Undergraduate
200 Level Courses (2024-2025)
Course Nomenclature
- H1-F = "First Term"; the first term of the Fall/Winter Session (September - December)
- H1-S = "Second Term"; the second term of the Fall/Winter Session (January - April)
- Y1-Y = full session (September - April)
- Students should note that courses designated as "...Y1F" or "...Y1S" in the Timetable are particularly demanding.
200-level HIS courses are surveys that introduce in broad outlines the history of a particular country, region, continent, or theme. Most are essential background for further upper-level study in the area. Students will generally attend two lectures and participate in one tutorial each week. The 200-level courses are open to first year students as well as those in higher years.
The Department regularly offers a number of HIS299Y1 Research Opportunity Programs, which are open only to students in their second year. In this course, you work as a Research Assistant to a professor on a particular subject. In past years, students in HIS299Y1 courses have done oral history interviews, sought out manuscripts in provincial archives, and gathered primary source documents in the university libraries. Students in their first year should check with the Faculty Registrar in February for the list of ROPs that will be offered in the following academic year.
HIS200H1 - Drunk History
Histories of wine or beer or vodka often focus either on the production of these alcoholic beverages and their role in national or local economies, or on the ways that drinking is part of celebration. But drunkenness enters the historical record in other ways, too—not just as a social lubricant but as a social ill, one associated with intimate violence or violence to the self and with mass protest. From worries about the Gin Craze to race-based restrictions on consumption, from tax policies to policing, this class will consider the many ways that drunkenness has been accepted, denounced, and legislated in societies around the world.
Exclusion: HIS195H1 (Drunk History), offered in Fall 2019 and Winter 2021.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS205H1 - From Women’s History to Gender History
This course critically examines gender in the context of politics, society, culture, and economics across a range of comparative times and spaces depending on instructor expertise. In what ways have gendered norms and transgressions been part of human societies and lived experiences? How have those norms shifted across historical and geographical contexts? How has the history of gender impacted gender as it is lived and made political today? Throughout the course, we will be querying the theoretical assumptions underlying and framing the historical texts we are studying, as well as assessing the different kinds of primary sources used to recover women’s and gender history.
Exclusion: HIS245Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS208Y1 - History of the Jewish People
This course explores the origins of the Jewish people, beginning with the Bible and ending in the 21st Century. We will follow the development of Jewish social and cultural life across the Muslim and Christian worlds and discuss how Jews adapted to the constraints and opportunities provided by the non-Jewish majority. We will also learn about key Jewish books and concepts, including the Talmud, Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), Halakhah (Jewish law), and Jewish philosophy. Finally, we will investigate the Jewish movements that arose in response to the challenges of modernity and new ideologies.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS218H1 - Environmental History
A lecture-based course designed to introduce students to key moments and concepts in the field of environmental history since c. 1400. This course will track the reciprocal influence of humans and the non-human world since the so-called "Columbian Exchange," emphasizing the ways in which the non-human world-from plants, animals, and disease organisms to water, topography, and geography- have shaped human endeavours. At the same time, students will engage with many of the ways in which human beings have shaped the world around us, from empire and colonization, to industrial capitalism, nuclear power, and modern wildlife conservation.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS219Y1 - Medieval Mediterranean History
A new approach to medieval history, this course focuses on the Mediterranean world as a site for the convergence of Western and Eastern Christian, Muslim, Jewish, sub-Saharan African, and East Asian peoples and cultures. It treats topics such as political and military conflict, including Muslim conquests and the Crusades; the situation of religious minorities; religious conversion; cultural exchange; commerce; slavery; aspects of material culture, such as art and architecture; and family and gender from a comparative perspective.
Exclusion: HIS303H1, HIS308H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 1 credit
HIS221H1 - African American History to 1865
An introduction to the history of Africans and people of African descent in the Americas generally, and the United States in particular. Major themes include modernity and the transatlantic slave trade; capitalism and reparations; Atlantic crossings; African women, gender, and racial formations; representation, resistance, and rebellion; nation-building; abolitionism and civil war; historical method and the political uses of the past.
Exclusion: HIS298Y1 (2016-17)
Recommended Preparation: Any 100-level course in Arts or Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS222H1 - African American History from 1865 to the Present
This course examines the history of black people in the United States after the abolition of slavery. Major themes include the promise and tragedy of Reconstruction; gender and Jim Crow; race and respectability; migration, transnationalism, and 20th century black diasporas; black radical traditions and freedom movements; intersectionality and black feminisms; the drug war and mass incarceration; sexuality and the boundaries of blackness.
Exclusion: HIS 298Y1 (2016-17)
Recommended Preparation: Any 100-level course in Arts or Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
HIS230H1 - Indigenous and Early Colonial Caribbean History
This course introduces students to the study of Caribbean history from first human settlement to the late 18th century. Subject matter covered includes indigenous social structures, cosmology, and politics; the process of European conquest; the economics, society, and political order of colonial society; the Middle Passage; the everyday lives and struggles of enslaved peoples.
Exclusion: HIS294Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS231H1 - Revolution and Emancipation in the Colonial Caribbean
This course explores the history of the late eighteenth and nineteenth century Caribbean, from the Haitian Revolution to the U.S. occupation of Cuba and Puerto Rico. Students learn about the first struggles for political independence; the struggle to abolish the slave trade; slave emancipation; indentureship and struggles to define freedom after emancipation.
Exclusion: HIS294Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
HIS240H1 - World War I in Europe
Many scholars believe that the initial 1900s had only been an extension of the 19th century and that the First World War opened the next age. Many feel that it changed Europe and the entire world and started a long period of military conflicts, genocides, nationalism, and high-speed modernization. This course will offer the most important facts related to the Great War and discuss their consequences. The course will demonstrate that it is difficult to understand our contemporary world without basic knowledge of World War I, that we are all grandchildren of that war.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
HIS241H1 - Europe in the Nineteenth Century, 1815-1914
This course introduces students to major themes in European history over the ‘long’ nineteenth century, from the time of Napoleon to the First World War. The themes covered will be quite wide ranging. Topics include: the genesis of modern political language (liberalism, conservatism, socialism, nationalism), industrialization and the "social question," nationalism and the revolutions of 1848, imperialism, colonialism and ideas of race, militarism, the rise of labor movements, the suffragette movements, and the origins of the world war. The course will focus on both domestic developments and foreign policy. While the lectures will concentrate on political history, the course emphasizes the importance of multiple approaches to historical problems. A film club is included (voluntary, for extra credit) and students are encouraged to attend.
Attendance at lectures, tutorial participation, reading, research, and writing are all essential components of the course. In the tutorials, students will discuss a variety of primary sources, including novels, essays, and public speeches. Students will also work closely with tutors with regard to the preparation of a term essay.
Exclusion: EUR200Y1/EUR200Y5/FGI200Y5/HIS241H5/HISB93H3
Recommended Preparation: HIS103Y1/HIS109Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
HIS242H1 - Europe in the 20th Century
The evolution of European politics, culture, and society from 1914: the two world wars, Fascism and Nazism, the post-1945 reconstruction and the movement towards European integration.
Exclusion: EUR200Y1/EUR200Y5/FGI200Y5/HIS242H5/HISB94H3
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
HIS243H1 - Early Modern Europe, (15th-17th Centuries
The shape of modern European society is set in the early modern period. Expansion overseas sets some European nations on a path of imperial and colonial development which shapes international relations into the twenty-first century. The revival of classical forms revolutionizes art and architecture, and provides new models for education, politics, law, science, and gender relations. The split of the Christian Church into Protestant and Catholic denominations inspires intellectual and artistic creativity, sparks violent wars, and is brought around the globe by missionaries. Modern states and our fascination with determining ‘national identity’ take shape out of the competition between dynasties, social classes, faiths and territories.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS244H1 - Early Modern Europe, 1648-1815
This course will survey the history of Europe from the Thirty Year’s War to the Napoleonic Empire. We will explore the principal themes which transformed Europe during this period: the birth of the modern nation-state; the increasing scale of warfare; the scientific revolution and the Enlightenment; the emergence of capitalist economies; the consolidation of transatlantic colonial empires; and the French Revolution. Students will read a range of primary and secondary source materials; attendance at lectures, participation in tutorials, course reading, and writing are all required components for this course.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS245H1 - European Colonialism, 1700-1965
This class will introduce students to the history of European colonialism. It will analyze the nature of colonial rule, the impact of empire on both colonies and metropoles, and delve into questions of power, gender, and culture. It considers slavery and abolition, imperial networks, colonial capital, colonial competition, colonial cultures, the twilight of colonial rule, and a variety of settings.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c
HIS247H1 - The Second World War: A Global History
This course offers an introduction to the global history of the Second World War. It aims to expose students to historiographical debates regarding the war, the use of primary sources, and the scholarly and intellectual challenges that come with studying an event of this magnitude and horror. In general, students will examine the origins and causes of the conflict, survey the factors that shaped the course of the war, and consider how and why the fighting came to an end when it did. These broad approaches will be supplemented with consideration of specific examples from around the world.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS262H1 - Canada: A Short History of Here
Designed for non-history students, this introductory survey fulfills the Society and Its Institutions breadth requirement. It is open to all who want to know more about Canada. Make sense of politics today and develop a deeper understanding of Canadian society and its institutions through study of the major events and demographic trends that have shaped the development of this country. Topics will include First Nations/newcomer relations (including treaties and the Truth & Reconciliation report), French/English relations (including Quebec separatism), regionalism, the North, economic history, constitutional developments, and the development of Canadian identity, including common symbols associated with Canada. Students will develop historical research, critical reading, English writing and other academic skills while researching a Canadian history topic of personal interest for the capstone project. Weekly mandatory discussion of readings on a diverse range of topics. No essay or final exam.
*This course will not count towards History program requirements or as a pre-requisite for upper level courses. *
Exclusion: HIS263Y1, HIS264H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS264H1 - Critical Issues in Canadian History
This course introduces the history of Canada through an exploration of key themes and methods. It will cover several time periods, but it is not a standard survey class. Rather, we will focus on some the key forces that shaped Canada over time, and we will look at competing interpretations of Canadian history. We will also study some of the important skills of historical research and writing. Possible topics include First Nations, immigration, language, empire, nationalism, and culture. All students are welcome, but a key aim of the course is to help prepare students for upper year Canadian History courses.
Exclusion: HIS262H1, HIS263Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
HIS265Y1 - Black Canadian History
This course explores the historical experiences of persons of African descent in Canada. We begin by examining the presence of free and enslaved Africans in New France and British North America, moving into twentieth century themes exploring Black liberation, immigration, and resistance in Canada. The course brings into sharp focus the historical production of racial categories and racist thought and practice in Canada and examines the experiences of Black Canadians within the context of ‘multiculturalism.’
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
HIS267H1 - Business History
Business, and its history and evolution, is a fundamental aspect of understanding modernity. Capitalism and globalization, two of the most important aspect of business and its history, shape our world in profound ways. Utilizing a “glocal” approach that combines global and Canadian business history cases within a transnational context, this course seeks to interrogate and understand the evolution and development of modern business, capitalism and globalization from the late 19th Century into the early 21st.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS268H1 Law and History
The Federal Interpretation Act of Canada states that the ‘law is always speaking’. If the law is always speaking, then it must be speaking in present tense. But if it only speaks in present tense, does it have a past? How might we consider the field of law from different historical angles? This course will introduce students to different historical approaches to and uses of law. Using examples from a wide array of legal traditions (e.g. Common Law, Civil Law, Indigenous Law, Islamic Law), the course will help students gain a greater appreciation for the function, study, and development of law across different times and places.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS271Y1 - American History Since 1607
Designed to introduce students to a broad range of American history, this course surveys the political and economic, as well as the social and cultural history of the United States from first contact between Europeans and Native peoples through the turn of the 21st century. Topics covered include: the development of colonial America, the emergence and growth of the American nation; slavery, sectional conflict and the Civil War; the development of modern America; the rise of the liberal state and the conservative counter-offensive; efforts by minority groups at overcoming their second-class status; and, America’s rise to international predominance. Overarching themes include the evolution of race and gender identities, as well as the ongoing struggle within the United States to live up to its founding principles of equality and inalienable rights.
Exclusion: HIS271H5/HIS272H5/HISB30H3
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS280Y1 - History of China
Does China have “five thousand years of continuous history”? We will explore this deceptively simple question in this introduction to the history of what is now China from before the development of writing to the present. No previous knowledge is required. In addition to covering basic information about chronology and environment, this course will be organized around some key tensions:
- Material life and popular culture vs. ideal norms and elite culture
- Changes vs. continuities: when did key watersheds occur, and what were their consequences?
- “Chinese” societies vs. their neighbors, especially the nomadic peoples of the northern steppes
- People vs. nature–physical modifications to the environment over time
- People vs. their bodies– gender, sexuality, and families
By the end of the course, we will have explored not just what we know, but how we know about China’s history. You will be introduced to the practice of reading primary historical documents in translation, with a view to how historians use them to produce knowledge about the past.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS282Y1 - History of South Asia
A rigorous survey of major themes in the history of South Asia (mapped largely but not exclusively by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh), using primary and secondary sources and addressing historiographical debates. Delves into regional complexities and considers broad questions about political economy, colonial governing, anti-colonial nationalism, capitalism, gender and cultural politics. Emphasizes the period after 1750; begins with an overview of ancient, medieval and Mughal history before turning to the British Empire. Addresses how understandings of pre-modern worlds inform contemporary politics and cultures; contextualizes South Asia within current global formations.
Exclusion: HIS282H5/HISB57H3
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS283Y1 - History of Southeast Asia: How the Lands Below the Winds Reshaped the World
This course examines how the cultural, economic, religious, and social histories of "Southeast Asia" [Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), the Philippines, Thailand, & Vietnam] shaped the world as we see it today. Lectures will demonstrate how the millennia-long cultural and material exchanges Southeast Asians engaged via water across the Indian and Pacific Oceans and the lands across Eurasia affected the lives of its inhabitants and the proximal and distant regions with which it had contact. In Tutorials, students will be trained to read primary sources. Themes to be explored include economic exchange, colonialism and its impact, gender and sexual diversity, and religion and society.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS291H1 - Latin America: The Colonial Period
The evolution of Spanish and Portuguese America from pre-Columbian civilizations to the wars of independence.
Exclusion: HIS291Y1/ HIS290H5
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit
HIS292H1 - Latin America: The National Period
A survey of Latin American history from the wars of independence to the present day.
Exclusion: HIS292Y1/HIS290H5
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: b
HIS 295Y1-Y, L0101 History of Africa
An introduction to African history and the methodology of history more broadly, this course sets out to question how historians do history, examine differences in theories of knowledge, and explore the relationship between academic and cultural representations of the past. The course also draws on anthropology and related disciplines.
Exclusion: HIS381H1/HIS382H1/HIS295H5
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1), Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)
Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit