Courses

In the setting of the historical Booth Mansion in Ottawa, students are invited to explore the history of Canadian political leadership. Using the historical method, including research in primary sources, they will evaluate the leadership of Canadian Prime Ministers and examine how they addressed the needs and crises of the nation. By means of their enquiries into Canada's political leadership, students will develop their own theories of effective leadership.

This course 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, the maturation of EuroAmerican colonial societies and their struggles for autonomy and national independence.

This seminar examines specific topics in the history of gender throughout the period known loosely as the modern world. The course 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. The seminar 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.

Examines the changing nature of, and approaches to, war and its effect on society from the ancient world to the present, including an assessment of various visions and proposals for peace. The course includes an assessment of historic and relatively recent armed conflicts, exploring the causes of contemporary conflict and some of its distinctive characteristics. It also evaluates the effectiveness of various strategies for preventing, abating and terminating current forms of conflict. Questions discussed include: 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?

Human interaction with the environment is the most fundamental of all relationships. This course examines the different ways in which societies have defined, understood, and used their nonhuman surroundings and the processes through which the environment influences culture and adapts to human communities. Students explore the historical context of the human-nature interaction in global perspective and compare the ways in which the concepts of politics, nationalism, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, etc. inform and guide the relationship.

The study of history relies on the written and oral record of human experience. The use to which words have been put has varied over time ranging from the ancient world's innocent acceptance of recorded inventories and boastful heroic conquests, to the postmodern era where the text is not a bearer of truth but an instrument of power. This course traces the place of the text in the human effort to know and remember the past. Although the written text has been foundational for the study of the past, people have left other signs of their presence and we interact with other realities than the text. This course brings in additional disciplines including philosophy, literary criticism, biology, psychology, physics, and biblical studies.

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.

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.

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.