History

(See RE 181.)

H.P. Lovecraft, now considered the greatest American writer of horror stories since Edgar Alan Poe, wrote in the 1930s that “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is the fear of the unknown.” Ghost and monster stories therefore become historical sources that enable us to have a sense of what people in the past and in different cultures have fears, and that historical knowledge tells us important things about those societies. Students in HI 185 will read a variety of ghost and monster stories, using them as sources that reflect how past era and different cultures have drawn the boundaries of the known and the unknown, and what their fears were. The course will cover ghost and monster stories from ancient Mesopotamia, Japan, Latin America, and Europe and the United States. We will place the stories in the context of broader cultural and intellectual developments, especially common elements in folktales and the emergence of modern science and psychology. In doing so, we will see how ghosts and monster stories address basic social and cultural beliefs, form human mortality to social justice, and from evolution of the psychology of unconscious. 

Japanese history and religion are intimately intertwined; indeed, it is impossible to understand one without the other. This course is intended to assist you in understanding Japan in the context of its history and major religious traditions. It will cover the sweep of Japan's story from its archaeological and mythical beginnings to today. We will explore the development of its primary religious traditions, Buddhism and Shinto, as well as other religions such as Confucianism that play an important part in Japanese history and thought. Readings will include texts by Japanese and non-Japanese alike. No previous knowledge of Japan is assumed.

This course is intended to assist you in understanding contemporary China in the context of its history and major religions. It will cover the sweep of China's story from its beginnings to the 21st century. Traditions treated will include ancient beliefs and practices, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and modern political ideologies such as Maoism. Readings will include texts by Chinese and non-Chinese alike. No previous knowledge of China is assumed. 

This course is designed to introduce students to the history of the American Civil War and its profound impact on the United States. It focuses on the period from the nullification crisis of 1830 through the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and takes as its central theme, an in-depth exploration of the concept of freedom for nineteenth-century Americans. To that end, we will discuss national debates concerning slavery, the politics of the 1850s, and the creation of Southern nationalism, paying particular attention to concepts of freedom and nationality. It also examines the military, economic, and social aspects of the war, the process of emancipation, and the role of African Americans in these events. Finally, this course concludes with an exploration into the Reconstruction era and its legacy for race and gender issues, as well as politics and economics.

Covers the history and development of slavery and the process of emancipation in the United States. Examines the economic, social, legal, political, and cultural characteristics of American slavery, how these evolved, and how the institution grew in the Atlantic world. The South became the primary location for the development of slavery in the U.S., although other states and colonies actively shaped the institution as well, and the history of slavery in the South followed a different trajectory from other societies in the Americas. Also explores the development of emancipation from the colonial period to the end of the Civil War, including self liberation, slave resistance, compensated emancipation, the anti-slavery and abolition movement, and colonization projects.