Stern College Syllabi -- Spring and Fall 2021-2022 courses --- HIST (History)
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Item Restricted HIST 2503: New World encounters: Narratives of discovery and conquest from Columbus and beyond(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-09) Perelis, RonnieThe arrival of Columbus’ caravels to the Caribbean islands of Guanahaní, Haiti and Cuba in the Fall of 1492 forever changed the course of world history. There could be no turning back for either the Europeans or the Americans. This course examines the nature of that encounter –beginning with Columbus and following it through the first 150 years of European exploration, conquest and colonization of the Americas. How did European travel writers make sense of the “New World”? How did they relate to the people that inhabited the “West Indies”? Where can we find the voices of the Native Americans? How did the encounter transform the Europeans and the Native Americans? What challenges do we as modern, western readers face when we attempt to understand the Columbine encounter? We will pay particular attention to the ways that the Americas and the Americans are imagined, at the same time we will investigate the self-fashioning of the “Imaginers”; how does writing about others impact the self-understanding and self-presentation of the writer/observer? We will focus on several Spanish narratives of the discovery and conquest of the Americas. In addition, we will consider the deceptions, distortions and illuminations offered by film. Shakespeare’s The Tempest will serve as a dramatic epilogue.Item Restricted HIST 2303: History of Palestine, 1917-1948(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-09) Kosak, HadassaThe course will examine the history of modern Jewish settlement in Palestine under the Ottoman rule and the British Mandate, up to the establishment of the state in 1948. We will begin with a discussion of Zionism, its rise in the second half of the 19th century, in an era of secular nationalist movements, and an era marked by imperialism, colonialism, and the attendant theories of race. The growing popularity of Zionism resulted in the in Jewish settlement (Yishuv) in Palestine, where it encountered Palestinian Arabs and the British authorities. The material covered will reflect the history of British colonial politics, the social, economic, and ideological factors that shaped the emergence of the institutions of the Yishuv and of the Palestinians, and the political and national aspirations of the two communities. ¶COURSE OBJECTIVES: To introduce students to the specific ways historians, gather and interpret source material and how they construct a narrative from this material • The inclusion in the syllabus of numerous primary documents will introduce students to their own experience in practicing the skill of critical reading and their own interpretation of the past • The project of the final paper for the course will reflect students’ ability to assess digitized journalistic materials by asking relevant questions who wrote them and why, and to construct their own understanding of the pastItem Restricted HIST 2231: History of New York City: People, communities, politics, culture(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-09) Kosak, HadassaCOURSE DESCRIPTION: The course explores the history of New York from colonial times as a Dutch colony in 17th century, to 21st century and its current character of a postindustrial city. The course will proceed chronologically, its emphasis will be the people of the city, its immigrants and its internal migrants. The material chosen will emphasize social meanings of changing neighborhoods, conflicts between the settled population and the newcomers; the rise and fall, and rise of some neighborhoods; the recurring conflict between “machine politics” and reform movements; tension between the urban planning power of the city resulting in dislocation of existing population (considered “slum clearing”); city’s approach to crime and disorder. In addition, important events such as riots, protest movements, and labor strikes will be discussed. We will conclude with the city’s status as it faces the economic and political challenges of a globalizing world.Item Restricted HIST 2159H: History of modern Germany: 1871 To the present(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-09) Freedman, Jeffrey“Germany? But where is it? I know not how to find the country” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Friedrich Schiller, Xenien, 1797) This course is designed to introduce students to the history of Germany from the age of Bismarck to the present. One of the peculiar challenges of such a course is that its subject matter—“Germany”—is highly elusive. Unlike England and France, which have existed as unified political communities since the Middle Ages, Germany has been politically divided for much of its history. Its forms of government, its geographic borders, its position in relation to other European countries and the wider world, and even, indeed especially, the criteria for determining who is a German—all these fundamental aspects of national identity have been subject to repeated change and contestation. This course will take the ambiguity surrounding German identity as a connecting thread. We’ll explore the struggles that Germans have waged from one period to the next over the political and social organization of their country—or countries—their relations to Europe and the “West,” and what it means to be a “German.” The course will proceed chronologically, with units corresponding roughly to the major political divisions of modern German history: unification under Prussian leadership; Imperial Germany; World War I; the Weimar Republic; the Nazi dictatorship; the establishment of the Federal Republic and Communist East Germany; reunification following the fall of the Wall; and Germany today.Item Restricted HIST 1101: Emergence of Europe(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-09) Haziza, DavidCourse description: This course will examine the history of Europe from c.500 BCE to c.1650 and will consider some key texts to see what they can tell us about the periods under review. ¶Learning Objectives: a) Students will be able to analyze primary sources by placing them in historical context b) Student will be able to apply their skills to material from diverse geographical areas and different time periods of study. c) Students will be able to assess the reliability of sources and evaluate their content. d) Students will be able to produce a work of historical analysis in clear prose. ¶Content goals: a) To acquire basic information about events, people and achievements from c.500 BCE to c.1650. b) To extract historical information from a variety of primary sources.Item Restricted HIST 2109: Kings and Queens in Early Modern Britain(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-01) Stenhouse, William; 0000-0002-0744-6828Course description: This course will examine the history of Britain in the early modern period (1450-1700), with special focus on the rulers. It will introduce the main political developments in this period, the main cultural achievements, and the main personalities, in a chronological framework, and will include analysis of a range of primary sources.¶ Department SLOs assessable in this course: • Students will be able to analyze primary sources by placing them in historical context. • Students will be able to produce a work of historical analysis in clear prose. • Students will be able to assess the reliability of sources and evaluate their content.¶ General education SLOs assessable in this course: • interpret and assess primary and secondary sources within a discipline • clearly analyze an issue or problem orally and/or in writing • present relevant information and ideas in an organized fashion orally and/or in writingItem Restricted HIST 2154: History of Modern Russia(Stern College for Women, Yeshiva University, 2022-01) Zimmerman, JoshuaThis course examines the history of modern Russia from the second half of the nineteenth century to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1992. Topics include the Great Reforms of the 1860s, the period of reaction and revolution in late Czarist Russia, the nationalities, and the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917. The second part of the course covers the period between the rise of Soviet Russia and the beginnings of the Cold War after World War II.Item Restricted HIST 3001 - C Ideas of History I(2001-01) Stenhouse, WilliamCourse description: Why read or write history? How can we know about the past? What can historians’ work tell us about the period in which they wrote? This course is designed to address these questions, which are fundamental to the discipline of history, by studying a selection of historians from antiquity to the Renaissance. Although we will see that these historians are often very different in their approaches to historical scholarship and historical narrative to contemporary historians, by examining their assumptions and practices, we will develop a privileged perspective on history writing today. Learning Objectives: • Students will be able to analyze primary sources by placing them in historical context. • Students will be able to evaluate modern historians’ use of source material and assess their interpretations of that material. • Students will be able to place arguments into a scholarly tradition or framework. • Students will be able to assess the reliability of sources and evaluate their content • Students will be able to cite sources as appropriate. • Students will be able to produce a work of historical analysis in clear prose. ___ Examines a selection of historians from antiquity to the Renaissance such as Herodotus, Josephus, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and Machiavelli in order to set them in their intellectual context and to ask questions about the nature of history. Prerequisite(s): HIST 1101 or permission of the instructor. This course may be takes as a prerequisite. 0.000 TO 3.000 Credit hoursItem Restricted HIST 2304 - B Modern Israel / JHIS 1511 - B Modern Israel(2021-01) Kosak, HadassaCOURSE DESCRIPTION: While the course will address the topic of Israel and the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict, our discussions will include topics of social, cultural, and political history of Israel since 1948 to the present. Starting with the nation building enterprise such as challenges of absorption and modernization of the state and society, we will also survey the rise of Palestinian national movement; the role of ethnicity in Israeli politics; global political developments as a factor in the changing Israeli economy and politics; the social and cultural divisions in Israel; and, finally, challenges facing Israel in the twenty-first century.Item Restricted HIST 2225 - D1 Social Movements in US History(2021-01) Kosak, HadassaCourse description: Social movement shave become a familiar presence in our contemporary political landscape. Who hasn’t heard of Colin Kaepernick who started a movement protesting police brutality by refusing to stand during the national anthem, or, Black Lives Matter, White Supremacists movements, Alt-Right movement, and many others such as Tea Party movement, Occupy Wall Street (known also as “We are the 99%”), to name but a few examples. Our survey, however, will begin with American movements (and some counter movements) of the 19th and 20th century such as the abolitionist movement, women’s movements, the KKK, and Civil Rights movement. Entering into 21st century, we will also cross political boundaries and examine equally memorable Arab Spring movements of 2011, which inspired movements in many parts of the world, including Israel. How and why these movements come to dominate our current political life are some of the topics of the course. These questions are subjects of inquiry in variety of disciplines: history, sociology, and political science. In this course, we will explore some of the theories of these disciplines, while addressing the following topics: the grievances and frustrations with the established political, social, or cultural order; movement ideologies; use of violence, but also process of mobilization and organization, and the role of social media in contemporary movements. ___ Examines social movements and protest politics of 19th and 20th centuries. The course explores the ideology, political structures, mobilization, identity, and empowerment strategies of movements such as abolitionist movement, women's movement, populism, the KKK, movements of the era of the great Depression, movements of the 1960s, and the New Right. A comparative survey of contemporary movements which erupted in 2011 in Europe, in the US, and the Middle East (including Israel), will conclude the survey. 0.000 TO 3.000 Credit hoursItem Restricted HIST 1102 - L The Transformations of Europe, 1648-1989(2021-01) Zimmerman, Joshua D.Survey of European history from the age of absolutism to the European Union of today. 0.000 TO 3.000 Credit hours --- This course is designed to introduce students to the history of Europe and of Europe’s relations with other parts of the world from the mid-17th century to the present. In addition, it seeks to introduce basic historical concepts and the interpretation of documents. GOALS. Students will acquire • basic knowledge of some of the main themes in the social, political, and cultural history of modern Europe. OBJECTIVES. Students will be expected to • place events in their historical context. • develop methods of source criticism. • compare the varieties of the human experience over time and space.Item Restricted HIST 1201 - M Survey of U.S. History(2021-01) Burgess, Douglas R.Course Aims: This introductory course will explore the settlement and establishment of the American colonies, and their evolution into an independent nation. The purpose of the course is to provide students with a foundational knowledge of US history, from the earliest colonies to the Civil War and Reconstruction.Item Restricted HIST 2821/SOCI 1206 Introduction to Archaeology: A Survey of World Prehistory(2021-01) Katz, Jill C.Course Prospectus: This course is an introduction to world prehistory, with an emphasis on the rise of social and political complexity. We begin with the cultural remains of nomadic peoples of the Upper Paleolithic. We then study the transition to agriculture among various communities worldwide and the gradual rise in social complexity that led to the formation of cities and state-level societies. We will focus on early states such as those in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Mesoamerica. This course fulfills Foundations and Contemporary Perspectives. Goal 1: Students will demonstrate understanding of the process of archaeological inquiry and explain how archaeological knowledge is discovered, analyzed, and communicated. Objective 1a: Students should understand the meaning and use of archaeological terminology, be able to identify relevant evidence, and be able to make reasonable inferences from it. Objective 1b: Students should be able to research a particular site, gather evidence, and convert evidence into “data” for interpretation and presentation (both orally and in writing). Goal 2: Students should understand world pre-history from Paleolithic times to first civilizations. Objective 2a: Students will demonstrate knowledge of the transition to agriculture and the development of state-level society. Objective 2b: Students will demonstrate knowledge of specific examples in both the Old World (Mesopotamia, Egypt, China) and New World (Olmec, Maya, Aztecs).Item Restricted HIST 2141 - L Holocaust(2021-09) Zimmerman, Joshua D.This course examines the fate of European Jewry between 1933 and 1945. We shall cover the rise and fall of the democratic Weimar Republic in the 1920s, the Nazi seizure of power, anti-Jewish policy and legislation in Nazi Germany, ghettoization in Nazi Europe, and the conception and implementation of the Final Solution during the Second World War. Additional topics will include the problem of the Judenrat, Jewish resistance, life in the ghettos and camps, the Jewish Question and public opinion in Nazi-occupied Europe, and the reactions of the Allies, the Church, and world Jewry to the Holocaust.Item Restricted HIST 2303 - B History of Palestine ; JHIS 1505 - B History of Palestine(2021-09) Kosak, HadassaHistory of modern Jewish settlement in Palestine under the Ottoman rule and the British Mandate, until the establishment of the state in 1948. Topics include: encounters and relations of the yishuv with Palestinian Arabs and the ruling powers; the social, economic and ideological factors that shaped the institutions and the national aspirations of the yishuv and of the Palestinian community. 2.000 TO 4.000 Credit hours COURSE DESCRIPTION: The course will examine the history of modern Jewish settlement in Palestine under the Ottoman rule and the British Mandate, up to the establishment of the state in 1948. We will begin with a discussion of Zionism, its rise in the second half of the 19th century, in an era of secular nationalist movements, and an era marked by imperialism, colonialism, and the attendant theories of race. The growing popularity of Zionism resulted in the in Jewish settlement (Yishuv) in Palestine, where it encountered Palestinian Arabs and the British authorities. The material covered will reflect the history of British colonial politics, the social, economic, and ideological factors that shaped the emergence of the institutions of the Yishuv and of the Palestinians, and the political and national aspirations of the two communities. COURSE OBJECTIVES To introduce students to the specific ways historians, gather and interpret source material and how they construct a narrative from this material e The inclusion in the syllabus of numerous primary documents will introduce students to their own experience in practicing the skill of critical reading and their own interpretation of the past The project of the final paper for the course will reflect students' ability to assess digitized journalistic materials by asking relevant questions who wrote them and why, and to construct their own understanding of the past.Item Restricted HIST 2909 - L Media Revolutions: From Scroll to Screen ; ENGL 1728 - L Media Revolutions: From Scroll to Screen(2021-09) Freedman, JeffreySurveys the history of media from the papyri scrolls of ancient Greece to the internet of the digital age. 0.000 TO 3.000 Credit hours This course surveys the history of media from the ancient world to the present. Taking ‘media’ in the broadest sense to encompass the full range of communications technologies, we will begin with the papyri scrolls of ancient Greece and move from there through the manuscript codex of the Middle Ages, the printed book of the age of Gutenberg, newspapers in the 18th and 19th centuries, radio and film in the 20th century, and the internet and social media of our own digital age. Several recurrent questions will frame our survey of media landscapes: How, to what ends, and in what institutional settings are particular media used? How do they affect modes of thinking? And what are the relations of different media to the various historical forms of religious, political, and economic power? HISTORY DEPARTMENT GOALS AND LEARNING OBJECTIVES • Goal: Students will demonstrate their awareness of the variety of the human experience across time and space. • Learning Objective: Students will be able to apply their skills to material from diverse geographical areas and different time periods of study.Item Restricted JHIS 4936 - D1 Immigrant Nations US & Israel ; HIST 2913 - D1 Immigrant Nations: US & Israel(2021-09) Kosak, HadassaThe course surveys the political, cultural, and social implications of largescale immigration to the US and to Israel. Historically, not all immigrants were welcome, and both nations have a record of resorting to selectivity, or, outright exclusion of the less desirable newcomers. In the case of the US, for example, the Act of 1790 which denied citizenship status to black males, was a model and a tool to "racialize" groups such as the Chinese and the Irish in mid-19th century, and later, the Eastern and Southern European newcomers. A similar model was constructed in the early days of the pre-state Palestine when, in second decade of 20th century, Yemenite Jews were assigned by Zionist leadership a secondary role in the construction of the Zionist project. Focusing on the 20th and 21st centuries, the course will examine the immigration waves to the US and to Israel, including pre-state Palestine. The following topics will be examined: the main waves of immigrants, the changing construction of racial hierarchies and social stratification, the patterns of absorption, and the privileged status granted to western Europeans in the US and to Ashkenazi immigrants in the pre-sate years and in Israel. Throughout the discussions, attention will be paid to the ethno-national character of Israeli nation, and its comparison to the "universal," or, pluralist character of the US. Under the impact of the Civil Rights revolution, the two last decades of the 20th century witnessed in both US and Israel the incorporation of the diverse populations under the umbrella of multiculturalism - a principle that recognizes and celebrates the cultural uniqueness of ethnicities and races. Significantly, however, contemporary views in the US of immigrants from Latin America and from Muslim nations, and of refugees and foreign workers in Israel reveal a persistent policy of inclusion and exclusion. These are compelling examples of current political debates making use of the language of nativism regarding the construction of national identities 0.000 TO 3.000 Credit hours