This course examines the lives of two individuals who had a profound influence on Canadian history. One is General James Wolfe and the other is John George Lambton, the Earl of Durham. By way of a recent biography of the first and the personal writing of the second this course delves their role in two great and violent turning points in Canadian history, namely the British conquest of Canada and the radical changes proposed by Britain after the Canadian rebellions of 1837/38.
Introduction to American Life: African American Freedom Struggles The history of race relations in the United States, especially between black and white communities, has been fraught with tensions as well as been celebrated with cooperative triumphs. This course examines African American history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, analyzing black culture(s), gender and social relations over time. We will pay particular attention to comparative periods of “Reconstruction,” including, but not limited to, events leading up to the Civil War and its aftermath; the evolution of an institutionalized struggle for civil equality; the emergence of a national civil rights movement during and immediately after World War II; the radicalization of protest during the 1960s and 1970s; and the emergence of urban gang violence and hip hop resistance.
Women’s social and political activism in the United States has a long and dynamic history, from before the founding of the colonies into the contemporary context of a global community. The focus of this course will be an introduction to feminist activism as shaped around particularly gendered concerns of equality. While women’s activism in the United States is not limited to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, our main emphases will consider the evolution of the “first wave” of feminism in the nineteenth through early twentieth centuries, and the development of American feminism’s “second wave” in the mid-to-late twentieth century. We will explore the similarities and the important differences between these distinct periods of activism, with a focus on the goals, motivations, and ideologies that informed American feminisms, as well as consider the variety of individuals who became involved in feminist activism.
This course examines what it was like to live in Europe during the Middle Ages (400-1400). The themes will concern the everyday realities of ordinary people in this period: for example, childhood; love and marriage; family structures; religious beliefs; housing; diet; health, medicine, and disease; burial practices and death rituals.
From the time of European contact Canada developed from a colony to a country on the threshold of real independence. New France needed the expertise of the First Nations people already established in the St. Lawrence Valley. Then by force of arms and military conquest Canada was transferred to the British. How they governed and Canadians responded concludes with Confederation. The trials, tribulations and achievements of these years can tell much about how Canadians are now. Political, economic and cultural issues as well as the conflict of French and English speakers are among the important fields to be examined in this class.
A survey of Canadian history from Confederation to the outbreak of World War II including such topics as John A. macDonald's national Policy, western settlement, the rise of urban, industrial Canada, the impact of World War I, society and politics during the 1920s and the Great Depression.
A survey of the history of England and its relations with Wales, Scotland and France in the later Middle Ages. Topics will include: the development of parliament; art and architecture; heresy; the Black Death; the Hundred Years’ War; civil unrest and political strife; life in towns, cities, and the countryside.
Topics covered include Western expansion and development; growth of the urban industrial order; immigration and ethnicity; African Americans; gender issues; society and culture; regionalism; politics; emergence of the United States as a world power.
Topics covered include America as a global power; domestic impact of the Cold War; politics; economic transformation; regionalism; race/racism; ethnic America; gender issues; society and culture.
This course covers the emergence of medieval Europe out of Roman, Germanic, and Christian influences. Topics include the Viking attacks, the rise of the Christian Church, the decline and revival of urban life, the “King Arthur” controversy, and the development of kingdoms and empires.
The themes of this course include; the crusades, heresies, Church reform, universities, chivalry and courtly love, towns and trade, anti-Semitism, women’s roles, mysticism, Gothic art and architecture, kingdoms and representative governments, the Black Death, and Church-state relations.
This course traces historically the various important events and persons—Catholic, Anglican, Protestant—from the mid-nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century which helped formulate and put into action a contemporary Christian social teaching in Europe and Canada. Special reference will be made, among others, to the Social Gospel, to several papal social encyclicals since Leo XIII's Rerum Novarum through to the present, to Liberation Theology, labour and working conditions, poverty, war and peace, human rights, as well as to the special role Saskatchewan and western Canada have played in the Canadian social context.
As I write these words ( October 2008) Canada is in the midst of a general election. A Conservative victory appears likely. Stephen Harper’s apparent success among Quebecois is partly due to his government’s formal acknowledgement of Quebec “…as a nation within a united Canada”. Does this enhance reconciliation or confirm differences? Do Canadians understand its significance? This class examines the historical association of Canada’s two largest language groups. It delves a long Canadian paradox, namely the possibility of compromise and the potential for conflict. How have these two communities related? Why are they still together? What does this enriching sometimes maddening relationship tell about Canadian history?
In investigating the shared history of Canada and the United States this course will attempt to challenge some familiar stereotypes. Are Americans ignorant of Canada? Do Canadians have a sense of smug superiority to Americans? How is Canada understood by Americans and how do Canadians understand them? Are we friends or competitors? Given the enormous economic, demographic and cultural imbalance can we be both? These and similar questions have often been posed over the long history of the Canadian-American relationship. This class delves Canada’s historical ties with the United States by lectures, readings, discussion and significant student presentations.
The fur trade and Native-European contact; the acquisition of Rupert’s Land by Canada; Indian policy after 1870; developments in transportation, settlement and politics.
Examines urban development in one of America's most racially and ethnically diverse cities. This course analyzes Chicago history: from its early-nineteenth century origins of cultural conflict and environmental achievements, to its turn-of-the-century growth as a site of progressive reform, to its more recent struggles with racial/ethnic divides and political corruption
This course will examine the ways in which race, ethnicity, class, region, and sexuality have shaped ideas about gender and gender ideals/identity in the United States since the Civil War, as well as how these beliefs changed over time and were contested throughout modern U.S. history.
Historian Susan Mann has written that Quebecois ‘have always been the source of greatest puzzlement to English Canada’. Certainly, Quebec has a specific and distinct history. Indeed in November 2006 a vast majority of Canadian parliamentarians in the House of Commons voted in favour of a motion recognizing that ‘the Quebecois form a nation within a united Canada’. What is the historical basis for this recognition of separate national status? By examining issues such as language, religion, economic development and politics with special attention to recent history this class will delve such Quebecois particularity and its implications.
A consideration of landmark United States court decisions during the twentieth century with emphasis on the changing social context in which trials took place to understand how everyday life and popular ideals affected the law, as well as to appreciate the impact of the courtroom on modern American life.
This course critically examine films set in the Middle Ages in order to explore the issue of the value of cinematic representations of medieval history. Topics addressed include race and ethnicity, gender roles, epic heroism, faith, religion, and holiness, and war in films set in the Middle Ages.