Fall 2024

Colonial Cities and the Making of Modernity

Waseem Kasim

How did local histories and contexts modify the experiences of modernity in cities? How did technologies of power characterize modernity in cities? The seminar will explore these questions when cities in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia integrated into the global economy during the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the many benefits of exploring these questions, the course will inspire you to think about the past in ways that reflect an understanding of diversity on a global scale. The seminar will allow you to develop strong research and writing skills to fulfill the senior seminar requirement for our history major.

Spring 2025

Gender and Sexuality in U.S. History

Mary Jo Festle

In this capstone experience for students majoring in history, we will discuss shared readings about how the expectations, experiences, understandings, and regulation of gender and sexuality changed for Americans over time and intersected with political, economic, and cultural trends. Each student will choose an approved topic in this field and conduct a careful process of historical research culminating in an original paper with a well-conceived argument, sound organization, and extensive and suitable use of evidence that meets the history major’s senior assessment requirements for graduation. Students in the course will be supporting one another in every stage of the process.