Undergraduate Course Listing

Following upon the successes of the Scientific Revolution, Europe transformed radically during the eighteenth century. This course explores the impact of rapid urbanization, exploding literacy, and the application of science to social issues like gender relations, sexuality, poverty, health care, and race, to chart Europe's development as it raced towards the era of democratic revolution. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Digital humanities is the fusion of digital tools with humanities research and scholarship. Students learn how to bring a solid grounding within the humanities to technological innovations and development, engaging with the use of digital resources and their application in different ways grounded in the fields of the humanities. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: ENGL-2020H

Provides an introductory survey of French colonialism in North America, from the first French incursions on the continent to the cession of its colonies to Britain in 1763. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CAST-2021H

The late medieval world was devastated by overwhelming calamities, including the Little Ice Age, the Black Death and other forms of "pestilence," famines, economic crises, endless wars, rebellions, breakdown of order, ubiquitous violence, and religious turmoil. The course examines these disastrous developments, as well as the human efforts to cope. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Medieval Europe from the birth of Christianity and collapse of the Roman Empire in the West through the establishment of "barbarian" kingdoms, survival and transformation of the Eastern Roman Empire, spread of Islam, Carolingian Renaissance, ninth- and tenth-century invasions, and Europe's gradual recovery and reorganization around the year 1000. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Equivalent to AHCL 2051H.

Cross-listed: AGRS-2051H

Popularly associated with castles, cathedrals, crusades, and valiant knights, this period also saw the rapid development of powerful centralized governments, cities, international trade networks, technological innovation, universities, improved literacy, book production, art and architecture, church reform, social intolerance, and a new focus on the individual and individual emotion. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

An introduction to historiography between Archaic Greece and the late Roman Empire, examining both the history of this period and its construction by ancient writers. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits. Not open to students with credit for AHCL 2102H or 2105H.Equivalent to AHCL 2103H.

Cross-listed: AGRS-2103H

Seeks to destabilize conventional narratives of pre-twentieth-century Canadian history, which tend to present the region's history as characterized by peaceful accommodation and "progress." Instead, it looks at how violence was deeply ingrained in the colonial project of what would become Canada, and profoundly influenced social, political, racialized, class-based, and gender relations. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CAST-2211H

A study of Indigenous involvement in the fur trade and imperial politics of the eighteenth century, the development of European "civilizing" policies, and the growth and ideology of the modern Indigenous political movement. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits, including 1.0 CAST, HIST, and/or INDG credit at the 1000 level with a minimum of 60%. Not open to students with credit for CAST-HIST-INDG 2255Y.

Cross-listed: CAST-2256H, INDG-2256H

Explores the 1960s, a decade of shifting meanings of "Canadian." Topics may include fiscal policy, youth cultures, the women's movement, racial identity, sex scandals and politics, upheavals, nationalism in Quebec, and Indigenous rights. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: CAST-2285H, POST-2285H

Explores Indigenous histories and grounding history in lands, knowledges, languages, and genders. Examines methodologies such as oral narratives, orality, and land-based research along with methods for gathering knowledge related to Indigenous histories. Explores scholarly positionality as historians, research ethics, and the various formats being used to articulate Indigenous histories. Recommended prerequisite: INDG 1001H. Not open to students with credit for INDG 2305Y or 4205Y.

Cross-listed: INDG-2306H

This course meets the Indigenous Course Requirement.

Explores the multifaceted encounters that resulted from European colonialism. The focus of the course is on the lives and experiences of Indigenous peoples in Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific basin to develop a comprehensive understanding of colonialism and resistance on a global scale. Prerequisite: INDG 2306H or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for INDG-HIST 2305Y.

Cross-listed: INDG-2307H

This course meets the Indigenous Course Requirement.

War, politics, and society in Canada from first encounters between Europeans and Indigenous peoples to the period of Confederation. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Topics include Indigenous resistance, colonial domination, slavery, independence, neo-colonialism, nation building, dictatorship, and revolutionary change. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Equivalent to IDST 2471H.

Cross-listed: GDST-2471H

Medicine is simultaneously scientific and social. What gets defined as a disease? Who heals? Who can access health care? Such questions reveal how political, cultural, and economic forces have shaped medicine throughout history. We explore topics highlighting this interaction between the scientific and the social in a variety of historical contexts. Prerequisite: 2.5 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: SOCI-2601H

Surveys the social, cultural, institutional, and intellectual histories shaping Western world attitudes about the mind and brain, while exploring the histories of madness, mental deficiencies, insanity, and mental health during the period when psychiatry and psychology emerged as formal scientific disciplines. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: PSYC-2621H

An overview of the history of feminist ideas, strategies, and actions in Canada. We explore the diversity and distinctiveness of Canadian feminism at different historical moments, celebrating the strength and creativity of organized and individual forms of resistance, while also probing the complicated, difficult, and sometimes "messy" workings of feminism. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits including 0.5 GESO, WMST, CAST, or HIST credit at the 1000 level, or permission of instructor. Equivalent to WMST 2711H.

Cross-listed: GESO-2711H, CAST-2711H

Twentieth-century East Asia was convulsed by war and revolution. The course analyzes the forces shaping the socio-political developments of China, Korea, and Japan. Alongside factors unique to the region, the transformations were propelled by the challenges of colonization, modernity, and globalization. Students will unravel these connections and analyze their impacts. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Considers feature, documentary, animated, and activist films that engage with critical environmental issues. Topics include popular portrayals of animals and endangered species; histories of environmental injustice; the development of environmentalism; the role of storytelling in history, science, and culture; and the challenges of depicting climate change and the Anthropocene. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CUST-2805H, ERST-2805H, MDST-2805H

Explores how and why foodways have changed in North America and Europe between 1800 and the present. It allows students to draw links between global questions and everyday life, gender and politics, and social class and health, while introducing various methods of historical inquiry. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: SAFS-2821H, CAST-2821H

Explores the intersections of sport and politics across different regions and time-periods. Draws on historical and other sources to consider how sports have been used to advance political projects and agendas. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Uses sport as a prism through which to approach a range of cultural problems over the past century in societies around the world. Prerequisite: 3.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

A behind-the-scenes history of everyday life in Canada, exposing the complex histories of such common activities as drinking, barbecuing, gambling, and sex. The course emphasizes the "otherness" of previous moments in time as a way to foster an awareness of the contingency of our current historical moment. Prerequisite: 6.0 university credits. Students may take only one of HIST-CAST 3010Y or 3011H for credit.

Cross-listed: CAST-3011H

Provides a detailed investigation of the history of French Canada from 1763 to the late nineteenth century. It covers numerous political transformations as well as economic, social, and cultural developments that shaped French-Canadian nationalism and collective identity. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CAST-3021H

Provides a detailed investigation of the history of French Canada and Quebec since 1890. It covers numerous political transformations as well as economic, social, and cultural developments that transformed, modernized, and liberalized French-Canadian nationalism, collective identity, and attitudes. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CAST-3022H

Examines the first Trudeau era and its enduring legacy vis--vis Canadian politics, culture, and society. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST-CAST 4061H. Offered only at Trent University Durham GTA.

Cross-listed: CAST-3061H

An exploration into our digital world and how we use it to understand the past. From the examination of digitized and born-digital records to the analysis of websites and e-publications, students will become familiar with the various aspects of historical research, creation, and public diffusion in an electronic environment. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Explores the cultural, political, and social history of the United States from 1945 to the present. Topics include Cold War culture and the Vietnam War; civil rights, antiwar, and feminist movements; popular culture; and the history of political ideas, from liberalism and radicalism to conservatism and neoliberalism. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

During the twentieth century, the United States emerged as a predominant world power. Course themes include the empire and expansionism; revolutionary struggle in Latin America, Asia, and Africa; ideological confrontation with the Soviet Union and China; and the impact of rapid cultural and social change in the United States on its international positions. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Students may take only one of HIST 3150Y, 3151H, 4150Y, or 4151H for credit.

How do we understand our complex and quickly changing twenty-first century world? This course examines contemporary issues in Canada and the United States in historical perspective by utilizing flashpoint issues, individuals, and events to explain longer trends and developments within a continental, cross-border analytical framework. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: CAST-3170H

Offers both a survey of the life and deeds of Alexander and an examination of the background, the ancient sources (studied in English), and modern assessments. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits. Equivalent to AHCL 3170H, 3171H.

Cross-listed: AGRS-3171H

Offers critical examination of the structure, function, and practices of official religion between the late Iron Age and the rise of monotheism in the late antique Mediterranean. Archaeological remains and ancient texts demonstrate how state-sponsored cults served to bind the populace and codify social and political behaviour. Prerequisite: 8.0 university credits including one of AGRS-HIST 2103H (or AHCL 2103H), ANTH-AGRS 2205H or 2206H. Equivalent to AHCL 3221H.

Cross-listed: ANTH-3221H, AGRS-3221H

In ancient Greece and Rome, exclusionary rituals and secretive initiation cults like those of Dionysos, Mithras, Isis, and Christianity overturned entrenched social norms and threatened the cohesion of the state. Archaeological and written evidence provide evidence for the origins, impact, and legacy of such practices in the ancient Mediterranean. Prerequisite: 8.0 university credits including one of AGRS-HIST 2103H (or AHCL 2103H), ANTH-AGRS 2205H or 2206H. Equivalent to AHCL 3222H.

Cross-listed: ANTH-3222H, AGRS-3222H

By critically comparing archaeological and textual evidence with scholarly publications, we examine attitudes toward culture and self-identification in ancient North Africa (ca. 700 BCE-450 CE), as expressed by both ancient peoples and scholars of the past circa 150 years, a period of tremendous change in political and academic thought. Prerequisite: 6.0 university credits. Equivalent to AHCL 3275H.

Cross-listed: ANTH-3275H, AGRS-3275H

A history of comparative genocide that addresses the U.N. definition of genocide. The case studies include the examples of the Holocaust and the Cambodian, Rwandan, Armenian, Bosnian, and Ukrainian genocides; we study the historical conditions that led to genocide in each case, the actions of the perpetrators, and the suffering of ordinary peoples. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor and provoke the Pacific War? This course locates causal factors in the history of Japan's imperialism and militarization and contextualizes these developments in larger global trends. Students will examine the wars impacts and legacies, engage critically with historical interpretations, and conduct analytical research. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Examines the First World War from a global perspective. Through assigned readings, written assignments, and online discussions, students examine topics ranging from military operations in all the major theatres to studies of the war's impact on the European and North American home fronts. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

During the Second World War there were significant developments in military tactics and technology, but also in societal norms, ideology, and morality. This intensive course provides a detailed chronological-thematic overview of some of this conflict's most important themes, controversies, and historical debates. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 3360Y or 4360Y.

Explores the history of Western tyranny and democracy, from the Caesars of Ancient Rome, through Communism, Fascism and Nazism in the twentieth century, to the "spin dictatorships" of the twenty-first. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 4430H.

A survey of the history of France from prehistoric times to the present. Prerequisite: FREN 1102H and a minimum average of 70% on all FREN credits completed. Not open to students with credit for FREN-HIST 3505Y. Offered only in Nantes.

Cross-listed: FREN-3506H

Explores developments in warfare during the European Middle Ages (300-1550 CE), including cavalry, infantry, distance weapons, armour, fortifications, sieges, logistics, espionage, torture and the treatment of prisoners, and the social implications of war. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 4510Y or 4511H.

An advanced seminar course on select aspects of the history of the Middle East. Specific topics are determined yearly. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 4650Y or 4651H.

Explores the history of incarceration from the 1700s to the early 2000s, focusing on institutions designed to segregate those labelled sick, deviant, or in need of reform, particularly in Canada. Through secondary and primary sources, the history of incarceration is studied from the perspective of authorities, the public, and inmates. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits including 0.5 HIST credit or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: FRSC-3711H

Examines the history of the comics medium, but also the representation of history, society, and culture in comics and graphic novels. Students critically read American and European comics and their secondary sources to analyze and evaluate comics' place and role in modern culture. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

A social history of crime between 1500 and 1900, from the perspective of the prosecutors and the courts as well as that of the criminals. Topics include witchcraft, sodomy, murder, theft, rape, and prostitution. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST-FRSC 4751Y. Offered only at Trent University Durham GTA.

Cross-listed: FRSC-3751Y

Examines social and cultural conflicts that marked the history of the Caribbean during the colonial period. Topics include native societies, colonization, wars and conflicts, and plantation slavery during the early modern period. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

Encompasses developments from the beginning of European settlement in the New World to the pre-revolutionary period in the mid-eighteenth century. Topics include the destruction and reconfiguration of indigenous societies, cross-cultural relations, the establishment of colonial empires, the slave trade, and overseas trade, as well as war and conflict in the Americas. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 3753H, 3754H, or 3755Y.

Opium consumption, trade, and prohibition have shaped the modern world. As a medical panacea and a social problem, opium has brought relief but also suffering to individuals and society. On a global scale, it has played a critical role in the spread of imperialism, capitalism, and war. Prerequisite: 4.0 university credits or permission of the chair.

HIST 4020D is a double-credit research project leading to a thesis of about 15,000 words. HIST 4010Y is a single credit because the same thesis is submitted to the other department/program in a joint-major. Arrangements to be made through the chair of the department. The department deadline for a thesis abstract and bibliography (signed by the thesis supervisor) is May 1 of the student's third year. See trentu.ca/history for details. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits.

Explores a variety of medieval innovations and their impact including architecture, armour and weaponry, food and drink, clothing and cloth-making, eyeglasses, time-keeping, health and sanitation, water power, printing, mining, and more. Students have the option to recreate a medieval invention for credit. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair.

Examines the first Trudeau era and its enduring legacy vis--vis Canadian politics, culture, and society. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST and/or CAST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST-CAST 3061H. Offered only at Trent University Durham GTA.

Cross-listed: CAST-4061H

Through the study of novels, plays, films, songs, and poems, this course studies changes that occurred in twentieth-century Quebec. It considers the expression of dominant, marginal, and radical ideas in relation to political movements, and it explores their meanings according to class, gender, race, and place. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST and/or CAST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST-CAST 4220Y.

Cross-listed: CAST-4221H

Explores the history of Western tyranny and democracy, from the Caesars of Ancient Rome, through Communism, Fascism and Nazism in the twentieth century, to the "spin dictatorships" of the twenty-first. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 3430H.

Examines the lives of individuals and families, both famous and ordinary, striving to make their way in the turbulence of the Renaissance period, shaped both by remarkable human achievements and creativity and by never-ending turmoil caused by climate change, epidemics, economic problems, wars, social conflicts, and religious crises. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair.

A look at the recruitment, camp, and battlefield adventures of men in the ranks of the British Army from 1803 to 1815. The course encourages students to think about creative ways to understand the daily lives of soldiers through simulated experiential learning. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 3565H.

Examines how and why our environment and our relationship with it have changed over time. Topics include how to do environmental history, shifts in ideas about natural resources and wilderness, the history of the Trent and Peterborough environments, the urban environment (particularly Toronto), and the history of environmental science and environmental politics. Prerequisite: 10.0 university credits.

Cross-listed: ERST-4670H, CAST-4670H

Examines the social and political dimensions of the Vietnam War from the perspective of Vietnam. Focusing on colonialism and postcolonial nation-building, Cold War rivalry and Vietnamese agency, the course underscores the complexity and violence of this civil conflict, made worse by the Cold War. Strong emphasis is placed on historiography, research, and critical analysis. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST 3700Y.

A social history of crime between 1500 and 1900, from the perspective of the prosecutors and the courts as well as that of the criminals. Topics include witchcraft, sodomy, murder, theft, rape, and prostitution. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair. Not open to students with credit for HIST-FRSC 3751Y.

Cross-listed: FRSC-4751Y

Examines two hundred years of maritime depredations from the first raid of a Spanish treasure fleet in 1523 to the suppression of piracy by 1726. It addresses social, economic, political, and cultural aspects of piracy, the underlying conditions, and the representations of this popular historical theme in the media. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair. Students may take only one of HIST 4755Y or 4757H for credit.

This course examines the history of Indigenous-Settler relations in Canada. We focus on the continuities and changes between the past and present, especially in regard to ongoing colonialism and Indigenous resistance and resurgence. Unsettling settler discourses and studying Canada's history from Indigenous perspectives lie at the heart of this course. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST and/or INDG credits or permission of the chair.

Cross-listed: INDG-4790H

Explores madness in the West from the seventeenth century to the present, seeking to understand how mental illness has been constructed by the medical profession and society, and by those labelled mad. Social and cultural issues are approached through sources including patient narratives, asylum records, and film. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits or permission of the chair.

Students are placed in research projects with community organizations in the Peterborough or Haliburton area. Each placement is supervised jointly by a faculty member and a representative of a community organization. For details see Community-Based Research Program. Prerequisite: 14.0 university credits and a minimum 75% cumulative average. Students may take only one of HIST 3820Y, 3821H, 4820Y, or 4821H for credit.

Individual courses designed to provide opportunities for more intensive study of particular topics in areas of history offered by the department. Open to undergraduates in the fourth year of the Honours program in History. Permission from relevant instructors and departmental approval is essential before registering. Regular consultation during the year. Prerequisite: 4.0 HIST credits.