News and
announcements
Washburn History Majors Present At The Kansas Association of Historians - April 2011
 
 
Washburn History Majors Present At The Midwest American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies Conference - October 2010
 
Dr. Dan Glenn, Dr. Rachel Goossen, Dr. Alan Bearman, Dr.
Tom Prasch, Dr. Bruce Mactavish, Dr. Kim Morse, Anne Fund, Dr. Kerry Wynn, Dr. Yongtao Du
(Fall 2008)
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The
History Department New Additions:
Dr. Anthony Silvestri, Lecturer
Robin Shrimplin, Secretary
Kelly Erby, Assistant. Professor
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Please send
questions and comments to Dr.
Kerry Wynn .
Washburn University
Department of History
1700 SW College Ave.
Topeka, KS 66621
Telephone: (785)670-2060
Fax: (785)670-1084 |
Spring 2012-Upper Division Courses
HI 300A, Sex in America, 11:00-12:15 Tue./Thur., Kerry Wynn, Instructor. This course examines the history of sex in the United States from the colonial period to the twentieth century. As a cultural history, the course focuses on the many ways that ideas about sexuality influenced American popular culture and vice-versa, as well as how these ideas changed over time. Topics for discussion include the legal and moral frameworks Americans used to regulate sexuality, the creation of "crises" regarding sex, and the relationship of sexuality to democracy, citzenship, community, and rights. The reading schedule will be demanding, and grades will be based on discussion, two essay exams, and writing assignments (including a research essay).
HI 300B, Medieval Experience, 11:00-11:50 Mon./Wed./Fri., Tony Silvestri, Instructor. This course, dual-listed with the Honors Dept., will cover the history and intellectual culture of the European Middle Ages (c. AD 500-1300) but with a significant twist: the course will be conducted as if it were being taught at a university in the 13th century. Students will wear academic robes at all times, use a shared book for all readings, and engage in lively weekly debates. Come explore medieval Europe in a whole new (old) way. Students will be responsible for regular debates, exams and a major research paper, among other assignments. Requirements: HI-100, or HI-101, or consent of instructor, and a sense of adventure!
HI 300C/HI 500GA, History of American Childhood, 1:00-2:15 Tue./Thur., Dr. Rachel Goossen, Instructor. This course will survey the wide range of historical literature on children and youth in American culture, and will consider evolving notions of childhood from America's colonial period to the present. This is a seminar-style, discussion-oriented course, complemented with lectures, films and students' research presentations. Readings will include historical monographs, autobiographies, and primary sources. Grading criteria will be based on students' research and essay-writing, class participation, and a final exam. Graduate component: Research paper incorporating primary sources.
HI 300D, Dickens and London, 5:30-8:00 Mon., Dr. Thomas Prasch, Instructor. There is perhaps no better way to understand the realities of the Victorian city--the turbulence and tumult of its jostling populations; the interaction of multiple classes from the criminal underworld up to the thriving bourgeoisie and vestigial aristocracy; the emergence of new forms of culture in the context of industrial urban society; the close conjunction of commercial centers and growing slums and new residential cores; the impact of urban life on everything from gender relations to forms of religious belief; the problems industrialization and rapid growth brought to the city and the reform efforts such problems engendered; the joys, the trials, and the dangers of new urban spaces--than to encounter its profligate forms in the novels of Charles Dickens. And no city meant more to Dickens than London, his home for most of his life and the setting for most of his most important works of fiction. Celebrating the work of Dickens in his bicentennial year, this seminar will focus on the city of London in Dickens' work, supplementing our reading of his novels with documentary materials that illuminate the social issues and historical contexts central to understanding his works. Course requirements: regular response papers, class participation, final research paper and presentation (7-10 pp. for undergraduates).
HI 304A, American Revolutionary Period, 1:00-2:15 Tue./Thur, Dr. Kelly Erby, Instructor. This class examines major themes relating to the American Revolution. Questions to be considered include:
1) Why did American coloists rebel against the British Empire?
2) Did American revolutionaries simply want "home rule" or did they seek to fundamentally alter their society?
3) How did Americans define and, then, constantly redefine the meaning(s) of equality and freedom as they carried out their revolution and , later, sought to create a lasting nation?
Students will be expected to participate meaningfully in regular class discussions based on readings. Assignments will include two exams and a research paper.
HI 322A/HI-522GA, Kansas History, 11:00-12:15 Tue./Thur., Bruce Mactavish, Instructor. A comprehensive survey beginning with the land itself and its earliest inhabitants and ending with an overview of the state today. Political and economic aspects of the state's development are covered, but there is also an emphasis on social and cultural history. Analysis of the evolutionary and dramatic changes in agriculture, education, transportation, manufacturing, and the social fabric lead to a better understanding of the state's history. Several papers and essay exams.
HI 358VA, History of Modern China, ONLINE FORMAT, Dr. Sara Tucker, Instructor. Origins, historical development and interplay of major forces, events and characteristics of Chinese Civilization. Covers c. 1800 to the present. Online course is divided into 3 sections, each with open-book unlimited time map, text chapter reading exercises and essays. Also, one short research paper. Prerequisite: 3 hrs HI or consent.
HI 363A/HI 563GA, Borderlands and Borders, 9:30-10:45 Tues/Thur, Dr. Kim Morse, Instructor. What is a border? Where are borders? Borderlands and Beyond explores the concept of borders and borderlands from a variety of perspectives. Using the history of the space that joins the United States and Mexico as a starting point, the course assesses the evolution of the borderlands region, key developments in U.S./Mexican relations, the significance of the Spanish-American-Cuban War, as well as factors that shape immigration from Latin America and the Caribbean. Throughout the course we will use primary sources, literature, music, film and perhaps even food to enhance our understanding of the diversity and complexity of the Latino experience in the United States, borderlands and beyond. Requirements include two critical essay exams and a semester paper. Graduate students will be expected to write two five-page review essays in addition to completion of the other course requirements.
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