is central to our national identity, yet few "southern" Canadians have an appreciation of the historical development of Northern Canada. This course will focus on political, social, cultural, and environmental histories, and will introduce students to major themes in Canadian Northern history, from pre-contact to the creation of the territory of Nunavut in 1999.

A topical examination of major political and social developments over this eighty-year period. These include Irish immigration, Confederation, the Riel rebellions, social reform, the development of labour and business, and the Boer and First World Wars.

Lectures, tutorials, and independent research will provide a decade-by-decade examination of the central social, political, and economic themes that have helped characterize "modern Canada".

An analytical and historical examination of Canadian foreign policy in the international system. Domestic sources of Canadian foreign policy and international sources of Canadian foreign policy are examined in detail.

One or more term courses will be offered from time to time as announced by the History Department. Topics will be dependent upon special research and/or instructional interests of faculty.

Study in a limited field under tutorial guidance. A high standard of written work will be expected.

Study in a limited field under tutorial guidance. A high standard of written work will be expected.

A special study of a selected topic in history. Please see course instructor for details.

This seminar is a special study of a selected topic in history. Please see course instructor for details.

This course challenges students with an opportunity to synthesize and showcase, at a high level of achievement, the disciplinary skills and knowledge they have gained during the course of their studies in History. It encourages students to pursue individual research interests and presentation formats as limited only by historical methodology, academic rigour, and the consent of the instructor. Course focus may be shaped by instructor expertise.

Under exceptional academic circumstances a student may seek permission to pursue a course of independent study under the direction of a faculty member. The special topic is determined in consultation between them.