Fall 2016

History Courses

SCHEDULE OF HISTORY COURSES: FALL 2016

Course # Title Time Professor

HIST-001 WORLD HISTORY TO 1500 MWF 11:45-

12:50

Myrna Santiago

HIST-004 WESTERN CIVILIZATION TO 1500 TTH 9:45-11:20 Brother Charles Hilken

HIST-010 INTRO TO HISTORICAL METHODS TTH 1:15-2:50 Carl Guarneri

HIST-017 U.S. HISTORY TO 1877 MWF 8:00-9:05 Gretchen Lemke-

Santangelo

HIST-104 HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION MF 1:00-2:40 E. Elena Songster

HIST-106 RESEARCH SEMINAR TTH 3:00-4:35 Carl Guarneri

HIST-113 EUROPE IN THE RENAISSANCE TTH 1:15-2:50 Brother Charles Hilken

HIST-119 MODERN GERMAN HISTORY 1871-PRESENT TTH 11:30-1:05 Aeleah Soine

HIST-132 AMERICAN REVOLUTION AND EARLY

REPUBLIC

TTH 9:45-11:20 Carl Guarneri

HIST-140 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY 1619-1877 MWF 9:15-10:20 Gretchen Lemke-

Santangelo

HIST-154 DRUG TRADE IN U.S.--LATIN AMERICAN

RELATIONS

MWF 2:45-3:50 Myrna Santiago

HIST-163 ETHNIC IDENTITY AND CONFLICT IN

CHINA

MWF 10:30-11:35 E. Elena Songster

HIST-170 WOMEN AND GENDER IN AFRICAN

HISTORY

MWF 11:45-

12:50

Jennifer Lofkrantz

Please note: Freshmen are not admitted to upper-division courses.

History 1 MWF: 11:45–12:50

Professor Myrna Santiago

World History from the Paleolithic to the Columbian Exchange

The class follows the course of human history from the dawn of humanity (ca. 200,000 years

ago) to the arrival of the Spanish in the Americas and the defeat of the Aztecs and Incas. Along

the way, students learn about Paleolithic culture, the Neolithic revolutions, the rise of

civilizations and empires, the development of the world’s first religions and philosophies, and

the changing relationship between humans and their environments. The geographical coverage

will encompass the whole world. Students will also begin to acquire the skills of the historian,

gathering appropriate data, focusing on periodization, analyzing primary documents, and

developing sound interpretations. At the same time, students will immerse themselves in cultures

other than their own, with the objective of articulating in writing a variety of global perspectives.

Requirements include attendance, participation, a midterm and a final exam, and a final paper.

This course fulfills two core curriculum requirements: Social, Cultural or Historical

Understanding and Global Perspectives. The course is also Sustainability Related.

Readings include:

Bulliet, Crossley, Headrick, Hirsch, Johnson, and Northrup, The Earth and Its Peoples, Vol I, 5th

Edition

Gilgamesh

The Dhammapada

The Bhagavad-Gita

The Koran

The Tao-te-Ching

Miguel Angel León Portilla, The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest

Bartolomé de las Casas, The Devastation of the Indies

History 4 TTH 9:45-11:20

Brother Charles Hilken

Western Societies and Cultures to 1500

The study of western civilization is in large part the study of European history, one of the rich, informing

traditions of the United States of America. Western or European civilization emerged from ancient

Mediterranean cultures. It’s roots are part Greco-Roman and part Judeo-Christian, but Greco-Roman in

dialogue with the surrounding and earlier civilizations of Egypt and the Near East and Judeo-Christian in

dialogue with the older, traditional Mediterranean religions and the religious world-view of the barbarians

and other new peoples of Europe. Among the new peoples who entered the Roman Empire were the

Arabs whose Muslim religion was heavily influenced by the Judaism and Christianity. Eventually Arabic

civilization would add very much to Western institutions and culture and in significant ways re-

introduce the West to its ancient intellectual roots. The strong and seemingly independent culture that

emerged into the wider world in the era of Christopher Columbus was the fruit of millennia of cultural

exchanges and adaptations. The narrative readings of the course will follow a chronological development

from prehistory to the Renaissance. The lectures will be in part thematic, touching on the history of law,

religion, art, learning, and historical writing itself. Students will prepare and lead part of a class on a topic

they have selected.

This course qualifies for Social, Cultural, and Historical Understanding.

Readings:

Backman, Clifford R., The Cultures of the West: A History, vol. 1, with Sourcebook.

Francis of Assisi, Last Will and Testament and Regula Non-Bullata.

Song of Roland.

History 10 TTh: 1:15-2:50

Professor Carl Guarneri

Introduction to Historical Methods

This course is designed for the future history major or minor who is taking the leap from learning specific

histories to thinking more broadly and methodically about studying the past. Sampling documents and

historical essays from many eras and places, we will explore some fundamental components of historical

thinking, including ideas about context and causation, methods of historical analysis, issues of truth and

objectivity, conflicting interpretations, and inquiry into varied historical approaches and genres. Through

intensive reading and discussions, workbook exercises, and brief written essays, we will look into the

eclectic methods and rich varieties of historical inquiry. Students will also develop basic library and

Internet research strategies and build their skills of framing and documenting persuasive history papers.

This course satisfies the core curriculum learning goals for Social, Historical, and Cultural

Understanding and for Writing in the Disciplines. It is part of the history major and minor requirements.

It is also a prerequisite for taking History 104 or 106. Completion of, or concurrent enrollment in,

English 5 is required for admission to this course.

Readings:

Conal Furay and Michael Salevouris, The Methods and Skills of History, 4th ed.

E.H. Carr, What is History?

John Lewis Gaddis, The Landscape of History

Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke, Abina and the Important Men, 2nd

ed.

Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 8th ed.

Additional readings to be posted or distributed.

History 17 MWF 8:00-9:05

Professor Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo

History of the United States to 1877

This course examines the distinctive experience of those who came together, willingly and unwillingly, to

form the American nation. Spanning the period between the collision of worlds in 1492 and the Civil War

and Reconstruction, the course places particular emphasis on ethnic, socio-economic, and gender

diversity. Topics to be explored include European conquest and colonization, Native American genocide,

class, racial and gender tensions within colonial society, the evolution of slavery, the drama of

Revolution, limits of freedom in the new republic, industrialization, immigration, mid-18th century reform

movements, westward expansion, growing sectional tensions, the Civil War, and Reconstruction’s

unfulfilled promise. Group discussions, focusing on primary sources and conflicting interpretations of the

past, are an integral element of this course.

This course meets the American Diversity and Social, Historical, and Cultural Understanding core

requirements.

HIST 104 MF: 1-2:40 pm

Professor E. Elena Songster

Truman vs. Godzilla: Contesting Histories of the Atom Bomb

In this seminar on Historical Interpretation students will survey and analyze the many ways that

the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been understood historically. Was

it necessary to end the war in the Pacific? Were there ulterior motives that guided U.S. decision

making? What role did the Soviet Union play in this event? Did the bombs transform Japan

from perpetrator to victim? How did these events affect the region? How are they remembered,

interpreted, and taught on either side of the Pacific? Our study of the historiography of these

events, the decisions that led to them, and their aftermath will not simply walk us through their

history, but will focus on the history of that history. Through a wide array of reading and the

study of other forms of historical interpretation, we will examine what this event means as an

event, as history, and as memory. We will study how these meanings have changed over time

and in what ways they continue to be part of our everyday present.

Readings may include:

Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan.

Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University, 2006.

Hersey, John. Hiroshima. New York: Vintage Books 1973 [1946].

Truman, President Harry S. “Announcement of the Dropping of an Atom Bomb on Hiroshima,

1945.” In Worlds of History: A Comparative Reader, Volume II, Since 1400, edited by

Kevin Reilly, 991-4. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2010 [2000].

Tsutsui, William. Godzilla on My Mind: Fifty Years of the King of the Monsters. New York:

Pelgrave Macmillan Press, 2004.

Yoneyama, Lisa. Hiroshima Traces: Time, Space, and the Dialectics of Memory. Berkeley:

University of California Press, 1999.

History 106 TTh: 3:00-4:35

Professor Carl Guarneri

Research Seminar: The American Civil War

The Civil War was the greatest crisis of our nation's existence and a turning point in the history of

American politics, economics, and race relations. This course focuses advanced student research and

writing on the whirlwind of events between Lincoln's election and the final surrender of the Confederate

army shortly after his assassination. Topics available for in-depth study include the response to secession,

the military battles, emancipation, society on the home fronts, wartime politics and diplomacy, the

Confederacy, and the origins of Reconstruction. After four weeks of orientation and discussion, students

will work on original independent projects under the guidance of the instructor and complete a substantial

research paper (25-30 pages of text) and a poster presentation. When they finish, they will have

contributed valuable new information and perspectives on some aspect of the Civil War, and at the same

time developed impressive skills of historical research, analysis and writing. Enrollment is limited to

fifteen students. If space is available, non-history majors and minors are welcome.

This course meets the “senior thesis” (106) requirement for history majors and the 104/106 requirement

for history minors.

Readings:

James McPherson, Ordeal By Fire: The Civil War, 3rd ed., Volume II

William Gienapp, ed., The Civil War and Reconstruction: A Documentary Collection

Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 8th ed.

History 113 TTh 1:15-2:50

Brother Charles Hilken

Europe in the Renaissance

How does a civilization recover from a plague that kills half of its population? This catastrophe as well as

famine, widespread warfare and schism beset Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Out of

burnt bones and barren landscapes, medieval Europe forged a new civilization with help of ancient

visions and precious records of the past. The starting point for this new world which has come down to us

as the Renaissance was the Italian peninsula, a warren of feudal polities and independent cities. This

course will examine the birth of the Renaissance and the advancements in politics, society, culture, and

religion that collectively formed a renewed humanism. We will also study the art of the period as

expressions of the emerging culture. Each student will be assigned a Renaissance artwork conserved at

Palace of the Legion of Honor in San Francisco to study as a window onto the era.

This course fulfills the Social, Historical, or Cultural Understanding Core Curriculum Requirement.

Reading list:

Gene Brucker, Renaissance Florence

Jacob Burkhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (excerpts)

Peter Burke, The Renaissance

Baldesar Castiglione, The Book of the Courtier (excerpts)

John Hale, The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance

Niccolò Macchiavelli, The Prince

Attention! Presenting the Army.

History 119 TTh: 11:30-1:05

Professor Aeleah Soine

Modern German History: 1871-Present

Understandably, the modern history of Germany has been dominated by efforts to understand the rise to

power of the Nazi Regime, the catastrophic human toll of the Second World War, and the legacy of these

events in modern German history, culture, and politics. Still, the history of Germany since its unification

in 1871 suggests a longer history of contested identities, shifting borders, and the struggle to define a

German nation through both inclusion and exclusion. Our course will focus on how modern German

history has been shaped by competing visions for a unified Germany through particular moments in the

four eras of the Kaiserreich (Second Empire), the Third Reich, Divided Germany, and Reunified

Germany in the New Europe.

READINGS MAY INCLUDE:

● Michael Sturmer, The German Empire: A Short History (Random House, 2002).

● Mary Fulbrook, A History of Germany, 1918-2008 (John Wiley & Sons, 2008).

● Helmut Walser Smith, The Butcher’s Tale: Murder and Anti-Semitism in a German Town

(W.W. Norton, 2003).

● Eric Johnson and Karl-Heinz Reuband, What We Knew: Terror, Mass Murder, and

Everyday Life in Nazi Germany: An Oral History (Basic Books, 2006).

History 132 TTh: 9:45-11:20

Professor Carl Guarneri

The American Revolution and the Early Republic

Beginning in 1763, when Britain, France, and Spain reorganized their empires and triggered revolts, this

course examines the period from the American Revolution to new nation-building in the first third of the

nineteenth century. How did the American Revolution happen? How did it relate to other revolutions of

its day, such as the French and Latin American Revolutions? How did the Revolution impact women,

slaves, and Native Americans? Did the Constitution embody the revolutionaries’ ideals or contradict

them? What was the relationship between religion and government in the early United States? How did

the weak new nation manage to survive threats from France, England, and other European great powers?

How did the ordered world of the Founders evolve within a generation into the kind of raucous

democracy they had feared? What resources and problems have we inherited from America’s founding

decades? Through lectures, discussion, and written assignments students will be challenged to develop

persuasive answers to such questions.

This course satisfies the core curriculum learning goals for Social, Historical, and Cultural

Understanding, and for American Diversity.

Readings:

Eric Nellis, The Long Road to Change: America’s Revolution, 1750-1820

Wilenz and Earle, eds., Major Problems in the Early Republic, 1787-1848, 2nd

ed.

Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Joseph Plumb Martin, Ordinary Courage (memoir of a Revolutionary War soldier)

Joseph J. Ellis, Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation

Gary B. Nash, The Forgotten Fifth: African Americans in the Age of Revolution

Louis P. Masur, 1831: Year of Eclipse

History 140 MWF: 9:15-10:20

Professor Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo

African American History 1619-1877

This course examines the history of African Americans in the United States from the early seventeenth

century through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Topics to be explored include African cultural origins,

the Diaspora in comparative perspective, slavery and slave resistance in the New World, the evolution of

African American culture and institutions, and the varied strains of black abolitionist thought. Group

discussions, focusing on interpretive questions and historiography, will complement lectures. Films,

primary sources, and music will also be a regular part of the course.

This course meets the American Diversity and Social, Historical or Cultural Understanding Requirements

History 154 MWF: 2:45-3:50

Professor Myrna Santiago

The Drug Trade in U.S. – Latin American Relations

For the last 40 years, one of the dominant themes in the relations between Latin America and the

United States has been the drug trade and the “war on drugs.” The question is, then, what has

such a war accomplished? What effects has the drug trade and the war on drugs had on the

countries and societies involved and on US –Latin American relations? This course will

examine these questions by looking at the history of cocaine from the late nineteenth century

until today, following the transformations the humble coca leaf underwent to become a

commodity and powerful addictive substance. We investigate the most affected countries-- Peru,

Bolivia, Colombia, and Mexico—paying close attention to the impact the drug trade has had on

politics, society, and economic development. Requirements will include class participation,

several oral presentations, three papers (including a 10-page research paper), and a group project

and presentation on a policy issue answering the question, “what is to be done?”

Possible reading list:

Paul Gootenberg, Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug

Roberto Escobar, The Accountant’s Story

Gabriel García Márquez, News of a Kidnapping

Terrence Poppa, Drug Lord: A True Story

Elaine Carey, Women Drug Traffickers: Mules, Bosses, and Organized Crime

Beto O’Rourke and Susie Byrd, Dealing Death and Drugs

History 163 MWF 10:30-11:35

Professor E. Elena Songster

Ethnic Identity and Conflict in China

Why is Tibet a favorite darling of Hollywood movie stars? Is Taiwan a country? Is it true that

al-Qaeda is trying to incite separatist activities among followers of Islam in China? This course

examines the ways that ethnicity has been perceived in China during ancient, imperial, modern,

and contemporary periods. Ethnicity is a modern concept, yet in ancient China groups of people

distinguished themselves from each other in ways that both overlap with our modern notions of

ethnicity and seem contradictory to it. We will explore related concepts of difference, race,

ethnicity, and identity, as well as conflicts and policies derived from these notions. By studying

the struggles and successes of specific groups of people as they tried either to become part of

mainstream Chinese society or to distinguish themselves from it, we will learn how ethnicity

played a role in the construction of empire and nation in Chinese history.

This course fulfills the Global Perspectives and Social, Historical, and Cultural Understanding

Core Requirements.

Readings may include:

Rossabi, Morris, ed. China Among Equals: The Middle Kingdom and its Neighbors, 10th

-14th

Centuries. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1983.

Mullaney, Thomas. Coming to Terms with the Nation: Ethnic Classification in Modern China.

Berkeley: University of California Press, 2010.

Dalai Lama. Freedom in Exile: The Autobiography of The Dalai Lama. New York:

HarperCollins, 1990.

Miao people in ceremonial dress Chinese Muslims traveling to Mecca

History 170 MWF 11:45-12:50

Professor Jennifer Lofkrantz

Women and Gender in African History

This course will explore the history of women in Africa in a cross-cultural perspective. We will examine

the depiction of women by historians and in popular culture by encouraging analysis and discussion of

how contemporary historians have viewed women’s roles with regards to such topics as power, religion,

slavery, marriage, sex, and love. Specific themes include constructions of gender, sexuality and

reproduction, the household, women's economic activity, political power, religious roles, colonialism, and

democracy. After a discussion of gender, we will analyze pre-colonial production and reproduction,

family life and religion in the twentieth century, women's roles in nationalist politics, the politics of

female genital mutilation, and lived histories of contemporary African women leaders.