300 Level Course Descriptions

300-level HIS courses are more specialized and intensive. They deal with more closely defined periods or themes. They vary in format, with some being based around lectures, and others involving tutorial or discussion groups. Most 300-level courses have Prerequisites, which are strictly enforced. First year students are not permitted to enrol in 300 or 400-level HIS courses. Although some upper level courses do not have specific Prerequisites, courses at the 300- and 400-level are demanding and require a good comprehension of history.

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HIS304H1 - Topics in Middle East Histories: Codes, Courts, and Constitutions: Law and Society in Modern Middle East

The class explores the evolution of law in the Middle East from the 19th to the 20th centuries. This course looks at Egypt, Palestine, Israel, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Turkey, and North African and Gulf countries but begins with Crimea as a first colonial encounter following the Russian annexation in 1783. We examine how legal traditions, including that of Islamic law (Sharia), customary law, imperial law (kanun), and non-Muslim legal practices, intersected with colonialism and modernization. Themes include legal pluralism, constitutionalism, gender, and rights amidst encounters between Middle Eastern societies and European colonial powers, modernity, and the rise of modern nation-states.

Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS304H1 - Topics in Middle East Histories: French Colonialism and the Jews

This course examines the place of Jews—politically, socially, and conceptually—within both metropolitan France and its Middle Eastern and North African colonies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In an era of liberalism and emancipation at home, the conquest of foreign lands and rule over their diverse peoples raised new questions around minority status and civil and political rights abroad. Jews, as a minority group native both to France and several of its colonies, present a unique case study of for the ways these questions were answered. Readings will include both primary sources and historical scholarship on topics including civil and political emancipation, national belonging, the “civilizing mission,” philanthropy, and antisemitism. Special focus will be paid to French Algeria, at once the only overseas territory in which most Jews attained French citizenship and a central node of Francophone antisemitism.

Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS309H1 - Global Reformations

The Reformation has traditionally been approached as a 16th century European phenomenon. This course will consider religious reform movements from the 15th to 18th centuries and set these into a global framework, considering spatial and sensory dimensions, cross-cultural engagements and exchanges, and intersections with race and colonization.

Prerequisite: One of HIS102Y1/ HIS109Y1/ HIS243H1. Students who do not meet these prerequisites are encouraged to contact the Department.
Exclusion: HIS340H5/ RLG346H5
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS310H1 - Democracy and Dissent in Postwar Canada

This course will explore the background, experience, and legacy of protest movements in Canada in the post-1945 era. The course will draw on the latest historical literature and will situate Canadian social movements in the broad transnational context in which they unfolded. Topics will include anti-racist movements, feminism, nationalism, Indigenous politics, environmentalism, labour, and the New Right and the New Left.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS/ JHA/ JHM/ JHN/ JIH/ JSH credit
Recommended Preparation: HIS264H1/ HIS262H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS311H1 - Canada in the World

Ranging from the fifteenth through to the turn of the twenty-first century, students will learn about the treaties, trade agreements and alliances, as well as the informal traditions, working relationships and cultural ties that shape relations of people living within the boundaries of present-day Canada with the world. For this course, “international relations” is broadly defined, including military, political, economic, environmental and immigration policies, both official and informal.

Exclusion: HIS311Y1/HIS311H5/HISC46H3
Recommended Preparation: A course in Canadian history or politics
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS312H1 - Immigration to Canada

From the colonial settlement to 21st century, immigration has been a key experience and much debated in Canadian life. Drawing on primary sources, as well as historical and contemporary scholarship, this course will discuss migration, citizenship and belonging as central features in Canada’s experience of immigration. This course focuses on the individuals, groups, and collectives who built, defined, contested, and reimagined this country, to help make and remake Canada through immigration.

Recommended Preparation: HIS263Y1/HIS264H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS315H1 - Decolonial Vietnamese Histories

This course introduces students to the narratives that diverse actors have used to talk about Vietnamese histories. We will focus on the histories and perspectives of the indigenous peoples of the peninsula, ethnic minority groups, as well as that of the majority "Kinh people." We'll explore themes which have been central to shaping the geographic space, the socio-political regimes, and the cultural entity we now call "Viet Nam," while examining how varying types of historical method and archival strategies can influence the telling of histories. What kinds of techniques did Vietnamese and Western political actors, scholars, and writers, employ to narrate the Vietnamese past(s) and how do these visions tell us about the crafter of these narratives? What counts as “history” and who gets/got to decide? Whose experiences were relevant in the different epistemological approaches?

Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS317H1 - 20th Century Germany

A survey of modern German history in the twentieth century. Topics include World War I and the postwar settlement, the Weimar Republic, the National Socialist dictatorship, the Holocaust, the division of Germany, the Cold War, German reunification, Germany and the European Union, nationalism, political culture, war and revolution, religious and ethnic minorities and questions of history and memory.

Prerequisite: HIS103Y1/HIS109Y1/(HIS241H1, HIS242H1)/EUR200Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS322H1 - Topics in African History: Colonialism and Decolonization in Modern North Africa

North Africa is a landmark site for the study of colonialism and decolonization in modern world history. The region was a focal point for multiple European empires and the site of notoriously violent forms of settler colonialism, particularly in Algeria, France’s most prominent colony. By 1962, formal European rule had collapsed across North Africa—an impossibility in the eyes of colonizer and colonized only a short period before. Decolonization not only rippled out from North Africa back to metropolitan France, radically transformed by the loss of these colonial territories, it also shaped post-independence Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco.

Recommended Preparation: HIS295Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS325H1 - Imperial Russia

This course focuses on Russia's history during a period of remarkable change and turbulence, when the country more firmly established its far-flung empire while simultaneously attempting to define itself as a nation. From the wars and reforms of Peter the Great through the end of the empire during the First World War, the course touches on questions of social and cultural change, and the political events that allowed or constrained them.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS credit at the 200+ level
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS326H1 - Topics in Asian Histories: Death in China, 1500-2000

Death: an inescapable fact of human life. But is death quite as “obvious” when we begin looking at experiences, narratives, and definitions of it across different historical contexts? How have human understandings of death transformed (or not) with time?
This course focuses on death and dying from the Chinese historical perspective, covering a broad span from the early modern period to the twenty-first century. We will primarily engage with primary materials, current historical research, as well as some theoretical frameworks. You're strongly suggested to arrive in this class with previous experience in Chinese history.

Prerequisite: HIS280Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS326H1 - Topics in Asian Histories: Indigenous Histories of Vietnam

This course examines critically the idea of Indigeneity in the landscapes of what we now call “Vietnam.” Who were the Indigenous peoples of those lands? How did some communities - get identified as Indigenous and others excluded and reimagined as “ethnic minorities”? It examines how the processes of Vietnamese imperial expansion and French colonization contributed to the articulation of some communities (the lowland Viet) as “Indigenous,” while marginalizing and redefining Indigenous peoples as “ethnic minorities.” What role did the imperial state, French colonial regime, and Catholic Church play in these processes?

Prerequisite: HIS280Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS327H1 - Rome: The City in History
(Joint undergraduate course HIS327H1/REN338H1)

This course investigates the development of Rome from its mythical foundations, through the Empire, the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque to the modern city, illustrating the shift from the pagan to the papal city and its emergence as the capital of a united Italy after 1870 and a modern European metropolis.

Prerequisite: At least 1.0 credit European History course(s)
Exclusion: VIC348Y1 (offered in Fall/Winter 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2014-2015 and 2015-2016) and VIC162H1 (offered in Fall 2016, Fall 2017 and Fall 2018)
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS330H1 - Germany from Frederick the Great to the First World War

Topics include German reactions to the French Revolution, Napoleonic occupation, the Wars of Liberation, industrial expansion, the Revolutions of 1848, unification in 1871, Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm II, everyday life, gender relations, avant-garde culture, nationalism, antisemitism, colonialism, and the Great War of 1914-18.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS credit at the 100- or 200-level excluding HIS262H1
Exclusion: HIS341Y1
Recommended Preparation: HIS241H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS331H1 - Modern Baltic History

The history of the Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania from 1900 to the present day, with emphasis on the emergence of independent Baltic states, World War II, communist era, the Baltic Revolution, the restoration of independence and European integration.

Recommended Preparation: HIS250H1/ HIS250Y1/ HIS251Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3

Geographic Area: c

HIS338H1 - The Holocaust, to 1942

German state policy towards the Jews in the context of racist ideology, bureaucratic structures, and varying conditions in German-occupied Europe. Second Term considers responses of Jews, European populations and governments, the Allies, churches, and political movements.

Prerequisite: Completion of 6.0 credits
Exclusion: HIS388Y1/HIS398Y1/HIS338H5
Recommended Preparation: A course in modern European history
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS344H1 - The Global Cold War

This course examines the Cold War through its global dimensions, going beyond the American-Soviet bipolar rivalry to explore the impact of the Cold War in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Students will work closely with original primary sources and interrogate historical interpretations of the Cold War through different regional and thematic perspectives.

Exclusion: HIS344Y1
Recommended Preparation: EUR200Y1/HIS103Y1/HIS241H1, HIS242H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS346H1 - Rice, Sugar, and Spice in Southeast Asia: A History of Food in the Region

This course examines the importance of food products in the livelihoods of the inhabitants of Southeast and in the world economy. It traces the circulation of these products within the Southeast Asian region in the pre-modern period, into the spice trade of the early modern era, and the establishment of coffee and sugar plantations in the late colonial period, and the role of these exports in the contemporary global economy.

Recommended Preparation: 1.0 FCE Asian or European history
Breadth Requirements: Creative and Cultural Representations (1)

Geographic Area: a

HIS347H1 - The Country House in England 1837-1939

This course examines class distinction and community through the lens of the English country house from 1837 to 1939. Topics include owners, servants, houses, collections, gardens and rituals such as fox hunting.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS credit
Recommended Preparation: HIS109Y1, HIS241H1/ HIS349H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS349H1 - History of Britain: Struggle for Power

An introduction to the history of modern Britain with emphasis on the crown, class, gender, political parties, race, ethnicity, European Union and Brexit.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS350H1 - Topics in European Histories: Medieval and Early Modern Ukraine

This course traces the history of Ukraine from earliest times to the end of 18th century. The format is two hour-long lectures per week. Among the topics to be considered are Crimea and Black Sea region in antiquity; Kievan Rus' (9th to 14th centuries); the Mongol impact; Lithuanian-Polish-Crimean period; the Cossack state; Polish and Russian rule.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
Geographic Area: c

Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS350H1 - Topics in European Histories: 19th and 20th Century Ukraine

This course traces the history of Ukraine during the long 19th (1780s-1914) and 20th centuries. The format is two hour-long lectures per week. Among the topics to be considered are the national awakening under Austrian and Russian rule; post-World War I statehood; interwar Soviet Ukraine and Poland; World War II and postwar Soviet Ukraine; independence and its aftermath. Aside from political, socioeconomic, and cultural factors, much attention is given to peoples other than ethnic Ukrainians living on Ukrainian territory: Jews, Poles, Crimean Tatars, Russians, Germans, among others.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS351H1 - The Soviet Union and After

A survey of the history of the Soviet Union and its successor states beginning with the collapse of the Russian Empire. The course draws on scholarly literature, memoirs, and often film to understand the social, cultural, and political developments of the Soviet state, including famine, terror, and war.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS credit at the 200+ level
Exclusion: HIS351Y1/ HIS351H5
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS352H1 - A History of Women in Pre-colonial East Africa

This course examines the lived experience of women in societies, communities and polities of varying sizes across territories that cover eight contemporary East African states. It encompasses the period from 1000 B.C to the end of the nineteenth century. Topics covered are clustered under four broad themes: a) Ecology, work in commodity production, wealth and exchange relations; b) “Institutional” power, ideology and structures; c) “Creative” power particularly in the areas of healing, resistance/contestation and transformation; and d) Violence, war and vulnerability.
The course challenges present day gender and identity categories applied to Africa’s deep past and highlights critical nuances of gender, identity and power dynamics in Africa.

Prerequisite: AFR150Y1 or any course in African History
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS354H1 - Jews of Arab Lands: From the Prophet Muhammad to European Colonialism

This course introduces the Jewish communities of Arab lands by examining their social, cultural, and political experiences from the Arab conquests to European colonialism. We will examine the sometimes “symbiotic” relationship that existed between Jews and Muslims as well as the factors that threatened it by considering both the history of everyday life and of high culture. Many of Judaism’s formative institutions and literary works were developed in the Middle East and we will explore how they developed in dialogue with Islamic culture. Finally, we will study the impact of Western colonialism and nineteenth-century encounters between “Western” and “Eastern” Jews.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: HIS208Y1/ HIS219Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS355H1 - A History of Pre-modern Medicine

This course surveys major themes and developments in the history of medicine from c.600 BCE to 1800 CE. Topics include: Hippocrates, Galen and their reception in the Middle Ages; monasteries, medicinal gardens and hospitals; medieval licensing of physicians and pharmacists; medieval scholastic medicine; the Black Death; Renaissance anatomy and charlatans; New World drug discoveries; William Harvey’s heart, William Withering’s foxglove, the isolation of morphine.

Prerequisite: 1.0 credit in medieval or pre-modern history. Students who do not meet the prerequisite are encouraged to contact the Department.
Recommended Preparation: HIS220Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS360H1 - Critical Histories of the Black Canadian Experience

This course addresses the long and diverse historical experiences of black people in Canada. Each year the course is offered, it will emphasize a specific theme which may include slavery and its afterlife, black liberation and resistance, black geographies, (im)migration, education, black diasporic communities, and black womanhood and gendered politics. Discussions in this course will consider the place of Canada within broader transnational debates about race and blackness. Details regarding specific topics will be available on the department’s website on an annual basis.

Prerequisite: 1.0 HIS credit
Exclusion: HIS360Y1
Recommended Preparation: Any 100/ 200-level HIS course
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS361H1 - The Holocaust from 1942

Follows on HIS338H1. Themes include: resistance by Jews and non-Jews; local collaboration; the roles of European governments, the Allies, the churches, and other international organizations; the varieties of Jewish responses. We will also focus on postwar repercussions of the Holocaust in areas such as justice, memory and memorialization, popular culture and politics. 
Tentative Course Requirements: analysis of a primary source, term project, a mid-term test, and a final examination.

Prerequisite: completion of 6 undergraduate full-course equivalents and HIS338H1
Exclusion: HIS338Y1/HIS361H5
Recommended Preparation: a course in modern European history
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS362H1 - Topics in Early American History: The Social Network of the Early American Press

This course explores the web of the early American press and the ways in which early American newspapers and letter writing functioned as a social network, reinforcing a unified worldview for American readers. The course will focus on the ways in which letters, pamphlets, newspapers, books, and other written and printed material influenced and were influenced by the major events and ideas in English America from the seventeenth century to the early nineteenth century. Themes include reading and writing in colonial America and the early United States, the social networks established through letter writing, the ways in which the early American press was structured and the ways in which it functioned, political campaigning and press attacks, reading and Republican Motherhood, the rise of print advertising, the early Black American press, the early Indigenous press, the ways in which American newspapers influenced the rise of the First Party System, and the early American book printing industry. At a time when the media seems to be playing an increasing role in American politics and society, this course explores the roots of the relationship between the mass media press, the American political system, and early American society.

Prerequisites: 4.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: HIS271Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS364H1 - From Revolution to Revolution: Hungary Since 1848

Once a powerful kingdom in Central Europe, Hungary and the Hungarians have a rich history of interchanging periods of conquest, dominance, expansion, and contraction.
This 12-week course has its focus on the multiple transformations of Hungary: From the revolutionary “Springtime of Nations” in 1848 when Hungary’s quest for independence was halted through political sovereignty and partnership with Austria in the Dual Monarchy between 1867 and 1918, to a truncated but independent existence in the interwar period; from there to subjection first to Nazi Germany and then to the Soviet Union, and finally to renewed independence in 1989 and membership in the European Union in 2004.
The focus is on the revolutions of 1848-1849, 1918-1919, the 1956 Revolution against Soviet rule and the collapse of communism in 1989. The story has been invariably heroic, violent, and tragic. In the long peaceful periods, long at least for East Central European conditions, Hungary changed from a patriarchal and rural country to an urbanized and industrialized nation.
The course will offer a chronological survey of the history of Hungary from 1848 until the present. It is ideal for students with little or no knowledge of Hungarian history but who possess an understanding of the main trends of European history in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Prerequisite: A 100 level HIS course
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS371H1 - Canadian Political History

This course examines the history of Canadian politics from the late colonial period to the recent past. Lectures and discussions will focus attention on specific political issues (responsible government, Confederation, war, welfare, battles over voting rights, campaigns for social change, etc.) but also consider the deeper structural, social, economic, and cultural dynamics that shaped politics over time. The course takes a broad view of politics (elections and parties but also social movements, interest groups, bureaucracy). A key theme is the nature of political power in a democratic polity.

Prerequisite: HIS264H1/ HIS263Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS373H1 - Servants and Masters, 1000- 1700

This course will explore the history of all types of servants, from the ladies-in-waiting to the domestic slaves, in Western Europe between 1000 and 1700. The goal will be to observe especially their working and living conditions, as well as the changing perception of service through time.
Recommended Preparation: HIS220Y1, HIS243H1 or a course on the Middle Ages or Early Modern Europe.
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS374H1 - Mass Incarceration in the United States

The United States is home to five percent of the world’s population but twenty-five percent of the world’s prisoners, including a disproportionate number of African American, Latinx, and Native American people. This vast carceral archipelago is the subject of extensive scholarly and public debate over the history, ethics, and function of incarceration in the United States. In this course, we will explore the rise of contemporary mass incarceration from an interdisciplinary perspective that draws upon history, sociology, and legal studies to reveal the linkages among state-formation, politics, capitalism, and modern punishment as well as community responses to mass incarceration.

Prerequisite: HIS271Y1/ (HIS221H1, HIS222H1)
Exclusion: HIS389H1 (Topics in History: Mass Incarceration in the United States) offered in Fall 2018, 2019, and 2022. 
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS375H1 - Crime and Punishment in the Early Modern World

What did it take to break the law in the period 1400-1800, and how were people prosecuted and punished when they did? We will review the kinds of crimes that triggered arrest, the different types of law codes in place and the importance of the revival of Roman law, ways of avoiding prosecution, the criminalization of “deviance”, judicial processes in colonization, and variations based on age and gender. We’ll also look at forms of punishment, including the varieties of corporal and capital punishment, the operation of prisons, the use of exile and transportation.

Prerequisites: 4.0 credits
Exclusions: HIS357Y1
Recommended Preparation: HIS243H1/ HIS244H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS377H1 - U.S.A in the World

A survey of the history of American foreign relations focusing on the 20th century to the present. Themes include imperial expansion and the uses of power; the relationship of business and government in U.S. foreign policy; and the role of culture and ideas in Americas relations with the world.

Recommended Preparation: HIS271Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

HIS382H1 - China from the Mongols to the Last Emperor

This course traces the history of Chinese empire from its political reorganization, economic expansion, and cultural efflorescence in the 11th century, through its peak of power in the 18th century, and to its decline during the 19th. We will consider how these centuries broke with as well as continued previous developments, and how they have influenced Chinese and world history in the last 150 years.

Prerequisite: HIS280Y1/EAS103H1/EAS209H1 or comparable course in E. Asian/Chinese history
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS383Y1 - Women in African History

This course subjects our increasing knowledge about African women’s history from the mid-19th century to the present to critical analysis. It goes beyond restoring women to history and seeing African women as victims impacted upon and struggling against colonialism and neo-colonialism. It examines how African women’s lived experiences have been represented, packaged, and delivered to different audiences.

Prerequisite: HIS295Y1/ HIS297Y1/ AFR150Y1/ AFR250Y1/ AFR351Y1/ POL301Y1 or permission from the Instructor
Exclusion: HIS383H1/ HISC97H3
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS386H1 - Fascism

A comparative and transnational examination of fascist movements and regimes in Europe during 1919-1945. Beginning with Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany, this course analyzes manifestations of the phenomenon in various European countries, including France, Spain, the Baltic states, Central Europe and Scandinavia. We analyze the factors that led to fascist movements obtaining power in certain countries and to their failure in others. Collaboration with Nazi Germany during the Second World War is also explored. Finally, we discuss whether the concept of ‘generic’ fascism can also be applied to other regions and periods.

Prerequisite: 9.0 credits, including 1.0 HIS credit excluding HIS262H1
Exclusion: HIS389H1 (Topics in History: Fascism), offered in Winter 2018 and Winter 2019
Recommended Preparation: A course in European History
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

HIS388H1 - France Since 1830

A study of French society, politics, and culture from the Paris Commune to the 1990s. Special attention is paid to watersheds like the Dreyfus Affair and the Vichy regime, to issues of regionalism/nationalism, cultural pluralism, women's rights, intellectual and cultural trends, and decolonization.

Prerequisite: EUR200Y1/one course in HIS/FRE
Exclusion: HIS388Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: c

HIS389H1F - Topics in History: Soviet Jewish History, Culture, and Diaspora
(Joint undergraduate course – HIS389H1/CJS391H1)

The course examines history, culture and diaspora of Russian-speaking Jews in the 20th and 21st century. We will discuss how Jews experienced Russian Revolutions of 1917, Stalinism, Soviet Great Terror of 1937, World War II and the Holocaust, post-war challenges, the “Thaw” of the 1960s, “Stagnation of the 1980s”, Dissident movement, Perestroika, collapse of the Soviet Union and the development of post-Soviet diasporas. We will read works by both Soviet Jewish authors, including Vassily Grossman, Shira Gorshman, Isaac Babel, Rivka Levin and post-Soviet ones, such as David Bezmozgis, Lara Vapnyar and Boris Fishman, study artifacts of anti-religious propaganda such as Red Passover Celebration scripts, discuss oral histories of Soviet Jews, read scripts of Yiddish theater performances (in English translation), and scrutinize (and maybe even try) recipes of Soviet Jewish food. No prior knowledge is required, but if you took a course on European history or Jewish history, it will be an asset.

Prerequisite: 4.0 credits including 1.0 HIS credit

Geographic Area: c

HIS390H1 - Slavery in Latin America

This seminar focuses on the history of African slavery in Latin America from its origins in the fifteenth century to its abolition in the nineteenth century. Readings will draw from primary sources and historical scholarship related to a range of topics, including the slave trade, gender, religious and cultural practices, and emancipation.

Prerequisite: HIS106Y1/ HIS231H1/ HIS291H1/ HIS292H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit

HIS397H1 - Political Violence and Human Rights in Latin America

This course will explore human rights theory and practice from a Latin American perspective.  There will be a focus on the local derivation, development and impact of the movement for human rights in Latin America.  The course will focus on the history of organized protest against violence in the twentieth century.

Prerequisite: HIS292H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: b

JHA384H1 - Japan in the World, mid-16th to mid-20th century

This course examines Japan within the context of world history from roughly 1600 to the mid-20th century. Examples of topics include: the mid-16th to early 17th century European expansion into East Asia; the Dutch and Chinese influence on early modern Japan; the Meiji “Restoration” as a global event; Japanese nationalism in a world of nations; Japan as both semi-colony and colonizer; the “woman question”; and the US Occupation of Japan.

Prerequisite: One course from: HIS102Y1, HIS103Y1, HIS107Y1, HIS241H1, HIS242H1, HIS244H1, HIS250H1, HIS250Y1, HIS271Y1, HIS280Y1, HIS281Y1, HIS282Y1, HIS283Y1, HIS291H1, HIS291Y1, HIS292H1, HIS292Y1, HIS297Y1, or 1.0 credit from CAS200H1, CAS201H1, CAS202H1, CAS310H1, CAS320H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a

JHM307H1 - Islamic Legal History: Formation and Encounters

This course examines the formation and encounters of Islamic Law with Legal Others from roughly the 8th century CE to the early formation of the Ottoman Empire. The Islamic legal tradition arose in a complex historical context in which legal traditions mapped onto, and gave legal cover to, imperial polities. As the Islamic polity expanded, so too did the imagination of jurists having to contend with new realities (political, geographic, economic, and otherwise). This course will introduce students to the formation of Islamic law in a context of contending legal orders, its ongoing encounters with legal orders in the course of Islamic expansion, and the retraction of Islamic legal orders and institutions as a tradition that anticipated political sovereignty experienced the limits of that sovereignty. Examples will be drawn from the Middle East, Africa, South Asia, and South East Asia. The course will introduce students to the disciplinary focus of Law and History through a focus on doctrine, institution, and the implications on both as territory and people are subject to varying waves of imperial designs and local resistance.

Prerequisite: HIS268H1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Geographic Area: a
Temporal Requirement: 0.5 credit