400 Level Course Descriptions

Undergraduate

400 Level Courses (2023-2024)

Course Designators

Below are descriptions of courses with the following designators (the 3 letter code in front of the course number):

Course Prefix Department
HIS Department of History
JIH Joint History and Indigenous Studies
(administered by the Department of History)

Course Nomenclature

  • H1-F = "First Term"; the first term of the Fall/Winter Session (September - December)
  • H1-S = "Second Term"; the second term of the Fall/Winter Session (January - April)
  • Y1-Y = full session (September - April)
  • Students should note that courses designated as "...Y1F" or "...Y1S" in the Timetable are particulary demanding.

400-level HIS courses are two-hour seminars that deal with very specialized subjects ad are often closely connected to a professor’s research. Most have specific course pre-requisites and require extensive reading, research, writing, and seminar discussion, and in most you will have the opportunity to do a major research paper. All 400-level HIS courses have enrolment restrictions during the FIRST ROUND (must have completed 14 or more full courses, be enrolled in a HIS Major, Specialist or Joint Specialist program and have the appropriate Prerequisites). During the SECOND ROUND of enrolment, access to 400-level seminars is open to all 3rd and 4th year students with the appropriate Prerequisites.

IMPORTANT: Due to significant enrolment pressure on 4th year seminars, during the first round of enrolment, the Department of History reserves the right to REMOVE STUDENTS who enrol in more than the required number for program completion (Specialists – 2; Majors, Joint Specialists – 1) without consultation.

Students in 400-level seminars MUST ATTEND THE FIRST CLASS, or contact the professor to explain their absence. Failure to do so may result in the Department withdrawing the student from the seminar in order to “free up” space for other interested students. Additional 400-level seminars for the 2023-2024 Fall/Winter Session may be added at a later date. To fulfill History program requirements, students may also use 400- level courses offered by other Departments at the U of T that are designated as ‘Equivalent Courses’.

The Department also offers a few joint undergraduate-graduate seminars. These are indicated in the course description. Undergraduate enrolment in joint seminars is restricted, and the expected level of performance is high.


HIS 401H1-F, L0101 The Cold War through its Archives
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course - HIS401H1/HIS1289H)

The course reviews the history of the Cold War in light of formerly secret archival documents. Examples include the US White House Tapes and Venona decrypts; massive declassification of records in the ex-Soviet bloc; and parallel developments in China, Cuba, and other Communist states. Archival discoveries have cast new light, not just on individual episodes (e.g., Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979) but on the origins, strategies, and driving forces of this 45-year conflict. The focus will be mainly on the superpowers and their alliance systems.

Prerequisite: HIS311Y1/HIS344H1/HIS344Y1/HIS377H1
Exclusion: HIS401Y1, HIS306H5
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: T. Sayle
Seminar: Wednesday 1-3

HIS 401H1-S, L0101 The Cold War through its Archives

The course reviews the history of the Cold War in light of formerly secret archival documents. Examples include the US White House Tapes and Venona decrypts; massive declassification of records in the ex-Soviet bloc; and parallel developments in China, Cuba, and other Communist states. Archival discoveries have cast new light, not just on individual episodes (e.g., Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979) but on the origins, strategies, and driving forces of this 45-year conflict. The focus will be mainly on the superpowers and their alliance systems.

Prerequisite: HIS311Y1/HIS344H1/HIS344Y1/HIS377H1
Exclusion: HIS401Y1, HIS306H5
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: V. Dimitriadis
Seminar: Monday 3-5

HIS 406H1-S, L0101 Advanced Topics in Gender History: Trends in Women and Gender History in the Global South
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course – HIS406H1/HIS1705H)

This seminar is intended as an introduction to key issues, debates, and themes in the historiography of women and gender in the global south. The course focuses on the intersections of gender, sexuality, nationalism and transnationalism in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean within the context of colonialism, decolonization and globalization from the late 19th century to the early 21st century. Case studies range from gender and tradition in colonial and nationalist discourses; nationalist leaders and women’s emancipation; body politics; sexuality, the state and citizenship to feminism, nationalism and transnationalism.
The seminar asks not only questions of gendered and sexual inclusive and exclusive discourses and practices; it also considers questions of what history is and how it is constructed.
The seminar will be a space for intellectual exploration and learning, for the forming and sharpening of ideas, and for discovery about some of the ways women and gender historians have been making histories, working in a variety of fields and archives, defining and theorizing problems and using evidence-based research.

Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: N. Musisi
Seminar: Thursday 3-5

HIS 417H1-F, L0101 Sex Work History in Comparative Contexts

This seminar explores the historical effects of the “world’s oldest profession” in Canada and beyond. Using a range of texts, including film, memoirs, oral history and visual culture, it seeks to enhance both historical and contemporary discussions of the sex trade by examining its rich, difficult and problematic pasts. Seminar readings and discussions will examine the lives and experiences of multiple sex trade involved populations, from affluent 19th-century madams to streetwalkers and queer and trans communities. Students in this seminar will develop their own original research project and have the opportunity to contribute to a new public history initiative on the history of sex work in Toronto.

Prerequisite: HIS263Y1/HIS264H1
Exclusion: HIS417H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: L. Bertram
Seminar: Friday 11-1
Geographic Area: b

HIS 418H1-S, L0101 Themes in Canadian Environmental History

Environmental historians study the reciprocal relationship between humans and nature over time. This course examines key themes in the history of Canada's environment. Possible topics include food, energy, pollution, cities, parks, and environmental movements. Specific themes vary by year, depending on the focus of the instructor. Strong emphasis is place on reading and research. This year, particular emphasis will be placed on the intersection of fossil fuels, pipelines, indigenous people, and environment. 

Prerequisite: 9.0 credits
Recommended Preparation: HIS263Y1/ HIS264H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: S. Penfold
Seminar: Tuesday 1-3
Geographic Area: b

HIS 422H1-F, L5101 Early Modern English Popular Culture, 1500-1800
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course – HIS422H1/HIS1416H)

Deals with issues of orality, literacy, gender, class, and social conflict through the components of popular, as opposed to elite, knowledge, and culture. Subjects of study include folklore, magic, religion, drink, sex, riot, and festivity in early modern England. Some background in medieval and/or early modern history or literature is highly recommended. Extensive work will be undertaken with primary sources.

Prerequisite: One of HIS101Y1/HIS109Y1/HIS220Y1/HIS243H1/HIS244H1/HIS368H1/HIS337H1/HIS349H1/HIS357Y1
Exclusion: HIS496H1 (Topics in History: Early Modern English Popular Culture, 1600-1800), offered in Summer 2018
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: J. Mori
Seminar: Thursday 5-7
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS 423H1-F, L0101 Social History of Medicine in the 19th & 20th Centuries

Introduces students to current issues in the social history of medicine and some of the major developments in the modern history of the discipline. The format is class discussion based on themes covered in the course textbook, covering such topics as the history of the doctor-patient relationship, changes in physicians' social status, changing attitudes toward the body, and the evolution of various medical and surgical specialties including obstetrics and gynecology.

Textbook(s): Edward Shorter, Doctors and Their Patients: A Social History.
Tentative Course Requirements: A major historiographical research paper (60%), outline for research paper (25%), and participation (15%).

Exclusion: HIS423Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: E. Shorter
Seminar: Thursday 3-5

HIS 426H1-F, L0101 Early Medieval Italy, 300-1000 CE

This seminar examines major developments in Italy 300-1000, including the Christianization of Italy, the collapse of Roman rule, the establishment of several barbarian successor kingdoms, and changes in architecture, art and literature in a period known as Italy's Dark Ages.

Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: N. Everett
Seminar: Tuesday 11-1
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS 435H1-S, L0101 Themes in Toronto History

This course will examine aspects of Toronto’s history. It is not a general survey of Toronto history; instead, the course will normally revolve around a specific theme or group of themes. Specific themes vary by year, depending on the focus of the instructor. Strong emphasis will be placed on reading and research.

Prerequisite: HIS263Y1/HIS264H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: S. Mills
Seminar: Wednesday 1-3
Geographic Area: b

HIS 437H1-F, L0101 Telling Lies About Hitler: Frauds and Famous Feuds Among German Historians

This course examines controversies that decisively influenced German historical thought and writing since 1890 and their public reception. The seminar combines two approaches. On the one hand it offers focused case studies drawn from scholarly and public debates. On the other hand it explores the historian’s obligation to evaluate conflicting judgments about history rather than repeat accepted truths. It covers a number of celebrated disputes among biographers of Bismarck, Wilhelm II, and Hitler; among historians of the Third Reich and the Holocaust; and among early proponents of cultural history, total history, and the history of everyday life (and their critics). Topics include the forged Hitler diaries, the David Irving trial, Germany’s responsibility for war in 1914, Daniel Goldhagen’s “eliminationist” thesis, Wehrmacht complicity in the Holocaust, a German woman’s experience in Berlin in 1945, and retrospective films about East Germany. These case studies illustrate how historians of Germany have found ways to address non-scholarly audiences. They also show how and why scholars have received condemnation from members of their own guild for their fraudulent or misleading claims -- and, sometimes, applause for their innovative and convincing ones.
A History Department requirement (on the website) states: Students in 400-level seminars MUST ATTEND THE FIRST CLASS, or contact the professor to explain their absence. Failure to do so may result in the Department withdrawing the student from the seminar in order to "free up" space for other interested students.

Required Reading: Robert Harris, Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries (2000); Richard J. Evans, Telling Lies about Hitler: The Holocaust, Hitler, and the David Irving Trial (2002); Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin. Eight Weeks in the Conquered City: A Diary (Engl. ed. 2006); specific chapters from Robert Shandley, ed., Unwilling Germans? The Goldhagen Debate (1998) -- together with commentaries, reviews, videos, and associated materials on the Internet.
Course Requirements: 1 short oral report on assigned readings; 1 preliminary essay bibliography (not graded); 1 book report (5 typed pages); 1 historiographical essay of approximately 15 typed pages; regular attendance at (and participation in) class discussions.

Prerequisite: HIS317H1/HIS330H1 or permission of the instructor
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: J. Retallack
Seminar: Monday 11-1
Geographic Area: c

HIS 443H1-S, L0101 Space and Sense in the Early Modern World

How did early moderns experience sense and space and how did the expanding cultural, political, and social horizons of the period emerge from and shape those experiences? This course explores Florence, Amsterdam, Boston, Manila to compare how experiences of space and sense varied by age, gender, race, and class.

Prerequisite: HIS243H1/ HIS244H1/ HIS357Y1. Students who do not meet the prerequisite are encouraged to contact the instructor.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: N. Terpstra
Seminar: Thursday 11-1
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS 446H1-S, L0101 Gender & Slavery in the Atlantic World
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course – HIS446H1/HIS1555H1)

The course examines the relationship between gender and the experience of slavery and emancipating several Atlantic world societies from the 17th-19th centuries. Areas to be covered are the Caribbean, Brazil, the U.S. South, West and South Africa and Western Europe.

Prerequisite: HIS291H1/HIS294Y1/HIS230H1,231H1/HIS295Y1
Exclusion: HIS446Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: S. Sweeney
Seminar: Wednesday 1-3
Geographic Area: b
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS 467H1-S, L0101 French Colonial Indochina: History, Cultures, Texts, Film

This course examines French colonial Indochina through a number of different lenses. Early attention will be afforded to the cross-cultural “contact zones” between colonial and colonized societies. Other issues that will be stressed include contested geographies, the characteristics of a settler society, imperial cultures, expressions of colonial power, and forms of opposition and resistance. A number of primary sources will serve as fruitful artefacts to be analysed in class: colonial novels, recently translated resistance literature, documentaries, and feature films. The net result will be to underscore the many tensions of colonialism. Finally, we will turn to a series of wistful and nostalgic recent filmic representations of French colonial Indochina, films described as “Indochic” by literary critic Panivong Norindr. By sifting through these phantasmatic memories of Indochina, and contrasting them with a number of case studies, this course will illuminate issues that go well beyond the boundaries of former Indochine – issues of contested memory, identity, and resistance.

Prerequisite: ANT344Y1/EAS204Y1/GGR342H1/HIS104Y1/HIS107Y1/HIS280Y1/HIS283Y1/HIS284Y1/HIS315H1/HIS388H1/NEW369Y1
Exclusion: HIS467Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: E. Jennings
Seminar: Thursday 1-3
Geographic Area: c
Temporal Requirement: ½ credit

HIS 468H1-F, L0101 Commemorations and Public History in Canada, 1800-2000

This course explores selected topics in the history of commemoration, public memory, and public history in Canada. We will examine the number of different locations in Canadian society in which historical memories have been created and disseminated. Covering a time span from, roughly, the early nineteenth century up to the present, we will examine how the past has been remembered. Such processes have often involved various groups - political, economic, and social elites - who have attempted to create ‘pasts’ or ‘traditions’ for themselves and others in society, often as part of creating socio-economic and political hegemony. The course will look at institutions and processes, such as the state or tourism, as examples of such developments. However, we will also read about their contestation; the attempts by women, working-class people, and ethnic and racialized groups to counter the powerful’s apparent monopoly on the public memory of the past. We also will explore the multiple ways in which historical memories have shaped and created landscapes, in ways both discursive and material.

Prerequisite: HIS264H1
Exclusions: HIS466H1 (offered as "History of Commemoration in Canada") taken in Winter 2015, Fall 2016 or 2018, (offered as "Commemorations and Public History, Canada, 1800s-2000") taken in Fall 2020 or 2021, (offered as "Commemoration in Canada") taken in Fall 2022.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: C. Morgan
Seminar: Friday 1-3
Geographic Area: b

HIS 469H1-S, L0101 Upper Canada: Creating a Settler Society, 1790s-1860s

This course explores selected topics in the history of Upper Canada, such as its formation in the crucible of transatlantic and imperial warfare, relationships with Indigenous people, the creation of multiple institutions, and colonial leisure and culture. As well as having its own particular local characteristics and features, not least its proximity to the United States, Upper Canada was one of a number of settler societies within the British Empire. The course is intended to explore various dimensions of these aspects and, wherever possible, to consider the relationships between local dynamics and imperial currents. Although the colony became ‘Canada West’ in 1841, our readings and discussions will stretch beyond that conventional political boundary, moving us into the 1850s and 1860s.

Prerequisite: HIS264H1/ HIS263Y1
Exclusions: HIS466H1 (offered as "Upper Canada: Creating a Settler Society") taken in Fall 2014, Winter 2016, 2017, 2019, 2022 or 2023, (offered as "Upper Canada") taken in Fall 2019, (offered as "Upper Canada: Creating a Settler Society, 1790s-1860s") taken in Winter 2021.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: C. Morgan
Seminar: Friday 1-3
Geographic Area: b

HIS 470H1-F, L0101 History, Rights and Difference in South Asia

This seminar addresses modern South Asian history to think critically about ideas of rights since 1750. Examining themes in the political, economic, and legal history of South Asia (most especially India, Pakistan and Bangladesh) 1750-present, the course highlights the central place of colonial and postcolonial histories, and the questions of difference they pose, within the intellectual history of rights. The course will survey major debates on rights: citizenship and its relationship with custom and tradition; rights, the rule of law, and the question of cultural and gender difference; and rights and ideas of contract in the context of market exchange, colonial capitalism, and postcolonial development. Readings include primary historical sources from South Asia, legal and political theory on rights, and postcolonial historiography.
Tentative Course Requirements: two short analytical papers, one longer paper on a major theme, class attendance and participation.

Prerequisite: A mark of 73% or higher in HIS282Y1 or instructor’s permission.
Recommended Preparation: Background in political and social theory and some background in South Asia.

Instructor: R. Birla
Seminar: Tuesday 3-5
Geographic Area: a

HIS 475H1-S, L0101 Senior Research Seminar

In this seminar, students will learn the historical methodology skills required to undertake their major independent research project for future professional use or graduate studies, including the development of a topic, formal literature reviews, and the writing of research and grant proposals. History Specialists & Majors only (priority enrollment for Specialists). Not eligible for CR/NCR option. See department website for prerequisite details and registration instructions. Students may count HIS475H1 towards the Specialty methodology pathway or carry on to HIS476H1: Senior Thesis.

Prerequisite: Consent of supervisor and department
Exclusion: HIS476Y1, HIS491Y1, HIS498H1, HIS499Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: H. Bohaker
Seminar: Monday 1-3

HIS 476H1-F, L0101 Senior Thesis Seminar

Students research and write a primary-sourced based thesis of approximately 7,000 words, building on the prospectus and literature review developed in HIS475H1. Students attend seminar meetings to discuss the hypotheses they have formulated, present their work in progress and engage in constructive critique of other students’ work. History Specialists & Majors only (priority enrollment for Specialists). Students must find topics and thesis supervisors. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. See department website for prerequisite details and registration instructions.

Prerequisites: HIS475H1 and consent of supervisor and department
Exclusions: HIS476Y1, HIS498H1, HIS499Y1, HIS491Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: A. Smith
Seminar: Monday 3-5

HIS 477H1-F, L0101 Topics in the Social and Cultural History of Victorian Britain

This course will examine the impact of industrialism on Victorian society and values. Readings will concentrate on major contemporary critics of nineteenth-century British society, including Engels, Mayhew, Owen, Dickens and Morris. Required Reading: All readings will be put on reserve at the library. Students who wish to may purchase: Engels, Condition of the Working Class; Morris, News From Nowhere; Dickens, Hard Times; Arnold, Culture & Anarchy.

Recommended Preparation: A course in modern British History/Victorian literature
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: L. Loeb
Seminar: Tuesday 9-11
Geographic Area: c

HIS 485H1-F, L0101 Topics in Chinese History- The Maritime Frontier in Late Imperial China, 1368-1912

Whether in popular circles or academic scholarship, Ming and Qing China are still commonly portrayed as having been mostly land-facing dynasties that paid little to no attention to the sea. Only with the advent of Western imperialism in the mid-twentieth century, supposedly, was China finally forced to reckon with the seas, albeit too late.  

This course challenges students to critique this enduring image by looking to the sea and re-evaluating it as the primary lens through which to conduct late imperial Chinese history. Using a series of case studies arranged in thematic fashion, this course considers how the maritime frontier extensively informed, impacted, and defined the course of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Students will investigate what constituted the maritime frontier in late imperial China using a variety of topics and frameworks. These include mobility, governance, piracy, cartography, gender, ethnicity and race, modernity, and even time as understood in maritime contexts. Through this breadth, students will examine how the sea at once served as historical subject, arena, and driver of change and continuity in late imperial China. More broadly, students will consider how the global and transnational flows of maritime Asia variously impacted and were impacted by late imperial China.

Prerequisites: EAS102Y1/HIS280Y1/JMC201Y1
Exclusion: HIS485Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: C. Chung
Seminar: Tuesday 1-3
Geographic Area: a

HIS 485H1-S, L5101 Topics in Chinese Historical Readings in Gender & Sexuality
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course HIS485H1/HIS1016H)

Sexuality: do we really "know it when we see it"? How have people looked at and talked about sex in different times and places? In this thematic seminar, we will consider an array of primary and secondary sources about sex in the geographic context of what we today call China, from the early imperial period to the twentieth century.  By the end of the term, you will produce a paper of 12-15 pages, developing your own skills in constructing historical arguments and research along the way. You will also be better equipped to consider, with a critical intensity equal to that directed at the course materials, your own role as an author of history. This will be a joint graduate/undergraduate course with high expectations for commitment and preparation.

Prerequisites: EAS102Y1/HIS280Y1/JMC201Y1
Exclusion: HIS485Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: Y. Wang
Seminar: Wednesday 7-9
Geographic Area: a

HIS 495H1-F, L0101 Topics in History: Rethinking Modernity Through Japan
(Joint undergraduate/graduate course HIS495H1/HIS1662H)

The purpose of this seminar is to introduce advanced undergraduate and graduate students to some of the major problems, paradigms, and literature on global modernity as seen through the lens of Japan. The course will begin with reflections on area studies as it has addressed questions of modernity and modernization in Asia and Japan, while also attending to recent criticisms of this body of knowledge. Although specific emphases will vary from year to year. In Winter 2023 the course will focus on nationalism, settler colonialism, race, war, and gender and sexuality.

Prerequisite: 14.0 credits including 2.0 HIS credits. Senior standing with background knowledge of modern Japan through coursework in the Departments of History (JHA384, JHA394), East Asian Studies (EAS209, EAS247, EAS327, EAS 347, EAS374, EAS375; EAS457), or Contemporary Asian Studies (CAS310)
Distribution Requirements: Humanities

Instructor: T. Fujitani
Seminar: Monday 1-3
Geographic Area: a

HIS 496H1-F, L0201 Topics in History: Race in the USA and Canada

Explores historical contexts of public health and racialization that offer perspective on societal response to the COVID19 pandemic in Canada and the United States. Readings examine power and inequality during national and global crises, conceptions of public health and disease, foreign relations’ impacts, media, racism, intersections among race, gender, sexuality, class, and religion, disinformation, and struggles for an inclusive society. Each student will pursue a research essay topic of their choice.

Prerequisite: 14.0 credits including 2.0 HIS credits
Distribution Requirements: Humanities

Instructor: C. Clark
Seminar: Thursday 9-11
Geographic Area: b

HIS 496H1-S, L0101 Topics in History: Renaissance Humanisms

The seminar will discuss Renaissance Humanism in its various forms, applications and contexts. Every student will be responsible for a seminar presentation on a subject of his or her choice but guided by the topics and the schedule in the course outline. You can focus on Italy or any place north of the Alps and any time period between about 1350 and 1600. Please review the various topics in advance of the first meeting so that you can choose a time and topic for your seminar.
For the seminar, you will be responsible for providing the other students in the class some suggestions for reading (both primary and secondary materials) at least one week in advance to stimulate the discussion of your presentation. I expect every seminar will be an active, dynamic dialogue in the best Humanist tradition. Rather than reading verbatim a prepared paper, be provocative in order to engage the rest of the class. The use of visual material is encouraged.
A written research paper based on your seminar presentation is due at the end of term. Do take into consideration my and the other students’ responses to your presentation and do discuss your topic and bibliography with me in advance.

Prerequisite: 14.0 credits including 2.0 HIS credits
Distribution Requirements: Humanities

Instructor: K. Bartlett
Seminar: Tuesday 3-5
Geographic Area: c

HIS 497H1-S, L0101 Animal Politics and Science

Why is thinking about the animal unsettling for some or strange for others? Especially since Darwin, the question of the animal-what it says about being or not being human-has been at the core of important philosophical and scientific debates. This course examines the ways that question has been answered over time.

Prerequisite: 1.0 credit in political theory, history of science, or intellectual history. Students who do not meet the prerequisite are encouraged to contact the Department.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Thought, Belief and Behaviour (2)

Instructor: S. Hawkins
Seminar: Monday 5-7

HIS 498H1-F/S/499Y1-Y Independent Studies Courses

History Majors and Specialists only. These courses result in the production of an independent research project. This may not necessarily take the form of a thesis. Students must find topics and project supervisors. Not eligible for CR/NCR option. See department website for specific registration instructions.

Prerequisites: Minimum 80% over 3.0 HIS credits at the 200-level or above
Distribution Requirements: Humanities

JIH 460H1-S, L0101 Indigenous Histories of North America
(Joint undergraduate/graduate JIH460H1/HIS1114H)

This senior seminar takes a regional approach, featuring work written by or in collaboration with Indigenous scholars and Indigenous communities, to draw students into discussion of comparative historiographies, the role of worldview in historical writing and the significant methodological interventions made by Indigenous studies. Students explore oral history and material culture as sources for writing history and discuss ethical research practices for community-based scholarship. In addition to active participation, each student will write a major paper, approximately 15 pages in length, in the form of a review essay on the historiography of either a region or a topic. This course is a joint graduate/undergraduate seminar.

Prerequisites: INS200H1/ INS201Y1/ INS205H1/ HIS230H1/ HIS366H1/ HIS369H1
Recommended Preparation: INS390H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)

Instructor: S. Hill
Seminar: Tuesday 11-1
Geographic Area: b