Undergraduate Courses
HIST 1000 – History at Northeastern
Intended for first-year students in the College of Social Sciences and Humanities. Seeks to introduce first-year students to the liberal arts in general, to familiarize them with their history major, to provide grounding in the culture and values of the university community, and to help them develop interpersonal skills.
Professor Gretchen Heefner
T, 3:00PM – 4:20PM
CRN: 20150
HIST 1130 – Introduction to the History of the United States
Engages with the major issues in U.S. history. Topics include the interaction of native populations with European settlers, the American Revolution and the Constitution, slavery, the Civil War, industrialization and migration, the growth of government and rise of the welfare state, media and mass culture, struggles for civil rights and liberation, and America’s role in the world from independence to the Iraq wars.
Professor Richard Freeland
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 15724
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1170 – Europe: Empires, Revolutions, Wars, and Their Aftermath
Examines how empires, wars, and revolutions have influenced the development of the modern world, focusing on Europe and Europe’s connections with the non–European world. Explores how wars and revolutions led to the emergence of modern concepts of sovereignty, the state, and citizenship and how global competition between states led to the emergence of empires. Traces the promise of allegedly liberating ideologies and the political and economic revolutions they fostered, repeated wars and their aftermaths, and the challenges of recent world developments viewed from the perspective of history. Explores how human diversity and difference have shaped modern societies through history and how human difference and multiculturalism have both fostered and posed challenges to civic sustainability. Interrogates the meanings of “modernity,” democracy and totalitarianism, capitalism and socialism, and globalization.
Professor Erina Megowan
MWR, 4:35PM – 5:40PM
CRN: 12288
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 1200 – Historical Research and Writing
Offered in conjunction with HIST 1201. Introduces incoming history freshmen to the history major in the context of other disciplines within the college and University. Offers students an opportunity to learn and to practice methods and conventions of research and historical writing.
SECTION 01
Professor Victoria Cain
CRN: 11923
SECTION 03
Professor Jessica Linker
CRN: 19675
HIST 1206 – Drug Trade and Drug War
Analyzes the role of drugs in world history. From the early use of stimulants such as coca and sugar to the “war on drugs” and narco-terrorism, the course examines drugs as commodities in the world economy. Focuses primarily on opiates, stimulants, and hallucinogens from the nineteenth century to the present, considering how changing social and cultural mores led different drugs to be coded as licit and illicit. Topics include traditional uses, early medical use, trade networks, prohibition, black market, and drug cultures, as well as the role of drugs in the histories of industrialization, imperialism, and cold war geopolitics. Sources include historical scholarship, declassified intelligence reports, documentaries, novels, movies, songs, and art.
Professor Louise Walker
MWR, 10:30AM – 11:35AM
CRN: 19677
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 1232 – History of Boston
Explores the history of Boston from colonial times to the present, with attention to the topographical growth and the ethnic composition of the city. Includes visits to historical sites, museums, and archives in the area.
Professor Jessica Parr
MW, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 20120
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1286 – History of the Soviet Union
Examines Russia and the Soviet Union in the 20th century focusing on empires and revolutions: the Russian empire’s dissolution, the Russian Revolution and civil war, building the Soviet Union, World War II, the cold war and Soviet expansion in Eastern Europe and Asia, the breakup of the Soviet Union and its newly independent states, and Russian efforts to maintain influence in the post-Soviet space. Assesses the construction of Soviet identity by interpreting Soviet culture in the form of film, literature, art, and music. Evaluates explanatory theories of revolution and empire and the evolution of Marxism in the context of revolution and state building.
Professor Peter Fraunholtz
Online: Does Not Meet
CRN: 19680
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 1357 – History of Information in U.S.
Explores the history of information in the United States—how and why conceptions, technologies, and politics of information have evolved, as well as the various ways Americans have confronted information-related crises at various moments in time. Offers students an opportunity to develop more sophisticated understandings of historical and ongoing controversies over the history, politics, technologies, and ethics of information, as well as to be able to bring valuable historical context as they evaluate and address the challenges posed by today’s rapidly shifting information ecosystem. In an age of clickbait and media bots, deepfakes and data surveillance, information is a fraught category—resulting in weakened trust in expertise, institutions, and democracy—but Americans have long struggled with the ethics and politics of information.
Professor Victoria Cain
MWR, 10:30AM – 11:35AM
CRN: 19681
Course Attributes:
NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2000 – Native American Resistance
Introduces the Indigenous peoples of North America and the academic field of Native American and Indigenous studies. Combines public history and public art, field trips, and original research to focus on the ongoing resistance to colonization and erasure and the resilience of Indian nations in New England and beyond. Covers particular themes, including the present-day impact of historical treaties and policies including land allotment, relocation, termination, boarding schools, and natural resource extraction.
Professor Nicholas Brown
WF, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 13045
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 2220 – History of Technology
Offers an interdisciplinary survey of the global history of science and technology. Explores how scientific and technical knowledge, processes, and innovations developed and circulated. Examines how science and technology both shaped and responded to society, culture, ethics, and thought.
Professor Malcolm Purinton
MW, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 15200
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2285 – America and the Holocaust
Examines the American response to the Holocaust, in terms of both contemporaneous knowledge and actions and the lasting impact on policy and culture. Starts with early twentieth-century events, such as the Armenian genocide, that shaped later attitudes. Explores the prewar period, particularly U.S. immigration and isolationist policies. Assesses Americans’ knowledge of European events as the extermination campaign unfolded and fights ensued over rescue possibilities. Examines changing depictions of the Holocaust that emerged in the postwar period as a result of critical events such as the Eichmann trial and popular television and film portrayals. Finally, considers how perceptions of the Holocaust have shaped subsequent U.S. responses to genocide. Cross-listed with JRNL 2285 and JWSS 2285.
Professor Laurel Leff
T, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
R, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 20145
Course Attributes:
NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2302 – Historical Writing
Offered in conjunction with HIST 2301. Fulfills the Advanced Writing in the Disciplines requirement. Covers learning and practicing methods and conventions of historical writing for publication.
Professor Louise Walker
Does Not Meet
CRN: 10367
Course Attributes:
NUpath Adv Writ Dscpl
HIST 2308 – Law & Society in Modern China
Offers an overview of the historical development and function of law in Chinese society from the late imperial era to today and in comparison with other bodies of jurisprudence. Reading a wide range of scholarly articles and monographs, the course looks at “law” beyond jurisprudence and legal codes to examine its changing relationship with social customs, political institutions, religious traditions, popular culture, family and gender relations, and economic exchanges.
Professor Philip Thai
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 19682
Course Attributes:
NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Societies/Institutions, NUpath Writing Intensive
HIST 2337 – African American History Before 1900
races the presenceofAfrican-descended people in North America.Emphasizesthe historicaland culturallinks between Africaand NorthAmerica that have shaped theBlack experience in the United States.Explores and analyzes the institution of slavery, the role of free Black communities, the Civil War and emancipation, and Black leadership and protest during the Reconstruction era.Introduces students to the historian’s craft, theoretical debates concerning race and gender, and the persistence of the past in the present. Cross-listed with AFAM 2337.
Professor Kabria Baumgartner
WF, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 20364
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 2370 – Renaissance to Enlightenment
Covers the social, economic, political, and cultural transformations of Europe from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. Traces the rebirth of Catholic Europe from 1300; the Reformation; the religious wars; struggles over religious and scientific beliefs; advances in technology, science, and warfare; overseas expansion; the scientific revolution; and the Enlightenment.
Professor Robert Cross
MWR, 9:15AM – 10:20AM
CRN: 19683
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 3305 – Race, Sex, and Science
Considers how gender, race, and sexuality have been treated in science, focusing primarily on the 19th and 20th centuries. Examines the history of ideas about gender, race, and sexuality as reflected in fields such as biology, psychology, endocrinology, and neuroscience. Discusses contraceptive and reproductive technologies, pharmaceutical trials, the gendering of scientific professions, and recent studies that use algorithmic predictions of sex or sexual orientation. Uses close reading techniques and discussions to advance student expertise. Cross-listed with WMNS 3305 and AFAM 3305.
Professor Natalie Shibley
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 19790
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 3973 – Topics in History: People and the Environment
In this course, students will apply an environmental history lens to understand how human societies have shaped—and been shaped by—the non-human world. Focusing on urban environments around the world, with an emphasis on the modern era, we will explore political, social, and cultural ideas about the environment, and how those ideas have changed over time. In particular we will focus on the construction of urban-rural dichotomies; theories such as “planetary urbanization”; the history of natural disasters; the material underpinnings of urban life; and the impact of urbanization on the natural world in various national and ecological contexts.
Professor Michael Thornton
TF, 9:50AM – 11:30AM
CRN: 19685
Course Attributes:
NUPath Societies/Institutions
HIST 1120 – Public History, Public Memory
Explores the politics surrounding the creation and consumption of history outside the classroom. Draws on contemporary debates over memorials, museum displays, television and film, and other popular sources of historical information to answer the questions: How does memory become history? How, where, and why do people encounter and interpret history outside of the classroom? Why are certain versions of the past so controversial? Through readings, discussion, field trips, and assignments, offers students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of public history’s challenges and opportunities and to develop more informed opinions about its philosophical, ethical, and practical aspects.
Professor Jessica Parr
MWR, 10:30AM – 11:35AM
CRN: 20112
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1150 – East Asian Studies
Seeks to provide an understanding of the constituent characteristics that originally linked East Asia as a region and the nature of the transformations that have occurred in the region over the last two thousand years. Concentrates on China and Japan, and addresses Korea and Vietnam where possible. Also seeks to provide students with effective interdisciplinary analytical skills as well as historical, ethical, cultural diversity, and aesthetic perspectives. Cross-listed with ASNS 1150.
Professor Philip Thai
MWR, 10:30AM – 11:35AM
CRN: 12382
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1185 – Introduction to Middle Eastern History
Relies on historical and literary sources, as well as such other cultural artifacts as architecture and photography, and focuses on interaction and changing relations and perceptions between Europe and the Middle East. Surveys the major political and economic events that have linked the trajectory of both civilizations, as well as broad patterns of human activity, such as migrations, conversions, and, cultural exchange. Emphasizes the commonality of encounters, and analyzes the construction of an “other” and its enduring legacy in modern times.
Professor Ilham Khuri-Makdisi
TF, 9:50AM – 11:30AM
CRN: 16899
HIST 1201 – First-Year Seminar
Provides an introduction to historical methods, research, writing, and argument in which all students produce a substantial research project that passes through at least two revisions, and that is presented publicly to other members of the colloquium.
SECTION 01
Professor Victoria Cain
MWR, 9:15AM – 10:20AM
CRN: 11628
SECTION 03
Professor Jessica Linker
T, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
R, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 19676
Course Attributes:
NUpath Writing Intensive
HIST 1215 – Origins of Today
Focuses on the historical roots of four pressing contemporary issues with global implications. Our world has grown increasingly complex and interconnected, and the planet’s diverse peoples are facing common problems that have tremendous impact on the immediate future. They are (1) globalization, from its origins in the sixteenth century to the present; (2) the potential for global pandemics to alter the course of history, from bubonic plague in the fifth century to H1N1; (3) racial inequality, from religious interpretations in the early modern period to science in the modern era; and (4) gender inequality, from the agricultural revolution forward. For each issue, studies cases and locations spread across the world, examines the links between past and present, and attempts to identify ways forward.
Professor Malcolm Purinton
Online: Does Not Meet
CRN: 19678
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1252 – Japanese Literature & Culture
Explores major works of Japanese fiction and poetry in historical and cultural context. All readings are in English translation.
Professor Jennifer Cullen
TF, 1:35PM – 3:15PM
CRN: 19679
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1300 – Intro to Health and Humanities
Explores the ways in which narrative and other forms of creative and cultural expression help shape conceptions of illness, healing, and the body. Offers students opportunities to consider the health and humanities through a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives and genres. Includes small-group and classwide experiential field outings. Culminates in the composition of reflective responses, a medical ethics/medical journalism piece, and a team-based experiential e-portfolio project. Course objectives include differentiating between healing and curing; knowing how to elicit, listen to, and analyze stories to determine how participants in the healthcare system experience illness and healing; being able to articulate the ways health is a cultural construct; and using this analysis to identify an empathic response as a future professional. Cross-listed with INSH 1300 and ENGL 1300.
Professor Christopher Parsons
T, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
R, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 15310
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 1390 – Espionage 2: Cold War Spies
Explores the history of espionage during the Cold War era (1943–1991) through a series of case studies. Draws from a wide variety of published and unpublished primary and secondary sources, supplemented by modern theoretical and social science perspectives, literature, and films. Students work individually and in teams to explore the history of covert operations, including the following subthemes: the origins of the Cold War in World War II, the postwar battle for German scientists, containment and rollback, Venona and code breaking, nuclear spies, defectors, proxy wars, insurgencies and counterinsurgencies, terrorism, and technology.
Professor Jeffrey Burds
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 13425
Course Attributes:
NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2211 – The World Since 1945
Examines the political, economic, social, and cultural relationship between the developed and developing world since the end of World War II. Topics include the Cold War, independence and national movements in developing countries, the globalization of the world economy, scientific and technological innovations, wealth and poverty, the eradication of some diseases and the spread of others, the fall of the Soviet Union, Middle East turmoil, and the enduring conflict between Israel and Palestine.
SECTION 01
Professor Malcolm Purinton
MWR, 9:15AM – 10:20AM
CRN: 12072
SECTION 03
Professor Peter Fraunholtz
Online: Does Not Meet
CRN: 11027
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2282 – Holocaust/Comparative Genocide
Examines the origins of the Holocaust, perpetrators and victims, and changing efforts to come to terms with this genocide. The Holocaust, the murder of six million Jews by Germans in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II, is one of the crucial events of modern history. Investigates the uniqueness of the Holocaust relative to other acts of ethnic cleansing or genocide, including mass death in the New World and mass murder in Armenia, Bosnia, and Rwanda. Cross-listed with POLS 2282 and JWSS 2282.
Professor Natalia Bormann
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 14221
Course Attributes:
NUpath Ethical Reasoning, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2301 – The History Seminar
Introduces history majors to advanced techniques of historical practice in research and writing. Offers students an opportunity to conduct original research and write an original research paper. Seminar themes vary; students should check with the Department of History for a list of each year’s seminar offerings. May be repeated without limit.
Professor Louise Walker
MWR, 1:35PM – 2:40PM
CRN: 10441
Course Attributes:
Topics Course
HIST 2303 – Gender and Reproductive Justice
Introduces the social, legal, and economic barriers to accessing reproductive healthcare domestically and internationally. Draws on various theoretical and analytic tools including critical race theory, critical legal theory, sociology of science, human rights, feminist theory, and a range of public health methods. Access to reproductive health services, including abortion, is one of the most contested political, social, cultural, and religious issues today. Covers domestic, regional, and international legal and regulatory frameworks on sexual reproductive health. Cross-listed with WMNS 2303 and SOCL 2303.
Professor Margot Abels
TF, 1:35PM – 3:15PM
CRN: 19907
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2311 – Colonialism/Imperialism
Examines the military, economic, political, and cultural expansion of world powers since the fifteenth century, and the ways in which colonized peoples were ruled. Why did colonialist countries feel the need to conquer and dominate, how did they do it, and why did they retreat on some fronts? How did people resist and cooperate with colonialism? How did colonialism affect national and cultural identities? Colonialism is examined as a global phenomenon and from a comparative perspective that looks at particular case studies. Also examines decolonization in the twentieth century.
Professor Heather Streets-Salter
MR, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 13426
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2351 – Modern Japan
Examines state formation, economic growth, imperialism and colonialism, war and defeat, and contemporary culture.
Professor Michael Thornton
WF, 11:45AM – 1:25PM
CRN: 15201
Course Attributes:
NUpath Interpreting Culture, NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 2390 – Africa & World in Early Times
Examines the place of Africa in the world from 1000 C.E. to the mid-19th century. Investigates the histories of ancient Egypt, the savannah and forest regions of West Africa, coastal and interior East Africa, and southern Africa. Explores the rise of medieval city-states and empires, the activities of the Atlantic slave trade and the trans-Saharan and Indian Ocean slave trades, debates over mass migration and the spread of language groups, the rise of agriculture, the development of nonstate political structures, the growth of trading societies, and the development of new cultural forms. Links Africa’s early histories to current debates about the role of history in contemporary politics and to present understandings of Africa’s historical place in world affairs.
Professor Katherine Luongo
MWR, 1:35PM – 2:40PM
CRN: 19684
Course Attributes:
NUpath Difference/Diversity, NUpath Interpreting Culture
HIST 3334 – Assassinations in World History
Explores the historical antecedents to the unprecedented use of assassination and targeted killing as state policy in the current war on terror: the theory, strategic use, ethics, and legality of assassination. Using film, literature, and primary and secondary readings, explores case studies in the world history of assassination, from ancient times to the current day, including case studies from the Roman Empire, early modern Europe, revolutionary Europe, and the 20th century.
Professor Jeffrey Burds
MW, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 14215
Course Attributes:
NUpath Societies/Institutions
HIST 4701 – Capstone Seminar
Offers students an opportunity to make use of advanced techniques of historical methodology to conduct original research and write a major, original research paper as the culmination of their work toward the history degree. This is a capstone research and writing seminar for history majors.
Professor Katherine Luongo
MW, 2:50PM – 4:30PM
CRN: 10442
Prerequisites: 2301/2302
Course Attributes:
NUpath Capstone Experience, NUpath Writing Intensive
Graduate Courses
HIST 5101 – Theory and Methodology 1
Examines the following questions in the context of major issues in current historical research and debate. Where do historical questions come from, and how do we answer them? How do we produce knowledge about historical events and processes? What theoretical models guide historians work? Emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches as well as concrete techniques in historical research. Required of all first-year graduate students.
Professor Christopher Parsons
M: 4:35PM – 7:30PM
CRN: 10670
HIST 5237 – Issues/Methods Public History
Examines and analyzes major issues and methods in public history in the United States and the world. Topics include the nature and meaning of national memory and myth, the theory and practice of historic preservation, rural and land preservation and the organizational structures and activities associated with those efforts, the interrelationship of historical museums and popular culture, the history and organization of historic house museums, historical documentary filmmaking, historical archaeology in world perspective, interpreting “ordinary” landscapes, and the impact of politics on public history.
Professor Ángel David Nieves
T: 4:35PM – 7:30PM
CRN: 11289
HIST 7221 – Topics in World History
Offers readings on selected themes and issues in world history. May be repeated without limit.
Professor Ilham Khuri-Makdisi
T: 3:30PM – 6:30PM
CRN: 19686
HIST 7250 – Topics in Public History
Offers readings, class work, and projects on selected themes and issues in public history.
Professor Kabria Baumgartner
W: 3:00PM – 6:30PM
CRN: 16905
HIST 7370 – Texts, Maps, and Networks: Readings and Methods for Digital History
Introduces the methods and practice of history in a digital age. Offers students an opportunity to see the wide variety of work being done computationally by historians and other humanists today and to obtain the background to be creative producers of new work and critical consumers of existing projects. The rise of computing technology and the Internet has the potential to reshape all parts of historical practice, from curation to research to dissemination. Examines the historian’s craft in three primary domains: the creation of digital sources, the algorithmic transformations that computers can enact on cultural materials like texts, and the new ecologies of publishing and scholarly communication made possible by new media.
Professor Jessica Linker
R: 5:00PM – 8:00PM
CRN: 12643