Fall 2026 History Courses

Jon Balserak

MWF 9-9:50 am

Lecture: 35603

Discussions: 35604, 35605, 35606, or 35607

This course provides a broad survey of western civilization up to 1648. We will cover events, movements, individuals, and discoveries in Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome, up through medieval Europe, the rise of Islam, the Carolingian era, the Crusades, European exploration, the Renaissance, and the Reformation.  Coverage will be chronological and will examine political, social, economic and technological developments as well as considering the literature, religious beliefs, military campaigns, intellectual ideas, and cultural changes of these centuries. This is a fascinating period of history which lays the foundations for western thought and culture today.

Understanding the Past course and World Cultures course

John Abbot

Online Asynchronous

Lecture: 11760

Discussions: 11800

History 101 offers a broad survey of Western (mostly European) history, from the Wars of Religion of the seventeenth century to the Cold War of the twentieth. We focus on the social trends, political conflicts and intellectual quarrels across these years, placing special emphasis on the scientific, political and industrial revolutions that helped forge and define European civilization and, by extension, much of our modern world (as you will see, Western imperialism and economic globalization are central course themes). Lectures and our class textbook will provide the overall storyline and contexts to this journey; the heart of this course lies in our critical engagement with the documentary record left by the historical actors themselves, as they acted and commented upon their times.

Understanding the Past course and World Cultures course

Bao Bui

Online Asynchronous

Lecture: 11651

Discussions: 50635

A survey of early American history from pre-contact Indigenous societies in North America to reconstruction.

Understanding the Past course and US Society course

Marla McMackin

MWF 11-11:50 am

Lecture: 11635

Discussions: 34250. 34248, 19833, or 11640

This course is an introductory survey of the history of the United States since the late 1800s. The class is partly about how American society and politics have dramatically changed over the past 150 years, why those changes have happened, and how that history can help us to understand where we are today. The class is also partly about history itself as a subject of study and a way of thinking. Designed especially for students with little background in history, the course considers how history is researched and written, the kinds of sources and evidence on which history is based, the kinds of questions historians ask, the kinds of analysis and argument they make, and how non-historians make use of history in various ways.

Understanding the Past course and World Cultures course

Jonathan Daly

Online Asynchronous

HIST Lecture: 35635 Discussion: 50067

INST Lecture: 36396 Discussion: 50068

The West’s history is one of extraordinary success; no other region, empire, culture, or civilization has left so powerful a mark upon the world. This course charts the West’s achievements―representative government, the free enterprise system, modern science, and the rule of law―as well as its misdeeds―two frighteningly destructive World Wars, the Holocaust, imperialistic domination, and the Atlantic slave trade.

Adopting a global perspective, the course explores the contributions of other cultures and civilizations to the West’s emergence. It also traces the rise of Western power through a series of revolutions, including social, political, technological, military, commercial, and industrial. The course is fully online—students follow a defined schedule but have no classes to attend. See course Blackboard page for details. Same as INST 105.

Understanding the Past course and World Cultures course

Celso Mendoza

TR 11-12:30

HIST: 49896

LALS: 49898

In this introductory course students will learn about the early history of Latin America, from the first Indigenous peoples millennia ago to the wars of independence in the early 19th century. The course will also examine popular misconceptions and myths about early Latin America, especially those relating to Indigenous people and the Spanish Conquest. Another theme will be colonial Latin America’s foundational role in the history of the modern global age; colonial Latin America, as this course will demonstrate, was the birthplace of globalization. The story that this course will tell is of how Native Americans built great empires and rich, resilient cultures that Europeans only partially managed to subjugate, and how the incomplete processes of conquest and colonization led not just to the independence of the nation-states of Latin America, but also changed the history of the world forever. Course Information: Same as LALS 161.

Past course, and World Cultures course

Zinon Papakonstantinou

TR 2-3:15

HIST: 37593

CL: 37594

Ancient Greece developed a complex and fascinating culture that still has an impact and relevance in our world. In this introductory course we will approach Greek history and civilization from the viewpoint of the Greeks themselves. Following a brief historical overview, we will examine a wide array of topics including daily life, religion, women and children, the economy, food, sport, travel, magic and slavery. This examination of ancient Greece will be placed in a wider Mediterranean context. We will be drawing parallels with other ancient Mediterranean cultures, and we will try to understand the interaction of ancient Greece with these cultures. No prior knowledge of ancient history is necessary.

Understanding the Past

Karen Ross

TR 12:30–1:45 pm

HIST: 11555

CL: 10749

Experience “the Glory that was Greece!” Visit the Palace of King Minos, legendary home of the bloodthirsty Minotaur. Tour the Parthenon, most perfect of all Greek temples. Explore the range of Greek sculpture from the sublime works of the High Classical Period to the surprising and sometimes brutal diversity of Hellenistic sculpture — highlights include a beat-up boxer, a grizzled granny tottering off to market, and a very determined little-boy jockey. We will also look closely at Greek vases, which provide tantalizing glimpses into daily life and the world of Greek myth.

Course Information: Same as AH 204, and CL 204. The course is a survey of ancient Greek art and architecture in its historical and cultural context, from the Bronze Age through the Hellenistic Period. 3 credit hours, no prerequisites. Creative Arts, and Past course.

Clare Kim

MWF 10-10:50

Lecture/Discussion: 49116

What have people come to know about the world and how have they come to know it? This lecture course provides a survey of the history of science from the 16th century to the present, paying attention to how science has been related to other enterprises such art, religion, literature, commerce, and politics. From astronomical lore and colonial medicine to atomic diplomacy and entrepreneurial science, we will learn to place contemporary issues and debates about science in global and historical context. We will also consider how and why certain kinds of questions, spaces, practices, and people—but not others—came to be called scientific.

Understanding the Past course

John Abbott

MWF 11-11:50

Lecture/Discussion: 33496

From the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the outbreak of World War I, nineteenth-century Europe was crucible and testing-ground for wide-ranging innovation and sweeping transformation, as political revolutions combined with industrialism and urbanization to change forever Europe’s physical and social landscapes.

Nor were these changes confined to the continent alone, as Europe’s leading nations, in their high-stakes competition for power, extended their reach across the globe, drawing regions and peoples into new relations of interaction and subjugation. Yet this moment of European ascendancy proved short-lived; the ceaseless contention for world power among its leading states eventually spilled over into ruinous wars, and HIST 213 ends with Europe’s nations marching off to a “Great War” that, aiming “to end all wars,” instead brought the era of European hegemony to a close. And yet: humanity’s forced march into new worlds of global possibility and constraint, having been unloosed by Western power, proved irreversible, and to this day we find ourselves wrestling with the consequences.

HIST 213, then, can best be seen as an extended investigation into the sources – ideas, economic relations and social dynamics – that helped forge our modern world (and its dilemmas). Course lectures and textbook will go far in explicating this multi-faceted story. But the heart of this class lies in our interrogations of contemporary documents and texts, generated by the historical actors themselves, as we examine the clashing interests, ideologies and social movements of these years.

Individual and Society course, and Past course

Patrick Formann

TR 11-12:15 pm

HIST 49925

GER 49224

Examination of the history of the Germans in Central Europe and beyond, from 1750 to 1918. The course considers the multifaceted processes of nation-building in politics, socioeconomic, and especially culture, in a global context. Course Information: Same as GER 228. Taught in English.

Understanding the Past course

TR 12:30-1:45 pm

HIST: 42088

BLST: 44848

Interdisciplinary survey of key episodes in Black history and their relationship to contemporary Black life such as slavery, abolition and resistance. The course will draw connections between historical and current aspects of Black life. Course Information: Same as BLST 246.

Past, and US Society course

Hayley Negrin

MW 9:30-10:45 am

HIST Lecture: 49900 and Discussion 49901

NAST Lecture: 50065 and Discussion 50066

This history course seeks to correct the ways that Native American people are often framed as peoples without a history by exploring major themes and historical events that have shaped Native North America from ancient to present times. Students will gain an understanding of the importance of reclaiming Native history in Native communities by examining how history has played a role in the struggles of Native Americans across time to maintain their ties to their lands and peoples. Students will also gain a basic introduction into the unique economies, gender relations, religions, and political identities of the 574 federally recognized tribal nations that currently reside in what is now called the United States. Since UIC resides on Indigenous lands in Chicago, particular attention will be paid to how Native nations have shaped this space in the past as a key trading center and how they continue to shape it today as a major site of urban relocation and current Indigenous activism.

Course Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Lecture and one Discussion. Same as NAST 244.

Understanding the Past course

Cynthia Blair

TR 9:30-10:45 am

HIST: 21119

BLST: 46494

Survey of major social, economic, political, and cultural developments in African American history from the rise of the Atlantic Slave Trade to Reconstruction. Course Information: Same as BLST 247.

Understanding the Past course, and US Society course

Elizabeth Todd-Breland

MW 12-12:50 pm

Lecture: 32949

Discussions: 32961, 36939, 36940, or 36941

This course traces Chicago’s history from the city’s early development into a post-industrial metropolis. In this course students will analyze historical texts, films, literature, visual art, and media related to Chicago’s history. The course pays particular attention to historical transformations in Chicago related to the following themes: industrialization/deindustrialization; migration; constructions of race, class, gender & sexuality; community; and politics, reform, and societal change. In addition to the assigned readings and lectures, you will have the opportunity to explore Chicago through projects and experiential learning trips to historical and cultural institutions and neighborhoods around the city. The content, structure, and assignments in this course encourage students to develop critical thinking and writing skills and consider varying perspectives and viewpoints on major events and transformations in Chicago’s history. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 161; or consent of the instructor.

Past course, and US Society course

Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez

TR 9:30-10:45

Lecture/Discussion: 48796

History of European, African, Asian and Latin American immigration to the U.S. from the colonial era to the present. Examines how ethnicity, race, gender, and age shaped immigrants’ experiences and U.S. immigration law and policy.

Understanding the Past course

Michael Jin

MWF 1–1:50

GLAS CRN 51049
HIST CRN 51048
MUS CRN 51050

This course explores the history of modern Korea and global Korean diaspora through music. From Pansori to modern K-pop, students will examine selected genres of popular culture as a window into major historical forces of the long twentieth century —such as colonialism, war, political repression, social movement, democratization, and globalization—that have shaped historical perspectives, politics views, and social and cultural values in modern Korea and Korean diaspora.

Joaquín Chavez

Online Asynchronous

HIST Lecture: 35486 and Discussion: 35608

LALS Lecture: 35487 and Discussion: 35615

This class studies the modern history of Latin America. The course is organized topically. We will read landmark texts, recent publications, and primary sources on a range of themes, including: the first encounters between Nahuat peoples and Spanish conquistadors in Mexico; Spanish colonialism in Peru; indigenous rebellions in the central Andean region; anti-colonial mobilizations and slave emancipation in Haiti (i.e. the former French colony of Saint Domingue); revolutions of independence in Spanish America; empire, slavery, and liberalism in Brazil; independence and slave emancipation in Cuba; the rise of the U.S. empire in the Caribbean basin; race, ethnicity, and nation in Brazil, Cuba, and Mexico; and twenty century revolutions in Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua. Students enrolled in this class will learn about the evolution of several fields of historical research and enhance their analytical skills through a variety of activities and assignments. Learning about the scholarship about this vast and diverse region will enable students to develop a nuanced understanding of topics such as empire, colonialism, indigenous societies, slavery and slave emancipation, identity formation, nationalism, race and nation, religion and politics, social revolution, capitalism, socialism, neoliberalism, and more. Course Information: Same as LALS 262. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 161; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture-Discussion.

Understanding the Past course, and World Cultures course

Celso Mendoza

TR 2-3:15

HIST Lecture: 45089 and Discussion: 32962

LALS Lecture: 45090 and Discussion: 32995

Provides an introduction into the social, cultural, and political history of Mexico from the decades after independence to the present. Course Information: Same as LALS 266. Prerequisite(s): ENGL 161; or consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion and one Lecture.

Individual and Society course, and Past course

Justin Phan

TR 11-12:15 pm

HIST: 50719

GLAS: 50718

ANTH: 50721

Vietnamese American histories, culture, politics, and creative arts in comparative, relational, and transnational perspectives. Emphasis on artists, activists, and scholars living in Vietnam and in the diaspora.

Creative Arts course and World Cultures course

Rama Mantena

Online Asynchronous

HIST Lecture: 48726 and Discussion: 50641

GLAS Lecture: 48728 and Discussion: 50643

South Asia refers to the region inclusive of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. It might seem arbitrary at first glance, however, these countries have overlapping histories, religions and cultures that connect them together. In order to understand the political and cultural histories of the region, it is important to trace the region’s thrust into the global order in the last 150 years with British colonial rule and the nationalist resistance to it. This course will begin with the 1857 revolt against British imperial power on the Indian subcontinent and end with reflections on the politics and culture in the region, with a focus on the contemporary states of India and Pakistan and to a lesser degree Afghanistan and Bangladesh. We will use a wide variety of sources from contemporary documentaries, fiction, and journalistic accounts of South Asian politics and society.

To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Lecture-Discussion and one Discussion. Same as GLAS 275

Past course, and World Cultures course

Zack Cuyler

TR 9:30-10:45

Lecture/Discussion: 38168

Discussion: 38169

This course examines the region that we now call the Middle East and North Africa as it has developed across the modern period, from the rise of the Ottoman and Safavid empires and their incorporation into global capitalism, to the formation of nation-states within the global economy and recent revolutionary attempts at instituting new political and social orders. Students will be introduced to the remarkable diversity of this region, as well as the common history that unites it and makes it comparable to other parts of the global South. Special attention will be paid to encounters between Middle Eastern and European empires, the formation of postcolonial states within international capitalist relations, and border-crossing anticolonial, religious, labor, and social movements. Along the way, we will critically consider whether and how “the Middle East and North Africa” formed as a coherent region, as well as alternative geographies (the Muslim world, the Arab world, or SWANA).

Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Lecture-Discussion.

Joel Huerta

TR 12:30-1:45

HIST Lecture: 50171 and Discussions: 50173, 50175, or 50177

LALS Lecture: 50170 and Discussions: 50172, 50174, or 50176

The political, social, economic, and cultural development of the Mexican people in the U.S. from colonial times until the present. Course Information: Same as LALS 290. 3 hours. Prerequisite(s): Grade of C or better in ENGL 160; and Grade of C or better or concurrent registration in ENGL 161.

Understanding the Past course, and US Society course

Norma Moruzzi

MW 3-4:15

HIST: 28162

GWS: 28005

An introduction to feminist theory and practice throughout the world from the 19th century to the present. 3 hours. Course Information: Same as GWS 292. Recommended background: GWS 101 or GWS 102.

Nick Doumanis

TR 12:30-1:45

HIST: 48353

POLS: 48354

GKM: 48352

Establishment of fascist and other authoritarian regimes in 20th-century Spain, Italy, portugal, and Greece. Fascist ideology, leadership cults, mass politics, violence and propaganda, resistance and consent, legacy and memory of fascism. Course Information: Same as GKM 296 and POLS 296.

Understanding the Past course

John Abbott

MWF 11-11:50

Lecture/Discussion: 11346

Authority and Conscience: Religion and State in History

Research methodology and analytical writing in the field of history. Students will write and revise at least 3 papers over the course of the semester. Required of all history majors. Course Information: May not be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): History major with 9 hours of history credit. Majors are encouraged to take this course as soon as they become eligible.

Neal McCrillis

TR 2-3:15 pm

Lecture/Discussion: 11348

History 300 introduces history majors to the evolving practices of history (historiography), document analysis, research methods, and several types of historical writing. This class will focus on the visual culture of the twentieth century world, including visual arts, photography, film, and propaganda, although other types of documents will also be used.

Research methodology and analytical writing in the field of history. Required of all history majors. Course Information: May not be repeated for credit. Prerequisite(s): History major with 9 hours of history credit. Majors are encouraged to take this course as soon as they become eligible.

Monica Swope

TR 2-3:15pm (Meet online at set times)

CRN: Discussion 11342 and Practice 11345

Methods and materials for teaching history and the related disciplines in the secondary schools. Includes field experiences in the learning and teaching of history. Course Information: Prerequisite(s): Consent of the instructor. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Discussion/Recitation and one Practice.

Zinon Papakonstantinou

T 3:30-6 pm

HIST: 44694

CL: 44692

This course examines the wars between Greeks and Persians as well as other episodes in the social and cultural history of ancient Greece through the lively narrative of Herodotus. Themes to be explored include the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae (aka Leonidas of Sparta and his 300); the life and travels of legendary Athenian lawgiver Solon; the suitors’ contests for the hand of Agariste of Sicyon; and many more.

Course Information: No background in Classics or Ancient History necessary. Same as CL 405.

Julie Peters

R 12:30-1 and Online with deadlines

CRN: 21549 and 21550

Teaching Civics Literacy is a methods course open to anyone who would like to learn how to teach the mandatory civics requirement for middle and high school students in Illinois.  Modules will explore how to teach topics like government and the Constitution, voting, civil discourse and controversial issues, news literacy, and action civics.  We will meet weekly online to debrief the modules and to discuss teaching ideas.

Neal McCrillis

TR 9:30-1045 am

Undergraduate: 11315

This course follows the history of Ireland from the Ulster Plantation of the late 17th century to the present republic within the European Union and Northern Ireland, which remains a constituent part of the UK. Within this general framework, we will focus on the overlapping and conflicting Irish communities and identities, the Famine, and the Anglo-Irish relationship.

May be repeated. Students may register in more than one section per term. Prerequisite(s): 6 hours of history or consent of the instructor.

Ellen McClure

M 3-5:30 pm

HIST 424 Undergraduate: 33180

FR 464 Undergraduate: 31236

This course will explore the reign of Louis XIV in seventeenth-century France, Europe, and the world. We will examine how what we have come to call absolutist monarchy emerged from the sixteenth-century wars of religion; we’ll also look at strategies for legitimizing royal power and establishing French dominance. Looking at those strategies will also help us see how and why opposition to Louis XIV, inside and outside of France, took the forms that it did.

Course Information: Same as FR 464. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated. Students may register in more than one section per term. Taught in English. Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in French or European history or consent of the instructor.

Ivón Padilla-Rodríguez

TR 1230-1:45 pm

CRN: 37484

(Im)migrants in American History and Life.

HIST 440 is a requirement for History majors. Its goal is to help students to develop research and writing skills and help them to produce an original paper based on primary sources. The class ponders conceptual and methodological aspects involved in the production of a research paper such as historiographical analysis, social theory, research questions, argumentation, historical evidence, and academic writing.

Prerequisite(s): HIST 300. Recommended background: At least one 400-level history course.

Joaquin Chavez

TR 3:30-4:45 pm

CRN: 37485

Popular Politics and Revolution in Latin American and Caribbean History

This course examines methods of historical research and writing drawing on the historiography on popular politics and revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean. It ponders methodological aspects involved in the production of a research paper, namely, historiographical analysis, references to social theory, formulation of research questions and arguments, use of historical evidence to support an argument, and academic writing. It emphasizes primary source analysis (e.g., the study of chronicles, official documents, newspapers, and correspondence) as a method to create historical narratives. Students will consider the social conditions under which primary sources were produced, as well as the characteristics of the texts and the ways in which they have informed historical narratives. We will read landmark texts in the historiography of popular politics and revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean to ponder how historians interpret events and processes. In sum, the class covers topics on historiography, archival research, primary source analysis, and oral history.

How do historians articulate their unique narrative voices? Historians who set standards in each field of historical research are dedicated scholars who have devoted many years to the study of specific topics. They know the archives well, have excellent research skills, and are familiar with historiographical and conceptual issues pertinent to their respective fields. They are also excellent writers. They can convey intricate ideas with conciseness and sometimes with elegance. In other words, creating a narrative voice requires discipline and a high degree of motivation. Hopefully, the landmark work we will study during the semester will inspire students in this class to develop their unique voices as historians working in the twentieth first century.

HIST 440 is a requirement for History majors. Its goal is to help students to develop research and writing skills and help them to produce an original paper based on primary sources. The class ponders conceptual and methodological aspects involved in the production of a research paper such as historiographical analysis, social theory, research questions, argumentation, historical evidence, and academic writing.

Prerequisite(s): HIST 300. Recommended background: At least one 400-level history course.

Jennie Brier

M 3-5:30 pm

HIST Undergraduate: 39254

GWS Undergraduate: 39253

Introduction to the study of AIDS as a medical, social, political and cultural construction. Explores the epidemiology of AIDS, the politics of the state’s response, how activists have addressed AIDS, and media representations of AIDS.

Course Information: Same as GWS 462. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite(s): GWS 101 or GWS 102 or GWS 203 or GWS 214 and junior standing or above; or consent of the instructor.

Julie Peters

W 4-5:50pm

Lecture/Discussion 11262and Practice 21258

The first half of a two-segment sequence of practice teaching, including seminar, to meet certification requirements for teaching in grades six through twelve. Course Information: Graduate credit only with approval of the department. Prerequisite(s): Good academic standing in a teacher education program, completion of 100 clock hours of pre-student-teaching field experiences, and approval of the department. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Lecture-Discussion and one Practice.

Julie Peters

Meet online at set times

Conference 11254 and Practice 11246

The second half of a two-segment sequence of practice teaching, including seminar, to meet certification requirements for teaching in grades six through twelve. Course Information: Graduate credit only with approval of the department. Prerequisite(s): Good academic standing in a teacher education program, completion of 100 clock hours of pre-student-teaching field experiences, credit or concurrent registration in HIST 475, and approval of the department. Class Schedule Information: To be properly registered, students must enroll in one Conference and one Practice.

Zinon Papakonstantinou

T 3:30-6 pm

HIST Graduate: 44695

CL Graduate: 44693

This course examines the wars between Greeks and Persians as well as other episodes in the social and cultural history of ancient Greece through the lively narrative of Herodotus. Themes to be explored include the battles of Marathon and Thermopylae (aka Leonidas of Sparta and his 300); the life and travels of legendary Athenian lawgiver Solon; the suitors’ contests for the hand of Agariste of Sicyon; and many more.

Course Information: No background in Classics or Ancient History necessary. Same as CL 405.

Neal McCrillis

TR 9:30-1045 am

Graduate: 20338

This course follows the history of Ireland from the Ulster Plantation of the late 17th century to the present republic within the European Union and Northern Ireland, which remains a constituent part of the UK. Within this general framework, we will focus on the overlapping and conflicting Irish communities and identities, the Famine, and the Anglo-Irish relationship.

May be repeated. Students may register in more than one section per term. Prerequisite(s): 6 hours of history or consent of the instructor.

Ellen McClure

M 3-5:30 pm

HIST 424 Graduate: 33181

FR 464 Graduate: 32075

This course will explore the reign of Louis XIV in seventeenth-century France, Europe, and the world. We will examine how what we have come to call absolutist monarchy emerged from the sixteenth-century wars of religion; we’ll also look at strategies for legitimizing royal power and establishing French dominance. Looking at those strategies will also help us see how and why opposition to Louis XIV, inside and outside of France, took the forms that it did.

Course Information: Same as FR 464. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. May be repeated. Students may register in more than one section per term. Taught in English. Prerequisite(s): One 200-level course in French or European history or consent of the instructor.

Jennie Brier

M 3-5:30 pm

HIST Graduate: 39257

GWS Graduate: 39256

Introduction to the study of AIDS as a medical, social, political and cultural construction. Explores the epidemiology of AIDS, the politics of the state’s response, how activists have addressed AIDS, and media representations of AIDS.

Course Information: Same as GWS 462. 3 undergraduate hours. 4 graduate hours. Prerequisite(s): GWS 101 or GWS 102 or GWS 203 or GWS 214 and junior standing or above; or consent of the instructor.

Lilia Fernandez

W 4-5 pm

CRN: 45475

This course is designed to introduce first-year Teaching Assistants to a variety of teaching philosophies, practices, and strategies in undergraduate history courses. The course starts with the premise that teaching can be learned (and taught), but that a deeper exploration of the question why we teach is as fundamental to teaching as learning specific techniques. For these reasons, the class materials will combine exploring different teaching philosophies together with strategies that could be used in the classroom. In our exploration of teaching techniques, we will focus on such critical elements of academic teaching as preparing a syllabus, leading group discussions, lecture writing, dealing with AI technology, and grading. While doing so we will keep in mind the specificity of our discipline, and the materials and skills that history courses are intended to teach such as working with primary sources and critical thinking.

Robert Johnston

M 6-8:30 pm

CRN: 19864

This section of History 500 is the foundational course for the MAT program.  All MAT students should take this course in their first semester in the program.  We explore best pedagogical practices as well as the politics of teaching history.  MA and Ph.D. students may take the course with permission of the instructor.

Robert Johnston

M 3-5:30 pm

CRN: 11134

This course is an introduction to the discipline of history, along with its professional structure. This course will cover classical works while critically inquiring into the evolutions and revolutions of historical approaches and research agendas, while also exploring new modes of the telling of histories. The aim is a better understanding of where the history profession is now and how it has gotten there. How does the history profession reflect political, ideological, and social changes happening in the “real” world and how does it absorb and/or resist current intellectual fashions within academia? How do historians understand the relationships between the present historical moment and our self-positioning vis-à-vis the past that we study? How do historians do their work within both academic and public settings? We will therefore reflect on how historians think, write, and work—in order to become self-reflective members of our professional community.
Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing in history. Generally required of incoming Ph.D. students.

Nick Doumanis

W 5-7:30 pm

CRN 11128

This graduate seminar will engage with classic and newer works on modern European history from the 1890s to the 1950s. The course will help prepare both MAT and PhD students for comprehensive exams in modern Europe. MA, MAT, and PhD students are all welcome, including students from both the Encounters and the WRGUW concentrations.

Course Information: May be repeated. Students may register in more than one section per term. Prerequisite(s): Consent of the instructor.

Hayley Negrin

R 6:30-9 pm

CRN: 23829

This course will review key texts (monographs and journal articles) in U.S. History from Colonial times to the late 19th century. The course will help students prepare for their preliminary exams.

Lilia Fernandez

Arranged

CRN: 11084

Under the supervision of a faculty mentor, the student will prepare for the preliminary examination and prepare the dissertation prospectus required by the department. Course Information: Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory grading only. May be repeated to a maximum of 8 hours. Prerequisite(s): Approval of the department or completion of all didactic course work in the Ph.D. in History program.

Elizabeth Todd-Breland

T 3:30-6

CRN: 49135

This course will explore a range of ways that historical research, inquiry, and education are shared for and with public audiences in public spaces. We will examine the methods, practices, and ethical considerations of public history projects focused on urban life. In addition to assignments related to course readings, audio, visual, and digital materials, we will also engage in experiential learning at local archives, museums, and cultural institutions. In this course, students will collaboratively produce public history scholarship as part of UIC’s contribution to The Renewal Project–a national public history project focused on the history and ongoing relationship between urban renewal policies, universities, race, class, and displacement.

Clare Kim

R 3:30-6

CRN: 30745

This seminar introduces students to major themes and methods in the history of knowledge and Science and Technology Studies (STS). Concerned with critically situating and historically contextualizing the production of scientific knowledge, this course examines how the relations between science, technology, and politics have been conceptualized throughout the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. In lieu of presenting a comprehensive survey, the course is organized around a collection of themes and interdisciplinary readings that showcase the kinds of questions that histories of science and technology can help raise and address. Following an introduction to key texts in the field, we will examine some of its most lively and influential debates, including postcolonial and global science, big data and algorithmic governance, and environmental justice.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing or consent of the instructor.

Zack Cuyler

T 6:30-9

CRN: 30684

This graduate seminar will survey theories and histories of the transformations wrought by colonialism and capitalism on our relationship to nature. It will be theoretically grounded and global in scope. This seminar will include grounding theoretical readings on nature and capitalism by scholars like David Harvey and Alyssa Battistoni, then proceed to indigenous and precapitalist conceptions of, and systems for managing, nature in the Americas, the Middle East, and Europe. It will proceed to readings on how colonialism and capitalism reshaped the relationship between human society and the environment globally, linking developments in Europe to peripheries in Asia, the Middle East, and the Americas. It will conclude by addressing anticolonial and anticapitalist approaches to nature.

Prerequisite(s): Graduate standing and consent of the instructor.