This seminar is an introduction to some dimension of the history of a nation, region, people, culture, institution, or historical phenomenon selected by the respective instructor. Students will come to understand, and develop an appreciation for: the origins and evolution of the people, cultures, and/or political, economic, and/or social institutions of a particular region(s) of the world. They may explore how human encounters shaped individual and collective identities and the political, economic, and social orders of the region/nation/communities under study. Instructors prioritize critical reading, engaged participation, and focused writing assignments.

What is the relationship between environmental change, racial ideologies, and labor coercion in U.S. History? Why is pristine nature often imagined as peopleless? And why are agricultural workers still some of the most unprotected workers? These are some of the questions our seminar will consider as we bridge three subfields of history that do not often intersect in the same class: the history of race, environmental history, and labor history. Our readings will examine the invention of race, its transformation over time, and the environmental impacts of European imperialism and U.S. settler colonialism from the perspective of enslaved, Indigenous, non-white, and working-class peoples. We will look at how those most harmed by environmental racism have organized for change, and the environmental dimensions of twentieth-century social movements.

Repeat Rules

Requirements class fulfills