History

Humanities Quadrangle, 2nd floor, 203.432.1366
http://history.yale.edu
M.A., M.Phil., Ph.D.

Chair
Regina Kunzel

Director of Graduate Studies
Jennifer Allen (203.432.1361)

Professors Sunil Amrith, Lauren Benton, Paola Bertucci, Ned Blackhawk, David Blight, Daniel Botsman, Paul Bushkovitch, Deborah Coen, Stephen Davis, Carolyn Dean, Fabian Drixler, Carlos Eire, Omnia El Shakry, David Engerman, Paul Freedman, Joanne Freeman, John Gaddis, Beverly Gage, Bruce Gordon, Greg Grandin, Valerie Hansen, Robert Harms, Elizabeth Hinton, Matthew Jacobson, Paul Kennedy, Jennifer Klein, Regina Kunzel, Noel Lenski, Kathryn Lofton, Mary Lui, Daniel Magaziner, J.G. Manning, Ivan Marcus, Joanne Meyerowitz, Alan Mikhail, Samuel Moyn, Nicholas Parrillo, Mark Peterson, Stephen Pitti, Claire Priest, Laura Robson, Naomi Rogers, Edward Rugemer, Paul Sabin, David Sorkin, Elli Stern, John Harley Warner, Arne Westad, John Witt, Jonathan Wyrtzen, Taisu Zhang

Associate Professors Jennifer Allen, Rohit De, Marcela Echeverri Muñoz, Anne Eller, Hussein Fancy, Crystal Feimster, Andrew Johnston, Isaac Nakhimovsky, Vanessa Ogle, Joanna Radin, William Rankin, Alden Young

Assistant Professors Alvita Akiboh, Sergei Antonov, Zeinab Azarbadegan, Maura Dykstra, Joe Glynias, Benedito Machava, Nana Osei Quarshie, Carolyn Roberts, Hannah Shepherd, Nurfadzilah Yahaya

Senior Lecturer Jay Gitlin

Fields of Study

Fields include ancient, medieval, early modern, and modern Europe (including Britain, Russia, and Eastern Europe), United States, Latin America, East Asia, South and Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, Jewish history; and diplomatic, environmental, ethnic, intellectual, labor, legal, military, political, religious, social, and women’s history, as well as the history of science and medicine (see the section in this bulletin on the History of Science and Medicine).

Special Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

Language Requirements

All students must pass examinations in at least one foreign language by the end of the first year. Students are urged to do everything in their power to acquire adequate linguistic training before they enter Yale and should at a minimum be prepared to be examined in at least one language upon arrival. Typical language requirements for major subfields are as follows:

African Either (1) French and German or Portuguese or Dutch-Afrikaans; (2) French or German or Portuguese and Arabic; or (3) French or German or Portuguese or Dutch-Afrikaans and an African language approved by the director of graduate studies (DGS) and the faculty adviser.

American One language relevant to the student’s research interests approved by the adviser and DGS.

Ancient German and either French or Italian and two ancient languages, one of which must be Greek or Latin and the second of which can be either the second classical language or another ancient language (e.g., Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Demotic, Coptic, Classical Armenian, Sanskrit).

Chinese Chinese and Japanese; additional languages like French, Russian, or German may be necessary for certain dissertation topics.

East European The language of the country of the student’s concentration plus two of the following: French, German, Russian, or an approved substitution.

Global/International Two languages to be determined by the DGS in consultation with the adviser.

Japanese Japanese and one additional language, as approved by the student’s adviser and the DGS.

Jewish Modern Hebrew and German, and additional languages such as Latin, Arabic, Yiddish, Russian, or Polish, as required by the student’s areas of specialization.

Latin American Spanish, Portuguese, and French.

Medieval French, German, and Latin.

Middle East Arabic, Persian, or Turkish (or modern Hebrew, depending on area of research) and a major European research language (French, German, Russian, or an approved substitute).

Modern Western European (including British) French and German; substitutions are permitted with the approval of the DGS.

Russian Russian plus French or German with other languages as required.

South Asia One South Asian language and a second relevant research language, whether another South Asian or a European or Asian language.

Southeast Asian Choice of Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Sanskrit, or Arabic, plus one or more Southeast Asian language (e.g., Bahasa Indonesian, Burmese, Khmer, Lao, Malay, Tagalog, Thai, Tetum, or Vietnamese). In certain cases, Ph.D. dissertation research on Southeast Asia may also require knowledge of a regional or local language, e.g., Balinese or Cham.

Foreign students whose native language is not English may receive permission during their first year to hand in some written work in their own language. Since, however, the dissertation must be in English, they are advised to bring their writing skills up to the necessary level at the earliest opportunity.

Additional Requirements

During the first year of study, students normally take six term courses, including Approaching History (HIST 5000), which is required of first-year students. During the second year of study, they may opt to take four to six term courses, with the approval of their adviser and the DGS. One of these courses must be the Prospectus Seminar (HIST 5100), which is required of second-year students. The ten courses taken during the first two years should normally include at least six chosen from those offered by the department. Students must achieve Honors in at least two courses in the first year, and Honors in at least four courses by the end of the second year, with a High Pass average overall. Courses graded in the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory mode (HIST 9998) count toward the course work requirement but do not count toward the Honors requirement. Courses that count for less than one full credit per term do not count toward the coursework requirement, including EMST 7000 and EMST 7001 for those in the combined program with Early Modern Studies.

Two of the ten courses must be research seminars in which the student produces an original research paper from primary sources. The Prospectus Seminar (HIST 5100) does not count as a research seminar. All graduate students, regardless of field, will be required to take two seminar courses in a time period other than their period of specialty.

Students in their second year should choose their courses so that at least one course will prepare them for a comprehensive examination field. Some fields offer reading seminars specifically designed to help prepare students for examination; others encourage students to sign up for Directed Reading (HIST 9998) with one of their examiners. Students should, in consultation with their major field examiner and the DGS, register for Field Studies (HIST 5250), which is a half-credit course and does not count toward the coursework requirements.  

Students should discuss the following options with their advisers before choosing one:

Option 1 Students take exams during the fourth semester of graduate study (i.e., the second semester of year two). The Comprehensive Statement of Intention Form must be submitted by the end of the third semester.

Option 2 Students take exams during the fifth semester of graduate study (i.e., the first semester of year three). The Comprehensive Statement of Intention Form must be submitted by the end of the fourth semester.

Students in good academic standing may, with adviser approval, request scheduling comprehensive examinations in the sixth semester.

All students must submit the Comprehensive Statement of Intention Form by the end of the fourth semester.

Students will have a choice of selecting three or four fields of concentration: a major field and either two or three minor fields. The examination must contain one minor field that deals fifty percent or more with the historiography of a region of the world other than the area of the student’s major field. The examination will have a written component that will be completed before the oral component. For their major field, students will either write a historiographical essay of 8,000 words, maximum, or prepare a syllabus for an undergraduate lecture class in the field; this is to be decided in consultation with the major field examiner. For each of the minor fields, the student will prepare a syllabus for an undergraduate lecture class in the field. All of these are to be written over the course of the examination preparation process and will be due not less than two weeks prior to the oral portion of the examination. The oral examination examines the students on their fields and will, additionally, include discussion of the materials produced for the written component of the examination. For those students who choose two minor fields, the major field will be examined for sixty minutes and the minor fields will be examined for thirty minutes each. For those students who choose three minor fields, each field will be examined for thirty minutes.

In order to advance to candidacy, all students must pass a prospectus colloquium. This should be completed by the end of the sixth term. The prospectus colloquium offers students an opportunity to discuss the dissertation prospectus with their dissertation committee in order to gain the committee’s advice on the research and writing of the dissertation and its approval for the project. The dissertation prospectus provides the basis of grant proposals.

Both the comprehensive examinations and the prospectus colloquium must be held by the end of the sixth term.

Completion of ten term courses (including HIST 5000 and HIST 5100), the language requirements of the relevant field, the comprehensive examinations, and the prospectus colloquium will qualify a student for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D., which must take place by the end of the third year of study.

It is also possible for students who have completed extensive graduate work prior to entering the Yale Ph.D. program to complete course work sooner. Students may petition for course waivers based on previous graduate work (up to three term courses) only after successful completion of the first year.

Students normally serve as teaching fellows during four-six terms to acquire professional training. Ordinarily, students teach in their third year and two subsequent years. During their first term of teaching, students must attend training sessions run by the Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning and work with the associate director of graduate studies to discuss any matters of concern. Students in more advanced years may have the opportunity to teach as associates in teaching (ATs), in conjunction with a faculty member, or by leading discipline-specific writing seminars on their own. Both options are available only through a competitive process. Interested students should consult with their advisers and the DGS for further information.

By the end of their ninth term, students are required to submit a chapter of their dissertation to the dissertation committee. This chapter will then be discussed with the student by the committee, in a chapter conference, to give the student additional advice and counsel on the progress of the dissertation. This conference is designed to be an extension of the conversation begun in the prospectus colloquium and is not intended as a defense. Its aim is to give students early feedback on the research, argument, and style of the first writing accomplished on the dissertation.

No less than one month before students plan to submit their dissertations, a relatively polished full draft of the dissertation should be discussed with the student by the dissertation committee, in a dissertation defense of one to two hours, to give the student additional advice and counsel on completing the dissertation or on turning it into a book, as appropriate. Students are required to submit the draft to their committee in sufficient time for the committee to be able to read it (approximately one month). This defense is designed to give students advice on the overall arguments and the final shape of the dissertation or book, and to leave time for adjustments coming out of the discussion.

The fellowship package offered to Ph.D. students normally includes twelve months of fellowship support for two terms of research and writing without any teaching duties. With the approval of the academic adviser and the DGS, students may choose to take the fellowship terms at any point after they have advanced to candidacy and before the end of their sixth year. Students are prohibited from teaching during research and writing fellowship terms. 

Students who have not submitted the dissertation by the end of the sixth year need not register in order to submit. If, however, students wish to register for a seventh year for good academic reasons, they may petition for extended registration. The petition, submitted to the History DGS, will explain the academic reasons for the request. Only students who have completed the first chapter conference will be considered for extended registration.

Evaluation of First- and Second-Year Graduate Students

At the end of each term, the DGS will ask faculty members whether they have serious concerns about the academic progress of any first- or second-year students in the Ph.D. program. Faculty members who have such concerns will provide written feedback to the DGS at the DGS’s request. The DGS will use discretion in ensuring that feedback is provided in a clear and effective manner to any students about whom there are concerns. We expect such concerns to be rare.

Toward the end of the academic year, the History faculty will hold a special meeting to review each first- and second-year student in the program. The purpose of the meeting is to assess students’ academic progress. In order for second-year students to proceed to the third year, they must demonstrate through written work, classroom performance, and participation in departmental activities that they have the ability to: (a) speak and write clearly; (b) conduct independent research at a high level; and (c) develop coherent scholarly arguments. A faculty vote will be taken at the conclusion of the review meeting to decide whether each second-year student may stay in the program. In the unusual case that a majority of faculty present and voting determine that a student may not continue, the student will be informed in writing and withdrawn from the program. The review meeting must be a full faculty meeting, but faculty members with no knowledge of the students under review may abstain from the vote, and their abstentions will not count in the total. Those members of the faculty who have worked with or know the students being evaluated are required to attend. In the event that any necessary faculty members absolutely cannot be present, they may send their views in writing to the DGS, who will read them at the meeting.

A student informed of a vote of dismissal from the program may submit a formal letter of appeal within two weeks, accompanied by supporting documentation (research or other scholarly work), to the Graduate Advisory Committee. The Graduate Advisory Committee will render a final decision within two weeks of receipt of the appeal. Any members of the Graduate Advisory Committee who have worked directly with the student will recuse themselves from the final vote on the case.

Combined Ph.D. Programs

History and Black Studies

Students applying for transfer into the combined Ph.D. program must already have taken AFAM 5005 or be taking it in the term of application, must provide a plan outlining the AFAM courses already taken and those they will take, and must submit a research statement that explains how the combined Ph.D. will advance their research interests.

Students must provide two letters of recommendation: one from their adviser in the joint department or program, unless that adviser is jointly appointed with Black Studies, in which case a letter from the student’s DGS in the joint department or program is required and a second letter from a faculty member in Black Studies who commits to being the student’s adviser throughout the completion of the dissertation.

Students cannot apply sooner than the second term of the first year and must apply by January 3, which is the deadline for Black Studies’ annual admissions cycle. Preference will be given to students in the second year of their Ph.D. program. Applications will receive a faculty vote early in the spring term to approve or reject, and results will be communicated to the student no later than spring break.

History and Classics

The combined degree program in classics and history, with a concentration in ancient history, is offered by the Departments of Classics and History for students wishing to pursue graduate study in the history of the ancient Mediterranean and western Eurasia. Students are admitted with a primary home in either History or Classics.

The combined degree in classics and history offers students a comprehensive education in the fundamental skills and most current methodologies in the study of the ancient Greek and Roman Mediterranean and its interaction with Eurasian and African cultures and landscapes. Its object is to train leaders in research and teaching by preparing them to handle the basic materials of ancient history through mastery of the traditional linguistic and technical skills. At the same time the combined degree in classics and history encourages students to rediscover, reshape, and repurpose traditional and nontraditional source materials using the most up-to-date and sophisticated tools at the historian’s disposal.

Students are called on to complete coursework in two ancient languages, historical theory, intra- and interdisciplinary skills, and fundamental research seminars. Interdisciplinary expertise is fostered through the annual seminar coordinated through the Yale Program for the Study of Ancient and Premodern Cultures and Societies (Archaia) and through required study in ancillary fields. Exams are rigorous and aimed at helping students hone skills and explore new terrain in ancient studies. Students are encouraged to take advantage of Yale’s superior collections and library resources in order to explore new avenues in their learning and approaches to historical problems. Yale’s outstanding faculty in classics, history, and related disciplines, such as Near Eastern languages and cultures, religious studies, art history, and anthropology, work together to ensure broad and deep learning that will enable our students to become world leaders in the field.

Requirements for the Combined Ph.D. Degree in Classics and History

  1. A minimum of twelve term courses, including:
  • The historical methods and theory course Approaching History (HIST 5000).
  • The Archaia core seminar (CLSS 7000 or equivalent).
  • Two graduate-level courses in two separate ancient languages. For students who are admitted in Classics, these must be Greek and Latin. Students who are admitted in History must study either Greek or Latin, and they may study both but may also choose another ancient language to fulfill this requirement. The surveys of Greek and Latin literature offered by Classics are encouraged but not mandatory for fulfillment of this requirement.
  • Two skills courses. These may include topics selected from epigraphy (epigraphy courses may be used to fulfill the language requirement concurrently); archaeology; art history; papyrology; numismatics; digital data, GIS, digital humanities, vel sim.; an advanced course in a non-classical ancient language (no more than one such course may be used in fulfillment of this requirement). Students are also encouraged to take advantage of educational opportunities outside of Yale (American Numismatic Society Summer Seminar; an archaeological excavation, e.g., the Gabii project).
  • Four courses (at least two of which must be research seminars) in the history of the ancient Mediterranean world. Historical courses that have a heavy skill component may be used concurrently to fulfill the skills requirement.
  • Two courses outside of ancient Mediterranean history, to be taken in programs outside of the Department of Classics. these are meant to introduce students to different historical periods, regions, and methodologies. Possibilities include (but are not limited to): social sciences (economics, anthropology, sociology, environmental science, statistics); religion (religious studies, Divinity School, Jewish studies); Near Eastern languages and civilizations (Egyptian language, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac, Arabic); anthropology and archaeology; or physical and biological sciences (paleoclimatology, ecology and forestry, genetics, medicine). Students should discuss course selection with the two directors of graduate studies.
  1. Classics proseminar offering an introduction to the discipline of classics and its various subdisciplines, to be taken in the first year in residence (not for credit).
  2. Practice translation exams in Greek and/or Latin, depending on which languages are required for the student’s program, based on texts assigned from the appropriate classics and history Ph.D. reading lists. These exams are taken before the beginning of the first and third terms and are meant to help students prepare for the qualifying translation exams to be taken before the beginning of the fifth term in the program.
  3. Departmental reading examinations in German, and in either French or Italian, or approved Yale courses or examinations that demonstrate reading proficiency in these languages (e.g., by achieving a grade of A in German/French/Italian for Reading Knowledge or by passing proficiency exams administered by Yale’s modern language departments). The department will also accept certain certificates of proficiency in French, German, or Italian in lieu of these exams, as listed in the Department of Classics Graduate Handbook. One modern language exam is to be passed by the end of the first year in residence and the second by the end of the second year in residence. 
  4. Translation examinations in two ancient languages. For students admitted through Classics, these must be Greek and Latin. For students admitted through History, at least one must be either Greek or Latin. Greek and Latin examinations will be based on the Classics and History Greek and Latin Ph.D. reading lists and will consist of a choice of eight passages in each language. For each language, students will be required to translate four of the eight passages, to include one verse passage, one documentary text (epigraphy/papyrology), and two passages of prose from literary sources. Some history students may find that expertise in another language—such as Hebrew, Aramaic/Syriac, Demotic, Coptic, Classical Armenian, a Persic language, or Sanskrit—is most beneficial for their research and teaching trajectory. Reading lists for these nonclassical languages will be devised by the student in collaboration with the faculty adviser and other relevant member(s) of the Yale faculty and fixed in writing no later than the end of the fourth term in residence. Examinations in these languages will also consist of a choice from eight passages, of which students must translate four, to be set and evaluated by faculty expert in the given language. Translation exams in all languages must be taken at the beginning of the fifth term in residence.
  5. A general examination in ancient history during the third year and no later than the end of the sixth term in residence. This is to be broken into one major and two or three minor fields. For the major field, students must prepare an 8,000-word essay in advance of the oral examination. For the minor fields, students must prepare (also in advance) a syllabus for an undergraduate class. The written essays and syllabi must be submitted by a fixed date, typically on the Friday before Thanksgiving or spring break. Oral exams will be completed shortly afterward to ensure time for the completion of the dissertation prospectus.
  6. A dissertation prospectus by the end of the sixth term in residence.
  7. A dissertation. By the end of their ninth term, students are required to submit a chapter of their dissertation, which will be discussed with the student by the committee in a chapter conference.

History and Early Modern Studies

Coursework The required number of courses and timeline for coursework follows the Department of History guidelines for history students in the combined program. In general, it is expected that courses in early modern studies constitute about one-third of the student’s doctoral coursework, and at least one course with an early modern focus must be taken outside the student’s primary department. Students will also enroll in EMST 7000/EMST 7001 and EMST 8000/EMST 8001 during the second year, neither of which count towards the total number of courses required for the Ph.D. in history. In the spring of third year, students in the Department of History are also encouraged, but not required, to enroll in EMST 9000.

Advising A student’s academic adviser is a member in the Department of History. A student may also choose to have as co-adviser a faculty member affiliated with the Program in Early Modern Studies who is not affiliated with History. 

Language Requirement The language requirement follows the Department of History requirements. 

Qualifying Exams Qualifying exams will follow the Department of History requirements with one added requirement that at least half the exam content must be about early modern subjects (the equivalent of one and a half fields if the student completes three fields, two fields if the student completes four fields).

Prospectus and Admission to Candidacy Procedures for the prospectus follow Department of History guidelines. At least one faculty member affiliated with the Program in Early Modern Studies must be on the committee. Upon completion of all predissertation requirements, including the prospectus, students are admitted to candidacy for the combined Ph.D. degree. 

Dissertation At least one faculty member affiliated with the Program in Early Modern Studies must be on the dissertation committee. 

Teaching A student’s teaching assignments are determined by the Department of History, with every effort made to assign a student to at least one course (or course equivalent) in early modern studies.

Master’s Degrees

M.Phil. Students who have completed all requirements for admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. may receive the M.Phil. degree.

M.A. (en route to the Ph.D.) Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program may qualify for the M.A. degree upon completion of a minimum of seven graduate term courses at Yale, of which two must have earned Honors grades and the other five courses must average High Pass overall. Students must also pass an examination in one foreign language.

A student in the Ph.D. program in American Studies who wishes to obtain an M.A. degree in History, rather than an M.A. in American Studies, must include in the courses completed at least two research seminars in the History department.

Students enrolled in the Ph.D. program in Political Science may qualify for the M.A. degree in History, rather than an M.A. in Political Science, upon completion of a minimum of six graduate term courses in History at Yale, of which two must have earned Honors grades and the other four courses must average High Pass overall. A student must include in the six courses completed at least two research seminars in the History department.

Terminal Master’s Degree Program For this terminal master’s degree, students must pass seven term courses, four of which must be in history; substantial written work must be submitted in conjunction with at least two of these courses, and Honors grades are expected in two courses, with a High Pass average overall. An undergraduate language course, statistics course, or other applicable course in a technological “language” may count for one course credit toward the graduate degree with approval of the DGS. All students in this program must pass an examination in one foreign language. Financial aid is not available for this program.


More information is available on the department’s website, http://history.yale.edu.

Courses

HIST 5000a, Approaching History: Problems, Methods, and Theory  Omnia El Shakry and Greg Grandin

An introduction to the professional study of history, which offers new doctoral students an opportunity to explore (and learn from each other about) the diversity of the field, while also addressing issues of shared concern and importance for the future of the discipline. By the end of the term participants have been exposed to some of the key methodological and theoretical approaches historians have developed for studying different time periods, places, and aspects of the human past. Required of and restricted to first-term History Ph.D. students.
T 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 5250a or b / HSHM 5250a or b, Field Studies  Staff

This course does not count toward the coursework requirements for the Ph.D. or M.A.  ½ Course cr
HTBA

HIST 5804a and HIST 5805b / ANTH 8897a and ANTH 8898b / HSAR 6841a and HSAR 6842b / HSHM 7691a and HSHM 7692b, Topics in the Environmental Humanities  Paul Sabin

This is the required workshop for the Graduate Certificate in Environmental Humanities. The workshop meets six times per term to explore concepts, methods, and pedagogy in the environmental humanities, and to share student and faculty research. Each student pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Environmental Humanities must complete both a fall term and a spring term of the workshop, but the two terms of student participation need not be consecutive. The fall term each year emphasizes key concepts and major intellectual currents. The spring term each year emphasizes pedagogy, methods, and public practice. Specific topics vary each year. Students who have previously enrolled in the course may audit the course in a subsequent year. This course does not count toward the coursework requirement in history. Open only to students pursuing the Graduate Certificate in Environmental Humanities.  ½ Course cr per term
T 11:30am-1:20pm

HIST 5807a, Modern Europe Colloquium  Jennifer Allen

The Modern Europe Colloquium brings six to eight scholars working in the field of modern European history to the university each year to present their work. This course does not count toward the coursework requirements in History.  ½ Course cr
HTBA

HIST 5809a, Race and Slavery Working Group  Edward Rugemer

This workshop is a seminar of works-in-progress by graduate students and faculty touching on racism, slavery, emancipation, and colonial projects in the Atlantic world up to the year 1900. Participants are expected to read the essay prior to attendance. A longer description can be found here: https://rswg.yale.edu.  ½ Course cr
HTBA

HIST 6002b / CLSS 7680b / MDVL 7002b, Human Migration in Antiquity  Noel Lenski

This course examines the processes of human migration in premodern societies with an emphasis on ancient Rome. It explores voluntary and forced migrations, their motivations, processes, and outcomes. Particular attention is paid to sources and problems in the period of late antiquity, when human migration helped drive the collapse of the Roman Empire.
HTBA

HIST 6030b / RLST 6080b, Approaches to the Study of Christianity in Late Antiquity  Stephen Davis

This proseminar addresses key methodological and historiographical issues in the periodization and commodification of late antiquity as a field of inquiry, focusing especially on Christianity from the rise of Constantine (313) to the Council of Chalcedon (451). Part one of the course focuses on theories and methods that have marked the study of late ancient Christianity in recent decades, including the analysis of discourse, sexuality and gender, bodies and ritual practice, and hybridity and ethnic identities. Part two focuses on a series of case studies, including the rise of Constantine, North African ecclesiastical resistance, the role of bishops and councils, barbarians and Roman borders, monasticism, pilgrimage, and the cult of the saints. The course concludes with a consideration of early Christian archaeology. The course is designed for EMWAR students with a primary or secondary area of concentration in Early Christianity, Late Ancient Christianity, Christianity and Judaism in the Hellenistic East, and West Asian Religions of the Sasanian and Early Islamic Eras. The course also provides important historical context for students concentrating in New Testament and in Scriptures and their Interpretation in Antiquity. Students interested in completing a seminar-based exam in connection with the course are encouraged to speak with the instructor. EMWAR area of concentration designations: EarXty, LateXty, XtyJudEast, WAR.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6048a / CLSS 7435a, Greek Social History (600–250 BCE): New Approaches  Jessica Lamont

This advanced seminar introduces students to new ways of researching ancient Greek social history, with a focus on communities across the ancient Greek world between c. 600 and 250 BCE, from Sicily to Thasos to the northern Black Sea. Newly published inscriptions and epigraphic corpora drive and structure the course. Major topics of study include: ancient Greek oracles (Delphi, Dodona, dice oracles), divination, women, religious cults and ritual practice, sacred laws, “magical” rites (spells, curses, and incantations), Greek colonization, north Aegean Thasos, and more.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6150b / EMST 6150b / RLST 6790b, Popular Religion in Europe, 1300–1700  Carlos Eire

Readings and discussion in recent scholarship on the history of religion in the Christian West in the late medieval and early modern periods.
W 3:30pm-5:20pm

HIST 6155b / JDST 764b / MDVL 7155b / RLST 7770b, Jews in Muslim Lands from the Seventh through the Sixteenth Century  Ivan Marcus

Introduction to Jewish culture and society in Muslim lands from the Prophet Muhammad to Suleiman the Magnificent. Topics include Islam and Judaism; Jerusalem as a holy site; rabbinic leadership and literature in Baghdad; Jewish courtiers, poets, and philosophers in Muslim Spain; and the Jews in the Ottoman Empire.
HTBA

HIST 6157b / JDST 7206b / MDVL 7157b / RLST 6160b, How the West Became Antisemitic: Jews and the Formation of Europe, 800–1500  Ivan Marcus

This seminar explores how medieval Jews and Christians interacted as religious societies between 800 and 1500.
HTBA

HIST 6171a, History and Culture of Russia to 1725  Paul Bushkovitch

The major phases of Russian history from the tenth century, covering the major historiographical controversies and sources. Russian or German helpful but not required.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6173b, Russia, the USSR, and the World, 1855–1945  Paul Bushkovitch

Political and economic relations of Russia/Soviet Union with Europe, the United States, and Asia from tsarism to socialism.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6176a, New Approaches to Russian and Eurasian History: The Archival Revolution  Sergei Antonov

A reading seminar addressing recent work on Russian and Soviet history grounded in the ongoing “archival revolution” that began in the late 1980s. After reviewing the major earlier paradigms, we examine how they were overturned or significantly modified by archival-based evidence. Topics include the development of government and the law; historical actors and places marginalized by the earlier historiography, such as non-capital regions, the middle classes, conservatism, religion, and (more generally) non-state structures; and Russia’s position in the imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet periods as a vast and complex multiethnic political entity. Class discussions in English. Readings in English with Russian options available.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6191a, Convivencia: Coexistence Medieval and Early Modern  Hussein Fancy and Stuart Schwartz

The word “convivencia” has been used to describe the coexistence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims across medieval and early modern Iberian history. For some, “convivencia” signified peaceful coexistence, from which all benefitted materially and culturally. For others, “convivencia” is an idealization or dangerous fiction. In this course, we examine the coexistence of Jews, Christians, and Muslims across medieval and early modern Iberia, North Africa, and the Americas. We test “convivencia” as a historical concept and practice. Students write one short historiographical essay and one research essay.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6229a / JDST 7261a / MDVL 7229a / RLST 7730a, Jews and the World: From the Bible through Early Modern Times  Ivan Marcus

The course is a comprehensive introduction for GS students as well as YC students.  It serves as a window course to pre-modern Jewish history.  For YC students this can lead to taking seminars on more limited topics.  For graduate students it is a good preparation for comprehensive exams and provides a model survey course to be offered later on as an instructor.
TTh 11:35am-12:50pm

HIST 6280b, Readings in European Intellectual History  Isaac Nakhimovsky

A review of current and classic scholarly literature on early modern European intellectual history, from Renaissance to Revolution.
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6312a / FREN 700 / FREN 7000a, Readings in Modern European Cultural History  Carolyn Dean

This seminar introduces students to the various lines of inquiry informing modern cultural history in the twentieth century, with an emphasis on interdisciplinarity and method.  the course asks how historians as well as scholars in other disciplines constitute culture as an object of inquiry and addresses different approaches to historicizing culture.  Its two main aims are to explore different themes in modern European cultural history and to investigate the different ways that scholars interpret the relationship between symbolic representation and historical change.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 6321a, Protestantism and the Third Reich: Collaboration and Defense  Bruce Gordon and Volker Leppin

This course explores the question of why virtually all German Protestants in the Third Reich either collaborated with National Socialism or chose strategies for survival over resistance. The eminent Protestant professor of theology, Paul Althaus, declared in 1933, “our Protestant churches have greeted the turning point of 1933 as a gift and miracle of God.” The roots of Protestant responses to the Third Reich lay in the Imperial Christianity leading to WWI and the chaos of Weimar Germany. Recent scholarship has overturned older narratives of brave resistance and demonstrated that well-known figures such as Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer were anomalies in a Protestant culture of passivity and silence. German Protestant churches remained quiet as Jews were deported. Working with primary sources, students explore the mentalities of collaboration in churches (German Christians) and universities as well as the character of the Confessing Church. The course concludes with the legacy of collaboration and nonresistance.
HTBA

HIST 6610a / PLSC 6400a, Advanced Topics in Modern Political Philosophy  Giulia Oskian

This seminar explores key concepts in modern political philosophy at a level appropriate for graduate students (to help prepare for the political theory field exam) and for advanced undergraduates who have completed substantial course work in intellectual history and/or political theory.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7000a, Topics, Themes, and Methods in U.S. History  Beverly Gage and Joanne Meyerowitz

Exploring key readings in U.S. history, this seminar introduces important areas of research, members of the Yale faculty, and resources for research at Yale and beyond. Highly recommended for first and second year doctoral students in US History. Open to other interested graduate students with permission of the instructors.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7100a, Readings in Early American History  Mark Peterson

This readings seminar introduces students to the historical literature on European colonization of North America and the Caribbean, from the sixteenth century to the age of the American Revolution. It covers major themes in the scholarship, including European-Indigenous American contact and conflict, the rise of African chattel slavery, the institutional and political development of colonial America’s societies and economies, the formation and dissolution of Britain’s American empire, and the emergence of new American cultures. The assigned readings connect classics in this very rich scholarly field to recent works. As such, the course serves as excellent preparation for comprehensive exam fields, but also offers students interested in doing advanced research in this period the opportunity to explore promising topics.
Th 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 7200a / AMST 8835a, Research in Recent U.S. History  Regina Kunzel and Joanne Meyerowitz

Students conduct research in primary sources and write original essays on post-1945 U.S. history. Readings include scholarly articles that might serve as models for students’ research projects.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7260b / AMST 9003b / PHUM 9003b, Introduction to Public Humanities  Karin Roffman

What is the relationship between knowledge produced in the university and the circulation of ideas among a broader public, between academic expertise on the one hand and nonprofessionalized ways of knowing and thinking on the other? What is possible? This seminar provides an introduction to various institutional relations and to the modes of inquiry, interpretation, and presentation by which practitioners in the humanities seek to invigorate the flow of information and ideas among a public more broadly conceived than the academy, its classrooms, and its exclusive readership of specialists. Topics include public history, museum studies, oral and community history, public art, documentary film and photography, public writing and educational outreach, the socially conscious performing arts, and fundraising. In addition to core readings and discussions, the seminar includes presentations by several practitioners who are currently engaged in different aspects of the Public Humanities. With the help of Yale faculty and affiliated institutions, participants collaborate in developing and executing a Public Humanities project of their own definition and design. Possibilities might include, but are not limited to, an exhibit or installation, a documentary, a set of walking tours, a website, a documents collection for use in public schools.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7290b, U.S. Empire  Alvita Akiboh

One of the most cherished pieces of national mythology is that the United States, while an incredibly powerful country, has never been an empire. Scholars in the fields of U.S. diplomatic history, U.S. foreign relations, and U.S. and the World have made it their mission to debunk that myth. This course does not seek to settle the issue, but rather it seeks to better understand the particular ways in which the United States has historically projected power abroad since its founding and how scholars have chosen to approach this history.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7304a / AMST 7705a / RLST 7050a, Readings in Religion and American Society  Tisa Wenger and Jamil Drake

This seminar explores intersections of religion and society in North American history from the colonial period to the present as well as methodological problems important to their study. The course is designed to give graduate students a working knowledge of the field by examining key historiographical trends and influential approaches in recent years. It is not a specialized research seminar, but it does require a basic understanding of historiography. We think together about the sources, conversation partners, methods, and key interventions of each text we read.
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7400a / AMST 7741a, Indians and Empires  Ned Blackhawk

This course explores recent scholarship on Indian-imperial relations throughout North American colonial spheres from roughly 1500 to 1900. It examines indigenous responses to Spanish, Dutch, French, English, and lastly American and Canadian colonialism and interrogates commonplace periodization and geographic and conceptual approaches to American historiography. It concludes with an examination of American Indian political history, contextualizing it within larger assessments of Indian-imperial and Indian-state relations.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 7430b / AFAM 8128b, Politics and Belonging in Post-Emancipation Americas  Anne Eller

This course examines literature about emancipation contests throughout the Americas, with a preponderance of texts about the Caribbean and the US South. The hemispheric approach seeks working peoples' negotiations within, outside, and across national frames. The course builds on decades of literature that dismantle old binaries between enslavement and “freedom,” considering contests from 1804 through World War I. The course ponders freedom's many meanings, from the intimate to the electoral. Land, gendered power and violence, state services, and state abuse are key themes.  Finally, alternative political allegiances and local authorities, often outside the auspices of a formal state, will animate discussions.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 7500b / AMST 7768b / ER&M 6680b, Asian American History and Historiography  Mary Lui

This reading and discussion seminar examines Asian American history through a selection of recently published texts and established works that have significantly shaped the field. Major topics include the racial formation of Asian Americans in U.S. culture, politics, and law; U.S. imperialism; U.S. capitalist development and Asian labor migration; and transnational and local ethnic community formations. The class considers both the political and academic roots of the field as well as its evolving relationship to “mainstream” American history.
T 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8100b, Research in Modern International/Global History  Vanessa Ogle and Alden Young

This seminar provides an opportunity for graduate students to write a research paper on international/global history, broadly defined to include diplomacy, economic relations, social movements, cultural and intellectual connections, and other topics. The first part of the seminar includes readings and class discussions that focus on hands-on strategies and tactics for historical research and academic writing. Later seminar meetings are oriented toward benchmarks and workshops on students’ own research projects.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8102a, Historiography of Modern Global and International Affairs  Arne Westad

This graduate reading seminar surveys major themes in the historiography of modern global and international affairs from the late nineteenth century up to today. Through reading both classic and recent research, students familiarize themselves with key debates that have shaped the historical understanding of modern international affairs.
Th 3:30pm-5:20pm

HIST 8105b, Histories of Global Development  David Engerman

This is a graduate reading seminar that explores recent approaches to the history of global development. While the focus is on scholarship written by historians, we also examine works in the social sciences that have shaped—or should shape—historical scholarship. The seminar is designed for students pursuing graduate work in history; undergraduates and students outside the history department should meet with the instructor by the end of the first week of the semester to discuss their interests.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8116a, Ports, Cities, and Empires  Jay Gitlin and Paul Kennedy

A study of the relationship between imperialism and urbanism from the early modern period to the twentieth century. Topics include Roman medieval precedents; the uses and meanings of walls; merchant colonies and Latin Quarters; modernist urban planning and the International Style in Africa and the Middle East; comparative metro system in Paris, Algiers, and Montreal; decolonization and imperial nostalgia. Cities to be discussed include Delhi/New Delhi, New Orleans, Dublin, Cape Town, Tel Aviv, Addis Ababa, and many others. Permission of the instructor is required.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8130b / AFAM 7196b / AMST 7796b, Slave Systems in World History  Edward Rugemer

Slavery has been a protean institution in world history, with pre-historic origins and nearly countless manifestations across time and place. This readings course explores the history of slavery over the longue duree, moving through time from the ancient world through the nineteenth century with readings on some of the major slave systems in world history. One goal of the course is to situate the well-known slave systems of the Americas within a broader historical context. Student writing includes a historiographical essay on one of the major slave systems discussed in the course.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8160a / ANTH 6841a / ENV 836a / PLSC 7790 / SOCY 7170a, Agrarian Societies: Culture, Society, History, and Development  Louisa Lombard and Marcela Echeverri Munoz

An interdisciplinary examination of agrarian societies, contemporary and historical, Western and non-Western. Major analytical perspectives from anthropology, economics, history, political science, and environmental studies are used to develop a meaning-centered and historically grounded account of the transformations of rural society. Team-taught.
W 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8202a, Latin America and the World  Greg Grandin

Dipesh Chakrabarty, in Provincializing Europe, calls Europe "hyper-real," since it looms so large in the historical imagination.  We can then think of Latin America as "hypo-real," its influence notably muted in what has come to be called the "new international history," in books that have explored the global origins of concepts--such as internationalism, human rights, sovereignty, populism, development, debates over the nature of capitalism, and multilateralism--and institutions that define modern times.  This seminar will try to fill in the blank; readings will cover sweeping periods of hemispheric and world history, related to the realm of law, slavery, economics, ideology, politics, and culture.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8210a, Colonial Latin America and its Historiography  Marcela Echeverri Munoz

This course reviews the historiography of Colonial Latin America, providing a view of the field. We read classic works and more recent contributions by scholars on Native American worlds; the encounter and formation of Iberian colonial societies in the Americas; environments and economies; Atlantic and global connections; slavery and race relations; ethnicity and indigeneity; law and politics; and the Age of Revolutions and Independence.
M 3:30pm-5:20pm

HIST 8321a / AFST 8833a, Agrarian History of Africa  Robert Harms

The course examines changes in African rural life from precolonial times to the present. Issues to be examined include land use systems, rural modes of production, gender roles, markets and trade, the impact of colonialism, cash cropping, rural-urban migration, and development schemes.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8401a, Middle East History: Theories and Methods  Alan Mikhail and Zeinab Azarbadegan

As an introduction to graduate studies in the history of the Middle East, this seminar addresses various theoretical and methodological approaches to the student of the early modern and modern Middle East. We read both canonical texts that have shaped the field and newer innovative works, all the while paying particular attention to the changing nature of historical debates on the history of the Middle East. We explore themes such as capitalism, tradition and modernity, gender and sexuality, Orientalism, colonialism, postcolonial theory, global history, nationalism, and the nature of the early modern and modern state. Open to graduate students in any department.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8532a, Song-Dynasty China (960–1276): Modern Before Europe?  Valerie Hansen

Did any society attain early modernity before Europe did so in 1500–1600? China did during the Song dynasty (960–1275). Consideration of economic output, meritocratic recruitment of the bureaucracy via civil service examinations, printing, levels of education and literacy (among both men and women), urban life, and foreign trade. Seminar members may choose to do either a research paper comparing China and Europe or a historiograhic essay.
M 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8600a / SAST 8200a, Readings in South Asia: Across the Disciplines  Rohit De and Sunil Amrith

Since the emergence of subaltern studies in the 1980s, South Asian historiography has been dominated by debates over the methods and theory that have come to influence the broader discipline of history. The seminar introduces participants to the major debates in South Asian studies through reading the original texts alongside newer scholarship addressing the themes of bureaucracy, secularism, visual media, political economy, and the environment.
M 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8620a, Readings in the History of Southeast Asia  Nurfadzilah Yahaya

This graduate seminar explores the major works in the history of Southeast Asia from the earliest period until modern day in their many facets—political, cultural, and social. Our focus is on questions or regional boundaries, interpretation of sources, methodology, periodization, and translation.
W 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8831a / RLST 8331a, Psychoanalysis as Theory and Practice  Omnia El Shakry

This course serves as an introduction to the psychoanalytic tradition through a reading of its foundational Freudian as well as post-Freudian texts. Centered on the “so-called Copernican revolution to which Freud himself compared his discovery,” we attend primarily to the lineaments of the unconscious. Our readings will focus on Sigmund Freud and the Anglophone tradition (Klein, Winnicott, Bion, Bollas). In addition, there is special emphasis on questions of race (through Frantz Fanon and Afro-pessimism) and religion (through new work on psychoanalysis and Islam). Throughout the seminar, we remain attuned to the elements of psychoanalysis that enable us to engage the most pressing ethical questions of our times of war and death.
T 5pm-7pm

HIST 8900b / AFAM 7119b / HSHM 7710b, Researching and Writing Histories of Health, Medicine, and Science  Carolyn Roberts

This small graduate seminar is for students currently researching and writing histories of health, science, and medicine. Students learn about slow scholarship, the politics of the archive, and research organization and management and explore the craft of writing. Preference is given to graduate students in history, the history of science and medicine, and African American studies.
F 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8902b / AFAM 7152b / AMST 8867b / HSHM 7610b, Researching and Writing Medicine, Health, and Empire  Carolyn Roberts

This small graduate seminar is for students currently engaged in research and writing projects that touch on issues related to health, medicine, science, or the body in the context of slavery, colonialism, or neocolonialism.  Students will explore their relationship to the craft of writing, their identity as “authors,” the politics of the archive, the methodological and evidentiary challenges in their work, and tools that will level up their research organization and management skills.  The course provides graduate students with a balance of support and independence as they further their research and writing projects.  Graduate students in any discipline are warmly invited to participate in a compassion-based research community that prioritizes values of deep listening, presence, and care
F 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8910a / HSHM 7100a, Problems in Science Studies  Marco Ramos

Exploration of the methods and debates in the social studies of science, technology, and medicine. This course covers the history of the field and its current intellectual, social, and political positioning. It provides critical tools—including feminist, postcolonial, and new materialist perspectives—to address the relationships among science, technology, medicine, and society.
M 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8911b / HSHM 7020b, Problems in the History of Science  Ayah Nuriddin

Surveys current methodologies through key theoretical and critical works. Students encounter major twentieth-century methodological moments that have left lasting imprints on the field: positivism and anti-positivism, the sociology of knowledge, actor-network theory, and historical epistemology, as well as newer approaches focusing on space, infrastructure, translation, and exchange. We also consider central conceptual problems for the field, such as the demarcation of science from pseudoscience; the definition of modernity and the narrative of the Scientific Revolution; vernacular science, the colonial archive, and non-textual sources.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8912a / HSHM 7130a, Geography and History  Bill Rankin

A research seminar focused on methodological questions of geography and geographic analysis in historical scholarship. We consider approaches ranging from the Annales School of the early twentieth century to contemporary research in environmental history, history of science, urban history, and more. We also explore interdisciplinary work in social theory, historical geography, and anthropology and grapple with the promise (and drawbacks) of GIS. Students may write their research papers on any time period or geographic region, and no previous experience with geography or GIS is necessary. Open to undergraduates with permission of the instructor.
Th 9:25am-11:15am

HIST 8916a / HSHM 7520a, Historicizing the Atmosphere  Deborah Coen

Recent scholarship brings the atmosphere from the background to the foreground of history. Inspired in part by present-day problems of climate change, air pollution, airborne viruses, and police brutality, humanities scholars are teasing out the historical specificity of experiences of the atmosphere. A focus on the atmosphere allows historians to make connections between local, embodied practices and planetary processes. We explore ways to periodize the atmosphere’s history, from its invention in the seventeenth century to its weaponization in the twentieth. While some scholars in the humanities are working in partnership with the natural sciences, others present their work as complements to or critiques of science. We consider how scientific and cultural analyses of the atmosphere can build on each other as well as the tensions between them. Authors include Leo Spitzer, Peter Sloterdijk, Shigehisa Kuriyama, Christina Sharpe, Timothy Choi, and Kimberly Bain. Students have the option of a creative final project or a historical research paper.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8931a / HSHM 7010a, Problems in the History of Medicine and Public Health  John Warner

An examination of the variety of approaches to the social and cultural history of medicine and public health. Readings are drawn from recent literature in the field, sampling writings on health care, illness experiences, and medical cultures in Asia, Latin America, Europe, and the United States from antiquity through the twenty-first century. Topics include the role of gender, class, ethnicity, race, religion, and region in the experience of sickness and healing; the intersection of lay and professional understandings of the body; and the role of the marketplace in shaping cultural authority, professional identities, and patient expectations.
T 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 8932b / HSHM 7360b / WGSS 7730b, Health Politics, Body Politics  Naomi Rogers

A reading seminar on struggles to control, pathologize, and normalize human bodies, with a particular focus on science, medicine, and the state, both in North America and in a broader global health context. Topics include disease, race, and politics; repression and regulation of birth control; the politics of adoption; domestic and global population control; feminist health movements; and the pathologizing and identity politics of disabled people.
W 3:30pm-5:20pm

HIST 8942b / EMST 8160b / HSHM 7160b, Early Modern Science and Medicine  Paola Bertucci

The course focuses on recent works in the history of science and medicine in the early modern world. We discuss how interdisciplinary approaches—including economic and urban history, sociology and anthropology of science, gender studies, art and colonial history—have challenged the classic historiographical category of “the Scientific Revolution.” We also discuss the avenues for research that new approaches to early modern science and medicine have opened up, placing special emphasis on the circulation of knowledge, practices of collecting, and visual and material culture.
Th 1:30pm-3:20pm

HIST 9997a or b / HSHM 9970a or b, Pedagogy Seminar  Staff

Faculty members instruct their Teaching Fellows on the pedagogical methods for teaching specific subject matter.  0 Course cr
HTBA

HIST 9998a or b, Directed Readings  Staff

Offered by permission of the instructor and DGS to meet special requirements not covered by regular courses. Graded Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory.
HTBA

HIST 9999a or b, Directed Research  Staff

Offered by arrangement with the instructor and permission of DGS to meet special requirements.
HTBA