University at Buffalo (UB)
Instructor: V. Nachreiner
Offered: Session M (July 11-August 19)
The increasing interaction of peoples and nations we call globalization benefits some more than others. This course focuses on the historical origins and consequences of a world divided between the rich and poor, the privileged and excluded, the mainstream and the marginalized. Students will consider, among various topics, the emergence of racial and ethnic categories, which accompanied the divergence of a small number of wealthy nations, primarily in the northern hemisphere, from many more poor ones, primarily in the south. They will examine resulting hierarchies that structure other realms of social life, including gender relations, religious conflict, access to education and technology, and environmental degradation. The course also explores how individuals, communities, and societies have challenged dominant understandings of the world, advanced alternative perspectives, and struggled for social justice. AAL
Instructor: A. Gallagher
Offered: Session M (July 11-August 19)
This is not your high school history class. We won't ignore presidents and generals, but we will push beyond them to look at ordinary people, popular culture, and the ideas that shaped American history from the end of the Civil War to the present. From Robber Barons and Captains of Industry; to radical unionists and free-lovers; from the rise of Jim Crow to civil rights activism; from Victorian bustles to flappers and feminists; from the New Deal to the Tea Party; we cannot understand the present without understanding how these stories have transformed America over the last century and a half. We will use film, music, and compelling stories about men and women living through the issues of their day to show that history is not just a list of names and dates. USH **NOTE: HIS 161 is not a prerequisite for HIS 162. Students may register for one, both, and in any order.
Instructor: P. McDevitt
Offered: Session J (May 31-July 8)
This first-year seminar probes the recent history of soccer to analyze larger social, political, cultural, and economic processes. The main concerns of the course are wide-ranging, and include exploring the relationships between sports and politics, popular culture and national identity, gender and equality. We will explore the following questions: How and why did soccer become the world's most popular sport? How has the growth and professionalization of the sport influenced the construction of race, gender, and national identities? How has soccer reshaped debates about human rights, equality, and citizenship? And, how do debates over the team composition, designation of home locales, and even playing styles of the U.S.'s men's and women's national squads reflect, and potentially recast, larger conversations about citizenship and national identity?
These questions signal the need to think broadly and historically about the ties between sport and society. They are intended as starting points, and will be complemented by new questions and concerns that students will raise in discussions and individual assignments, group presentations, and research papers. The aims for this course are threefold. First, students will strengthen critical reading and writing skills through weekly assignments designed to sharpen written and oral communication. Second, students will acquire first-hand historical research experience through the production of an original research paper. This process immerses you in the thick of scholarship, and will enhance awareness about methodology and historiography. And, finally, in framing this course in an "Americas" perspective, I invite students to think about the interconnected and transnational arenas through which ostensibly local (and national) histories of soccer play out.
Instructor: C. Casteel
Offered: Session J (May 31-July 8)
This course is designed to help students develop the essential skills of good historical writing: the ability to synthesize a wide variety of secondary information, construct nuanced interpretations of primary source material, formulate original historical arguments, and tell engaging, meaningful stories about the past. Students will practice these four foundational areas (synthesis, analysis, argumentation, and narration) through a variety of informal and formal writing assignments, including blog posts, in-class writing, book reviews, and a research essay. In addition, students will gain experience presenting their work orally and visually.
Instructor: S. Handley-Cousins
Offered: Session J (May 31 to July 8)
This research seminar explores the many ways Americans have remembered and commemorated war in their history. From colonial wars of settlement in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to our current "war on terror," we will examine the formal and informal ways Americans have memorialized their martial experiences, and how those memorial strategies have shaped American society. And we will debate the profound ways that the experience of war, both for soldiers and civilians, have transformed lives for better and for worse. Students will engage with the topic though a variety of primary and secondary sources, including works of literature, visual images, and film. Students will conduct primary source research on a topic of their choosing in relation to the themes and questions of the course. USH