History of the Second World War

A seminar course involving an examination of the origins and course of the Second World War. Primary focus on main campaigns of the war in Europe and Asia, the domestic policies of the belligerent powers, and the social, economic, and political impact of the conflict.

Social History of Canada

An examination of major developments in the society and culture of Canada with a particular spotlight on the diverse experience of the people who made Canada. The course highlights aspects of Canadian identity as seen through the lenses of gender, race, class, ethnicity, religion, and region. The focus is on the interaction between migrant groups and the host society, rural and urban societies, education and social reforms, labour and capital, and changing gender roles.

Canadian and U.S. Relations

A survey of relations between the two countries from their origins, ranging from military and diplomatic contacts to intellectual and cultural. Comparative developments in the two nations.

The Evolution of Canadian Foreign Policy

An overview of the formulation and trends of Canadian foreign policy in the period since Confederation. The domestic and external determinants of Canadian foreign policy, the nature of the foreign policy-making process, and the evolution of key themes in Canadian foreign policy.

Special Topics in History

An examination of special topics or issues in history that are not considered in depth in other courses.

Honours Thesis

A 12,000-15,000 word thesis based on a review of the secondary literature and research in primary sources in archival, published, microform, microfiche, or electronic form, on an approved topic. An oral defence and a library-acceptable copy are required. Taken in fourth year by all Honours students in History.

Honours Thesis

A 12,000-15,000 word thesis based on a review of the secondary literature and research in primary sources in archival, published, microform, microfiche, or electronic form, on an approved topic. An oral defence and a library-acceptable copy are required. Taken in fourth year by all Honours students in History.

Engendered History

Examines specific topics in the history of gender throughout the period known loosely as the modern world and is designed to clarify the process through which ideas of gender evolved and the ways in which masculinity and femininity have been constructed and experienced in a global context. Also examines group interactions across lines of race, class, ethnicity, region, and religion and the influence of groups striving to assert their own identities on ideas of gender.

Late Medieval Europe

An inquiry into a period of Europe's past in which beliefs, attitudes and institutions, moulded in the previous centuries, were consolidated into shapes that mark modern European (and North American) culture. The outlines of the modern state and of the modern family are examined. It is also an examination of late medieval civilization for indications of decline and rebirth. The course looks for signs of struggle between forces of tradition and of innovation, and between idealism and material or corporeal realities.

War, Peace, and Society

Surveys the changing nature of and approaches to war and its effect on society from the Middle Ages to the present including an examination of various visions and proposals for peace. Includes an assessment of relatively recent armed conflict in Africa, Central Europe, and the Middle East, exploring the causes of contemporary conflict and some of its distinctive characteristics. Also evaluates the effectiveness of various strategies for preventing, abating, and terminating current forms of conflict. Some of the questions discussed are: Why do states go to war? How do they create a lasting peace? What role does morality play in foreign policy? What is our obligation to just peace or just war?

Renaissance Europe

A graduate-level course designed to survey a historical period in greater depth while introducing students to related primary and secondary sources. Students will be familiarized with major themes, events, and issues of interpretation in the history of European history from approximately the mid-fourteenth through to the sixteenth century. Particular attention will be paid to the “rebirth” of ancient Greek and Roman culture that began in the Italian commercial and educational centres of Milan, Florence, Venice and Rome. This course will examine the social, intellectual, artistic, political and economic history of the Renaissance as it developed in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe. These and other topics will be explored through close readings of primary sources. Students will also consider various methodological and theoretical approaches that have influenced the way that modern historians have analyzed and explained this period in European history.

Reformation Europe

Examines the nature of religious reform in the sixteenth century. Religious ideas are the starting point for an examination of economic conditions, the existing social structure, the family, and the state. Examines how ideas were communicated to and received by the common people. It also examines displays of intolerance and tolerance, coercion and power, and relations between government and society and between women and men

Early Modern Europe: 1600- 1789

An examination of developments and events from 1600 to 1800 including religious wars, the witch craze, growth of absolutism and political rights, enlightened despots, movements within the church and the culture of the enlightenment. In addition, wealth and poverty, social hierarchies, popular customs and culture, marriage, the family, and gender are examined.

History in Practice

An analysis of the practice of history in the public sphere including the ways in which communities, regions, nations, and other entities collect, manage, create, present, and understand their histories and stories. How forms of historical consciousness show themselves in archives, museums, films, monuments, anniversaries, government policies, genealogy, etc. Practical application of historical skills and tools through communication with public historians, visits to local historic sites, and relevant assignments and experiential learning. Students gain valuable experiences and knowledge related to a variety of areas where public history is practised and are exposed to career opportunities in history.

History of Science and Religion from Copernicus to Creation Science

Examines the engagement of science and religion in western culture over the past five centuries. In 1896, Andrew Dickson White published his famous History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom, a work that helped establish the belief that science and religion were irreconcilable domains. This course examines the validity of that claim from the Copernican revolution in the sixteenth century to the rise of the modern Creation Science movement, and aims to place the relationship between science and faith in a mature historical, scientific and theological context.

Family, Gender, and Power

Examines the historical development of the family beginning with the ancient world up to 1600. A central inquiry is the formation of families and households, as well as the impact of religion on gender and family roles. The course also explores the use of power and coercion in the organization of family and includes an inquiry into contemporary gender theory but concentrates on the lives and ideas of actual persons insofar as the historical record reveals them.

History of the Family after 1600

Examines the historical development of the family from 1600 to the present day. A central inquiry is the formation of families and households, as well the impact of religion on gender and family roles. The course also explores the use of power and coercion in the organization of family and includes an inquiry into contemporary gender theory but concentrates on the lives and ideas of actual persons insofar as the historical record reveals them.

Tudor-Stuart England

This course is designed to survey a historical period in greater depth while introducing students to related primary and secondary sources. Students are familiarized with major themes, events, and issues of interpretation in the history of early modern England. Particular attention is paid to two developments that transformed English life: the religious reformations of the sixteenth century, and the civil war and political revolutions of the seventeenth century. These and other topics are explored through close readings of primary sources. Students also consider various methodological and theoretical approaches that have influenced the way that modern historians have analyzed and explained this period in English history.

Nineteenth-Century Europe

This course is designed to survey a historical period in greater depth while introducing students to related primary and secondary sources. Students will become familiar with major themes, events, and issues of interpretation in the history of European history during the long nineteenth century from the French Revolution to the onset of the Great War. It explores key movements and themes in political, intellectual, gender, and socioeconomic history through lectures, discussion groups, and the close readings of primary and secondary sources. Students will also consider various methodological and theoretical approaches that have influenced the way that modern historians have analyzed and explained this period in European history.

Issues in B.C. History

Explores issues in the history of British Columbia from its earliest beginnings to the early 2000s. In particular, the province's move from regionalism, to provincialism, to internationalism is explored by examining many of the social, cultural, political, and economic forces of change that shape the West Beyond the West in Canada. The lectures, readings, and discussions focus on specific aspects of BC's history that particularly enlighten us about the character of the region, its unique place in Canadian history, and how these events have shaped the province today.

Development of the Canadian Constitution

A historical and political analysis of the major steps leading to the present constitution, including landmark court cases, attempted and successful amendments (Constitution Act 1981, the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord, etc) and various historical acts both prior to and postConfederation.

Canadian Political Thought: An Intellectual History

This course examines selected Canadian authors (George Grant, Will Kymlicka, and Charles Taylor most prominently) who have contributed significantly to the development of Canadian political discourse. Topics include federalism, multiculturalism, and national identity. The systematic study of these particular authors aids in understanding the development of Canadian political thought. The first part of the course provides the intellectual history to enable an effective study of George P. Grant, Will Kymlicka, and Charles Taylor through a careful reading of Fierlbeck, Political Thought in Canada: An Intellectual History.

Canadians at Home, Work, and Play

Examines major developments in the society and culture of Canada with a particular spotlight on the diverse experience of the people who made Canada. The course highlights aspects of Canadian identity as seen through the lenses of gender, race, class, ethnicity, religion, and region. The focus is on the interaction between settlers and Indigenous peoples, migrant groups, and the host society, rural and urban societies, education and social reforms, labour and capital, and changing gender roles.

Canada and War in the Twentieth

Surveys the changing social, political, and cultural impact of war on Canada in the twentieth century. The course is divided into four sections—World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and Post-Cold War. In each section students examine Canadian responses to war and warfare and the impact of those responses in shaping Canadian politics (both domestic and foreign policy), society, and culture. Topics include defence, security, and Canadian nationalism; the role of imperialism and continentalism in influencing Canadian identity and Canadian foreign policy; Canada as a middle power and the shift to Canada as a no power; war and the changing role of women in Canadian society; and the creation of Canadian military myths.

Issues in First Nations - Canadian Relations

Examines the history of First Nations in Canada from pre-contact with newcomers through to the present time. Broad economic, social, and political themes that intersect with the history of its original peoples is covered including early encounters, fur trade economy, governmental policy, Christianity and culture, education, reservations and land claims. It surveys the major eras—assimilation, protection, civilization, marginalization, and integration—by specifically highlighting the observations and experiences of First Nations.

Evolution of Canadian Foreign Policy

This course provides an overview of the formulation and trends of Canadian foreign policy from confederation to the present. The domestic and external determinants of Canadian foreign policy, the nature of the foreign policy-making process, and the evolution of key themes in Canadian foreign policy are its major themes.

Medieval Europe 500-1250

An inquiry into the origins of European civilization. It examines what features from the ancient world survived the fall of Roman culture and the nature of the native Germanic and Slavic traditions. It looks at the way Christianity was received and altered. It looks at political, social, gender, and economic relationships and at the struggle between spiritual ideals on the one hand and traditional attitudes and material realities on the other.

History of Religion in the U.S.A

Writing in the 1830s, Alex de Tocqueville noted the profound influence religion had upon the American populace, arguing that there are some who profess Christian dogmas because they believe them and others who do so because they are afraid to look as though they did not believe in them. So Christianity reigns without obstacles, by universal consent. At times, his comments continue to ring true, particularly with regard to the centrality of religious faith to the American experience. While not intended to be exhaustive, this course examines representative episodes in the history of religion in the United States, albeit largely in its Christian (and Protestant) form.

History of Religion in Canada

Canada is sometimes regarded as a more secular version of its American neighbour. Henry Alline, the late eighteenth century Nova Scotian revivalist, would not have agreed, for he believed that while Old and New England were engaged in a most inhuman war, a great redeemer nation was emerging in his corner of British North America. This course examines Canada's rich Christian heritage from the first European encounters with aboriginal peoples to contemporary times, with particular emphasis on the relationship between Christianity and the broad socio-political and intellectual history of the nation.

History of Christianity I

A study of the history of the Christian Church from the turn of the first century to the eve of the sixteenth century Reformation with attention to the persons, events, and issues involved in the major developments of Christianity.

History of Christianity II

Surveys the development of the Christian Church from the late medieval period through to the early twenty-first century. Key topics include: the Protestant and Catholic Reformations; the Great Awakenings and the rise of modern Evangelicalism, Fundamentalism, and the growth of modern missionary movements, along with a consideration of significant individuals, changes in theology, institutions, devotional practices, gender roles, and attempts to engage and shape culture.

The Politics of Identity: The Arab Middle East in the Twentieth Century

This course examines some of the major themes in the history of the Arab Middle East since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. Primary emphasis is on the role played by issues of identity in the development of national structures in the Arab East (Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf States). Major themes include the nature of Islamic community, the structure and legacy of Ottoman rule, the post- Ottoman settlement and the impact of colonial rule, the emergence of nationalist politics and the growth of the contemporary Arab state system, oil and the politics of family rule in the Gulf States, and the relationship between religion and politics

Special Topics in History

Topics may vary. Courses offered to date include: Canada and War in the Twentieth Century.

Sugar, Slaves, Silver: The Atlantic World, 1450-1850

Examines the Atlantic world during an era of immense global change. Since the navigations of the fifteenth century, the Atlantic has been a corridor for fundamental exchanges of peoples, crops, technology and ideas. Topics include early maritime explorations, the destruction and reconfiguration of indigenous societies, the labour migrations of Europeans, Native Americans, and Africans, slavery and the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the establishment of an Atlantic economy, and the maturation of Euro-American colonial societies and their struggles for autonomy and national independence.

History, Culture and Interpretation

Designed to explore history as a discipline and a form of knowledge. It examines the process and the structure of how human societies have interpreted, ordered and used historical inquiry. Major theoretical/philosophical traditions and their historians are analyzed. Special attention is paid to modern rational history with its focus on the notion of progress and the challenges brought about by the claims of postmodern interpretationbased history with its emphasis on language, race, ethnicity, gender, and environment. Furthermore, it explores history's impact on other disciplines including philosophy, literary criticism, biology, physics, and religious studies. Combines weekly readings with selected guest lectures that explore the ways in which history is understood in History and in other disciplines.

History of the Family

Examines the historical development of the family beginning with the ancient world up to 1600. A central inquiry is the formation of families and households, as well the impact of religion on gender and family roles. Also explores the use of power and coercion in the organization of family, and an inquiry into contemporary gender theory, but concentrates on the lives and ideas of actual persons insofar as the historical record reveals them.

Special Topics in History

Topics may vary. Courses offered to date include: Decolonizing Gender in African History, First Nations-Canadians in B.C., History of Arian Theology, History of the Celtic Church, History of the Metis in Canada, Introduction to Patristics Study, Medieval Warfare, Arian Theology, Sacred Women in the Ancient World, War, Peace, and International Law, Gender and the Charter, Transatlantic British Empire, Christian Perspective on Israel.

Research Design/Bibliography Seminar

Under the direction of the student's approved thesis advisor, a course of reading and study which leads to the development of both a significant bibliographical essay (or annotated bibliography) and a thesis proposal. The latter includes at least the following: major question(s) to be addressed; significance of the issue(s); methodologies to be used; theories to be addressed and primary sources to be examined.

Thesis

Thesis

Major Essay

Under the direction of a supervisor, students who do not do a thesis, research and write a major paper of approximately 10,000-15,000 words in length.

Popular Religion in Europe

Students examine, through readings, discussion, and student presentations, the way that men and women in Europe circa 1300 to 1700 embraced alternative religious beliefs, some of which were accepted and domesticated by the Catholic or protestant institutional churches, while others were rejected and persecuted as heresy and/ or witchcraft by both. Students also evaluate different historiographical and methodological approaches to the study of heterodoxy.

The Renaissance Mind

This course examines the period of transition and turmoil in European history, from approximately 1360 to 1550, known as the Renaissance. As the cultural synthesis of the high middle ages was crumbling, poets, philosophers, artists, architects, theologians, and statesmen in search of a fresh model for society rejected the late medieval scholastic worldview and embraced a new educational program, the studia humanitatis, based on a re-evaluation and revival of classical culture. This transition affected not only literature, the arts, the sciences, religion, and government, but virtually every other sphere of human activity. Therefore, this course, while providing an indepth, interdisciplinary introduction to the key topics of humanism, religion, political theory, and changes in high culture, also investigates the issues of gender, economic development, and social history during this period. It also assesses different methodological approaches to the study of the Renaissance.

History of non-Western Christianity

During the twentieth century, it became clear that the majority of Christians worldwide were not Europeans or North Americans but Latin Americans, Africans, and Asians. Some observers interpret this as a major shift in the very nature of Christianity but others view it as the renewal of what is essentially a non-Western religion. Instead of representing an entirely new development, they see the twentieth century growth of Christianity as a return to the history of Christianity before 1200- 1400 AD when Europe developed as its dominant heartland. By means of readings, guest lectures, and student seminar presentations, this course examines aspects of non-Western Christianity including early origins, struggles with Islam, the impact of European imperialism and missions, and factors involved in the accelerated growth in many parts of the world since the mid-twentieth century.

Pre-Nicene Christianity

This course examines in detail the background and development of Christian thought and life in the period spanning the Apostolic Fathers through to the Council of Nicaea (325). Particular attention is paid to how the early Christians understood themselves, how they interpreted their religious tradition and related it to their religious experience, and how they defined their own purposes. This course seeks to contextualize pre-Christianity in its diverse expressions. Thus, the course analyzes the complex formulation of Pre-Nicene Christianity through the writings of some of its most influential thinkers, leaders, and movements (both orthodox and heretical) with an eye toward identifying major developments in early Christian theology and practice.

Villains and Wenches: (Re)Conceiving the Atlantic World

This course uses reading, discussion, and student presentations to examine the ways that historians have conceptualized the Atlantic World and those who people it. It considers the very idea of the Atlantic system as a framework for historical study and the ways in which various historiographical and methodological approaches have affected the way we understand the people and events of the Atlantic basin.

Self-Directed Activity

Run for Fun

Weight Training

Self-Defense for Women