Courses on Offer

HIST1016: The modern world

Instructor: Nicole Vaughan
Description: This course offers a broad historical survey which aims at introducing students to the major developments in world history, in a period from the late eighteenth century to the present during which the world became increasingly interdependent. The course will adopt a comparative approach where possible and will be particularly concerned with the theme of globalisation. This course does not aim to be a comprehensive survey of all aspects of the history of the modern world, but its range allows students to acquaint themselves with important developments in the areas of culture, religion, politics, society and the world economy.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST1017: Modern Hong Kong

Instructor: Bobby Tam
Description: This course explores the history of Hong Kong in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Beyond the simple narrative of a ‘barren rock’ transformed into a metropolis, the course looks into the history of Hong Kong not only from the angle of political and economic development, but also through social and cultural lens. We study the history of Hong Kong in relation to broader modern Chinese history, British imperial history and global history, but also as a place with its own unique identity and culture. Using both primary and secondary sources, this course helps students to gain a foundational understanding of modern Hong Kong and historical research skills.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST1023: Modern East Asia

Instructor: Li Ji
Description: In this course, we will explore the history of modern East Asia, with a particular focus on China, Japan and Korea, from around 1800 to the present. We will not simply study the histories of individual countries but also pay attention to how countries and regions within East Asia interacted and influenced each other. This course will take students from the turn of the 19th century through the arrival of Western imperialism, and from the establishment of the treaty port system to the Japanese occupation of much of East Asia during World War II and the historical development of the region during the Cold War. The course aims to provide students with a solid understanding of the historical development of modern East Asia, which, in turn, will allow students to better comprehend current developments, interactions and conflicts in the region.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST1025: Introduction to the United States, 1607 to today (6 credits)

Instructor: James Fichter
Description: This course introduces U.S. history, society, and culture, from the Native Americans to the arrival of European settler colonialism, U.S. independence, and the development of the modern industrial nation-state of the United States, considering such topics as slavery, the Civil War, segregation, civil rights, women’s suffrage and 20th century feminisms, U.S. expansionism, imperialism, and 20th century foreign policy, American religion, and various other elements of social, cultural, political, and economic change. This is an introductory course with a textbook. Additional primary sources provided for deeper analysis. Limited coverage of neighboring regions and countries as appropriate.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2031: History through Film

Instructor: Crystal Kwok
Description: This course looks at the manner in which film has portrayed events in history, considering the degree to which film can enhance or be detrimental to our understanding of history. Students may expect to gain some appreciation, not just of the films themselves, but of the degree to which any movie is the product of a certain historical period and reflect its values and preoccupations. This course should be particularly enlightening to students who are taking other United States history courses and American Studies majors.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2063: Europe and modernity: Cultures and identities, 1890-1940

Instructor: Thomas Soden
Description: In this course we look at key social and cultural aspects of European ‘modernity’ in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, exploring in particular the way Europeans from all kinds of backgrounds were defined and defined themselves in relation to work, leisure, race, gender, regions and cities. We look at the impact of new forms of cultural expression such as advertising, cinema, sport and leisure, as well as the identities (of age, class, gender, race and ethnicity) which Europeans adopted and rejected in their pursuit of ways of belonging within the cultural parameters of urban modernity. In relation to this we will consider expressions of enthusiasm for ‘the modern,’ as well as outbursts of dissatisfaction or irritation with modern civilisation, expressed not just in aesthetic forms but also in violence against those identified as ‘outsiders.’
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2068: The intellectual history of twentieth-century China

Instructor: Matthew Wong Foreman
Description: This course follows the thematic approach, with attention paid to both the intellectual leaders and the intellectual developments in China during the twentieth century. The leaders include Liang Qichao, Cai Yuanpei, Chen Duxiu, Hu Shi, Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Gu Hongming, Lin Shu, Liang Shuming, Tao Xisheng, Chen Yinke, Chen Lifu, Xiong Shili, Zhang Wentian, Qian Mu, etc. The discussion of the intellectual waves focuses on such themes as traditionalism, cultural conservatism, liberalism, westernization, modernization, and Marxism.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2070: Stories of Self: History through Autobiography

Instructor: Staci Ford
Description: Who has felt authorised to narrate their life history and what has compelled them to tell explanatory stories that make sense of their lives? How accurate is it to call autobiography the history of the self? Do we encounter other histories or selves in autobiography? What is the history of autobiography and how do we read it? Historians reading autobiography for documentary evidence of the past and endeavouring to write about it objectively will find that their task is complicated by the autobiographer’s subjective and often highly creative engagement with memory, experience, identity, embodiment, and agency. This course is intended for students who wish to explore the interdisciplinary links between autobiography, history, literature, and personal narrative, and to acquire strategic theories and cultural understanding for reading these texts.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2076: Germany and the Cold War

Instructor: Thomas Soden
Description: During the Cold War period, Germany was divided into two independent states for more than forty years: The western-oriented Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern-oriented German Democratic Republic (GDR). Under the auspices of the respective superpowers, USA and USSR, the Bonn and the East Berlin governments developed their own political and economic systems but also a distinct way of life in society and culture. In the international scene, the FRG was a founding member of the European Communities and became one of their staunchest supporters, while the GDR found itself reduced to satellite status inside the Soviet-dominated Eastern Bloc. The ‘German Question’ remained open until the sudden downfall of the socialist-communist East Berlin regime in 1989 and the peaceful reunification in 1990, events, which also marked the end of the Cold War in Europe. The course will not only treat Germany as a case study of the Cold War period but will also deal extensively with important phases, milestones and persons in the history of the divided country in a comparative approach.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2077: Eating history: Food culture from the 19th century to the present

Instructor: Staci Ford
Description: This course is an introduction to cultural history with a specific focus on the relatively new and rapidly expanding academic field of food history/food studies. The approach will be thematic rather than chronological. In an effort to deepen interdisciplinary as well as disciplinary knowledge, we will engage texts and theoretical perspectives from other fields/disciplines in addition to history.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2079: Early modern Europe, 1500-1800

Instructor: Måns Ahlstedt Åberg
Description: This course examines a crucial period of European history in which the emergence of the modern state, the birth of capitalism, and the expansion of European influence into the American and Asian hemispheres laid the foundations of the modern world. While the course concentrates primarily on political changes in Europe between the Thirty Years’ War and the French Revolution, considerable attention will also be paid to social, economic and cultural developments in this period. This course therefore provides a backdrop to the events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries which have helped to shape modern Europe.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2103: Russian state and society in the 20th century

Instructor: Oscar Sanchez-Sibony
Description: This course will analyze major themes and events shaping Russian history in the 20th century — decline of the Russian empire, the October revolution, the Civil War, the rise of the Soviet Union and World War II, the Khrushchev era and the collapse of the Soviet state in 1991. The course will explore the role of individuals, institutions and trends behind radical transformation of Russian/Soviet society. Particular attention will be paid to the lives of ordinary people affected by state policies and socialist culture.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2118: Chinese and Americans: A cultural and international history

Instructor: Guoqi Xu
Description: China and the United States are two very important nations in the world today. Their interactions and relations have had deep impact on both Chinese and American lives and the rest of the world. This course will explore Sino-American relations in the last several hundred years with special focus on their shared values and experiences and emphasize both diplomatic and people-people relations from cultural and international history perspectives.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2127: Qing China in the World, 1644-1912

Instructor: William R. Kelson
Description: This course examines Qing China’s frontier and foreign relations from the beginning to the end of the dynasty, addressing specific administrative policies, their ideological and ritual background, and their wider political, military, and economic context. Particular attention is paid to local variations on individual Qing frontiers in response to differences in economic and trade conditions, terrain, and prevailing religious and cultural norms.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2143: Love and loyalty: Women and gender in Chinese History

Instructor: Li Ji
Description: This course discusses two concepts – love and loyalty – in Chinese history through the perspective of women’s history and gender studies. The purpose of this course is to provide students with a base of knowledge regarding the changing historical experiences and contexts of women and gender in Chinese history from ancient times to the present.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2152: Late socialism and the 1989 revolutions

Instructor: Oscar Sanchez-Sibony
Description: This course covers the history of late socialism from the late 1960s to the collapse of communism around the world in the 1980s. Despite its origins in the Russian Revolution and in Stalinism, the Communist world underwent important changes in this period that more immediately explain the political and social reality today of Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and other countries that adopted Communism. The course will explore these changes—from the rise of mafia networks in Eastern Europe to the ideological and cultural changes toward individualism and the free market—as well as the historical currents that flowed into the revolutions of 1989. We will look at the different interpretations scholars have developed to explain these revolutions, examine witness accounts, and consider their ongoing influence and changing meaning in post-socialist societies as well as their significance to us today.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2161: Making Race

Instructor: Theara Thun
Description: This course examines the history of race and race-making in a global context. We begin by framing theories of race, examining race as a social construct and understanding how race intersects with other structures of social difference such as gender and class. We then examine histories of race-making at several sites: race and the body (scientific racism, reproduction, and slavery), race and “civilization” (colonialism and orientalism), race and culture (identity and consumables), race and space (borders and segregation), and race and forgetting (privilege and memory). We may consider how race takes root in hair and ramen, soap and tap dancing, sex and policing. By the end of the course, students will understand how race travels across oceans and borders, but also how race is made every day, close to home.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2170: The making of the Islamic world: The Middle East, 500-1500

Instructor: Nargis Nurulla
Description: This course provides an introduction to the history of the premodern Middle East and Islamic civilization. Rather than putting religion at the center, however, we will examine evidence for a variety of interacting forces that played a role in long-term historical change, including the region’s physical environment, human ecology, politics, economics, technology, and social and cultural practices, in addition to Islamic beliefs and rituals. In so doing, we will attempt to understand the shared features that have distinguished Middle Eastern and Islamic societies. The course begins with a focus on the region’s environment and the ways in which farmers, pastoralists, and city-dwellers adapted, along with the emergence of agrarian empires in Antiquity. With this background, we turn to the appearance of Islam, the Arab conquests, and the formation of an Islamic empire. The remainder of the course explores the evolution of Islamic civilization in the wake of the breakup of the early Islamic empire, including a focus on institutions that survived until the early modern period, and others which can be found in different forms today. Alongside lecture, we will read and discuss samples from key historical texts, which will illustrate some of the challenges of reconstructing early Islamic history and the debates surrounding the emergence and formation of Islamic civilization.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2177: The economic history of modern China, 1800 to the present

Instructor: Ghassan Moazzin
Description: In this course, we will follow the development and transformation of the Chinese economy from the early nineteenth century to the present day. We will first explore the basic characteristics of the premodern Chinese economy before moving on the question of the “Great Divergence” and the reasons why China fell behind the West in terms of economic development. We will then discuss the economic depression China experienced in the first half of the nineteenth century and investigate the impact both internal rebellion and foreign incursion had on the Qing economy. As we enter the twentieth century, we will look at the efforts of both political and economic elites to modernise and strengthen the Chinese economy – in particular attempts to push for industrialization – and evaluate to what extent they were successful in the period before the outbreak of World War II. Finally, the course will explore the post-1949 attempt at building a socialist economy in China and Deng Xiaoping’s post-1978 economic reforms that led to sustained rapid economic growth. Overall, the course will offer students an understanding of the historical development of the modern Chinese economy and a historical perspective on the Chinese economy today.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2179: Law, empire and world history: From pirates to human rights?

Instructor: Alastair McClure
Description: The introduction of the ‘rule of law’ provided perhaps the most widely referenced justification for the forcible imposition of imperial power around the globe in early modern and modern history. However, discourse around British justice cannot be simply understood as an alibi propagated to consolidate imperial legitimacy. Legal structures provided a ruling frame to organize, discipline and police newly conquered societies, leaving lasting legacies in postcolonial nation-states, the British post-imperial state, and in international law. Taking case studies from Ireland, India, Malaya, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, Kenya and Aden, the course will examine the rise of imperial, and later international legal orders, through various formative moments in the legal history of the British Empire. In dividing the world into rulers and ruled, it is in the legal history of empire where we can begin to consider the origins of concepts and questions that still dominate political discussions in the contemporary world. These include human rights, humanitarianism, racism, violence, and sovereignty.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2188: The making of modern South Asia

Instructor: Devika Shankar
Description: This course will explore the history of the Indian subcontinent from the 18th century to the present day. We will begin by examining the twilight of the Mughal empire on the one hand, and the gradual expansion of European power across the region on the other. After looking at the ways in which the Portuguese and the Dutch established themselves around the Indian Ocean littoral at a time when territorial control was firmly in the hands of local rulers, we will then examine how large parts of this region were incorporated into the British Empire in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the process we will examine the pivotal political, economic and social transformations witnessed under colonial rule and examine its legacies. Using a focus on South Asia to probe and better comprehend the development and dissolution of colonialism, we will simultaneously probe forms of colonial control to identify the forces that have most profoundly shaped the region today.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2192: Introduction to modern Southeast Asian history

Instructor: Theara Thun
Description: Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most diverse and multifaceted regions. Bounded by India to the west, China to the east, and Australasia to the south, and some of the world’s largest oceans and most contested waterways, it has long been a region in flux. This course aims to introduce students to the Southeast Asian world and its past, from the early modern period through to the end of the twentieth century. Specifically, this course will focus on both mainland and maritime Southeast Asia, examining countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Myanmar, amongst others, and their historical antecedents. Similarly, it will focus on the region’s transnational connections, stepping beyond orthodox national boundaries. The course charts the rise and fall of local polities and Western empires, the transnational and transregional movement of peoples, commodities and ideas, and the evolving impact of Southeast Asia’s geographies, economies and environments. Students will be introduced to areas of Southeast Asia that are seldom studied, and will be challenged to investigate issues of historical significance, contemporary relevance and continuing social and cultural interest. This course will encourage students to question how Southeast Asia shaped—and was shaped by—the world around it, and how it has in turn impacted key issues in our contemporary society. Students will be introduced to basic themes in historiography, and will be encouraged to evaluate source materials and historical literature for bias and significance. Finally, this course will demonstrate why Southeast Asia is such an important region worthy of historical investigation.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2193: A history of energy and humankind: From deep history to the present

Instructor: Oscar Sanchez-Sibony
Description: In our modern environment, lit up by electric lights, connected by combustion engines and produced by power stations, we often forget the extent to which society is ultimately powered by the sun. And yet the means through which societies gather and deploy sun power affects the very way in which we organize our social and political lives. This course will introduce students to the transformations societies underwent in garnering solar power from wood, water, wind, plants and human and animal muscle to solar power’s more modern forms of coal, oil and gas. From the Great Divergence of the late 18th century that saw the rise to prominence of the West over other regions of the world, through the political changes that followed alterations in the energy regime from coal to oil, to the environmental challenges we face today, we will examine energy as a driving force in history. The class will make a global tour of technological, environmental, political, economic and social history in order to deepen our appreciation of the ways energy has structured and continues to organize the world we live in.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2202: Christianity in Asia

Instructor: Tim Yung
Description: In 1910, 18% of the world’s Christians were in the Global South. One century later, this number has exploded to 61%, with one fifth in Asia and the Pacific. How and why did this astronomical increase take place? This course surveys the history of Christianity in Asia from the early modern period to the present, focusing on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries while covering China, Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and others. Over a broad chronology, this course highlights how Asian Christianities were shaped and reshaped within specific regional contexts and in parallel with changes in Christianity worldwide. Students will explore the interactions between missionaries and indigenous Christians, the various expressions of Christianity, and context-specific constraints such as imperialism, nationalism, and broader interreligious settings. Using both primary and secondary sources, this course illustrates the shape of Asian Christianity from past to present, the thorny nature of religious encounter, and its surprising outcomes in World History.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2208: The Silk Roads

Instructor: Nargis Nurulla
Description: The Silk Roads were a network that connected peoples and regions across the Afro-Eurasian landmass. The circulation of people, information, and cultural and material wares through this network impacted the history of all societies involved, shaping political interactions and bringing new technologies, art forms, and ideas. This course will examine how the Silk Roads linked and transformed regions and societies through trade, diplomacy, religion, and conquest. We will explore how societies interacted across vast distances; the emergence and interaction of the religious traditions of Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Christianity; the journeys of people, objects, and ideas; and the roles of nomadic conquest and imperialist competition. By analyzing sources of various kinds, from historical texts to archaeological artifacts, frescos, and maps, students will gain insight into the connected history of Afro-Eurasia and appreciate the lasting impact of the Silk Roads in today’s cultural landscape.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2212: Performing History

Instructor: Crystal Kwok
Description: This course applies perspectives from Performance Studies to the study of history. Whether we are looking at historical actors or those who interpret their actions for future generations, performance offers a creative and critical lens through which to engage with the past. Throughout the term we will explore how individuals who live in different times and places can be likened to performers on a stage. Concurrently, we will interrogate how historians can also be likened to performers as they gather evidence and narrate the past. Performance Studies provides a critical lens to explore answers to questions such as: Whose voices are heard and archived? How do ideas of performance illuminate the intersections of history with identities and institutions? What are the racialized, gendered, and cultural performances that shape historical memory, structures, and societies? We will rethink what it means to perform, explore why performative processes matter, question how historical memory connects with performances of power, challenge binary framings, and complicate dominant narratives. With a performance based approach, students will explore a broad range of performances including but not limited to films, social media, dance and theater, visual art, political events, protest, and everyday happenings.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2213: Witchcraft, magic, and the devil in early modern Europe and America

Instructor: Christine Walker
Description: In 1692, hundreds of people, including men, women, and children, were accused of witchcraft. Twenty were executed. What led the members of a small community in Salem, Massachusetts, to persecute and even kill each other? Historians have sought to answer this question for decades. They have approached Salem from a variety of angles, using economic, social, legal, anthropological, and gender studies frameworks to explain the occurrences of 1692. During the semester, we will explore some of these methods. While the events that took place in Salem remain the most sensational and well-known, they were not isolated incidents. Thus, we will connect the Salem Witcraft Trials to the massive witch hunts that took place in Europe between 1400 and 1700. During this time, widespread fears about witchcraft led to the persecution and execution of tens of thousands of people. Fascinating and chilling, witchcraft raises productive and provocative questions about human society and belief, about fear and responses to fear, about the cultural norms that permit and even encourage the deadly persecution of individuals, and the patterns of gendered expectations that put one gender (usually female) at heightened risk for witchcraft accusations.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2215: Global Environmental History: From Columbus to the Climate Crisis

Instructor: Devika Shankar
Description: This course will introduce students to the relatively new but increasingly important field of environmental history. After looking at how the field has evolved over the last few decades, during a time of increasing environmental instability, this course will examine the central themes that have dominated this field and track how these have changed over time. In the process, this course will highlight the ways in which environmental historians have transformed the discipline of history and unsettled traditional ideas about our relationship with the world around us. Reading key texts in the field alongside primary documents, we will explore these new approaches pioneered by environmental historians and assess their importance for the contemporary world. At a time when the climate crisis has emerged as one of the most important problems confronting our planet, this course will examine the past, present and future of environmental change and probe the forces shaping them.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2220: History through fiction

Instructor: Matthew Wong Foreman
Description: For as long as we have existed, humans have expressed ourselves through fiction, whether as stories spoken around a bonfire, etched onto cave walls, or printed in books. This course examines the intricate relationship between history and fiction, exploring several major historical “moments” over the past century through storytelling. What do these works of fiction tell us about the societies that anchored them? What insights do these stories reveal about the lived experiences of people experiencing major sociopolitical transformation? Why did the authors choose to document social realities or imagine unrealized alternatives through the medium of fiction? How has storytelling been used to interpret, shape, and sometimes distort our understanding of historical events by both those in power and the many without? This course explores these questions through four thematic lenses: power and resistance, cultural identity, memory and trauma, and social change. Drawing on a diverse range of fictive texts from various historical contexts beginning the early twentieth century, including British India, colonial Southeast Asia, interwar Europe, Civil Rights-era United States, and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, students will critically analyze how fiction reflects and reconstructs history.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2222: Persianate World

Instructor: Malika Zehni
Description: This course approaches the ‘Persianate World’ as a connected social and material zone stretching from the Balkans to Bengal and reaching into the borderlands of China and the coast of Oman. We will view this region through the lens of ‘connected history’ to understand how diverse societies were integrated by shared social practices, circulating commodities, and administrative norms. Spanning from the post-Mongol era to the colonial transformations of the twentieth century, the course investigates the mechanisms that made and linked these lands. We will look past the ‘Gunpowder Empires’ to examine the networks of poets, artists, and merchants alongside the journeys of pilgrims, laborers, refugees, and enslaved people who moved across these routes. By tracing these mobilities and the bureaucratic tools that regulated them, students will gain insight into a non-Western model of globalization. The course concludes by examining how colonial rule and modern nationalism reshaped these connections and how historical legacies continue to shape contemporary geopolitics in the Middle East and Asia.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2225: A Global History of Prisons and Punishment

Instructor: Alastair McClure
Description: Mass incarceration has resulted in an unprecedented growth in prison populations in our contemporary world. Yet the prison’s central place in the punishment of criminal acts is a relatively recent one. This course examines the emergence of the modern prison as a global institution of punishment and power. It examines changing penal cultures across time and space, considering similarities and differences between the different institutions that have been used to incarcerate and confine, ranging from early modern debtors’ prisons and bedwells to detention camps, penal colonies, and most recently, the “mega-prison”. The course takes a global historical approach to examine the political, cultural, and economic factors that have shaped shifts in penal techniques and criminological theory from the sixteenth century to the neoliberal present day. Students will consider how different forms of punishment have impacted communities unequally, and how this has contributed to the deep inequities that mark most societies. The course will also engage with key theorists of punishment, from the intellectual architects of the modern prison to those involved in the prison abolition movement. In doing so, the course introduces students to the key debates in punishment and carceral studies from a historical perspective.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2229: Global Atlantic revolutions, c. 1760-1830

Instructor: Otis Edwards
Description: This course considers the wave of revolutions which rocked France and the British, French and Spanish empires in the New World at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s. These inter-connected revolutions transformed France and led to independence and revolutionary change in the United States, Haiti, and much of Spanish-speaking Latin America. This course considers these revolutions as discrete national phenomena, as interrelated Atlantic events, and as part of a global shift in imperial interest from the New World to Asia.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2230: Early modern Atlantic Worlds, c. 1500-1800

Instructor: Måns Ahlstedt Åberg
Description: This course considers the early modern Atlantic world, one of the most significant fields of inquiry in European, African, American studies, covering the period from the European “discovery” of the Americas until the Americas began to achieve political independence at the end of the 1700s. Many of the interactions which spanned the Atlantic were imperial, and this course considers British, French, Spanish, Dutch and Portuguese imperial Atlantic encounters. However, these encounters were not just imperial, they were also economic, environmental, intellectual, political and literary, encompassing not only Atlantic empire, but also Atlantic commodities (such as sugar and mahogany), Atlantic labour migration (including African slavery and European servitude), Atlantic merchants and consumers, Atlantic political upheaval, and Atlantic literature.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2231: Beauty Histories

Instructor: Elizabeth LaCouture
Description: This course examines beauty, skin, and cosmetics from the nineteenth century to today. Students will consider the similarities, differences, and interconnectedness of beauty practices across time and place, examining how they reveal global and local structures of gender, race, and class. The course will consider how entrepreneurs shaped beauty markets, how advertisements visually represent ideals of feminine and racialized beauty, and how people have felt about their physical beauty.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2232: Women’s Magazines as History

Instructor: Elizabeth LaCouture
Description: From Ladies Home Journal and Cosmo to Ms. Magazine and Riot Grrrl zines, women’s magazines have reflected and shaped the lives of women across the world. Students will explore how historians have studied female periodical literature both as subject and sources. The course will introduce students to secondary literature that explores the historical development and social and cultural impacts of women’s magazines in global context. Students will also be introduced to how historians of media, domesticity, consumerism, feminism, and sexuality have used women’s magazines as primary sources. Historiographical readings will be paired with primary sources allowing students to gain hand-on experience in researching and analyzing primary sources in women’s history.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST2233: Globalizing History

Instructor: Jason Petrulis
Description: What do Bruce Lee, an 1840s Japanese maidservant, 1920s Tianjin carpets, and a 17th century banjo have in common? Global historians follow them all, analyzing how people, things, capital, ideas, weather, and disease move across borders, mountains, and oceans. In this course, we will learn to do what global historians do through close reading of award-winning work. We will consider how global history methods help historians analyze “big picture” histories, moving nimbly across time and space, and also “microhistories,” stories of individuals or specific commodities that are told in very human ways, from the ground up. Throughout, we will focus on learning techniques for hands-on history, which will help students who want to do global history research themselves: we will work with a diversity of historical sources, including “off the page” sources such as material and visual culture; and learn how global history can be public history through analyzing digital history and visiting museum exhibits.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST3029: Global and Transnational history

Instructor: Devika Shankar
Description: How can we move beyond ethnocentric approaches to history focusing upon the nation? What is the significance of the movement of individuals and institutions through networks spanning places, spaces, regions and political units to processes of historical transformation? Recently, calls have been heard for historians to respond to critiques of the national and comparative paradigm by adopting what has been referred to as a “transnational” or “entangled” perspective on the past. This involves the study of the flow of ideas, people and commercial goods across the networks and institutions that linked and overlay particular political units, rather than the units themselves. This course allows students to become familiar with this new perspective. Through small group discussion it provides an opportunity to discuss the problems and possibilities of transnational history and to critically evaluate recent works advancing attempts to move “beyond the nation” from fields as diverse as the history of empire, migration, politics, and youth.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST3075: Directed Reading

Instructor: History Staff
Description: The aim of this intensive reading course is to provide an opportunity for students to pursue a specialized topic of study with a faculty member. Throughout the semester, the student and teacher will consult regularly on the direction of the readings and on the paper or papers (not to exceed 5,000 words) that will demonstrate the student’s understanding of the material. This course cannot normally be taken before the fifth semester of candidature and is subject to approval. Students wishing to take this course should consult with a teacher who is willing to supervise the reading project before enrolling.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST3076: Tourism and history

Instructor: John Carroll
Description: Tourism has been described as the largest peaceful movement of people. It also plays an important economic function in many societies. But tourism is never simply about travel and economics. It both reflects and influences identity, culture, society, urban planning, politics, and history. National or local identity, for example, is often forged though images produced or reproduced for tourists, while tourism often represents how a place views itself, how it is viewed by others, and how it wants to be viewed. This course considers these issues by examining a range of works on tourism worldwide and asking how they apply to tourism in Hong Kong since the mid-1900s. The course examines both the outward-facing aspects (a place presenting itself to the world) of tourism and the inward-looking aspects (convincing the local public that it should open that place to tourists).
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4017: Dissertation Elective

Instructor: History Staff
Description: This is a research course which requires submission of an extended written dissertation.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4023: History Research Project

Instructor: History Staff
Description: Students who wish to undertake a research project on a specialized historical topic in either semester of their final year of study may enroll in this course with the approval of the Head of the School of Humanities on the recommendation of the departmental Undergraduate Coordinator. The course aims at providing an opportunity for intensive research leading to the production of a long essay (not exceeding 7,000 words) which will be supervised by a faculty member with expertise in the chosen area of study.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4024: Writing Hong Kong history

Instructor: Tim Yung
Description: This course looks at various themes, problems, and issues in Hong Kong’s history since the 1800s. Rather than focusing on historical events, we will look at the ways in which certain themes have been studied. Thus we will be less concerned with dates and facts than with analysis and interpretation. Topics include: general approaches to Hong Kong history, the Opium War and the British occupation of Hong Kong, colonial education, regulation of prostitution and the mui tsai system, colonial medicine, colonialism and nationalism, WWII and the Japanese occupation, industrialization and economic development, history and identity, legacies and artifices of colonial rule, and history and memory. The goals of the course are to introduce students to the ways in which scholars have approached Hong Kong history, assess how theories based on other historical experiences can be used to understand Hong Kong history, and help students learn to argue effectively in written and oral presentations.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4028: History without Borders: Special Field Project

Instructor: David Pomfret
Description: Enrolment in this special course is extended to students majoring in History by invitation, and on a performance-related basis. For those students invited to apply for enrolment this exclusive capstone course will provide an opportunity to design their own field project in a subject related to the History discipline. It will also provide funding to support field work undertaken across geographical, political and cultural borders, in Hong Kong and/or overseas. The course thus provides History majors with a unique, funded opportunity to design, plan and make their own creative contribution to historical knowledge.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4033: Museum and History

Instructor: John Carroll
Description: Museums have become one of the most popular ways of telling history. Many scholars argue that museums are not neutral places; rather, they are often used for a wide range of strategic purposes: regulating social behavior, building citizenship and national identity, and expanding state power. But museums also face a variety of constraints and challenges: culture, money, politics, physical space, locating and selecting appropriate artifacts, and forming narratives. This course considers these issues by looking at history museums and heritage preservation in Hong Kong. The goals of the course are to familiarize students with a range of theoretical approaches to museum studies; explore the ways in which museums and heritage preservation can be used to further certain political, cultural, and commercial agendas; and help students learn to write an analytical research essay based on readings and museum fieldwork.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4035: History Applied: Internship in Historical Studies

Instructor: David Pomfret
Description: This capstone course allows students to apply historical thinking in the community. Under the supervision of the course coordinator students select from among a wide variety of partner institutions, organizations, associations, businesses and others, and embark upon the collaborative challenge of uncovering their past. Instead of simply requiring students to work for specified hours at ‘historical sites’ (museums, archives, etc.) the course requires them to use the research techniques and methodological approaches they have learned in the discipline to construct and present a history of their selected community partners. They build preparatory research into polished consultancy papers detailing key findings about the partner, their development over time, and the passions and preoccupations of the individuals who have played an especially prominent role in their development. The course provides History students’ with a unique opportunity to design, plan and present creative contributions to historical knowledge and to engage with community members in discussions about the value and potential uses of history in the present. During the internship, students prepare and present their research-based consultancy paper. They also write a journal critically detailing their own initial expectations and reflecting upon the actual experience of conducting research, communicating their findings and putting history to use.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4038: Migration and Archives in Hong Kong History

Instructor: Alastair McClure
Description: Hong Kong is often described as a city built on migration. This upper-year seminar course will consider how scholars have understood the place of migration from the perspective of history, ranging from Hong Kong’s emergence as a colonial port city through to key developments in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. We will engage with the major issues and questions posed by historians of migration from both local and global perspectives, including political belonging, citizenship, border controls and technologies of exclusion, labour and mobility, and economy and culture. The course is primarily orientated towards guiding students to the completion of a significant independent project in the form of an extended research essay or an archival project. Archival projects will require students to propose, plan, and execute the collection and organization of material that contributes to the recording of Hong Kong history. Examples might include oral histories, the preservation of local community or institutional records, or non-conventional approaches to the collection of historical sources and records. Students should be aware that the focus of this course will change depending on the instructor. In 2025-26 the primary focus will be on South Asian migration to Hong Kong.
Assessment: 100% coursework.

HIST4039: In the Mix: Technology & Creativity in the Big Business of Music

Instructor: William Kelson
Description: This course examines how changes in recording technology have reshaped the music industry and defined the creative possibilities available to musicians. From mechanical recording devices and analog studio equipment to digital production tools and streaming platforms, the course explores how technological innovation has influenced artistic practices, labor relations, and commercial structures in the music business. Through reading, listening, and their own research, students will explore how recording technologies both enabled new forms of musical expression and imposed constraints shaped by corporate interests and market demands. Emphasizing the intersection of technology, creativity, and capitalism, the course situates popular music within broader histories of media, business, and culture.
Assessment: 100% coursework.