Undergraduate
Summer Course Descriptions - 2025
The Department offers 100-level, 200-level, 300-level, and 400-level History (HIS) courses.
PLEASE NOTE
- Course descriptions are not final and may be changed at or before the first class.
- For enrolment instructions, students should consult the Faculty of Arts & Science Summer 2025 Timetable.
- Prerequisites will be enforced rigorously. Students who do not have the relevant prerequisite(s) may be removed from the course after classes begin. Specific questions regarding prerequisites for a course can be answered by the course instructor. Where there are two instructors of a course, an asterisk (*) indicates the Course Coordinator.
**This page will be updated regularly. Please check here for curriculum changes.
Course Nomenclature
- Y1-Y is a full course, both terms.
- Y1-F is a full course, first term (fall session)
- Y1-S is a full course, second term (winter session)
- H1-F is a half course, first term (fall session)
- H1-S is a half course, second term (winter session)
100 Level Courses
100-level HIS courses are designed for students entering university. They take a broad sweep of material, and introduce students to the methods and techniques of university study. Each week, students will attend two lectures given by the course professor, and participate in one tutorial led by a teaching assistant. First year courses are not considered to be in an ‘area’ for program requirements.
All 100-series HIS courses are mutually exclusive, with the exception of AP, IB, CAPE, or GCE transfer credits. Students may enrol in only one 100-series History course. Students enrolled in more than one of these courses (or who have completed one of these courses or a previous HIS 100-series course with a mark of 50% or greater) will be removed at any time. First-Year students can also enrol in 200-series HIS courses. ALL students enrolled in a History Specialist, Major, or Minor program must take ONE 100-level HIS course.
HIS115H1 – History Now: How the Past Shapes the Present
In this introduction to the discipline of history, students will learn about several pressing issues facing the world today and delve into their pasts. The course will help students understand what the study of history can and cannot teach us about the present moment, and the challenges and opportunities of using history to understand our present – and potentially our future, as well. Building on Ulrich Beck’s concept of “risk society,” the course examines how powerful states, corporations and individuals started calculating, anticipating and preparing for uncertain futures starting in the 19th century. Divided into three sections, the course focuses on the historical and contemporary governance of disease, pollution and financial markets. Through case studies, students will explore how anticipatory regimes have encouraged governing officials to develop technoscientific solutions to pressing issues–ranging from vaccines development and carbon-capture technologies to the introduction of algorithmic trading. Assignments will focus on analyzing how historical sources are used and abused to justify various approaches to risk management across these key areas in contemporary politics, providing students will an opportunity to develop critical reading and strong writing skills. In tutorial discussions, students will practice making effective oral arguments.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
200 Level Courses
200-Level HIS courses are surveys that introduce in broad outlines the history of a particular country, region, continent, or theme. Most are essential background for further upper-level study in the area. Students will generally attend two lectures and participate in one tutorial each week. The 200-level courses are open to first year students as well as those in higher years.
HIS241H1 - Europe in the Nineteenth Century, 1815-1914
Intellectual changes in Britain, France, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia and other countries are discussed. The course examines large-scale political, social and cultural changes that created today's modern world.
Exclusion: EUR200Y1/ EUR200Y5/ FGI200Y5/ HIS241H5/ HISB93H3
Recommended Preparation: HIS103Y1/ HIS109Y1
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS 264H1 - Critical Issues in Canadian History
This course introduces the history of Canada through an exploration of key themes and methods. It will cover several time periods, but it is not a standard survey that begins with New France and proceeds forward to next week. Rather, we will focus on some the key forces that shaped Canada over time. We will also study some of the important skills of historical research and writing. Possible topics include treaties with First Nations, immigration, empire and nationalism, welfare, and environment. All students are welcome, but a key aim of the course is to help prepare students for upper year Canadian History courses.
Exclusion: HIS262H1, HIS263Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS280Y1 - History of China
A critical history of the place we today call China from prehistoric times to the 21st century, tracing shifting borders, identities, governments, and cultures while challenging any singular definition of "China."
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
300 Level Courses
300-Level HIS courses are more specialized and intensive. They deal with more closely defined periods or themes. They vary in format, with some being based around lectures, and others involving tutorial or discussion groups. Most 300-level courses have prerequisites, which are strictly enforced. First year students are not permitted to enrol in 300 or 400-level HIS courses. Although some upper level courses do not have specific prerequisites, courses at the 300- and 400-level are demanding and require a good comprehension of history.
HIS322H1 - Topics in African History: Mobility and the Making of European Empires in Africa
The colonial period in Africa was known for the extraordinary mobility of people, fauna, goods, cultures, and ideas. Both involuntary and voluntary mobility characterized this epoch. This course explores the significance and the indispensableness of all these forms of mobility in the making of European empires in Africa. The course explores the motives behind various forms of mobility by the indigenous people, Europeans as well as “things” within empires and between the metropole and the African territories in the 19th Century. By taking this direction, the course attempts to bring to the fore the fact that mobility was not a one-way but a but was also characterized by the mobility of people, ‘things and capital to the metropole, and the empire was not made overnight but over a process that spanned the entire period. The course will help expose the fact that all forms of mobility during this period were meant to benefit the metropole and chiefly the European capitalists, but some African societies and individuals thrived. The course touches on African precolonial mobilities, exploration and early colonial expansion, and colonial knowledge constructions of Africa will be explored. The impact of colonialism and borders on the redirection of labor, new forms of social mobility, gendered mobilities, borders and indigenous mobility, and the and the mobility of “things” within the new colonial infrastructures and geographies will also be explored. Overall, the course uses the lens of mobility to explore everyday life in the British, German, French, and Italian empires.
Recommended Preparation: HIS295Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS326H1 - Topics in Asian Histories: History from the Periphery: Manchuria and the Modern World, 16th to 20th Century
This course explores key topics in modern world history, with a particular emphasis on present-day Northeastern China, historically known as Manchuria, from the 16th to the 20th century. Although now part of the PRC’s national territory, Manchuria was historically regarded as a peripheral region by neighboring powers including China, Korea, Japan, and Russia. As a result, the region’s historical experiences offer valuable insights that are often overlooked by histories from center. By focusing on Manchuria, this course examines the expansion of the Qing, Russian, and Japanese empires and its impact on the region’s socio-economic transformation, the rise of global capitalism and railway imperialism, imperial competition and cooperation, the limitations and contradictions of modern nation-states, global migration, the establishment of the client state of Manchukuo, and its aftermath from a transnational perspective. Ultimately, this course aims to explore how the key structures and characteristics of the modern world are shaped and revealed through this region, providing a multi-layered understanding of the historical experiences of Manchuria and East Asia within the broader framework of modern world history.
Prerequisite: HIS280Y1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS332H1 - Crime and Society in England, 1500-1800
The changing nature of crime and criminal justice in early-modern England; the emergence of modern forms of policing, trial and punishment.
Prerequisite: 9.0 credits, including 1.0 HIS credit excluding HIS262H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS350H1 – Topics in European Histories: Digital Approaches to Pre-Modern Europe
How can digital technologies help us learn about life in pre-modern (1000-1800 CE) Europe? This course revolves around this central question. Each week, we will learn about a different geographic region through a Digital Humanities (DH) project (or projects) focused upon that region. In doing so, we will examine the social, political, and cultural dynamics of premodern communities while observing how scholars have employed digital technologies to study them. Our weekly digital projects will introduce you to a variety of tools, such as ArcGIS, OpenLayers, OpenStreetMap, html, and TEI (Text Encoding Initiative). You will engage critically with these digital tools and assess how they have been applied to historical research.
Through weekly active learning tutorials and workshops, you will build knowledge and skills across a range of digital media, including Wordpress, Storymaps ArcGIS, and Audacity Audio Software, and learn to effectively incorporate these tools into your own projects. The combination of theoretical and practical knowledge accumulated in this course will present you with new ways of looking at big questions surrounding identity, politics, society, and culture in pre-modern Europe. This course will also prompt you to investigate some of the challenges facing Digital Humanities-based research.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS389H1 – Topics in History: Queer and Trans History in Canada and the United States
This course explores queer and trans histories in Canada and the US from colonial contact to the 21st century. These histories are defined broadly to include not only those who claimed queer and trans identities, but those who we can read as queer or trans using queer and trans methodologies. Students will learn about queer/trans psychiatric, medical, social, political, cultural, carceral, immigration, and legal histories through the analyses of interlocking systems of oppression that produce contemporary regimes of gender, sex, and sexuality. Through these analyses, students will learn about the historic ways that queer and trans people are regulated by, participate in, and resist heterosexism, cissexism, racism, colonialism, imperialism, classism, and ableism.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits, including 1.0 HIS credit excluding HIS262H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
HIS389H1 – Topics in History: Transnational Inequalities: Caste and Race in Conversation
Spanning over the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, this course explores the complexities of caste and race as socio-economic and political institutions, both in South Asia and amongst the South Asian diasporas. Through a multidisciplinary approach, students will examine the historical development of caste, its role in structuring social hierarchies and inequalities, and its entanglements with race in the diasporas. We will trace the transformation of caste identities and practices through colonial and postcolonial shifts, analyzing how caste structures have adapted and persisted in new geographic and cultural contexts, particularly in the Empire (North America, the UK, and the Caribbean), and movements of solidarity and social justice that draw on shared experiences. Special attention will be given to the intersection of caste with other systems of oppression, especially race, both locally and globally. By the end of the course, students will gain a nuanced understanding of how caste operates across cultural boundaries, in racialized landscapes, and the ongoing challenges faced by marginalized communities in diverse social landscapes.
Prerequisite: 4.0 credits, including 1.0 HIS credit excluding HIS262H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
400 Level Courses
400-Level HIS courses are two-hour seminars that deal with very specialized subjects and 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 prerequisite). During the SECOND ROUND of enrolment, access to 400-level seminars is open to all 3rd and 4th year students with the appropriate prerequisite. 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. First year students are not permitted to enrol in 300 or 400-level HIS courses.
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. 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'.
HIS408H1 - Topics in Environmental History: The British Empire: An Environmental History
The impact of the British Empire on diverse cultures, polities, economies, and ecologies was tremendous. At its apex, the British Empire claimed more than 26% of the world’s landmass and 23% of the global population. Though such claims could be nebulous “on the ground,” the ecological impacts of the British Empire are undeniable. From the early modern period through the 20th century, British imperialism and colonialism radically reshaped biotic communities and reshuffled ecologies in the name of resource extraction, agropastoralism, colonial settlement, imperial trade, environmental conservation, and more. Inevitably, these practices altered, often violently, local and Indigenous cultures and lifeways. Many of the structures and systems instantiated under the British Empire—from racial hierarchies, to global food systems, to endangered species conservation—continue to ramify through contemporary society beyond the shores of the British Isles.
This advanced seminar offers a careful examination of the environmental and ecological impacts and consequences of the British Empire from roughly 1500 to decolonization in the 20th century, and the last gasps of the empire in the 1980s. Throughout, the course emphasizes where and how ecological reorganization—an almost inescapably violent process—intersected with the racial discourses and power structures that built and supported the British Empire. Students will explore the role of animals in empire; the impact of climate in history; how plants (such as the potato or sugarcane) spur sociopolitical as well as environmental rearrangements; the impact of energy on empire and its aftermath; and more. Concurrently, students will become versed in the tensions that defined the age of empire—between metropole and colony; between formal and informal forms of imperialism; between administrative territories and settler colonies; along racial lines and sectarian divisions. Attention will be paid to differential impacts on Indigenous people, the colonized, and enslaved populations, and to the forms of resistance such groups deployed against colonial rule.
Prerequisite: HIS218H1 or HPS316H1
Distribution Requirements: Humanities
Breadth Requirements: Society and its Institutions (3)
HIS496H1 – Topics in History: Towards an Ethical Approach: Transnational History(ies) of Violence
What is violence, and how can it be studied in an ethical way? This course centres on the ethics associated with researching and writing on violence in history. Organized around weekly themes – including the body and violence, land and space, and everyday violence, this course (re)introduces students to methodological approaches to studying historical forms of violence, the importance of ethics in the study of violent history, and the interconnections, legacies, and continuations of violence across time and space, since 1492. This course understands violence in a holistic way – as that which is harmful against a person (or group of persons), including their culture and spirituality, and that which makes their life livable, including the ability for it to be committed against persons and bodies no longer living, and those who have entered the archive. Similarly, this course’s approach to the ethical study of violence in history rests on respecting the entirety of historical persons, particularly those targeted by violence in life and death. This includes their lives, their death, how they enter(ed) the archive, their afterlives in the archive and secondary sources, and using this knowledge as the guide for methodological approaches taken by the researcher, in order to avoid (re)violation of these persons in historical research.
Prerequisite: 14.0 credits including 2.0 HIS credits. Further prerequisites vary from year to year, consult the department.
Distribution Requirements: Humanities