Departments may offer a course known as SPECIAL TOPICS in which a student or a group of students study or read widely in a field of special interest. It is understood that this course will not normally duplicate any other course regularly offered in this curriculum and that the student will work in this course as independently as the instructor thinks possible. A Special Topics course may be elected in any semester. The course should be given a unique name that will be recorded on the student’s transcript.

Departments may offer a course known as SPECIAL TOPICS in which a student or a group of students study or read widely in a field of special interest. It is understood that this course will not normally duplicate any other course regularly offered in this curriculum and that the student will work in this course as independently as the instructor thinks possible. A Special Topics course may be elected in any semester. The course should be given a unique name that will be recorded on the student’s transcript.

(Offered as HIST 488 [AF/TE/TR/TS] and BLST 321 [A]) There were numerous rebellions in Africa during the colonial period and violent resistance to state authority has continued to characterize political life in many post-colonial African countries. We will look at the economic, social, religious, and political roots of these disturbances. Rebel groups and state forces roiled societies and reconstituted social identities, while legends and rumors swirled around rebellions and their leaders.

(Offered as HIST 402 [TC/TE/C] and ENST 402.) Wine is as old as civilization, and is deeply wedded to religious and secular traditions around the world. Its production has transformed landscapes, ecosystems, and economies. In this course we examine how wine has shaped the history of Europe, North Africa, the Americas, and, increasingly, China.

(Offered as HIST 393 [ME/TC/TE/P] and ASLC 355) This course examines in depth the formative period of Islam between c. 500-680. Using predominantly primary material, we will chart the emergence, success, and evolution of Islam, the Islamic community, and the Islamic polity. The focus of this course is on understanding the changing nature over time of peoples’ understanding of and conception of what Islam was and what Islam implied socially, religiously, culturally and politically.

(Offered as HIST-389 [ME/TC/TE] and ASLC 389)

(Offered as HIST 376 [AS/TC/TE/TR/TS/], ASLC 376 [SA] and SWAG 377) This course explores how categories of sex, gender, and the body have been configured in South Asian history. We will draw upon primary sources including texts, images, films, and documentaries. We will also read scholarly literature that explores South Asian history through the analytics of sex, gender, and body.