HIST 301
Approaching the Past: Transnational, Colonial, and Postcolonial Histories Spring 2025
Division II

Class Details

This course examines the practice of history from the nineteenth century to the present. We will examine the sources, methods, and theoretical assumptions that have shaped the historical craft in this period, as well as the deeper questions that all historians must confront, implicitly or explicitly: What is “history”? Who makes it and how? How do these questions figure into national, transnational, colonial and post-colonial histories? To address these issues, we will discuss the work of canonical and non-canonical historians from across the world, and from outside as well as inside the academy. The particular focus will be on the production of history from the rise of the nation-state through the spread of new imperialisms in the late nineteenth century and on to the emergence of the “Third World,” decolonization, and the “new globalization” over the course of the twentieth century. In weekly meetings we will analyze texts and how their authors define historical subjects/actors and processes, as well as the meanings of history for different audiences and eras.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 19
Expected: 15-19
Class#: 3453
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: class participation, 10 short (2-page) papers, final presentation
Prerequisites: restricted to History majors and sophomores planning to major in History
Enrollment Preferences: History majors
Distributions: Divison II

Class Grid

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