This page allows you to search a particular semester's course offerings in History and filter them by Major/Minor requirement. We also invite you to explore Penn History courses on the Pathways App. This fun, game-like platform allows you to see connections between History courses, so that you can better sequence them. It also encourages you to ask “how can History help us answer big questions?” Give it a try!

Title Instructors Location Time Description Cross listings Fulfills Registration notes Major Concentrations Major/Minor Requirements Fulfilled
HIST 023-401 Intro To Middle East Paul M. Cobb COHN 402 TR 09:00 AM-10:30 AM NELC102401 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis 		Objects-Based Learning Course World Africa/Middle East, pre-1800
HIST 027-401 Ancient Rome James Ker DRLB A1 MW 12:00 PM-01:00 PM See primary department (ANCH) for a complete course description. ANCH027401, CLST027401 History & Tradition Sector
Cross Cultural Analysis 		Course is available to Freshmen and Upperclassmen.
Objects-Based Learning Course
Registration also required for Recitation (see below) 		European Europe, pre-1800
HIST 060-401 Global Environmental History From Paleolithic To the Present Marcia Susan Norton
Anne K Berg 		MCNB 150 TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM This course explores the changing relationships between human beings and the natural world from early history to the present. We will consider the various ways humans across the globe have interacted with and modified the natural world by using fire, domesticating plants and animals, extracting minerals and energy, designing petro-chemicals, splitting atoms and leaving behind wastes of all sorts. Together we consider the impacts, ranging from population expansion to species extinctions and climate change. We examine how human interactions with the natural world relate to broader cultural processes such as religion, colonialism and capitalism, and why it is important to understand the past, even the deep past, in order to rise to the challenges of the present. ENVS060401 https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST060401 European, World Europe, pre-1800
HIST 108-001 American Origins Daniel K Richter COLL 200 MW 11:00 AM-12:00 PM The United States was not inevitable. With that assumption as its starting point, this course surveys North American history from about 1500 to about 1850, with the continent's many peoples and cultures in view. The unpredictable emergence of the U.S. as a nation is a focus, but always in the context of wider developments: global struggles among European empires; conflicts between indigenous peoples and settler-colonists; exploitation of enslaved African labor; evolution of distinctive colonial societies; and, finally, independence movements inspired by a transatlantic revolutionary age. History & Tradition Sector
Cultural Diversity in the US 		Registration also required for Recitation (see below) https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST108001 American pre-1800, US
HIST 109-001 Hamilton's America, US History 1775-1800 Sarah L. H. Gronningsater COLL 314 TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM In this course, students will learn about the political, constitutional, and social history of the United States from 1776 (the year the colonies declared their independence from Great Britain) to 1800 (the year Thomas Jefferson won the presidency in a heated partisan election for the presidency). Alexander Hamilton, an influential American statesman during this time, will be our guide to the many events and transformations that occurred during these years. The course is not, however, a biographical course about Hamilton. Topics covered include: the politics of independence, the Revolutionary War, the development of state and national republics, the creation of the U.S. Constitution, the role of ordinary people in the politics of the time period, the problem of slavery in the new nation, Native American power and loss, diplomatic affairs, and the rise of partisan politics. American pre-1800, US
HIST 121-401 Silver and Gold in the Americas From Pre-History To the Present Ann C. Farnsworth-Alvear COLL 314 MW 02:00 PM-03:30 PM Precious metals have shaped economies and socio-cultural processes in the Americas for thousands of years. Students will work with pre-Columbian gold objects held by the University Museum and be introduced to the long history of indigenous metallurgy. We will also analyze the way gold and silver sent from the "New World" to the "Old World" played a key role in changing economies around the globe. Locally, mining centers were places marked by forced labor, conspicuous consumption, and the destruction of ecosystems. Internationally, gold and silver prices had outsized effects on monetary and trade policies. This course uses case studies to delve into the fascinating history of precious metals and mining in North and South America. We will analyze documents describing the gold objects ransacked by Spanish conquistadors, examine 17th Century proto-industrial silver mining at Potosi, Bolivia, trace the impact and human cost of the huge gold strikes in Minas Gerais, in colonial Brazil, read new work on the California and Yukon moments of "rush", and briefly discuss the role of precious metals in money laundering. An introductory unit focuses on the history of the gold standard in the United States and internationally. LALS121401 Cross Cultural Analysis https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST121401 Economic, World Latin America/Caribbean, pre-1800
HIST 123-001 Economic Hist of Euro I Thomas M. Safley COLL 314 TR 10:30 AM-12:00 PM This course concentrates on the economy of Europe in the Early Modern Period, 1450-1750. It was a time of great transition. Europe developed from an agriculturally-based to an industrially-based economy, with attendant changes in society and culture. From subsistence-level productivity, the European economy expanded to create great surfeits of goods, with attendant changes in consumption and expectation. Europe grew from a regional economic system to become part--some would say the heart--of a global economy, with attendant changes in worldview and identity. Economic intensification, expansion, globalization, and industrialization are our topics, therefore. Beginning with economic organizations and practices, we will consider how these changed over time and influenced society and culture. The course takes as its point of departure the experience of individual, working men and women: peasants and artisans, merchants and landlords, entrepeneurs and financiers. Yet, it argues outward: from the particular to the general, from the individual to the social, from the local to the global. It will suggest ways in which the economy influenced developments or changes that were not in themselves economic, shaped, and deflected economic life and practice. Humanities & Social Science Sector https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST123001 Economic, European Europe, pre-1800
HIST 139-401 Jews & Judaism in Antqty Simcha Gross DRLB 3W2 TR 10:30 AM-12:00 PM A broad introduction to the history of Jewish civilization from its Biblical beginnings to the Middle Ages, with the main focus on the formative period of classical rabbinic Judaism and on the symbiotic relationship between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. JWST156401, RELS120401, NELC051401, NELC451401 History & Tradition Sector Jewish, World Africa/Middle East, pre-1800
HIST 179-401 The Rise and Fall of the Spanish Empire Antonio Feros MCNB 286-7 TR 10:30 AM-12:00 PM This course will provide students with a solid knowledge of the history of early modern Spain (1450-1700). Through readings of primary and secondary texts that offer a complex vision of the cultural, religious, intellectual, and economic contexts and processes, students will be able to appreciate the intricacies of Spain's historical evolution. The course focuses on the rise and decline of the Spanish monarchy: the conditions that enabled Spain to become the most powerful monarchy in early modern times, and the conditions that led to its decline. This course also touches upon other important aspects critical to understanding early modern Spain: relationships among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in the Iberian Peninsula; the conquest and colonization of the New World; and early modern debates about Spain's rights to occupy America and the so-called "destruction of the Indies." LALS179401 History & Tradition Sector https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST179401 Diplomatic, European, World Latin America/Caribbean, pre-1800
HIST 230-401 Foodways and Diet in Early Europe: Farm To Table in the Renaissance Ann Elizabeth Moyer COLL 217 T 01:30 PM-04:30 PM What did medieval and Renaissance Europeans choose to eat? What did they have to eat?

What did good nutrition and a balanced diet mean in an era when most medicines were plant-based?

How did fasting or limiting food serve as an act of religious piety?

In this course we will examine food, foodways, and diet in European culture, thought, and society with a focus on the later Middle Ages and Renaissance, with a mix of primary sources and modern scholarship 		ITAL230401 https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST230401 European, Intellectual Europe, pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 233-403 Animal,Vegetable,Mineral:Culture, Tech, & the Columbian Exchange, 1450-1750 Marcia Susan Norton VANP 626 W 02:00 PM-05:00 PM In this course we will explore how Native American technologies shaped the early modern Atlantic World in order to understand the role of culture in what is often called the "Columbian Exchange.” Technologies, for the purpose of this course, include animal practices (such as hunting and taming techniques), foraged and domesticated plants (such as maize, potatoes, and annatto), foods (such as cassava and chocolate), drugs (such as tobacco, quinine and coca), textiles (such as hammocks and featherworks), and precious metals and gemstones (such as pearls, emeralds and gold). We will explore technologies' relationships to other aspects of art and culture, and focus particularly on how and why certain technologies - and not others - moved beyond colonial Latin America in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. We will read intensively in both primary and secondary sources. LALS233403 Objects-Based Learning Course https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST233403 World Latin America/Caribbean, pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 234-302 The Horse in World Hist Oscar Aguirre Mandujano TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM Around 8000 years ago, communities in the western part of the Eurasian steppe began to breed and ride horses. This process of domestication made horses central participants in human history. The domestication of the horse transformed military tactics, human mobility and communication, agriculture, and entertainment. Humans have transformed the horse as well, producing about 200 breeds with unique characteristics matched to human goals. This course traces the history of equine-human relations across the globe, using the horse as a focal point to think about animal-human relations in societies ranging from prehistoric Europe to the Spanish conquests of Latin America. Our inquiry will address not only the place of horses in these particular phases of world history, but also by extension the debates about human-animal relations in our society today. *Students can opt to write a large research paper for this class to fulfill the History Major Research Requirement.* World pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 306-401 Gunpowder, Art, & Diplomacy: Islamic Empires in the Early Modern World Oscar Aguirre Mandujano EDUC 203 TR 03:00 PM-04:30 PM In the sixteenth century, the political landscape of the Middle East, Central Asia, and India changed with the expansion and consolidation of new Islamic empires. Gunpowder had transformed the modes of warfare. Diplomacy followed new rules and forms of legitimation. The widespread use of Persian, Arabic and Turkish languages across the region allowed for an interconnected world of scholars, merchants, and diplomats. And each imperial court, those of the Ottomans, the Safavids, and the Mughals, found innovative and original forms of expression in art and literature. The expansion of these Islamic empires, each of them military giants and behemoths of bureaucracy, marked a new phase in world history. The course is divided in four sections. The first section introduces the student to major debates about the so-called gunpowder empires of the Islamic world as well as to comparative approaches to study them. The second section focuses on the transformations of modes of warfare and military organization. The third section considers the cultural history and artistic production of the imperial courts of the Ottomans, the Mughals, and the Safavids. The fourth and final section investigates the social histories of these empires, their subjects, and the configuration of a world both connected and divided by commerce, expansion, and diplomacy. NELC306401 Cross Cultural Analysis https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST306401 Diplomatic, World Africa/Middle East, East/South Asia, pre-1800
HIST 308-401 Renaissance Europe Ann Elizabeth Moyer COLL 318 TR 10:30 AM-12:00 PM This course will examine the cultural and intellectual movement known as the Renaissance, from its origins in fourteenth-century Italy to its diffusion into the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century. We will trace the great changes in the world of learning and letters, the visual arts, and music,along with those taking place in politics, economics, and social organization. We will be reading primary sources as well as modern works. ITAL308401 https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST308401 European, Intellectual Europe, pre-1800
HIST 311-001 The Tudors Margo Todd COLL 318 TR 12:00 PM-01:30 PM This course examines the history of England from the accession of Henry (VII) Tudor in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603, with emphases on the political and personal history of this colorful dynasty, the religious revolution known as the protestant Reformation, the arts and literature known as the English Renaissance, imperial and trade ventures overseas, and aspects of popular culture including the witch craze. Unlike most English histories of the period, we will also look closely at the other realms of the British Isles, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. Readings consist of a textbook with a British scope, and an array of primary sources, some in book form and others (marked with an asterisk on the syllabus) attached to Blackboard or distributed in class. Books are available at the Penn Book Center, except for biographies associated with film critiques. Most of the films noted in the syllabus will be available on PVN; otherwise, they can be viewed at the library or through Netflix. Assignments in square brackets are optional. https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST311001 European Europe, pre-1800
HIST 411-401 Introduction To Written Culture in the West Peter Stallybrass
Roger Chartier 		VANP 627 M 02:00 PM-05:00 PM This course will examine the writing, printing, dissemination, and interpretation of some fundamental works specific and also of words, commonplaces, and proverbs in early modern England, France, Italy, Spain and the Americas. We will analyze both the persistence and changing significance of ancient words and concepts (e.g. “barbarian,” the world turned upside down) and the emergence of new words and concepts (e.g. “cannibal,” “sprezzatura”). Among the texts that we will read will be works by Montaigne, Las Casas, Shakespeare, Castiglione, and Lope de Vega. All the texts will be available in English but we will pay particular attention to the massive range of translations from the period. We will draw wherever possible on the exceptional collections at Penn and in Philadelphia, including early manuscripts, illustrated books, plays marked up for performance and examples of censored books. ENGL234401 https://pennintouchdaemon.apps.upenn.edu/pennInTouchProdDaemon/jsp/fast.do?webService=syllabus&term=2020A&course=HIST411401 American, European, Intellectual Europe, pre-1800, Seminar, US