at the University of Mary Washington
Carrie Schlupp ’13 examines James Monroe’s apron as part of the “World of James Monroe” history course.
“The World of James Monroe” history course, offered for the first time this semester, provides insight into the late 1700s and early 1800s in an innovative way.
For more information, see “Bringing History to Life,” a feature article at the University of Mary Washington’s own “Great Minds at Work” newsletter.
A new course has recently been added to the Spring 2013 schedule:
HIST 300AA: Chinese History through Film / Wed 6-8:45 pm / Prof. Susan Fernsebner
This course explores the intersection of Chinese history and cinema, with a focus on mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Exploring major films from the 1950s through the present day, key themes will include: revolutionary aesthetics and realities, presentations of gender, nation, and violence, as well as issues related to late twentieth century globalization. HIST 300AA will provide credit for both the History major and the Asian Studies Minor.
For a preview of the films we’re going to explore, see http://chinesefilm2013.umwblogs.org/
If you have any questions about the course, feel free to contact Dr. Fernsebner (sfernseb@umw.edu).
The Department of History and American Studies will be offering several new or significantly revised courses for the coming Spring 2012 semester. See below for full descriptions.
AMST 202 –Sophomore American Studies Seminar: Identity & Citizenship in the Digital Age (M. Burtis)
Not just for sophomores and not just for AMST majors, this class is an exploration of how digital technologies and networked culture are influencing our sense of self and community, from the crafting and presentation of personal identity, to the empowerment of individual voices to create and effect change, to the building of communal narratives and spaces in an increasingly global and networked society.
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HIST 300N — Native American History (J. Sellers)
This class will consider Native American experiences from the pre-contact era to the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890. Beginning with a consideration of the diverse cultures and societies inhabiting North America prior to contact with Europeans, the course will then consider how native peoples incorporated European newcomers into their physical and intellectual worlds. Proceeding through the colonial era and the nineteenth century, we will continue to explore the unique dynamics and experiences of Indian country, as well as Native Americans’ responses to the growth of European colonies and later the United States. Throughout the course we will address methodologies for studying Native American history.
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HIST 300M — History of Manhood in the United States (W. Mackintosh)
A course on the history of manhood has a deceptively simple title. The topic seems self-evident, and the choice of subjects unoriginal; after all, hasn’t most history been taught as the history of men? But underneath this surface obviousness lies a set of complex questions: how have men lived in history as men? In other words, how has men’s experience of gender structured their lives and shaped they ways in which they exercised (or were subjected to) power, and how has this experience of masculinity changed over time? These questions owe a fundamental debt to women’s history, whose practitioners have persuasively demonstrated that gender is “a useful category of historical analysis,” and thus this course builds on the trailblazing work of women’s historians by applying gender analysis to men. A course on the history of manhood is also necessarily a course on the history of those against whom dominant men have defined themselves, including women, boys, queers, and racial and class “others.” History of Manhood in the United States will trace the changes and continuities in these conflicting masculinities from the eighteenth through the twentieth centuries.
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HIST 300P–Modern Indonesian History: The Making Of A Nation (W. Redfern)
This course will provide an overview of modern Indonesian history, examining how Indonesia came to be what is today: the fourth most populous nation and the largest Muslim nation in the world, one of the largest democracies in the world, and one of the most diverse countries in the world in terms of cultures and ethnicities. Focusing in particular on the formation of the nation and the state and their continuing evolution, the course explores the Dutch colonial era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, followed by World War II and the Indonesian Revolution, and then the establishment of independent Indonesia and its continuing development, including Sukarno’s Indonesia, the New Order era, and Indonesia today. Major conceptual topics include colonialism, decolonization and nationhood, authoritarianism and democracy, and economic growth and development. Class sessions will be a blend of lecture, discussion and audio-visual presentation. The course does not assume any prior knowledge of Indonesia.
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HIST 471C3 – Adventures in Digital History – (J. McClurken)
This seminar will focus on the process of creating digital history. The course readings, workshops, and discussions will be aimed at exposing students to the philosophy and practice of the emerging field of History and New Media. The course will be centered on the creation of four digital history projects, all of which are related to making local resources available online. These projects are likely to include the creation of a digital exhibit on original political cartoons located at the James Monroe Museum, the building of a digital project on James Farmer; researching and presenting on the buildings on campus and the people for whom they are named, and either reworking and expanding a site on historical markers OR working on the history of local African American education.
Why take this class? You’ll build technological proficiencies and creative skills that will help you in other courses and in the post-college world. You’ll participate in creative workshops constructing the newest form of history, honing your research and writing ability as you present materials in new forms, new technologies, and new venues. You’ll also have a chance to work with faculty and staff from multiple academic departments, the James Monroe Museum, and the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies.
No digital creation skills are necessary, just an open mind, a willingness to learn, and a desire to analyze, create, and present historical content in new and creative ways.
Any questions? Contact me at jmcclurk@umw.edu or @jmcclurken on Twitter or check out the previous iterations of this class athttp://digitalhistory.umwblogs.org/ and http://dh2010.umwblogs.org
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HIST 471D9 — History of Multiculturalism in the United States (M. Johnson)
This course will examine the evolution of the idea of multiculturalism in the United States. Students will investigate the intellectual origins of multiculturalism and the political battles over its meaning and value.
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HIST 471E1 — Sufi Movements and Orders (N. Al-Tikriti)
This seminar examines the history and evolution of Sufi movements and orders as a social trend in Islamic societies. Starting with the earliest expressions of individual mystical piety in early Islam, the course explores the growth, articulation, and politicization of Sufi saints and orders from the medieval to the modern. Ranging chronologically from the 7th century to the 21st century C.E., geographically from North Africa to South Asia, and thematically from philosophy to theology to revolutionary politics, this course provides a comprehensive view of Islamic civilization through the lens of Sufism. Structured as a seminar discussion course, each class will combine discussion of common readings and individual presentation assignments. Students will be required to complete an oral presentation and a seminar paper.
Field School in American Vernacular Architecture
University of Wisconsin-Madison & Buildings-Landscapes-Cultures Program
(UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee)
Art History 600 – Summer 2010 (June 14 – July 9)
This course gives students an immersion experience in the field recording of
historic buildings and an opportunity to learn how to write history
literally “from the ground up.” Students will receive training in site
documentation (including photographs and measured drawings) and primary
source research. They will create site reports on historic buildings that
will become part of the historical record of southwestern Wisconsin. This
research will also be put towards a conference to be held in the region in
2012, hosting national members of the VAF (Vernacular Architecture Forum).
LONDON, PARIS, VIENNA, PRAGUE, AND BERLIN
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
SUMMER EUROPEAN STUDY PROGRAM
“European Capitals”
YESTERDAY AND TODAY
2010
A TWENTY-SIX-DAY, SIX-CREDIT, STUDY ABROAD OFFERING IN EUROPE
The Departments of History and American Studies and Political Science and International Affairs regularly sponsor a six-credit course that takes a limited number of students to Europe for a twenty-six day period each summer. Participants can experience the Europe of yesterday, today, and tomorrow by visiting London, Paris, Vienna, Prague and Berlin.
Between mid-May and mid-June, participants visit various cultural, political and historical sites in or near the five cities listed above. The group also attends a number of artistic performances (either theatrical or musical) during the trip. There are also a number of one-day excursions to sites in the outlying suburbs or within an hour train or bus ride.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS AND FACULTY
The unique nature of this educational experience, with its emphasis on “experiential” learning outside the formal classroom setting, makes inappropriate the utilization of such traditional measures of student achievement as tests and term papers. Instead, a student’s final grade in the course is determined by the quality of their performance in class participation, the compilation of a course journal, and their knowledge of assigned course readings.
The faculty teaching European Capitals have a wide range of expertise in modern European history and politics and extensive experience in European travel. John Kramer, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, is Mary Washington’s resident expert on modern European politics, with an emphasis on the former Soviet Union and Eastern European. Porter Blakemore, Associate Professor of History, is also a modern Europeanist whose teaching and research fields include diplomatic, military, German and contemporary history. Both Mr. Kramer and Mr. Blakemore have traveled widely throughout Europe and have taken student groups abroad on more than fifteen earlier occasions.
FOR INFORMATION CONTACT:
PROFESSOR JOHN M. KRAMER
DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
FREDERICKSBURG, VA 22401-5358
(540) 654-1495; E-MAIL: JKRAMER@UMW.EDU
or
PROFESSOR PORTER R. BLAKEMORE
DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY AND AMERICAN STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF MARY WASHINGTON
FREDERICKSBURG, VA 22401-5358
(540) 654-1588; E-MAIL: PBLAKEMO@UMW.EDU
Applications are now being accepted for the Maritime Studies Program of Williams College and Mystic Seaport, a semester long program based in Mystic, Connecticut that looks at the world’s oceans. Students explore beyond the classroom in an interdisciplinary, academically-rigorous fashion. Our semester is packed with travel, learning about our own country as well as the global ocean and coastal environment. We read Moby-Dick at Mystic Seaport, with a historic whaleship nearly identical to Melville’s Acushnet. We read Rachel Carson’s Under the Sea-Wind beside the Mystic River estuary. We read, among others: Hemingway, Dana, Kipling, Steinbeck, Twain, Chopin, Langston Hughes, and Sarah Orne Jewett. We go to sea on a tall ship for more than a week out of sight of land. We travel in vans along the coasts of central California, the Pacific Northwest, and southern Louisiana. Our home is Mystic Seaport, The Museum of America and the Sea, where students in addition to their four courses (Literature of the Sea, Maritime History, Marine Policy, and Oceanography or Marine Ecology), also take a skills course, such as blacksmithing, small boat sailing, or sea music.
As a Williams College program, students receive a Williams transcript and our curriculum is approved by and is consistent with courses taught at Williams.
Applications for the spring 2010 are due by November 15; for fall 2010 by May 1, 2010.
For more information, go to http://www.williams.edu/williamsmystic/.
Our department’s syllabus for students enrolled in History 485 this coming fall 2009 is now available. See our “Course Sites” page here (listed above) for a link.
Remember, students enrolled in History 485 are required to attend a mandatory meeting on Monday, August 24th from 5-6 pm in ANXA 114 (the old bookstore trailer, now the location of several classrooms amidst the renovation of Monroe Hall.) If you have any questions, please contact Dr. McClurken.
