Courses

• GRS HI 702: Science and American Culture
  From the colonial period to the present. Such topics as the American reception of Copernicus and Newton, scientific exploration, the interaction of science and religion, the impact of science on social theory, the rise of "big science," and contemporary "science wars."
• GRS HI 704: Science and Christianity
  Examines the relationship between science and the Christian tradition in Europe and North America since 1500. Considers the epistemological and metaphysical foundations of both science and Christian thought as they have evolved over time. Also offered as GRS RN 669.
• GRS HI 705: American Thought and Culture, 1776 to 1900
  Examines how intellectuals constructed an "exceptional" American identity by adjusting provincial Protestant and Enlightenment traditions to the challenges of transnational democratic, Romantic, and secular thought. Topics include Transcendentalism, pro- and anti-slavery movements, philosophical idealism, literary realism, and Darwinian theories.
• GRS HI 706: American Thought and Culture, 1900 to the Present
  Investigates how American thinkers brought about an intellectual revolution in three challenging moments: the naturalist revolt in pragmatic philosophy and modern art; progressive liberals' confrontations with radicalism and new conservatisms; and post-structuralists' uncertain leap beyond modernist science, religion, and humanities. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course entitled "Intellectual History of the United States, 1900 to the Present" that was previously numbered GRS HI 706.
• GRS HI 708: Religious Thought in America
  Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Also offered as GRS RN 614.
• GRS HI 746: History of International Human Rights
  History of international human rights since the eighteenth century. Examines political, social, economic rights, the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and related international conventions, enforcement, regionalism, globalization, and NGOs. Analyzes tensions between national sovereignty and human rights.
• GRS HI 749: History of Religion in Pre-Colonial Africa
  Study of the development of religious traditions in Africa during the period prior to European colonialism. An emphasis both on indigenous religions and on the African roots and the growth and spread of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam in the continent as a whole. Also offered as GRS AA 882 and GRS RN 682.
• GRS HI 750: History of the Atlantic World
  Examines the various interactions that shaped the Atlantic World, connecting Europe, Africa, and the Americas between 1400 and 1800. Begins by defining the political interaction, then emphasizes cultural exchange, religious conversion, and the revolutionary era. Also offered as GRS AA 885.
• GRS HI 751: Environmental History of Africa
  Focus on the African environment and ecological systems over the past 150 years. Topics include climate change, hydrography, agriculture, deforestation, soil erosion, disease, conservation, famine, and the role of colonialism and government policy in environmental change.
• GRS HI 800: European Historiography
  Examines historical writing about Europe through changing trends in method and approach.
• GRS HI 801: The Historian's Craft
  Intensive training in the best practices of historical research, writing, publication, and oral presentation. Culminates in the production of a publishable journal article.
• GRS HI 849: United States History 1830 to 1900
  Historiographic investigation of various central themes in nineteenth century US history, covering the years 1830-1900. Introduces students to scholarship on such issues as plantation slavery; abolition; Civil War; Reconstruction; and race relations after the Civil War.
• GRS HI 850: American Historiography
  Examines the methodological and professional development of American historians since the 1880s, changes in the field since the founding period, and new directions in U.S. history.
• GRS HI 851: Recent American History
  Advanced graduate seminar that investigates significant problems in the history of the United States since 1900. The specific focus of the seminar changes from year-to-year. Topics have included "Politics and Popular Culture in Twentieth Century America" and "State and Society."
• GRS HI 857: Topics in American Cultural History
  Readings seminar focusing on American culture, broadly defined, in various periods of American history. Readings consist of both primary documents and secondary sources relevant to the specific topic.
• GRS HI 859: The United States as a World Power
  Meets with CAS PO 578. The course material is organized along a debate format. Although the course is primarily concerned with twentieth-century U.S. foreign policy, attention is also given to eighteenth- and nineteenth-century issues.
• GRS HI 863: Topics in American Intellectual History
  Introduces graduate students to major methods and themes in the field of U.S. intellectual history. Topic for Spring 2017: Exceptional, National, Transnational: Comparativist Approaches to American History. This seminar examines the challenges posed to nation-centered American historical scholarship by recent transnational methods and interpretations.
• GRS HI 870: African Historiography
  Examines historical writing about the African continent through key trends in the study of themes and regional historiographies. Also highlights recent works in the field.
• GRS HI 880: The History of Food
  A comparative perspective on issues of human subsistence through time. Changing patterns of nutrition and health, agricultural production, methods of coping with famine and organizing feasts, origins and impact of culinary and dietary innovations.
• GRS HI 900: Dissertation Writing
  A workshop designed for students writing a dissertation that provides them with critical responses to their work and addresses important issues associated with becoming a professional historian.

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