History (HIST)

An exploration of significant questions and concepts, beliefs and creative visions, theories and discoveries in History for first-year students. Although topics vary, the courses also seek to improve students' communication skills beyond the written word.

An introduction to Western civilization with emphasis on European political, economic, social and cultural developments and their influence in shaping our contemporary world. Students will be encouraged to examine fundamental trends and the uses of the historical method.

An introduction to European history in a global context, with emphasis on cultural, social, political, and economic developments and their influence in shaping our contemporary world. Students will read primary sources and examine the uses of the historical method.

An introduction to the history of the United States from its origins to 1877. Topics include the development of the American colonies and their institutions, the Revolution, the creation of the federal union, the people of America, the Civil War and Reconstruction.

An introduction to the history of the United States from 1877 to the present. Topics include major political, social and economic developments since 1877, overseas expansion, the two world wars, the Cold War and the post-Cold War era.

This course is an introductory survey of Latin American history from pre-contact societies to the end of colonial rule encompassing both Portuguese and Spanish America. Latin America to 1825 examines crucial historical processes to the formation of modern Latin American societies. The history of the sub-continent is understood as part of the large Atlantic community. Topics that will be examined in the course include: conquest, colonialism, empire, slavery, slave trade, commodity chains, roots of inequalities, subaltern groups, gender, corruption and contraband, rebellions and revolutions, trans-imperial interactions.

The development of Latin America from 1824 to the present, emphasizing the struggle for social justice, political stability and economic development.

This lecture course examines the origins of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean societies from ancient times to 1600. Designed as a companion to History 142 “Survey of East Asian Civilization from 1600,”the course engages with the conceptual frameworks that have shaped our view of East Asia, past and present. Equal parts content and critique, it introduces the histories of these three countries through their philosophical, literary, religious, political, and economic connections. By the end of the semester, students should gain a basic understanding of how organized states emerged in East Asia, and the ways in which their histories unfolded and cultures developed in relation to the region and the world. Students will moreover cultivate familiarity with historical research methods, and appreciate the complexities of historical reconstruction, narration, and debate.

An introduction to the political, social and cultural history of East Asia since 1600.

An exploration of a specific topic in History. A grade of C- or better fulfills the COLL 150 requirement. Although topics vary, the courses emphasize academic writing skills, reading and analysis of texts, and discussion.

Drawing on the latest multidisciplinary scholarship and visual materials on South Asia, this course examines the ancient, medieval, and modern history of the Indian Subcontinent. Themes include concepts of sovereignty, colonialism, nationalism, partition, religious identities, economic developments, and center-region disputes.

A history of the Middle East from the advent of Islam in the 7th century to 1400. The focus will be on political, socio-economic and cultural developments, and their interconnectedness.

A historical review of the modern Middle East since 1400 that emphasizes the Early Modern Middle Eastern empires (the Ottomans and the Safavids), the long nineteenth century, and the major political and socio-economic developments in the region since WWI.

A thematic approach to socio-economic and political change in Africa from early times to 1800. Emphasis is on African cultural heritage, state building, internal and external trade, and interaction with outside forces: Islam, Christianity and colonialism, as well as on Africa’s most pressing problems of the time.

An introduction to the history of the world, with emphasis on civilizations, cultural diversity, global conflict and global convergence.

An introduction to the history of the world, with emphasis on civilizations, cultural diversity, global conflict and global convergence.

Students will participate in a research project and develop the analytical, methodological, and communication skills necessary to meaningfully participate in the generation of historical knowledge. Programs of study will be arranged individually with a faculty supervisor. Students must have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average to pursue History Lab credit. This course may be repeated for credit with instructor permission.

A course designed especially for freshmen and sophomores who have taken AP European or AP American history in high school. Topics vary by semester.

A course designed especially for freshmen and sophomores who have taken AP European or AP American history in high school. Topics vary by semester.

The “founders”—revolutionaries, reformers, and framers of the government of the United States—have a driving role in how Americans and the world have come to understand the culture of U.S. nationalism. From George Washington to Frederick Douglass, from Nathan Hale to Nat Turner, and from Mercy Otis Warren to Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, human lives have been rendered by popular politics into icons. Their individual contributions have most often featured in broadly palatable nationalist histories of the United States; but are increasingly the heart of critical and revisionist narratives exploring histories of white supremacism, patriarchy, and paradoxical cultures of liberty and oppression in the early republic. These revisions have their own social history, in movement-driven attempts to reform and broaden collective memory, and thereby to make political claims on the present and future of U.S. democracy. This course investigates the processes of history-writing and memory-making by which particular individual biographies have served as shorthand for these larger social processes and moral perceptions in and beyond U.S. nationalism. Through readings that deal with both history and memory; comparisons with national icons beyond the United States; and student-driven investigations of figures not located on our syllabus, we’ll deepen our understanding of the rise of early republican U.S. popular nationalism; the dynamics of elite cultures and political arguments that shaped foundational approaches to slavery, suffrage, and racial modernity; and processes underpinning the social construction of U.S. nationalist collective memory and identity since the 18th century.

In this course, we will investigate the late 16th and the 17th centuries to establish Jamestown in a broader context—the European drive for colonization, the economic and social pressures within England, the political upheavals on both sides of the Atlantic, and the continuing relationship between Virginia and the mother country. Jamestown is more than the fort of 1607—it is a seat of power within a growing empire until 1699. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

An examination of the life and times of Thomas Jefferson. Topics include the world of Jefferson’s youth and the momentous issues that crystallized during the latter decades of the eighteenth century. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

Exploration of topics from American history by using historic sites (examples: Mythologizing Virginia, Virginia through Technology, Artifacts of American History). Classes meet ALL DAY at historic sites and museums. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

Jamestown to the Revolution -- Early American History concentrating on the period from the founding of Jamestown in 1607 through the era of the American Revolution. Classes meet ALL DAY "on-site" at archaeological excavations, museums, or historic buildings. Please contact instructor for more details. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

The course starts in Williamsburg and Yorktown, the beginning and end points of the American Revolution for Virginians, and moves to Richmond where newly independent Americans wrestled with how to construct their society, who would get to participate, and what nationhood and citizenship meant. The choices they made—or which were made for them—shaped the social, political, and physical landscape of Virginia and the new nation in the 19th century until sectional cracks burst open in the bloody conflict of the Civil War. What led to this deadly reckoning and what are its legacies in Richmond, in Virginia, and in the rest of the United States? This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

A close examination of the people, places, and events of the Era of the American Revolution in Virginia from the Seven Years War in the middle of the eighteenth century to the Age of Jackson in the nineteenth century. Classes meet ALL DAY at historic sites and museums. Please contact instructor for details and permission to enroll. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

Early American history through the lens of the Williamsburg experience. Topics include politics, social structure, gender, religion, race and the economy from the establishment of Jamestown in 1607, to the Middle Plantation settlement of the mid-1600s, the transfer of the capital from Jamestown to Williamsburg, and the impact of the American Revolution on this city. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course is designed to introduce students to some of the main themes and issues of the field as it has developed in the past two decades. Primary themes in this course include: work, sexual/gender norms and values, women’s networks and politics, and how each of these has changed over time and differed for women from diverse cultures/communities.

This course is designed to introduce students to some of the main themes and issues of the field as it has developed in the past two decades. Primary themes in this course include: work, sexual/gender norms and values, women’s networks and politics, and how each of these has changed over time and differed for women from diverse cultures/communities. The course divides at 1879.

This course examines the violent contact between Japan and the United States in the Pacific during World War II, with a comparative focus on conceptions of race, honor and national identity. The course employs primary and secondary sources, as well as films. This course satisfies the department’s computing requirement.

This class will explore one of the most repressive regions in the US: the Southern worlds of plantation, slave quarter, and hillbilly-hideout. How did blues and country music emerge? How did the literature of Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, and Carson McCullers grow out of the South? How did stock car racing grow out of moon shining?

Few would argue that “history plays” are a true and accurate representation of past events. Yet, a great deal of knowledge and culture is transmitted from the stage. This is especially true for marginalized groups whose culture has long been excluded from curricula. From the musical Hamilton to the wrenching AIDS play Warren this course journeys across the United States to open a window onto America’s past and how the understanding of that past has changed over time. The theatre explored in this course will provide a survey of the major, and not-so-major but hugely important, works that will help students think differently about history and how to communicate beyond the traditional essay.

The Trans-Mississippi West after the "closing of the frontier." Topics include environmental change, economics, urbanization, race, class, gender, regional identity, and popular culture.

An exploration of the principal forces shaping the contours of American culture, society and thought in the pivotal first three decades after World War II.

This course examines the critical issues in the history of the newly independent United States from approximately 1783 to Andrew Jackson’s election in 1828.

This course explores the history of African-descended people in the U.S. from their first arrival in the North American colonies through the end of slavery during the Civil War. We will investigate the ways African Americans fashioned new worlds and cultures while living under the enormous constraints of slavery and discrimination. Struggles for freedom, full citizenship, and alternative political visions, and the role of such struggles in shaping African Americans’ identification with each other as a people, will be a focus throughout. We will also treat differences of class and gender within African American communities. (Cross listed with AFST 235.)

A survey of African American history from emancipation to the present.

A survey of American Indian history to 1763.

This course surveys the significant events, issues, and themes in the "New Indian History" from the late colonial period to the present day. Through the assigned readings, lectures, discussions, films, and music, students will gain a better understanding of the enormous diversity of Native cultures and histories, as well as the shared experiences that have shaped them over time.

The history of the crusading movement during the Middle Ages. The course focuses on the changing nature of Christian- Muslim relations and on the Crusades’ cultural and geopolitical ramifications. Readings consist primarily of contemporary Latin, Greek, and Arabic sources (in translation).

From the Congress of Vienna to the start of World War I. Investigates the industrial revolution, liberalism, socialism, imperialism and the various contexts of World War I.

This course investigates World War I, German inflation and worldwide depression, fascism, the trajectory of World War II and the collapse of the old order in 1945. Attention also given to the culture of modernism.

Topical survey of Europe east and west since World War II. Includes postwar recovery, geopolitical tensions and the Cold War, imperialism, protest movements of the 1960s and 1970s, communism and its collapse, a united Europe in theory and practice.

This course provides an overview of major issues and developments in American religious history from pre-Columbian North America through the end of the eighteenth century. Topics include: Native American Sacred Power; Catholic Missions in New Spain and New France; Protestant Colonialism; Magic and Christian Authority; Slavery and the African Diaspora; British Religious Cultures; Evangelical Revivalism; Christian Anti- and Proslavery; Religion and Revolution; and Church-State Separation.

An examination of various aspects of post-World War II Japan. After an intensive look at politics and the economy, the course explores such topics as the popularity of new religions, changing attitudes toward sex and marriage, Japan’s new nationalism, Japan’s role in the larger Asian region and beyond, and the culture and life of Tokyo. Several documentaries and movies will be shown. (Open to all students, including freshmen and sophomores with AP history credit or exemptions.)

This course will explore the cultural history of ancient Egypt by reaching beyond kinglists and royal chronicles to gain insight into societal dynamics of class, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity from the rich visual repertoire of Egypt’s hieroglyphic writing system and art. Students will read Egyptian literary texts in translation but also develop the ability to read short statements and captions written in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Particular attention will be given to the Old and Middle Kingdoms, when the foundations of Egyptian art and literature were first established.

This spring-semester course continues the survey of ancient Egyptian cultural history that we began during the fall semester in COLL 200 “Deciphering Ancient Egypt” (Part 1); completion of that course is therefore a prerequisite for enrollment in this one. Whereas the fall-semester course focused upon the foundational aspects of Egyptian cultural history during the Old and Middle Kingdoms, this spring-semester course will instead challenge the popular view of Egyptian culture as static by highlighting the innovations of the New Kingdom through the Late Period, when Egypt underwent rapid theological, demographic, and economic transformations that resulted in an increasingly cosmopolitan society and a crisis of collective identity. Students will continue to develop their basic understanding of Egypt’s hieroglyphic writing system in order to access the many layers of meaning conveyed in the art and literature of this era. So radical were the changes to the human condition during the first millennium BCE that a leading Egyptologist has even referred to Egypt’s New Kingdom as the “threshold to the modern world!”

Explores the survival of West Africans in ancient environments, subsequent challenges in trans-Saharan and Atlantic slave trade, colonial overrule, political independence, and ever-increasing globalization as well as relocation to rural America in the early Atlantic era and eventually to contemporary American cities.

This course covers African history before AD 600, with emphasis on political and cultural histories of ancient cities and states.  It is a more focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa.

This course covers African history between 600 and 1500, with emphasis on the influence of Islam and changing commercial networks. It is a more focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa.

This course covers African history between 1500 and 1800, particularly Africa’s changing relationship with Western Europe and the Americas. It is a more focused survey than HIST 181, but it has no prerequisites and assumes no prior knowledge of Africa.  

This course cover African History from 1800 to the present, with emphasis on African state-building, slavery and abolition, the Africanization of Islam and Christianity, Colonialism and Anti-Colonial Politics, African Independence/Pan-Africanism and contemporary issues.

This is the designation for history courses taken abroad and approved for William and Mary history credit.

This course is designed for history majors or for students who intend to be history majors. Ideally, they will take this class either in the semester in which they declare their history major, or in the following term. The class will familiarize students with historiographical schools and with the idea of history as a discipline while also covering the arts and techniques of historical writing. It will typically require a final paper demonstrating the use of reason, evidence, compositional skills, and scholarly apparatus. This course should be taken prior to the capstone seminar, HIST 490/491.

Antecedents of modern Brazil, 1500-present, with accent on economic, social and cultural factors as well as on political growth in the Portuguese colony, the Empire and the Republic.

Development of the Mexican nation from the Spanish conquest to the present. Sequential treatment of the interaction of Spanish and Indian cultures, expansion of the frontier, independence, 19thcentury liberalism and caudillism, the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and its institutionalization.

This course will examine state violence and its repercussions in Latin America since the mid-20th century, focusing on three case studies: Chile, Argentina, and Guatemala. These cases (representative of a much broader phenomenon) give students the opportunity to engage critically and in-depth with some of the major questions surrounding violence and human rights: What explains the continent-wide wave of repression in Latin America in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s? When and why did governments choose to use extreme force against their own citizens? To what extent was the US government aware of or implicated in the violence? How were the extremes of “dirty” wars possible? How could the word “disappear,” for example, come into everyday grammar in Latin America as a transitive verb? In what ways could and did people resist?

Situated at the crossroads of Africa, Europe, Latin America, and the United States, the Caribbean has played a pivotal role in global transformations since 1492. The region’s past helped shape and was shaped by many of the contradictory themes defining modern history: slavery and freedom, racism and equality, empire and independence, despotism and democracy, and migration and transnationalism. Focusing on Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and especially Haiti and Cuba, we will explore these themes in Caribbean history from the Haitian Revolution to the present. The course is structured around class discussion. Grading will be based on brief papers and class participation.

This course explores the political, socio-economic, educational and cultural connections between African Americans and Africa. It examines the close linkages but also the difficulties between Africans and diasporic peoples in the modern era.

Intermediate level topics courses open to all students but preferably those with previous experience in 100- and/or 200-level history courses.

Intermediate level topics courses open to all students but preferably those with previous experience in 100- and/or 200-level history courses.

Intermediate level topics course open to all students but preferably to students who have completed HIST 221 / GSWS 221 and/or HIST 222 / GSWS 222.

This course offers a broad survey of Asian Pacific American history. Given the immense diversity of Asian Pacific American communities, we cannot offer an exhaustive history in one semester. Instead, we cover a number of major events in Asian Pacific American history and focus on many key concepts in Asian Pacific American Studies. Furthermore, we are interested in Asian Pacific American identity as a social construct, and spend a large amount of time focusing on race discourse. Many of the readings address the ways in which Asian Pacific American racial identity was constructed in American popular culture and law. Other key topics include immigration, exclusion, citizenship, class, and gender.

This course surveys the history of Pan-Africanism, a global political movement that considers Africans and diasporic blacks to have a common history, present and future, often proclaiming an objective of African political, socio-economic and cultural self-determination and asserting a fierce pride in African history and culture.

An examination of the growth of the U.S. military establishment and the exercise of and changes in military strategy and policies, as shaped by political, social and economic factors. Crucial to our inquiry will not only be discussions about the decisions and attitudes of ranking military and civilian leaders but also an analysis of the lives and circumstances of enlisted personnel, lower-ranking officers and civilian support staff.  

This course explores the emergence of nuclear technology and its widespread impact on global politics, business, and culture from World War II to the present day.

For over two centuries of American history, perceptions of Africa and of race have been expressed through shifting interpretations of an ancient African kingdom called Nubia. This course will trace the archaeological rediscovery of Nubia and explore its changing significance in American thought. No prior knowledge of Nubia is required.

The description and organization of this course will vary in accordance with different interests and expertise of each individual instructor.

This course examines the experiences of sub-Saharan Africans who traveled, before the Atlantic Slave Trade, throughout the Middle East, Indian Ocean, China, and Europe as merchants, soldiers, slaves, scholars, pilgrims, and ambassadors.

This course examines the migrations of Africans to the Americas during the Atlantic Slave Trade era, the development of new identities in their new societies and their continued connections to Africa.

This course examines the African Diaspora since 1800 with major themes including the end of slavery, the fight for full citizenship and the close interactions between diasporic blacks and Africans. Students who have already taken  HIST 323 - The African Diaspora, 1492-1808 are particularly encouraged to take this more advanced class.

This class explores the rise and fall of apartheid, the system of rigid racial segregation and domination that existed in South Africa from 1948 to 1994. It examines the successful anti-apartheid movement but also considers apartheids legacy in contemporary South Africa.

This course examines the Civil Rights movement as part of a centuries-long tradition of black freedom struggles. The course also compares the Civil Rights movement with the South African anti-apartheid struggle and shows the close transnational relationship between African Americans and black South Africans.

A study of U.S.-China relations from 1784 to the present, with special attention to Sino-American relations in the 20th and 21st centuries. This course satisfies the department’s computing requirement.

A history of Japan from the Tokugawa period (1600-1868) to the present, with emphasis on the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.

An examination of the major developments and issues in modern Korean history, including the collapse of the traditional order, Japanese colonial rule, the emergence of distinct political regimes in the north and south and north-south confrontation.

A history of China from 1644 to the present focusing on China’s imperial system, the experiment with republican government, and China under communist rule since 1949. This course satisfies the departments computing requirement.

This course examines the often inter-linked roles and definitions of nation, gender, and race, how these factors both undermined and reinforced British rule, and how they reshaped social relations in South Asia. Assignments include films, novels, memoirs, and travelogues.

This course satisfies the department’s computing requirement by introducing skills commonly employed by historians. It attempts to demystify computers by introducing their physical parts and the basics of computer jargon. It also discusses the impact of computers on the history profession.

The Ottoman Empire was one of the longest-lasting political structures in world history, ruling over a large portion of the Middle East and the Balkans for six centuries. This course is a survey of the history of the empire from its origins as a small principality in medieval Anatolia to a major world power in the sixteenth century, and to its eventual disintegration by the end of World War I. It intends to familiarize the students with the main political, social and cultural institutions of the Ottoman state and society, and how these changed over time. It will also introduce students to some of the major themes and recent trends in Ottoman historiography, including debates on the origins and decline of the Ottomans, the issue of Ottomans’ legacy for the successor states, as well as the growing research on Ottoman women.

This course introduces students to the modern history of Iran from the inception of the Qajar dynasty (1796) to the ‘Women, Life, Freedom’ protests of 2022-23, applying two analytical approaches. First, key events such as wars, revolutions and coups are explored in the context of long-term political, economic, social, and cultural changes. Second, Iran’s modern history is examined in the context of transnational and global history, highlighting connections, similarities, and differences with other regions. The topics of this course include state and class formation, the interplay between politics and religion, the emergence and transformation of political Islam, and the role of oil, ecology, gender, labor, revolutions, and social movements. In addition to secondary literature, the course introduces students to a variety of primary sources such as governmental documents, autobiographies, newspapers articles, poems, posters, music, movies and documentaries. 

Trends in ethnography (and ethnographic history) during the past two decades. Students will begin with a "classic monograph," go on to read about the "crisis" in representation as depicted in Clifford and Marcus, and then devote themselves to a critical analysis of a range of more recent work.

An introduction to the history of immigration to the United States from 1789 to the present. Emphasizing immigration from Ireland, China, Mexico and Eastern Europe, the course focuses on the history of U.S. immigration policy. It involves short lectures and discussions.

An introduction to the exploration, exploitation and colonization of eastern North America by the Spanish, French, English and Dutch; their cultural interaction with Native Americans in war and peace.

A survey of the history of North America north of Mexico from the beginnings of sustained European contact through the end of the Seven Years’ War.

An in-depth study of the origins of the American independence movement, the struggle between the rebellious colonies and the British Empire, the formation of the United States, and the salient cultural and social developments of the Revolutionary era.

Between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the United States underwent tumultuous transformations to its society, culture, politics, and economy. This course explores how the new nation’s rapidly growing and diversifying population experienced developments such as slavery’s expansion, industrialization, urbanization, immigration, political democratization (for some), and geographic mobility, especially of Euro American and African American populations into indigenous lands.  The course concludes in April 1861, when tensions engendered by the era’s dramatic changes culminated in the Civil War.

This course explores time-honored questions about the era from 1850 to 1877: What caused the Civil War?  How did the Union win?  What did the war and the post-war reconstruction accomplish?  But it moves beyond traditional accounts by focusing as much on ordinary Americans as politicians and generals. We will examine enlisted soldiers as well as people who were not allowed to fight, who opted not to fight, or who opposed the war.  We will explore not just the economic and military ramifications of wartime mobilization, but also its human consequences for both soldiers and civilians. We will join scholarly debates about how slavery fell apart; how civilians influenced military policy; how the war reshaped the lives and aspirations of ordinary men, women, and children; and how later generations’ “memories” of the Civil War have influenced our collective understanding of the era. This course does not chronicle military campaigns; instead, it focuses on how Americans, in their full diversity, experienced the 1850s, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

The American South from its colonial origins to the defeat of the Confederacy, including as major topics social structure, economic and geographic expansion, slavery as a system of profit and social control, the growth of southern sectionalism, and the southern mind.

Southern queer people are always-already inappropriately or insufficiently queer in the American imagination. Those who stay in closets and smaller towns (imagined as a kind of closet) or hold too tightly to Southernness after moving to America’s queer capitals face pity, derision, or fetishization. This class aims to explore and challenge the ways that queer Southerners have been used whilst also giving voice to those same queers. Employing queer theory, new cultural geography, literary/film criticism, and historical analysis, this class focuses in particular on the intersecting identities of queer and Southern. Additional intersections of race, class, and gender are necessarily part of the class’ investigations.

Free and enslaved Afro-Southerners’ relations with one another and with whites from colonization to the Civil War. Themes include the variety of human experience under the slave regime; cultural affinities and differences among blacks, and between black and white Southerners.

1866-1901. Explores the collapse of Reconstruction and the rise of big business. Topics include Victorian sexuality, the Jim Crow South, craft unionism, cities in the West and literary naturalism. Preference to juniors and seniors.

An examination of U.S. interactions with the wider world from 1901 to the present day. Topics include war, policymaking, economics, culture, immigration, religion, race, gender, and protest movements.

An examination of the United States’ role in Vietnam from 1945 to the present. The political, cultural, ideological and economic ramifications of the United States involvement will be analyzed from the American as well as the Vietnamese perspective.

This course explores how nineteenth-century Americans construed and debated personal religious experience, and how religious institutions developed and competed for social, cultural, and political power in this period. Topics include: Reason and Revolution; Evangelicalism; Democratization; Class Formation; Millennialism and the Apocalypse; Antislavery, Proslavery, and Reform; Civil War Christianities; Gender; Religious Psychology; Liberalism, Fundamentalism, and Agnosticism; and the Varieties of Religious Experience.

What is money and where and when did it first appear? Beginning with these seemingly simple questions, this course traces a history of money as an idea and practice from 3000 BCE to the present day. Our inquiries are guided by the belief that if we better understand the moneyness of money and how it has changed over time,  we might gain a clearer idea about controversies surrounding the conception and use of money today, and in the future.

Surveys the history of medieval Europe from the later Roman Empire through the Renaissance.

Investigation into the intellectual emphases and social and political contexts of humanist practices in Europe between 1314- 1598. Attention to historiography and historical method.

An investigation into the Catholic and Protestant Reformations in early modern Europe, 1500-1700. Examination of the foundations and effects of religious upheaval and codification. Attention to literacy, printing, the family, the creation of confessional identity and historiography.

This course uses case studies of episodes in Great Power politics from the Treaty of Westphalia to the founding of NATO to consider the application of history to current issues in international relations. Course readings prepare students to discuss and debate a range of key topics, such as the challenge of diplomatic/military overextension, foreign intervention in civil conflicts, relations among democracies and dictatorships, and the creation of successful (and unsuccessful) international structures. Evaluation is based on in-class participation, brief essays, and exams.

An intensive survey of Europe in transition: absolutism, enlightenment, enlightened despotism. This course satisfies the Department’s computing requirement.

This class introduces students to early modern British history, beginning with the wartime accession of Henry VII, the first Tudor king, in 1485 and concluding with the death of Queen Anne, the last Stuart monarch, in 1714. It has sometimes been claimed that Britain emerged as the first modern society during this period, and this class is largely oriented towards providing students with historical tools useful for assessing the grounds of this claim, identifying its underlying assumptions, and determining its validity.

This course will survey the social and cultural history of the British Empire from the sixteenth century to the present, with an emphasis on the ways in which diverse groups of people experienced empire. Themes will include migration, slavery, race, gender, imperial culture, class, and resistance to empire.

A survey of the political, social, economic, and cultural history of Britain.

A survey of the political, social, economic, and cultural history of Britain.

Modern history of the east-central region of Europe between Germany and Russia. Topics include: 19th century multi-national empires, 20th century (re)emergence of nation-states, citizens’ struggles to define political, social, and cultural identities despite foreign domination, and post-1989 developments.

The political, cultural and intellectual development of Russia. From Kievan Rus’ to the end of the 18th century, tracing the Mongol occupation, the rise of Muscovy and the Romanov dynasty.

The political, cultural and intellectual development of 19th and 20th century Russia, tracing the twilight of the Romanovs, the rise of socialist thought, and the Communist state.

This course will examine Soviet and post-Soviet history after the death of Stalin in 1953. It will cover Stalinism and the legacy of Stalin, the rise of Khrushchev and attempts to modify or transform the Soviet system in economic, political and cultural terms, and the rise and fall of Gorbachev and his and Yeltsin's attempts to transform Soviet society and culture. Special focus will be on the tumultuous years of glasnost' and perestroika in the late 1980s. The Putin era's descent into authoritarianism, and the fate of History in the post-Soviet era will also be examined.

A survey of Spanish history from 1478 to 1978 that also asks students to investigate cultural, political and social issues in depth, such as the goals of inquisitors, the question of Spanish decline and the context of the Civil War.

Origins and establishment of the modern German state to the First World War.

Establishment and course of Hitler’s Third Reich, development of two Germanies since 1945, and their subsequent reunification.

Intensive examination of a pre-industrial society with special emphasis on social, economic and intellectual problems during the ancient regime and Revolution.

1800 to the present with special attention to social and economic problems as well as to the politics of 20th and 21st century France.

A survey of developments in English political, social, intellectual, cultural, and religious history from the ascension of Henry VII in 1485 to the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.

A survey of the political, religious, cultural, social, and intellectual history of the British Isles from the coronation of James VI and I in 1603 to the death of Queen Anne in 1714.

Cultural and intellectual development of the Western world from the end of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment.

Cultural and intellectual development of the Western world from the Enlightenment to the present.

An interdisciplinary approach to the development of colonial and early national American culture and society, with special emphasis on the transit of European culture, regionalism and the emergence of the ideology of American exceptionalism.

An examination and assessment of the influence of gender, race, and power on the way in which all people--male and female; free and enslaved; Indian, European, and African--shaped the development of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Virginia society. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course explores the life of Thomas Jefferson, his great contributions to ideas of liberty and government that reverberate in the world, and his many legacies that are part of U.S. history and culture, including being one of America's most famous slaveholders and author of Indian extermination policies. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

Prerequisites: ANTH 301 or consent of instructor. This course examines the archaeological research on sites located in and around Williamsburg, the capital of the colony of Virginia from 1699-1781, as a way of reviewing the theory and method of historical archaeology. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course will identify and challenge how landmark institutions define and redefine culture, history, and their own significance. We will consider private, volunteer, and government roles in preserving and creating historic sites, and how museums and public history have changed since the mid-nineteenth century. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

The course introduces students to the methods used in the investigation, description, and recording of historic buildings. The program is intended to help students distinguish the form, fabrication, and assembly of materials and building elements and understand their chronology. They will learn how to read and apply field evidence to answer larger questions concerning architectural and social history. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course provides the tools for using material culture as a source for studying history. It will consider both the academic scholarship that has defined the field of material culture as well as the objects themselves. Students will practice the creation, identification, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of a variety of material objects using methodologies from a wide range of disciplines. This course considers material culture broadly but draws heavily from the material culture of early America. Students will engage with Colonial Williamsburg’s scholars, curators, and interpreters. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course fulfills the NIAHD internship requirement and is designed to give students practical experience in a museum setting with a background of readings in public history and classroom discussion sessions designed to promote both critical and scholarly engagement with an individually chosen topic. The instructor will work with students before the start of the semester to arrange for a museum professional to host the student in a professional working environment for 10-12 hours a week in addition to the class meetings. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

Public History explores how history museums, especially Colonial Williamsburg, present history and make it meaningful today. The course uses current issues of society, politics, and race to interpret institutions that purport to speak to the collective identity of Americans through such media as exhibitions, performances, books, film, and digital communications. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

This course is intended to introduce students to issues and research methods in early American architecture. Buildings are examined as expressions of fine art and social history. The course focuses on a variety of topics, building types, and theoretical approaches by examining archaeological and documentary sources and standing structures. This course is sponsored by NIAHD.

You are among the next generation of historians and this class will focus on the complex challenges confronting the field and our increasingly significant role in society as educators, advocates, and preservationists. Who is history for? How is it used and who uses it? Who does it benefit, and how is it used to marginalize and oppress? You are emerging as scholars during a period of significant technological advancement. New evidence of past cultures, new modes of analysis, and our own evolving perspectives on the present and the past are influencing how we “do” history and how we communicate that history to many audiences. In this class we will be discuss and debate the effectiveness of these technologies. How do we approach and disseminate their research? What does it tell us? How does it inform our own practice? Is the data we compile new, or is this just a different way of seeing a past we think we know all too well?

Topics vary by semester. For current offerings, please consult the course schedule posted on my.wm.edu.

Topics vary by semester. For current offerings, please consult the course schedule posted on my.wm.edu.

A tutorial designed primarily for history majors who wish to pursue independent study of a problem or topic. Programs of study will be arranged individually with a faculty supervisor. Admission by consent of the chair of the department. Students must have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average to pursue independent study in history.

A tutorial designed primarily for history majors who wish to pursue independent study of a problem or topic. Programs of study will be arranged individually with a faculty supervisor. Admission by consent of the chair of the department. Students must have a 3.0 cumulative grade point average to pursue independent study in history.

This online seminar course is offered only in the Summer term and is designed for students who would like to continue reading ancient Egyptian inscriptions together after completing the two prerequisite lecture courses: HIST 278 (ANTH 343/CLCV 209/RELG 278) and HIST 279 (ANTH 344/CLCV 210/RELG 279). This summer seminar course, HIST 478: Ancient Egyptian Inscriptions, is not a prerequisite for the fall-semester seminar, HIST 479: Middle Egyptian Texts. HIST 478 is only offered online during the summer and focuses primarily on societal and individual values expressed in Egyptian royal inscriptions, biographies, and religious texts, whereas HIST 479 is offered only during the fall semester and focuses more on the expression of such values in Egyptian fiction and poetry. In most other respects, however, the courses are similar in format and constitute electives at the advanced level of the Egyptian course sequence.

This seminar course is offered only in the fall semester and is designed for students who would like to continue reading ancient Egyptian inscriptions together after completing the two prerequisite lecture courses: HIST 278 (ANTH 343/CLCV 209/RELG 278) and HIST 279 (ANTH 344/CLCV 210/RELG 279). The summer seminar course, HIST 478: Ancient Egyptian Inscriptions, is not a prerequisite for this fall-semester seminar, HIST 479: Middle Egyptian Texts. HIST 478 is only offered online during the summer and focuses primarily on societal and individual values expressed in Egyptian royal inscriptions, biographies, and religious texts, whereas HIST 479 is offered only during the fall semester and focuses more on the expression of such values in Egyptian fiction and poetry. In most other respects, however, the courses are similar in format and constitute electives at the advanced level of the Egyptian course sequence.

Topics vary by semester.

Topics vary by semester.

Topics change each year.

This seminar provides support for students writing honors theses in History. Taken during the first semester of honors work, it guides students through the process of developing a bibliography, engaging historiography, writing a literature review, crafting an argument, and refining their prose.

Students admitted to honors study in history will be enrolled in this course during the first semester of honors work, typically in the fall of their senior year. Each candidate will be responsible for (a) reading and discussion of a selected list of books in some specific area of historical literature; and (b) preparing to submit a scholarly thesis to his or her advisor two weeks before the last day of classes of his or her graduating semester. When taken in the fall semester, students must concurrently enroll in HIST 494. Admission by consent of the department chair. The department’s honors program guidelines are available on the department’s website and in hard copy (consult the department secretary). Note: For College provisions governing the Admission to Honors, see Honors and Special Programs under Requirements for Degrees in this catalog.

Students admitted to honors study in history will be enrolled in this course during the second semester of honors work, typically in the spring of their senior year. Each candidate will be responsible for (a) reading and discussion of a selected list of books in some specific area of historical literature; (b) submission of a scholarly thesis to his or her advisor two weeks before the last day of classes of his or her graduating semester; (c) a comprehensive oral examination. Admission by consent of the department chair. The department’s honors program guidelines are available on the department’s website. Note: For College provisions governing the Admission to Honors, see Honors and Special Programs under Requirements for Degrees in this catalog.

This designation is used for internships that would count towards the major in history. Each internship application can be approved only by the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies who will decide whether the internship meets the academic standards and work requirements of the history department.