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.

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?

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.

Independent but guided reading and research in a specialized area of history of interest to students.

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.

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.

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

A survey of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The historical roots of the conflict, issues of land ownership and immigration, the development of national consciousness, and the process of state formation within both communities, impacts on the larger international community, and problems of peacemaking.

An examination of some major theses in the history of the Arab Middle East since the breakup of the Ottoman Empire following World War I. The course examines 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).

A cultural and political history of China and Japan since 1900 with an emphasis on late twentieth century issues. Course includes discussion of Hong Kong and Taiwan as Chinese territories and Korea as a primary neighbour of China and Japan. Of special interest are the relations of Japan and China with the United States.