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Title Instructors Location Time Description Cross listings Fulfills Registration notes Major Concentrations Major/Minor Requirements Fulfilled
HIST 2151-301 History of Baseball, 1840 to the present Sarah L H Gronningsater VANP 627 R 10:15 AM-1:14 PM This course explores the history of baseball in the United States. It covers, among other topics, the first amateur clubs in the urban North, the professionalization and nationalization of the sport during and after the Civil War era, the rise of fandom, baseball’s relationship to anxieties about manhood and democracy, tensions between labor and management, the Negro Leagues, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, Nisei baseball during World War Two, Jackie Robinson and desegregation, and the Latinization of baseball. The history of baseball is, in many respects, the history of the United States writ large as well as the history of the myths that Americans tell about themselves. American Seminar, US
HIST 2154-301 The State of the Union is not Good: The US in Crisis in the 1970s Randall B Cebul VANP 402 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM Vietnam. Watergate. Deindustrialization. Inflation. Disco. These events and forces only begin to scratch the surface of the social, cultural, political, and economic transformations that remade American life in the 1970s and which, by 1975, forced President Gerald Ford to concede “that the state of the union is not good.” Beyond these familiar topics, this reading seminar will explore a range of developments that are crucial for understanding why the 1970s was perhaps the pivotal decade in making modern American politics, economics, and culture. Topics will include the fate of the Civil Rights movement and the war on crime; the rise and impact of second wave feminism; the rise of the modern conservative coalition (e.g., its religious, economic, and white working-class components); the emergence of the finance economy; the reorientation of organized labor and the remaking of the Democratic Party; the explosion of “therapeutic” cultures of self-help, individualism, and entrepreneurialism; and the rise of the Sunbelt as the nation’s dominant cultural, political, and economic region. American Seminar, US
HIST 2201-401 The City of Rome: From Constantine to the Borgias Ann Elizabeth Moyer COLL 311A TR 1:45 PM-3:14 PM The great city of Rome outlived its empire and its emperors. What happened to the Eternal City after “the fall of the Roman Empire in the West?” In this course, we will follow the story of this great city, its people, its buildings old and new, and its legacy across Italy, Europe, and beyond. Rome rebuilt and reshaped itself through the Middle Ages: home for popes, destination for pilgrims, power broker for Italy. It became a great Renaissance and early modern city, a center of art and architecture, of religion, and of politics. We will be reading a mix of primary sources and modern scholarship. All required texts are in English, though students who take this course for Italian Studies credit may choose to read some works in Italian. ITAL2201401, ITAL2201401 Cross Cultural Analysis https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST2201401 European, Intellectual Europe, pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 2351-401 Silencing: Voices of Dissent in the Middle East Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet COLL 311F R 3:30 PM-6:29 PM The Middle East boasts a rich and vibrant literary tradition. At the same time, modern Middle Eastern literature has incorporated innovative techniques to produce unique literary forms that give meaning to the contemporary circumstances of the region. This course will survey this literary history as a window through which to observe and understand Middle Eastern society. We will begin by reading excerpts from classical texts, since these works resonate strongly in contemporary Middle Eastern culture. Next, we will read Middle Eastern novels from various countries and different eras. The last part of the course will focus on memoirs that shed light on wars and conflicts through personal reflections. We will use literary works (epic poetry, novels, memoirs) as historical texts and analyze the social milieux in which these works emerged. NELC2565401, NELC2565401 Cross Cultural Analysis Intellectual, World Africa/Middle East, Seminar
HIST 2401-401 Indians, Pirates, Rebels and Runaways: Unofficial Histories of the Colonial Caribbean Yvonne E Fabella DRLB 4C4 W 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This seminar considers the early history of the colonial Caribbean, not from the perspective of European colonizing powers but rather from “below.” Beginning with European-indigenous contact in the fifteenth century, and ending with the massive slave revolt that became the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804), we will focus on the different ways in which indigenous, African, European and creole men and women experienced European colonization in the Caribbean, as agents, victims and resistors of imperial projects. Each week or so, we will examine the experiences of a different social group and their treatment by historians, as well as anthropologists, archaeologists, sociologists, and novelists. Along the way, we will pay special attention to the question of primary sources: how can we recover the perspectives of people who rarely left their own accounts? How can we use documents and material objects—many of which were produced by colonial officials and elites—to access the experiences of the indigenous, the enslaved, and the poor? We will have some help approaching these questions from the knowledgeable staff at the Penn Museum, the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, and the Van Pelt Library. AFRC2401401, AFRC2401401, GSWS2401401, GSWS2401401, LALS2401401, LALS2401401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST2401401 Diplomatic, World Latin America/Caribbean, pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 2605-401 The Jewish Book from Scroll to Screen Joshua Teplitsky VANP 625 MW 12:00 PM-1:29 PM Through much of their history, Jews have been known as a “people of the book” and have, often, prided themselves on such an association. The very definition of a book, what books contained, and who might use them are not so easy to define, and their study opens up new ways to think about the Jewish past. Books are perhaps the most important way people share ideas and change minds. But they are also commercial goods, collectors’ items, community memories, and cherished heirlooms.
This course offers a cultural history of communication and knowledge in Jewish experience through an exploration of the history of the book. It will use primary sources, scholarly articles, and hands-on encounters with books in different shapes and sizes to explore the way people of the past engaged with books both texts and material objects. It will also offer examples of new methods in the study of the book drawn from the digital humanities. Tracing changing conceptions and uses of the book from the ancient world until the present, we will consider the way that books have shaped religion, caused upheaval, and changed over time, even to face their possible obsolescence in our own age. 		JWST2605401, JWST2605401 European, Intellectual, Jewish, World Europe, pre-1800, Seminar
HIST 2708-301 War and the Arts Arthur Waldron COLL 217 T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM War, it is often forgotten, is powerfully reflected in the arts. This highly flexible student-driven seminar will examine the phenomenon. Each student will choose a topic and materials for us all to examine and then discuss after an interval of 1-2 weeks. With benefit of discussion they will write a paper 10pp maximum, summing up topic and reactions, as we seek broader understanding.
The material is very rich. Goya (1746-1829) Picasso ( 1881-1973) both dealt with war in ways that scholars have examined, as did John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) whose immense canvas “gassed” (1919) not yet received monographic treatment. Of musicians, Shostakovich (1906-1975) is very promising; sculptor and artist Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) is of an inexpressible profundity that takes us to issues of mourning. Novels of Zola (1840-1902) and Proust (1871-1922) are great literature that deals in places with military issues. Students are of course strongly encouraged to choose their own topics.
We will begin with several weeks on Vietnam, our understanding of which has been completely transformed by the pivotally important work of Lien-Hang Thuy Nguyen, Penn Grad and Professor at Columbia, who may join us. For the first two classes we should read a short play, “The Columnist” by David Auburn, about Joseph Alsop (1910-1989) a highly influential writer of the Vietnam era, and relative of the professor. That should get things started. Then dig into “The Centurions” (1960) by Jean Laterguy (1920-2011) an absorbing novel. 		World Seminar
HIST 3173-401 Penn Slavery Project Research Seminar Kathleen M Brown MCES 105 T 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This research seminar provides students with instruction in basic historical methods and an opportunity to conduct collaborative primary source research into the University of Pennsylvania's historic connections to slavery. After an initial orientation to archival research, students will plunge in to doing actual research at the Kislak Center, the University Archives, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the American Philosophical Society, the Library Company, and various online sources. During the final month of the semester, students will begin drafting research reports and preparing for a public presentation of the work. During the semester, there will be opportunities to collaborate with a certified genealogist, a data management and website expert, a consultant on public programming, and a Penn graduate whose research has been integral to the Penn Slavery Project. AFRC3173401, AFRC3173401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST3173401 American Research, Seminar, US
HIST 3201-301 Capitalism and Charity: The Long, Complicated Connection Thomas M Safley FAGN 110 W 12:00 PM-2:59 PM Capitalism and charity seldom appear in the same sentence, much less the same title. They seem diametrically opposed. While capitalism is commonly understood as “an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit”, according to Merriam-Webster, charity refers to “generosity and helpfulness especially toward the needy or suffering, also aid given to those in need”. The former implies self-interest, while the other breathes common interest. Yet, the two are closely, dynamically connected. As capitalism has emerged and evolved historically, so has charity changed to meet new circumstances and find new legitimations. From simple charity in the form of indiscriminate alms-giving have emerged “poor relief”, “work relief”, “social welfare” and, more recently “effective altruism” to name but a few permutations. Charity as a personal, face-to-face interaction between rich and poor has become cloaked in varieties of impersonal programs and institutions. This research seminar will explore the tensions (and synergies) between capitalism and charity over time. Through readings and discussions of primary sources, students will come to understand something of this historical dynamic. By completing independent research projects, they will contribute to that understanding as well. Cross Cultural Analysis https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST3201301 Economic, European, World Europe, pre-1800, Research, Seminar
HIST 3252-401 Marx, Nietzsche, Freud: Masters of Suspicion Warren G Breckman WILL 633 R 12:00 PM-2:59 PM In his influential book Freud & Philosophy, the French philosopher Paul Ricoeur identified three master thinkers whose influence on the twentieth century was inestimable.  What these figures shared was what Ricoeur called a “hermeneutics of suspicion”; that is, in their different ways, each developed a style of interpretation aimed at unmasking, demystifying, and exposing the real from the apparent.  “Three masters, seemingly mutually exclusive, dominate the school of suspicion: Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.” Taking its inspiration from Ricoeur, this seminar will explore some of the key writings of Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud.  We will encounter the hermeneutics of suspicion above all in these authors’ attempts to unmask religion and reveal its true origin and function.  And we shall also pursue the hermeneutics of suspicion in the specific concerns that form the core of each thinker’s work: Marx’s critique of capitalism, Nietzsche’s genealogy of Judaeo-Christian morality, skepticism about ‘truth’, and proto-deconstruction of the human self, and Freud’s theory of the unconscious.  The final weeks of the course will be devoted to independent research and writing of an original essay in intellectual history. COML3252401, COML3252401 https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST3252401 European, Intellectual Europe, Research, Seminar
HIST 3350-401 Religion and Colonial Rule in Africa Cheikh Ante Mbacke Babou VANP 402 R 1:45 PM-4:44 PM This course is designed to introduce students to the religious experiences of Africans and to the politics of culture. We will examine how traditional African religious ideas and practices interacted with Christianity and Islam. We will look specifically at religious expressions among the Yoruba, Southern African independent churches and millenarist movements, and the variety of Muslim organizations that developed during the colonial era. The purpose of this course is threefold. First, to develop in students an awareness of the wide range of meanings of conversion and people's motives in creating and adhering to religious institutions; Second, to examine the political, cultural, and psychological dimensions in the expansion of religious social movements; And third, to investigate the role of religion as counterculture and instrument of resistance to European hegemony. Topics include: Mau Mau and Maji Maji movements in Kenya and Tanzania, Chimurenga in Mozambique, Watchtower churches in Southern Africa, anti-colonial Jihads in Sudan and Somalia and mystical Muslim orders in Senegal. AFRC3350401, AFRC3350401 Cross Cultural Analysis https://coursesintouch.apps.upenn.edu/cpr/jsp/fast.do?webService=syll&t=202230&c=HIST3350401 Diplomatic, World Africa/Middle East, Research, Seminar
HIST 3500-401 Women and the Making of Modern South Asia Ramya Sreenivasan COLL 315A MW 10:15 AM-11:44 AM This course on women in South Asian history has four objectives - 1. To acquaint ourselves with the historiography on South Asian women. 2. To gain an understanding of evolving institutions and practices shaping women's lives, such as the family, law and religious traditions. 3. To understand the impact of historical processes - the formation and breakdown of empire, colonialism, nationalism and decolonization - upon South Asian women between the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. 4. To become familiar with some of the significant texts written about and by women in this period. We will read a wide variety of primary sources including a Mughal princess' account, devotional verse authored by women, conduct books, tracts, autobiographies and novels. GSWS2601401, GSWS2601401, SAST2260401, SAST2260401 Gender, World East/South Asia, Research, Seminar
HIST 3700-401 Abolitionism: A Global History Roquinaldo Ferreira VANP 305 T 5:15 PM-8:14 PM This class develops a transnational and global approach to the rise of abolitionism in the nineteenth century. In a comparative framework, the class traces the rise of abolitionism in Europe, the Americas, Africa, and Asia, examining the suppression of the transatlantic slave trade, the rise of colonialism in Africa, and the growth of forced labor in the wake of transatlantic slave trade. We will deal with key debates in the literature of African, Atlantic and Global histories, including the causes and motivations of abolitionism, the relationship between the suppression of the slave trade and the growth of forced labor in Africa, the historical ties between abolitionism and the early stages of colonialism in Africa, the flow of indentured laborers from Asia to the Americas in the wake of the slave trade. This class is primarily geared towards the production of a research paper. *Depending on the research paper topic, History Majors and Minors can use this course to fulfill the US, Europe, Latin America or Africa requirement.* AFRC3700401, AFRC3700401, LALS3700401, LALS3700401 Diplomatic, European, World Europe, Research, Seminar
HIST 3703-401 Taking Off: How Some Economies Get Rich Melissa Teixeira COLL 314 T 3:30 PM-6:29 PM What makes an economy grow? This question has been asked – and answered – many times over in the modern era. From Adam Smith’s classic Wealth of Nations (1776) to today’s political leaders, many have debated the ingredients necessary for a nation to prosper, or policies to promote growth. Some point to the need for fiscal responsibility, others an educated labor force, or to tariffs, natural resources, and the right laws. This seminar explores the deep history of this problem of economic growth. Students will read works by economists, social scientists, and historians that present different theories for why some nations develop faster than others. With case studies from across the globe, we will tackle topics like why Europe industrialized first, or the paradox of why the abundance of natural resources does not necessarily contribute to long-lasting economic development. This course also asks students to think critically about the metrics used to measure “success” and “failure” across nations, as well as how such comparisons between societies have been mobilized to legitimize imperial expansion, human exploitation, environmental destruction, or political repression. By discussing how governments, corporate interests, and individual actors have implemented strategies to increase national wealth, students will also be asked to grapple with some of the consequences of economic growth for the environment, human welfare, and social inequality. *Students may fulfill one geographic requirement for the History major or minor with this course. The specific requirement fulfilled will be determined by the topic of the research paper. LALS3703401, LALS3703401 Economic, World Research, Seminar