HISTORY DEPARTMENT HOMEPAGE

Course Descriptions, M.A. in History

HST 701 Historical Method

4 hours, 4 credits

This course presents an advanced study of the philosophy and method of historical research, with particular attention to writing and teaching history. While intended to familiarize students with the traditions and current practice of the historical profession, the course will also acquaint students with specific problems in historical research reflected in the publications of the seminar instructor.
     NB: This course is usually offered in the Fall semester only; matriculated students must take it at their first opportunity after admission to the program.

Courses in the areas of concentration:

HST 704 Topics in the History of Africa

4 hours, 4 credits

This course examines the history of Africa. Topics in the History of Africa will cover such issues as slavery in African societies, ethnicity, class, and power in twentieth-century Africa; Africa in the post cold war era.

HST 708 Topics in the History of the Middle East

4 hours, 4 credits

This course examines the history of the Middle East. Topics in the History of the Middle East will feature such issues as women and gender in Islam; the historiography of the Middle East; and the Middle East through literature and film. The approach will be predominantly historical, but perspectives from the different social sciences will deepen the analysis.

HST 710 Topics in the History of South Asia

4 hours, 4 credits

This course covers important issues in South Asian history. Topics in South Asian History presents an examination of aspects of the social, political, and cultural history of India from the Mauryan to the Gupta periods, and Islamic rule from the Sultanate of Delhi to the Mughal period; Modern South Asia; a study of British imperial rule in South Asia and the development of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh since independence.

HST 711 Topics in the History of East Asia

4 hours, 4 credits

This course covers important issues in East Asian history. Topics in East Asian history explored are: the Chinese empire, covering the rise and evolution of the Chinese imperium; classical thought and religion, covering main philosophical schools, religions and popular cults and sects; Sinic World covering the spread of Chinese civilization to the rest of East Asia and its transformation; Tokugawa/Qing societies and economies; rebellion and revolution in nineteenth- and twentieth-century Asia, post-war East Asian economic development, examining the economic "miracle" and its causes.

HST 716 Topics in European History to the Renaissance

4 hours, 4 credits

This course examines important themes in the early history of Europe. The course will require students to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources. Topics in European History to the Renaissance may include medieval urban history, medieval religious history, Byzantine history, early Germanic Europe, the Crusades, and the rise of the Ottoman empire in Eastern Europe.

HST 717 Topics in European History from the Renaissance

4 hours, 4 credits

This course examines important themes in the history of Europe from the time of the Renaissance. The course will require student to analyze issues in social, political, religious, and intellectual history through the use of primary and secondary sources. Topics in European History from the Renaissance may include: the European Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter Reformation, the English civil wars, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Russian Revolution and world communism, the world wars; the post-war synthesis and the European union.

HST 720 Topics in Latin American History

4 hours, 4 credits

This course covers important issues in the early and later history of Latin America. Topics in Latin American History may include a study of the Iberian discovery of America and the conquest of the native peoples from 1492 to 1650; the role of the Catholic church in the Hispanicization of Iberian America; the Latin American wars of independence; reform and revolution in Latin America; race in Latin America; the twentieth-century Latin revolutions; US-Latin American relations; and Cuban reform and revolution.

HST 722 Topics in Caribbean History

4 hours, 4 credits

This course will focus on the period from Columbus's arrival in the Caribbean to the abolition of slavery in the nineteenth century. Among the topics that may be examined: the pre-Hispanic Caribbean; Spanish contact with the Arawaks and Caribs; settlement and colonies; the Atlantic slave trade; "King Sugar"; the world of Europeans and Euro-Caribbeans; the world of slaves; free persons of color; the Haitian Revolution; metropole-directed abolitionism; the Morant Bay Revolt; the emergence of Cuban nationalism.

HST 725 Topics in US History to 1865

4 hours, 4 credits

This course covers the period of colonial American history until the Civil War era. Important topics in the early history of the United States will be explored. These may include a selection of the following: racial encounters in the New World; the environmental history of the United States; the intellectual and cultural history of the American nation; colonial American history; the American Revolution and the early republic; Jacksonian America and the Civil War era.

HST 726 Topics in US History since 1865

4 hours, 4 credits

This course covers the period of US history that begins with Reconstruction and moves forward to contemporary issues. Important topics in the history of the United States will be explored. These may include a selection of the following: Reconstruction, Gilded Age, and Progressive history; the history of American wars; the diplomatic history of the United States; American biography; America's encounter with communism; the history of women in America; the history of the American west; American popular culture.

Thesis Courses:

HST 798 Thesis Seminar

4 hours, 4 credits

Students in their third semester, who have selected the thesis option, will enroll in the Thesis Seminar, to be followed by the Thesis Tutorial in the fourth semester. In the Thesis Seminar, student will develop the topic of their thesis, begin research, and receive instruction in research methodology and historical writing. Thesis students will choose a thesis director and a second reader from the department faculty.
     NB: This course is usually offered in the Fall semester only.

HST 799 Thesis Tutorial

4 hours, 4 credits

The thesis director will continue to supervise the thesis student during the fourth semester in a thesis tutorial. The thesis will be accepted in partial completion of the degree when it is defended before the thesis director and second reader, has been signed, and has been deposited in the department's archives.

Affiliated Courses:

EDS 691 Advanced Studies in Teaching Secondary School Social Studies

3 hours, 3 credits

Guided individual and group study. Examination of the New York State curriculum in social studies along with testing requirements. Teaching techniques as they apply to effective instruction in the social studies will be emphasized. Review of relevant research.
     NB: This course is usually offered in the Spring semester only.