100 Level Courses

HIS 104Y1-Y Ten Days that Shook the World

This course examines ten momentous events in world history since 1600 to explore the interconnectedness of separate places and the interrelationships that memory creates between past and present.  Rather than provide a complete history of the world, this course looks at the ways in which events produce either consequences or memories that resonate and ramify elsewhere and through time.  Much of our attention will focus on interactions between cultures that have produced the conflict out of which concepts of rights have taken form.  The ten events are taken from the histories of Native North America, the Philippines, Tibet, Algeria, the Pacific Ocean, Zimbabwe, India, Guatemala, and China.

Textbook(s):  The reading assignments for the course include both primary and secondary works. For each unit one book is assigned, along with additional documents intended to complicate how we remember the past.

Tentative Course Requirements:  a series of short papers (3 pages) plus a longer paper (8-10 pages), a mid-year term test, and a final exam

EXCLUSION:  All other 100-level HIS courses.

Instructor:  A. Wright
Lecture:  T 5-7
Tutorial:  TBA
Pre-Modern:  ½ credit

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HIS 107Y1-Y Approaches to Modern East Asian History

This is a survey course outlining the major events in the histories of China, Korea, and Japan from 1600 to the present.  This course will explore issues of gender, nationalism, war, and relations with the West.  China will be covered during the first term, and Japan will be covered in the second.  The study of Korea will be split between the first and second terms.  Although China, Korea, and Japan are independent nations, the course emphasizes the point that the histories of these civilizations are intertwined, and that no single East Asian nation, society, or culture can fully be understood without reference to its neighbours.

EXCLUSION:  All other 100-level HIS courses and EAS204Y

Instructor:  C. Takagaki
Lecture:  T 6-8
Tutorial:  TBA
Pre-Modern:  ½ credit

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HIS 109Y1-Y The Development of European Civilization, 1350-1945

HIS 109Y is designed to introduce first year students to the study of European history.  It requires little or no historical background at the secondary level since the major currents of European history will be discussed and analyzed on an introductory level.

Because the purpose of the course is to provide a broad background to modern European history, it will begin with an introduction to the shape of traditional society and investigate the forces at work on the social, political, economic, cultural, and intellectual structures of Western Europe from the High Middle Ages until the Second World War.  The approach will be that of a wide survey but centred on five units: the structure of Traditional Society; the First Period of Challenges 1350-1650; the Second Period of Challenges 1650-1815; Confidence, Stability, and Progress 1815-1914; the Collapse of the Old Order and the Condition of Modern Europe 1914-1945.

In addition to the historical content of the lectures and readings, the basic techniques needed for the study of history -and other humanities subjects - will be discussed in the context of the material for the course.  Skills such as note taking, forms of historical reporting and researching, essay and examination writing techniques, critical reading, and study methods will be reviewed.

The assigned tutorial readings will be drawn from primary sources, and the basic text will be Perspectives from the Past.  A general historical text (see below) will also be recommended for reference, but most of the factual material will come from the lectures.

Textbook(s):  J. Brophy et al., Perspectives from the Past, 2 vols., Norton; J. Spielvogel, Western Civilization (Since 1300), West.

Tentative Course Requirements:  a book review and document study (30%), a research paper (25%), an exam (35%) and tutorial participation (10%).

EXCLUSION:  All other 100-level HIS courses

Instructors:  B. Cook
Lecture:  MW 3
Tutorials:  TBA
Pre-Modern:  ½ credit

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HUM 199Y1-Y The Dragon and the Eagle: China vs. the United States in the Asian Arena

There is little question that both China and the United States are powerful players in the Asian of the 21^st century.  This seminar will study the past, present, and future relations of these two states, with an emphasis on considering what historians and historical analysis can bring to an understanding of current issues and longer-term planning.

The often conflicted, two century history of China-U.S. relations will be explored in depth: early 19^th century commercial relations and the Opium Wars; later 19^th century missionary activities, the scramble for markets, and the “Open Door” notes; earlier 20^th century reactions to a Chinese revolution and nationalism; mid-20^th century struggles over the future of China in which Japan and the Soviet Union (as well as the United States) played major roles and the establishment of the People’s Republic of China; the seismic shifts beginning with Nixon’s visit to Beijing and the take-off of Chinese economic power.  Weekly seminar meetings will utilize the rich literature produced by historians as well as “primary source materials” drawn from government archives and the personal records of participants in the events being studied.  Some of the University of Toronto’s array of scholars with expertise in Sino-American relations will occasionally be invited to join the seminar for discussion.

Throughout the course, attention will be paid to how “past” tensions and relationships relate to those of the present day – and how the combination of “past’ and “present” may make it possible to anticipate what will be happening in the years ahead.  (As E. H. Carr put it, for example, “Historians imagine the past and remember the future.”)  With this in mind, the seminar will regularly utilize current media resources, particularly television and websites.  Guests from the worlds of law, business, and government will be occasionally invited to join discussions.

Tentative Course Requirements:  1000 word essay (5% - October); two role-playing exercises and two 1000 word essays (10% - November & March); two one-hour tests (15% each - December & February); 2500 word essay (20% - April); seminar participation (25%).

Instructor:  R. Pruessen
Lecture:  R 11-1

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INX 199Y1-Y, L0261 The Past Within the Present

"History is bunk!" This famous put-down of history by Henry Ford creator of the automobile assembly line - has an ironic twist, because Ford also designed a "living-history" museum close to his factories. Far from hating history, he produced an historical interpretive experience to influence future generations. Whatever our perspectives may be, we, like Ford, seem to need the past immediately around us. What about Toronto? This cosmopolitan city has its own long history that provides us with a sense of place, but which now usually represents the actual history of a small number of the city's current residents. Why should Toronto's monuments and public buildings, its streetscapes and neighbourhoods be valued? What is being preserved? What does the specific heritage of a unique district such as this university campus, or the larger region, contribute to Toronto as a cosmopolitan city? These issues are evident in other aspects of Canadian debates as well. What is history when written records and oral traditions differ, and First Nations' land claims or treaty rights are adjudicated by our courts? How do we develop interpretive historical exhibits that include our recent citizens? Are public apologies for the wrongs imposed by previous generations appropriate? Are they necessary? What if differing "histories" clash? This course explores such aspects of history's public face: how we use it, and why we need physical reminders of the past in our daily lives. This course counts as a Humanities or Social Science course.