PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORY: The Great Depression
50:509:299:01
T/TH 3:35 pm – 4:55 pm
Professor Golden
Americans experienced great hardship and profound social changes during the Great Depression of the 1920s and 1930s. This course examines the lives of ordinary Americans during this era and asks how they coped with and responded to the changes in their lives. The course also explores political activity from government programs developed under President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal to the rise of new social movements on the left and the right. History majors taking this class will learn to interpret a variety of primary sources, to develop research skills, to hone their critical thinking, and to sharpen their writing by producing a research paper.
PUBLIC HISTORY PRACTICE
50:509:300:01
Course Meeting Time By Arrangement
Professor Mires
Get your hands on history: This is an individualized opportunity to gain knowledge of local and regional history while contributing to a public history project based at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH) at Rutgers-Camden. The options include historic house research and curatorship for the Cooper Street Historic District and research and digital publishing for The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia. In addition to readings in local and regional history, students will be provided with training and ongoing supervision and feedback while working approximately six hours per week on-site on their selected projects. This course is by arrangement, with permission of the instructor, and is open to juniors and seniors with a GPA of 3.0 and above. Interested students please contact Dr. Charlene Mires, cmires@camden.rutgers.edu.
WESTERN CIVILIZATION I
50:510:101:01
M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm
Professor Mokhberi
This course introduces students to Western civilization from the end of the Roman world to the political and scientific revolutions of the 17th century. The first half of the course will explore the Middle Ages, including the empire of Charlemagne, the Viking invasions, and the feudal system marked by the economic and social relationship between knights, kings, and the peasantry. The class will discover how the Catholic church grew from a network of isolated monasteries to a powerful institution that challenged Kings, called for the Crusades, and built great Romanesque and Gothic structures. In the second half of the course, students will learn how kings rose from small landlords to heads of state, creating a government and military system that replaced knights with a polite nobility. The class will understand the economic crisis and plague that hit Europe at the end of the Middle Ages and paved the way for the artistic, intellectual, political, and military changes that unfolded during the Renaissance. We will cover the scathing criticism of the Catholic Church that led to the Protestant Reformation. Finally, students will learn about the Scientific Revolution, including Descartes and Newton, and the rise of the absolutist state.
THE RENAISSANCE AND THE REFORMATION
50:510:315:01
M/W 2:05 pm – 3:25pm
Professor Mokhberi
Kings, witches, war, religious violence, dance, and new artistic styles mark the European Renaissance. This course covers Europe’s transition from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance from 1300-1600. During this time, Europe underwent tremendous cultural, political, technological, military, and religious change. Students will explore humanist thought, the rise of new military and printing technology, European explorations, court culture, the arts, witchcraft trials, and new religious discourses.
TUDOR & STUART ENGLAND
50:510:351:01
T/TH 3:35 pm – 4:55 pm
Professor Shankman
This course has just about everything: Henry VIII and all six of his wives, Catholics killing Protestants and Protestants killing Catholics, Elizabeth the virgin queen, Shakespeare, bishops clipping the ears off of ministers, the English people clipping off the head of their king, communists and naked Quakers, the first truly modern revolution in world history, and, oh yes, the origins of almost all of American government and the political and economic ideas that shaped the United States. More specifically: this course will examine the years from the late 1400s to the late 1700s to discover how tiny, insignificant, and peripheral England became the dominant global power between the late fifteenth century and the mid eighteenth century.
EUROPEAN HISTORY ON FILM
50:510:378:01
M/W 3:45 pm – 5:05 pm
Professor Marker
This course examines history and film in Europe from the early twentieth century to today. We will consider how the political and social struggles that have shaped modern European history have been refracted and interpreted on the sliver screen. Throughout the term, we will work through a set of guiding questions: How did Europeans experience the twentieth century? How have filmmakers reflected upon those experiences? How can film help illuminate our understanding of European history? How can history help illuminate our understanding of European film? Coursework will include lectures, class discussion, short readings, and weekly film viewings.
Special Topics in European History: FROM PETER THE GREAT TO PUTIN: EMPIRE IN RUSSIA
50:510:380:01
T/TH 9:35 am – 10:55 am
Professor Bernstein
This course, which fulfills the Gen Ed requirement for Global Communities, explores the Russian and Soviet empires through a close look at some of the key figures responsible for Russia’s expansion and contraction: Peter the Great; Catherine the Great: Tsar Nicholas I; Vladimir Lenin: Joseph Stalin; Mikhail Gorbachev; and Vladimir Putin. Course work will consist of readings in primary and secondary sources, and short papers on the readings. This is not a lecture course; classes will be built around discussions of the issues and analyses of the reading assignments. Link to syllabus
INDEPENDENT STUDY HISTORY
50:510:499:01, Section 02
By Arrangement, Staff
Independent reading under the supervision of a member of the department.
Development of the US II: CISS Session
(Course Initiative for Student Success)
50:512:102:L1
T 8:35 am – 10:35 am
Amy Osterhout
The Course Initiative for Student Success (or CISS) program provides students with an extra one-credit class in addition to their regularly scheduled, 3-credit Development of US II survey class. Students enrolled in the CISS session will meet for one hour, once a week in addition to their regular attendance in the larger USII course. CISS is a small group review session led by the USII graduate student/teaching assistant that provides students with individualized attention, extra review and guidance, and skills to improve their critical reading and writing skills in college.
Development of the United States I: U.S. Survey I
50:512:201:01
M/W 9:35 am – 10:55 am
Professor Martin
This course traces the path of American history from before European colonization through the colonial period, the Imperial Crisis, Revolution, Civil War, and Reconstruction. We will examine the most important political, economic, social, and cultural developments of the 17th – 19th centuries, and observe how different groups of people shaped and were affected by such developments. Learning about the past involves a careful effort to understand the ideas and beliefs that motivated people to act in certain specific ways, within particular historical circumstances. Development of U.S. I is an introductory course, intended to acquaint students with various ideas, events, and people from this particular segment of America’s past, and to introduce students to some of the questions and debates that animate the study of early American history.
Development of the United States II
50:512:202:01
T/Th 11:10 am – 12:30 pm
Professor Demirjian
This course examines the political, economic, social, and military history of the United States from the 1860s through the 1970s. The course will also examine the roles played by ethnicity, race, gender, class, the development of a national market economy, and the emergence of a powerful national state in shaping ideas about American identity and its place in the world.
African-American History I
50:512:203:01
M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm
Professor Glasker
African American History I explores the history of black people from the time of ancient African origins up to the Civil War-Reconstruction period. It examines the cultural,economic and epidemiological factors that contributed to the rise of the Atlantic slave system and the use of Africans as slaves in the United States and and the Atlantic world. The course will also examine the impact of slavery on gender roles and the black family, and resistance to slavery and the rise of the abolitionist movement. Finally, the course will look at the role of black activists such as Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, and the slave revolts and conspiracies.
America in the Fifties
50:512:336:01
T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Golden
Were the 1950s a time of joyful family life as portrayed on the TV show “Happy Days” or did the Cold War, the threat of nuclear Armageddon, and the Red Scare portend something darker, as seen in the horror movies of the period? How did booming economy in the post World War II years transform the lives of women and minorities? How did art, culture, design, and music reflect the events of the decade? How did the dawning Civil Rights movement, the baby boom, and the growth of consumer culture, as well as American engagement overseas presage the changes to come in the turbulent 1960s? In this course we address these questions and explore the United States from the end of World War II to the election of President Kennedy. Popular and documentary films serve as critical primary sources that we explore in conjunction with assigned readings.
Special Topics in American History: Excavating the Past
50:512:380:01
W 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Bonneau (email will be updated as it becomes available)
In November 2016, construction crews at 218 Arch Street, Philadelphia unearthed a burial ground in use from the 18th through 19th centuries. A team of investigators, including Rutgers students and faculty, rescued the remains of 500 individuals for study and reinternment. This experiential learning course will introduce students to the theories and methodologies of the historians’ craft while providing a chance to work alongside the team of professionals engaged in the interpretation of the site and remains. In the classroom, students will learn the necessary tools by which to “do history”: research, critical thinking, and the presentation of clear arguments. Outside the classroom, students will work with members of the Arch Street Project to contextualize these findings. Students will then present their research at the end of the semester. Particular focus is given to new subfields like environmental, medical, demographic, and gender history while providing opportunities for collaboration outside the humanities.
Special Topics in American History: Introduction to Public History
50:512:382:01
M 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Mires
This seminar-style course provides an opportunity to explore the ways that history is studied and communicated in settings such as museums, historic sites, and archives, and in the digital realm. Readings and discussions will include controversies such as the display of the Enola Gay at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and the creation of the President’s House site exhibit in Philadelphia. The course also will examine how civic engagement techniques and the interpretation of diverse, multiple narratives of history have come to the forefront of public history practice. (This course meets concurrently with the graduate seminar Issues in Public History. Undergraduates will build familiarity with public history through independent field visits to area historic sites and exhibits. The course also will provide an introduction to public history career options and advice on additional training necessary to enter the field.) Interested students are invited to email the professor at cmires@camden.rutgers.edu to request a draft syllabus. A reading list will be posted during the summer at https://charlenemires.camden.rutgers.edu.
COURSE HAS BEEN CANCELLED
SPECIAL TOPICS IN AMERICAN HISTORY: WAR AND THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY
50:512:383:01
TH 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Clemis
This course explores the historical experience of the President of the United States in times of war and global crisis. It examines the leadership and decision-making of past presidents, the relationship between the Executive Branch and the uniformed services, the role the White House has played in shaping national security policy and military strategy, and the influence past wars and military affairs have exerted on the Chief Executive. The course also examines the theory and practice of American civil-military relations and civilian control of the military, paying particular attention to the close interaction and working relationship between the commander-in-chief, his political advisors, and the generals that serve them. Overall, the course is designed to underscore the powerful impact past presidents have had on military affairs and vice versa.
American Lives: History and Biography
50:512:392:01
M/W 3:45 pm – 5:05 pm
Professor Glasker
American Lives: History and Biography examines the relationship of history and biography. It “explores how the lives of individual Americans can be used to illuminate critical themes in American history and demonstrates how individual lives are shaped by historical forces.” People are products of their time, society, culture, environment and experience. Biography and autobiography often serve to illustrate or symbolize larger themes and forces at work in society and history. For example, a biography of Rosa Parks, or her own autobiography, can serve as a symbol for the Civil Rights Movement. Gloria Steinem can serve as a symbol for the women’s rights movement. Contemporary black autobiography can illuminate the Black Lives Matter Movement. Although we will not do this, a biography of Lincoln could give insight into the secession crisis, Civil War, and emancipation.
Independent Study in American History
50:512:499:01, Section 03, 04
By Arrangement
Staff
Independent reading under the direction of a member of the department.
Japan in the ERA of the Samurai
50:516:341:01
T/TH 2:00 pm – 3:20 pm
Professor Kapur
This survey course examines the history of Japan and the Japanese people from the earliest times until the overthrow of the samurai in 1868, including the emergence of the imperial state, the rise of the samurai class, and the development of traditional Japanese culture, including religion, literature, and the arts. Along the way, we will consider the extent to which myths and legends about the samurai are true or false, as well as the role played by women in the making of Japanese culture.
The Caribbean: History of the Caribbean
50:516:350:01
T/TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm
Professor Thomas
In this course, we will explore the history of the Caribbean from the time of Columbus’s arrival in 1492 through the end of the 20th century. Examining political, economic, social, and cultural themes, we will track the major developments in the Caribbean past: discovery and conquest, colonialism and revolution, slavery and emancipation, imperialism and revolution, migration and transnationalism. Students will develop a clear understanding not only of the events and issues that have shaped the history of the Caribbean, but also will learn why and how the history of this region has unfolded in its particular ways. This advanced history course is reading-intensive (with up to 150 pages of reading per week) and there are four major writing assignments (but no exams!).
Readings in U.S., 1945 to Present
56:512:508:01
T 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Kapur
This course will investigate recent scholarship on the major developments in the US and world history from the end of World War II up to the present day. In addition to considering the civil rights movement, the global revolution of the 1960s, the rise of feminism and environmentalism, and the conservative backlash, we will also consider the effects of globalization and financialization, the rise of multi-national corporations and NGOs, the triumph of neoliberalism, and the ongoing emergence of the post-neoliberal world “populism.”
Research Colloquium in U.S., 1820 – 1898
56:512:510:01
M 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Shankman
This course provides an advanced introduction to the primary economic, political, social, and cultural developments of the U.S. nineteenth century.
Topics in Historic Preservation
56:512:515:01
By Arrangement
Professor Mires
This course combines independent directed readings with a ten-week historic preservation course offered on campus by the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities (MARCH). The preservation course available for this credit option during Fall 2018 is Introduction to Historic Preservation, which will meet on Wednesday evenings beginning on September 5. Separate online registration for the MARCH course is not necessary, and there is no additional registration fee. Independent readings will be supervised by Dr. Charlene Mires. MARCH courses may also be taken on a non-credit basis, with an option of earning a continuing education certificate in historic preservation. For further information about the program, go to: https://preservation.rutgers.edu. Additional fall semester noncredit options will be posted in June; they will include a ten-week course in the history of the region’s built environment and a five-week course in architectural drawing.
Issues in Public History
56:512:531:01
M 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Mires
This seminar will go behind the scenes of the production and communication of history in settings such as museums, historic sites, and archives, and in the digital realm. We will examine issues in public history through controversies such as the display of the Enola Gay at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and the creation of the President’s House site exhibit in Philadelphia. Readings and discussion also will examine how civic engagement techniques and the interpretation of diverse, multiple narratives of history have come to the forefront of public history practice. (This seminar meets concurrently with the undergraduate course Introduction to Public History. Graduate students will gain familiarity with the literature of the field by developing a paper about a selected public history issue; the seminar also will offer a realistic examination of the job market and opportunities to begin to create a professional network.) A reading list will be posted during the summer at https://charlenemires.camden.rutgers.edu.
Readings, Cultural History of Capitalism
56:512:548:01
Th 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Woloson
The solidification of American capitalism during the 19th century was far from seamless and uncontested. This class focuses on how the process of capitalism changed culture and society during its formative years in America. We will focus on how people acceded to and contested the logic of capitalism as it increasingly permeated even non-commercial parts of people’s lives. In addition to being a source of financial gain for some and a force of oppressions for others, how did capitalism change the way people acted, how they felt, and what they believed in? Further, how did economic, cultural, and social systems overlap and intertwine, becoming contingent upon one another? We will read key works of scholarship in the of the cultural history of capitalism, broadly considered. Topics covered will include everyone from counterfeiters and prostitutes to child scavengers and Wall Street bankers. We’ll talk, too, about speculation, risk-taking, and rip-offs. We’ll also cover the rise of new mechanisms to facilitate capitalism’s ever-expanding reach, like financial instruments and insurance policies, and the people who serviced them, such as middle-men, agents, and brokers. Finally, we will explore how the logic of capitalism affected Americans’ ways of being, from the world of sentiment to the world of consumption.
Students will complete in-depth readings for each weekly topic, be expected to actively contribute to class discussion, and complete extended essays assigned throughout the semester.
The Craft of History
56:512:550:01
W 6:00 pm – 8:50 pm
Professor Marker
The Craft of History is unique in the master’s program at Rutgers-Camden. Rather than a readings or research course in a particular area of history, this course is designed to familiarize students with major problems, questions, and methods that shape the discipline of history as a whole. In the first part of the course, we will explore how scholars have historicized the study of history itself. We’ll then consider a wide variety of competing methodological approaches to the study of the past and work through the major “historiographical turns” of the past few decades. The course will conclude with an examination of a few key historical debates, the boundaries between scholarship and fraud, and the politics of history-writing today.
MANAGING CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL ORGANIZATIONS
26:050:521:03 (ONLINE COURSE/NEWARK)
Professor Mires
Of interest for public history students, this online graduate course will be offered in the fall by the American Studies program at Rutgers-Newark. The instructor will be Bob Beatty, American Association for State and Local History (AASLH).
American historical and cultural institutions are founded on the principle of serving the community through the preservation of and access to the traces of the past. They typically achieve this through their collections, exhibitions, public programs, and other manners of public engagement. These organizations most often operate as nonprofits, and must do so in a manner that is sustainable in the long-term. Explore the principles of managing these important, but complex, organizations including: mission and planning, nonprofit status, transparency, governance, public programming, leadership, finance, fundraising, facilities, legal and ethical issues, technology, and audiences, among other subjects.
Independent Study in History
56:512:698:01
By Arrangement
Staff
Independent reading under the direction of a member of the department.
Independent Study in History
56:512:698:01, section 02
By Arrangement
Staff
Independent reading under the direction of a member of the department.
Internship in Public History
56:512:699:01
By Arrangement
Professor Woloson
Supervised work experience in a public history office or private institutional setting, involving project work for one semester or a summer.
Matriculation Continuation
56:512:800:01
By Arrangement
Staff
Continuous registration may be accomplished by enrolling for at least 3 credits in standard course offerings, including research courses, or by enrolling in this course for 0 credits. Students actively engaged in study toward their degree who are using university facilities and faculty time are expected to enroll for the appropriate credits.