The History Department is excited to have new undergraduate course offerings for the 2016-2017 academic year. Below you’ll find short descriptions of our new courses, some of which will be only offered once. (More descriptions to be posted shortly.) Special Students who wish to register should contact the Undergraduate Administrator at history@carleton.ca to discuss any concerns regarding prerequisites or equivalencies.
HIST 3907A: Transnational or Thematic Topic – “Disability History” (Field e)
“History of Disability” is designed to introduce students to the rich history of disabilities. A broad variety of history courses introduce students to race, class, and gender as relevant categories of analysis. More recently scholars have begun to include disability in this list as well. This course will thus explore the cultural history of disability and the promise of disability as an analytical tool. We will consider the representation and understanding of disability as it changes over time and as it is portrayed and experienced in changing cultural contexts. In addition to relevant theoretical discussions and diverse analytical methods, we will consider several case studies that will help make visible the various lived experiences of people with disabilities, highlighting the causes and effects of discrimination, exclusion and marginalization, as well as resistance to such treatment.
HIST 3907B: Transnational or Thematic Topic – “US Constitutional History: Law and Inequality” (Field e)
One of the key issues in the upcoming US presidential election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is the future make-up of the US Supreme Court. Supporters of each candidate warn of dire consequences should the other win and thus have the power to shape the court far into the future. How and why did the US Supreme Court become such a vital player in the national life of the American people? What role does the US Constitution give to the court? How has the court gone about expanding its role in American life and why? How has the court resolved (or sought to resolve) some of the most pressing and controversial issues in American history such as slavery, segregation, women’s rights, civil liberties in wartime, and the abortion controversy? This course will address all these issues and more. Students taking this course will come away with a strong understanding of the origins of the US Constitution, its content, and the way in which the US Supreme Court has interpreted it over two centuries of American history.
HIST 3907B: Transnational or Thematic Topic – “Radio: Source, Outlet and Medium for History“
In this course, students will have the opportunity to explore the history of radio and the way in which radio can be used to disseminate historical content. They will be able to listen to old radio shows to study the style and structure of old programs and use that information to create their own radio programs featuring historical content.
HIST 4915A: Topics in History – “Japan: Model of Asian Modernization”
Japan’s modern history is marked by the end of 230 years of international isolation, followed by the ascendance to the Chrysanthemum Throne of emperor Meiji in 1867. Slightly over a year later a dramatic political, social, economic, military and cultural revolution in everything but name – the Meiji Restoration [Meiji Ishin] – erupted under the aegis of the imperial institution – the world’s most ancient and the ultimate symbol of Japan’s past.
This intense half-credit seminar traces the pattern of Japanese modernization by examining the nation’s unusual capability to successfully combine foreign and domestic elements underpinning all its major institutions and formally expressed in its two Constitutions : of 1889 and of 1947 , respectively. The first Charter was that of East Asia’s second colonial power – after China- while that of 1947 anchors the nation which has become the embodiment of democratic pacifism.