Fall 2007 HL90 Offerings – NEW!
These seminars exploring the interdisciplinary study of History and Literature are restricted to undergraduates and have enrollments limited to 15. There are no prerequisites, and non-concentrators are welcome. Preference is given to History and Literature concentrators if space is limited.
History and Literature 90a. "The Golden State" as North, East, and West
Steven Biel
W., 2–4.
The history and literature of California from the Mexican War through World War II. Course will focus on texts by and about migrants to the state and will explore such events as the Gold Rush, immigration restriction, the diversion of water for the development of Los Angeles, the consolidation of corporate agriculture, the construction of Hollywood and the film industry, the growth of the defense industry, Japanese internment, and the Zoot Suit Riot.
History and Literature 90b. Beauty and the Body
Uta G. Poiger (University of Washington)
Tu., 2–4.
This seminar examines changing notions of beauty, and various bodily and sartorial practices used to achieve them, in the US and in German lands since the Enlightenment. Questions include: How have philosophers, scientists, novelists, visual artists, medical doctors, or photographers represented and categorized human bodies? Why have modernist art and social movements subverted ideals of beauty? How have debates over self-presentation related to political struggles such as Jewish emancipation, feminism, or black liberation?
History and Literature 90c. The Nadir of Civil Rights: Race in the US at the Turn of the Twentieth Century.
Robin M. Bernstein
W., 2–4.
Historian Rayford Logan called the turn of the twentieth century a "nadir" in the status and civil rights of African Americans. This course complicates that claim by exploring US racial formation between a black-white binary and through both history and literature. We analyze literary and historical encounters between the US and China, Great Britain, the Philippines, the Canadian arctic, and the Kingdom of Hawaii. Throughout, we foreground resistance among colonized people of color.
History and Literature 90d. Epics and Empire
Emily Hudson
M., 3–5.
Recent scholarship in epic studies has focused on the relationship between epic and empire to illuminate the political and ideological dimensions of the genre. This seminar will approach the topic of epic and empire through a consideration of the national epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. We will examine the formation of these epics as well as their contemporary interpretations, particularly with respect to the historical phenomena of imperialism, nationalism and globalization.
History and Literature 90e. Imperial Intimacies: Bodies and Cultures of Empire after 1800
Judith Surkis
Th., 2–4.
Explores the place of "intimate matters" -- families, bodies, and sexualities -- in the history and literature of empires. How were these zones implicated in colonial encounters and government, domination and resistance, travel and consumption, the development of feminism, nationalism, and decolonization? How do they inform understandings of the colonial and postcolonial today? Focus will be on European empires and select studies of the US.
History and Literature 90f. The British Atlantic World
Scott A. Sowerby
W., 2–4.
Examines the literature and the history of the English-speaking societies of the North Atlantic basin from 1550 to 1800. Investigates the circulation and migration of peoples, ideas, and goods across oceans. Themes include exploration, identity and captivity. Sources include writings by Behn, Defoe, Equiano, Franklin, Shakespeare and Swift.