This course surveys the central ideas and events that shaped American history from the colonial period to the end of the Civil War era. Major issues to be covered in this course include the European colonization of the Americas; encounters and interactions among Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans; the formation of English colonies in North America; the development of American slavery; the origins and consequences of the American Revolution; the geographic, demographic, and economic expansion of antebellum America; Indian removal; the debate over slavery; and the Civil War and Reconstruction. Particular attention will be paid to the international dimensions of early American history, including comparisons between America and other regions, and the roles of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and religion in shaping the course of this history. In addition to expanding your knowledge of America’s past, this course will introduce you to the practice of history. Through reading and writing assignments, you will not only learn how historians analyze and interpret the past but also exercise it yourself.

This course surveys the history of U.S. immigration from the colonial period to the present, covering major events, issues, and concepts in the American immigration experience. It will explore the causes and patterns of migration to the United States; the processes of settlement; the politics of race, ethnicity, class, religion, and gender over immigration; meanings of citizenship and belonging; xenophobia and nativism; borderlands communities and economies; the development of U.S. immigration law and policy; and the evolution of the concept and category of unauthorized immigration. Special attention will be paid to analyzing the political debate over immigration and problems with immigration law enforcement today from historical perspective.

History 131B examines the transformation of American social history since the Civil War, ​a deeply complex story highlighted by the changing fabric of our nation’s society and culture via immigration, the interactions of social groups as they migrate, and the cultural expressions they create to make meaning of their experiences in the United States. Two themes will frame our critical thinking about the past: Inclusion/Exclusion and Social Movements. ​The lectures and readings give special attention to urban culture; the construction of racial identities; gender and sexuality; consumer culture; inequality and mobility under industrial capitalism and globalization; and grassroots social movements for reform such as the Black freedom struggle; feminism; and environmentalism. We will pay particular attention to the intersectionality of identities as they have evolved over the past 150 years. In examining the ways that various groups have defined, pursued and defended rights, we also explore the structural, systemic, and social factors that limited or challenged those pursuits. Lectures and readings will highlight the multicultural history particular to the United States as central to the making of modern America. Instructor bio: Sandra Weathers Smith is a faculty member of the History Department at The Spence School and a Lecturer in U.S. History at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research and teaching interests include cultural history, urban history, immigration, civil rights, and political culture. Sandra earned her doctorate in American History from U.C. Berkeley, where she also served as a U.C. Faculty (postdoctoral) Fellow. She worked as Senior Researcher for theater artist, Anna Deavere Smith, and the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue.

This survey is an overview of modern Chinese history from the late-19th century through the late-20th century. It covers the fall of the Qing dynasty, the emergence of the republican Chinese nation-state, and the rise of the Chinese Communist Party. The course examines topics including imperialism and war, commercialization and urbanization, political and social revolutions, and the contested and debated place of China in the world. In addition to textbook readings, students will also examine primary sources in English translation. These primary sources foreground not only state-level and elite perspectives, but also, importantly, the experiences of everyday people. Students will be graded by their active participation in discussion, regular reading responses, two short papers, midterm exam, and final exam. There are no prerequisites. Instructor bio: Jonathan Tang is a historian of 20th century China with a focus on political and military affairs, and has additional teaching experience in East Asian history, world history, and film. His dissertation, “Mutiny in Hunan: Writing and Rewriting the 'Warlord Era' in Early Republican Chinese History,” was completed at U.C. Berkeley's Department of History, and he also holds degrees from Columbia University and Harvard College. He has taught at Stanford University, San Francisco State University, and the University of San Francisco, and is excited to return to his alma mater.

We’ll kick off our exploration of Silicon Valley's history by being “disruptive”: we’ll start by thinking about its uncertain future. Is it heading towards a decline, as physicist-futurologist Michio Kaku warns, likening it to a “rustbelt”? Or is Silicon Valley already leading the way to the end of capitalism itself, as economist Yanis Varoufakis proposes with his concept of techno-feudalism? We’ll use our thoughts on these questions to guide our examination of Silicon Valley’s history—and all that is at stake in it. Importantly, we’ll examine the stories we've been told about Silicon Valley’s origins, and explore who and what have been left out of these narratives. By challenging these omissions, we’ll gain a deeper, more powerful understanding of all that Silicon Valley signifies. This will include delving into what has made it simultaneously both a place and a metonym (a shorthand for the technology sector itself)—and how these aspects interact and sometimes conflict with each other. Through curated readings and documentaries, we’ll explore the fascinating, contradictory themes that define Silicon Valley: its roots in counterculture and its ties to the military; the principle of technological determinism vs the powerful sphere of venture capital; the tension between precarious labor and the pursuit of endless growth; and the clash between meritocracy and elitism. Join us as we unravel the complex history of this iconic hub of power, innovation, and iconoclasm. Instructor bio: Valerie Black is a Lecturer in the Department of History and the School of Public Health at the University of California, Berkeley. She is an anthropologist of human-AI relationships and ethnographer of Silicon Valley (PhD UC Berkeley) who examines technology through the intersection of critical race theory, gender & queer studies, and disability justice.

This class seeks to provide a rigorous understanding of 20th century development and thus 21st century poverty alleviation. Students will take a look at popular ideas of poverty alleviation, the institutional framework of poverty ideas and practices, and the social and political mobilizations that seek to transform the structures of poverty.

This course focuses on benchmarks of the history of various nations and civilizations. It begins with the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese, but emphasizes world developments since the 15th century. The purpose of the course is to gain a better understanding of the rise and decline of states, empires, and international trading systems. Therefore, political and economic structures and developments as well as military factors will be presented along with the more traditional historical perspectives.

This course focuses on benchmarks of the history of various nations and civilizations. It begins with the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Chinese, but emphasizes world developments since the 15th century. The purpose of the course is to gain a better understanding of the rise and decline of states, empires, and international trading systems. Therefore, political and economic structures and developments as well as military factors will be presented along with the more traditional historical perspectives.

Global Studies 10B serves as an introduction to the Global Studies curriculum. Global Studies 10B introduces students to global issues through the lens of the humanities, such as art, literature, film, and culture. The topic of Global Studies 10B will vary from year to year, depending on the instructor. Students in each iteration of this course will learn about salient global interactions from a variety of cultural perspectives.

This course is designed as an introduction to Global Studies. Using a social science approach, the course prepares students to think critically about issues of international development, conflict, and peace in a variety of societies around the world. As such it provides students with a basic theoretical introduction to the impact of global interaction as well as an opportunity to explore such interaction in a variety of case studies.