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Class locations:
1000 Level Courses
T. StrettonMW 10:00 - 11:15 amClass location: ME104
Course description: Through examining a small number of historical events in depth, students will be introduced to the techniques required to practice history. They will have the opportunity to ‘make history’ by applying their skills in research, analytical thinking and writing to produce their own interpretations of select events.
L. WarnerTR 11:30 am - 12:45 pmClass location: LA275
X. SunMW 10:00 - 11:15 amClass location: LA 277Course description: This introductory course explores historical change and social transformation in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam from antiquity to the present. Emphasizing especially the Chinese and Japanese experiences, this class will examine some of the most salient social, intellectual, political, and economic features apparent in the heritage of these societies, as well as some of the ways each society has influenced the others.
B. WrightMW 10:00 - 11:15 amClass location: Remote Asynchronous
Course description: This introductory course explores historical change and social transformation in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam from antiquity to the present. Emphasizing especially the Chinese and Japanese experiences, this class will examine some of the most salient social, intellectual, political, and economic features apparent in the heritage of these societies, as well as some of the ways each society has influenced the others.
S. JoudreyMW 2:30 - 3:45 pmClass location: LA173
Course description: This course will examine early Canadian history from the time of the first native-European contact up to Confederation. Emphasis will be placed on the development of New France/Lower Canada, Upper Canada, and the West. Political, social, and economic themes will be considered.
D. BanoubTR 8:30 - 9:45 amClass location: Remote Synchronous
Course description: This course will examine the shape of political culture in modern Canada; the debate between the advocates of the nation state and of federalism; and the impact of industrialization, regionalism, war, and depression on that debate.
D. BanoubMW 2:30 - 3:45 pmClass location:LA171
S. LurieTR, 4:00 - 5:15 pmClass location: Remote Synchronous
Course Description: This course will explore the history of the modern United States since its Civil War, examining the social, economic, political, and transnational developments of the last century and a half. Through lectures and reading, we will cover such themes as political economy, international relations, urbanization, social movements, migration, and the development of the state.
L. DigdonMW, 11:30 am - 12:45 pmCourse location: LA187
Course description: The modern concept of science encompasses the study of the natural world in a systematic manner to accumulate knowledge. The term “science” dates only to the early nineteenth century, however, humans’ desire to understand the world around them stretches back through human history. Throughout the term we will follow the evolution of scientific inquiry and methodology from antiquity to modernity. This course examines the major developments in the history of science and technology, including the emergence of science in antiquity, medieval science, the Scientific Revolution, the expansion of science in the modern world, the relation between science and society, and the cultural significance of science and technology.
L. DigdonTR, 1:00 - 2:15 pmCourse location: LA179
L. DigdonClass location: Web
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2000 Level Courses
L WarnerWeb
Course description: From farming practices in the medieval period to the smog and blackened landscapes of the industrial nineteenth century, Europeans have had an impact on their environment. Students explore the changes and how European encounters with the new world brought disease, and an exchange of foods, animals and plants between the continents. This course provides a long-term perspective on changes in climate, water and land use, breeding as well as species extinction, and the foods available in Europe and its North American colonies from 1300-1900.
H. GreenTR 2:30-3:45 pmClass Location: B218Course description: Students explore the environmental history of North America by examining the historical relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world in a transnational setting. Students consider various meanings and perceptions of nature over time, assess human use of nature, conflicts around resource use and sustainability, and public engagement.
N. BalanTR 11:30 - 12:45 pmClass location: LA178
Course description: Ideas, attitudes, and assumptions about Atlantic Canada have been influenced by social, cultural, political, religious, and ethnic traditions inherited from the past. The curriculum of this course covers a wide range of topics from gender, refinement, material culture, dress, food, and conspicuous consumption, to political choices and ethnic biases. Lectures, readings, class discussions, and mixed media demonstrate how historical events and previous ways of behaving and thinking continue to influence social and cultural customs and decision-making.
HIST 2317.2 Africa in the 20th Century (Winter)
TBAMW, 4:00-5:15 pmClass location: LA179Course description: An examination of the activities of the colonial powers in governing the territories and peoples which they acquired in the ‘Scramble’. The course will also study the reactions of Africans to colonialism and the factors which led to independence.
P. TwohigMW, 11:30 - 12:45 pmClass location: LA282
Course description: Commencing with the earliest Native-European contact in the Atlantic Provinces, students in this course will examine the interactions among the peoples who inhabited the region up until the mid-nineteenth century. Major events, such as wars, treaties, and Confederation will also be considered.
P. TwohigMW, 11:30 - 12:45 pmCourse location: LA179
Course description: Beginning with the post-Confederation era, and then moving into the phases of industrialization and deindustrialization, students will study social, economic, and political developments in the region up to the end of the twentieth century and beyond. Major events such as the two World Wars will also be considered.
M. VanceTR, 11:30 am-12:45 pmCourse location: MM227Course description: Since the late nineteenth century, many Britons have been preoccupied with notions of imperial, economic, and social decline. Students test the validity of these perceptions by surveying important changes that have affected British society from the height of British imperial power to the present.
D. BanoubMW 4:00 - 5:15 pmClass location: Remote synchronous
Course description: The course is an overview of Canadian political history from Confederation to the early 2000s, introducing students to the study of political power in its historical, social, and cultural context. Focusing mainly on federal politics, the course will examine expressions of authority and resistance in Canadian history, stressing the complicated interactions between governed and governors. The study of politicians and key events in Canada’s political history will be grounded in themes of inclusion and exclusion, and coercion and consent. Students are encouraged to think culturally, investigating how politics draw from and contribute to ideas about race, class, and gender. While the history of Canadian politics will be the course’s focus, lectures, assignments, and discussions will also stress the politics of history-making in Canada, focusing on how certain narratives have been politicized.
TBATR 10:00-11:15 amClass location: B205
Course description: An introduction to the history of the Roman world from the establishment of the Principate under Octavian/Augustus to the decline of the Roman empire in the western Mediterranean and Europe. This course will explore the evolution of the Principate and its eventual replacement by the Dominate, the nature of Roman imperialism, the role of the emperor as a political and religious figure, the interaction among the Romans and their neighbours in central Europe and the Near East, and the eventual political and economic disintegration of the imperial system. Students will be asked to consider such topics as different models of Roman economic, social, and political organization, the role and status of women in the Roman world, the codification of the Roman legal system, and the intellectual and religious developments that laid the foundations for subsequent historical periods in Western Europe and the Mediterranean. Students will be asked to read the works of various ancient authors and to consider archaeological and epigraphic evidence relevant to the history of the Roman imperial period. Content will vary from year to year.
L. PattisonMW 8:30 - 9:45 amClass location: Remote Synchronous
Course description: Students analytically examine the evolution of sports such as shinty, hurling, field hockey, ice hockey, and sledge hockey from the nineteenth century onwards, commencing with the earliest forms of vernacular stick sports. Although the scope will be international, special attention will be paid to Atlantic Canada.
3000 Level Courses
T. StrettonMW, 10:00 - 11:15 amClass location: MN219
Course description: This course addresses the theories, methods, principles and problems associated with the discipline of history. It examines the following basic areas of historical inquiry: the purposes of historical study; the relevance of the past; the relationship between the past and present; the nature and validity of historical knowledge; the relationship of history to other disciplines; and the development of historical interpretation.
W. KeoughTR, 10:00 - 11:15 amRemote SynchronousCourse description: This course offers a survey of the historical experiences, status and activities of Canadian women in all their diversity from 1900 to the present. Topics will include women’s economically valuable work in the household and the paid labour force, and family life and sexuality. Special emphasis will be placed on women’s struggles for economic equality and full political and social participation in Canadian society
A. KnappOnline
Course description: This course will explore popular culture in the United Kingdom during the 19th and 20th centuries through the study of popular music. Attention will be given to the youth culture that emerged after the Second World War and its importance for the spread of Rock and Pop music. In addition to developments in the United Kingdom, American and Imperial cultural influences will also be examined through musical styles and movements such as Rock and Roll, Punk, and Reggae.
T. StrettonMW, 2:30 - 3:45 pmClass location: B218Course description: This course is a survey of the history of crime and punishment in England in an age before professional police forces and standing armies. Students trace the evolution of criminal courts, the role of juries and the shift from physical punishments to imprisonment and transportation. Other topics include medieval ordeals, dueling, riots and popular protest.
S. LurieTR, 1:00 - 2:15 pmClass location: Remote SynchronousCourse description: Students explore the historical roots of several major issues in current American society (past topics have included Black Lives Matter, gun violence, abortion access, voter suppression, economic inequality, and climate change). Students think historically about the present and contemplate the ways in which past developments shape our current world.
TBATR, 1:00 - 2:15 pmClass location: MM227Course description: Students examine a key transitional historical period in the Roman world, with the dissolution of the republic and its replacement with a monarchy during the reign of Rome’s first emperor. Through a close analysis of ancient material and textual evidence, students will examine and evaluate the Age of Augustus.
L. WarnerTR, 2:30 - 3:45 pmClass location: LA275Course description: Students will trace the developments of European ideas, art and culture in the Renaissance through the visual images of artists such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Albrecht Durer or Holbein as well as writers such as Machiavelli, Erasmus, Marguerite de Navarre or Montaigne.
W. SewellMW, 2:30 - 3:45 pmClass location: LA296Course description: The Asia-Pacific War (1937-45) engulfed much of Asia and the Pacific and has lingering ramifications for the present. Students survey the origins, course, and outcomes of this cataclysm.
W. SewellW, 4:00 am - 6:45 pmClass location: LA281
Class description: Students will have the opportunity to explore the relationships between cinema and historical events and contexts. Films for study, class readings, time periods, and geographic areas will be selected by the instructor. In winter 2025 the course will examine Japanese films and the history of Japan.
H. GreenF, 10:00 am - 12:45 pmClass location: LA177Course description: Relations between indigenous peoples and settler societies have been problematic wherever European colonization has taken place. Students study how these relationships have evolved over time with a view to developing a historical understanding of contemporary issues.
S. JoudreyMW 10:00 - 11:15 amClass location: LA281
Course description: Students are introduced to the world of museums and museum studies. They will learn about the history of museums, the constantly evolving purpose of such institutions, particularly during the twentieth century and in the contemporary world, their role in public education, archival and collections management, exhibitions, funding models, governance, and current debates in the field. This course is a combination of seminars and site visits to museums, which will require that students engage with the museum community in Nova Scotia.
4000 Level Courses
K. KehoeW, 4:00 - 6:29 pmClass location: MN519Course description: Students use historical perspectives to understand current affairs in meaningful and evidence-based ways. Students are challenged to think about the broad application of research, communication, and critical-thinking skills to real-world situations through guest lectures, innovative learning materials and project creation.
N. NeatbyW 1:00 - 3:45 pmClass location: MN219
Course description: Honours History students have the opportunity to engage in independent research and write an honours thesis with the help and direction of a supervisor. The Honours Seminar provides a framework to assist each student in the preparation of the thesis. The seminar places an emphasis on research skills, historical methods and approaches, theories of history and the use of sources and evidence in order to help students develop and write the honours thesis. Students will be evaluated on their course work and presentations as well as the honours thesis.
X. SunM 4:00 - 6:29 pmClass location: LA178
Course description: Students explore the memories of the Asia-Pacific War in China, Korea, and the impact of collective and individual memories of the conflict on the history and politics of the region is emphasized.
HIST 4631.2 - Environmental History of Atlantic Canada (Winter)
H. GreenR, 1:00 - 3:45 pmClass location: MN219Course description: This interdisciplinary seminar course is an examination of the changing ways nature has been viewed and transformed in Atlantic Canada before and after European settlement, surveying environmental history up to the mid-20th century. Topics range from historic aboriginal resource use to colonial perceptions of nature and the early conservation movement.
HIST 4800.0XX - Special Topic: Difficult Heritage Europe (Fall)
K. FreemanF, 10:00 am - 12:29 pmClass location: B205Course description: This course comprises an on-campus seminar and a 10-day field school. The field school visits Western European heritage sites associated with the Third Reich and the Second World War. The seminar focuses on stories of perpetrators, collaborators, resisters, bystanders and victims and how they have been commemorated and contested in material memoryscapes. The course also includes predeparture orientation and post-trip assignments.
HIST 4830.1 - Special Topic: Writing History (Fall)
S. LurieM, 2:00 - 5:00 pmClass Location: Remote, SynchronousCourse description: This is a seminar course in which we will explore different kinds of history writing beyond the traditional essay format. We will examine and analyze different modes of historical argumentation, as well as experimenting with our own.
6000 Level Courses
X. SunM, 4:00 - 6:29 pmClass location: LA178Course description: Students explore the memories of the Asia-Pacific War in China, Korea, and the impact of collective and individual memories of the conflict on the history and politics of the region is emphasized.
Course Description: This seminar will examine selected contemporary historiographical issues and guide Masters students in the preparation of their thesis proposals.
S. LurieM, 2:00 - 5:00 pmClass location: Remote, SynchronousCourse description: This is a seminar course in which we will explore different kinds of history writing beyond the traditional essay format. We will examine and analyze different modes of historical argumentation, as well as experimenting with our own.
K. Freeman
F, 10:00 am - 12:29 pmClass location: B205
Course description: This course comprises an on-campus seminar and a 10-day field school. The field school visits Western European heritage sites associated with the Third Reich and the Second World War. The seminar focuses on stories of perpetrators, collaborators, resisters, bystanders and victims and how they have been commemorated and contested in material memoryscapes. The course also includes predeparture orientation and post-trip assignments.
N. NeatbyCourse description: Students will engage in the research and writing of a thesis under the supervision of a thesis supervisor. The student must satisfy the supervisor that thesis research and all other methodological and disciplinary preparation for the successful handling of the thesis topic have been completed. Supervisors may require a demonstration of language competence or extra course work as preparation for the treatment of certain thesis topics. Students will publicly defend their thesis, following which a final grade will be determined by the thesis committee. Prerequisite: Graduate standing.
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