HIST 229 - Topics in European History

FDR: HU
Credits: 3 credit in fall or winter; 4 in spring)
A course offered from time to time depending on student interest and staff availability, on a selected topic or problem in European history. May be repeated for degree credit with permission and if the topics are different.

Topic for Winter 2012:

HIST 229-01: Barbarization and Christianization: Transforming the Roman Empire (64-565 CE) (3). In the span of just a few hundred years, the Roman Empire was transformed, both in terms of culture and religion. This course explores the textual and archaeological evidence for the spread of “barbarian” cultures (e.g., the Goths and the Huns) and Christianity within the Roman Empire from the first century CE to the early medieval period. In tracking the apparent expansion and assimilation of these two groups within the Roman Empire, students examine the shifts in religion, culture, law, gender, and infrastructure during the period known as Late Antiquity, and question both ancient and modern constructions of the “barbarian,” the “Roman,” and the “Christian.” (HU) Bond.

Topic for Spring 2012:

HIST 229-01: History of Witchcraft and Magic (4). This class examines the history of witchcraft and magic in Europe and the Americas. The goal is to understand witchcraft in different contexts: as a crime, as a particular way of looking at the world and seeking knowledge, and as related to questions about gender and social structure. Through readings and discussion of primary and secondary sources, students learn how Europeans defined magic and treated their alleged witches, within the context of other economic , social , and cultural relationships. This study includes the examination of methods of rule in the rise of the modern state and the role of class and gender in focusing hostility on certain people, especially women. (HU) Schnepper. Spring 2012