UW Bothell Course Descriptions
UW Tacoma Course Descriptions
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Detailed course offerings (Time Schedule) are available for
HSTAS 108 International Baccalaureate (IB) History of Asia (5) SSc
Course awarded based on International Baccalaureate (IB) score. Consult the Admissions Exams for Credit website for more information.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 108
HSTAS 201 Introduction to South Asian History, pre-history to 1500 (5) SSc
Religions, literature, philosophy, politics, arts, and history of India from earliest times to the Mughal empire.
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HSTAS 202 Introduction to South Asian History, 1500 - present (5) SSc
The Islamic impact, British conquest, and contemporary India. Emphasis on the rise of nationalism, social organization, and contemporary life and history. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 202.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 202
HSTAS 211 History of Chinese Civilization (5) SSc
Intensive survey of Chinese civilization from earliest times to today. Introduces all students, including East Asian history majors, to the general sweep of Chinese history. Social, cultural, and intellectual developments.
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HSTAS 212 History of Korean Civilization (5) SSc
From earliest times to the present. Development of Korean society and culture in terms of government organization, social and economic change, literature, and art. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 212.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 212
HSTAS 214 Modern Korean History through Film (5) SSc
Analyzes South and North Korean films as well as films produced when Korea was a Japanese colony (1910-1945) as historical documents on Korean history, society, and culture during the twentieth century. Through films and other cultural products, it examines processes of nation-building in Korea, paying special attention to formations of gender, class, and national identities.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 214
HSTAS 221 History of Southeast Asia (5) SSc, DIV
Surveys Southeast Asian civilizations at the outset of Western colonial rule; the colonial impact on the traditional societies of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines; nineteenth- and twentieth-century nationalist and revolutionary movements; emergence of Southeast Asia as a region in the modern world. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 221.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 221
HSTAS 235 History of Modern Taiwan (5) SSc
Social, cultural, political, and economic history of modern Taiwan from approximately 1600 to the present. Places Taiwan within global historical changes and explores Taiwan-centric issues in depth. Covers migration, colonialism, race and identity, urban and rural development, the Cold War, capitalism and industrialization, science, religion, labor, and gender. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 235.
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HSTAS 241 Japanese Civilization (5) SSc
Japan's civilization, including its origins, government, literature, economic institutions, material culture, social organization, and religions, in relation to the development of Japan as a society and nation. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 241.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 241
HSTAS 242 Christianity in Asia (5) SSc
Christianity in East Asia, sixteenth century to present. Shared experiences that transcended national boundaries. Also traces divergent paths Christianity took in China, Korea, and Japan. What propelled missionary expansion? Why did people convert? What are lasting legacies of Christianity? Attention to shifting meanings of faith, identity, and religious community across the region. Offered: jointly with RELIG 242.
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HSTAS 244 Imperialism and Anti-Colonialism in Asia (5) SSc, DIV
Introduction to Western imperialism expansion, conquest, and colonial rule in Asia; the anti-colonial, nationalist resistances they engendered; and the resultant cultural, political, economic, and intellectual transformations in Asian societies. Covers post-1800 violence, racial hierarchies, human rights abuses, post-colonial memories, persistent strategies of domination, and structural inequities. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 244.
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HSTAS 245 Human Rights in Asia (5) SSc, DIV
Introduction to recent and ongoing human rights issues in South, Southeast, and East Asia. Focuses on how human rights politics have played out in domestic political arenas. Provides exposure to views/insights into the historical context in which human rights claims, abuses, and debates arise. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 245.
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HSTAS 254 Modern China: Three Revolutions (5) SSc
Surveys Chinese history from the late nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth century. Examines how "modern China" took shape by focusing on the transformations and changes in the political system, economic structure, social organization, and intellectual trends. In particular, examines the three revolutions of modern China -- the Republican, Nationalist, and Communist revolutions. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 254.
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HSTAS 264 Violence, Race, and Memory (5) SSc/A&H, DIV
Explores how images and ideas of power, race, violence, and global modernity circulate in memories and discourses about US relations with Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Topics include foundations myths, colonial and postcolonial encounters, historiography and narrative, and nationalist and ethnic identity formations. Offered: jointly with JSIS B 264; Sp.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 264
HSTAS 265 The Viet Nam Wars (5) SSc
Recent Vietnamese history and struggles for independence and national unification vis-a-vis French colonialism, Japanese occupation, American intervention, and internal divisions. Covers historical roots and contemporary contexts of revolution and war, objectives and motivations of participants, and the enormous human costs. Emphasizes socio-cultural changes and wars' legacies. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 265.
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HSTAS 290 Topics in Asian History (5, max. 10) SSc
Examines special topics in Asian history.
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HSTAS 303 Environmental History of South Asia: Divided Lands/Divided Lives (5) SSc, DIV
Focuses on the mobilization of South Asian tribal, peasant, and ethnic communities around ecological issues to secure social equity in the colonial and post-colonial period. Examines how the complex interactions of states and peoples have changed the ways in which nature itself is conceptualized. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 303.
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HSTAS 317 History by Bollywood: Colonial India through Film (5) SSc, DIV
Through popular cinema, specifically Hindi-language films produced by Bombay-based film industry for mass market, explores colonial history of South Asia beginning with British takeover of Indian subcontinent in late eighteenth century to emergence of independence and partition in 1947. Focuses specifically on Bollywood films that have shaped popular (mis)understandings of key episodes and developments in history of modern India. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 317.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 317
HSTAS 327 China and the West in Historical Perspective, 1500-1976 (5) SSc
Examines relations between China and the West in historical perspective. Covers the period from 1500 to 1976, including political interactions as well as intellectual, religious, and cultural contact. Investigates how and why these relations changed over time, and how this historical legacy is relevant today. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 327.
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HSTAS 348 Alternative Routes to Modernity (5) SSc
Routes to modernity followed by non-Western societies between 1600 and 1900. Historical experiences of non-Western societies seen in the context of European history and of development theory. Emphasizes primary sources and techniques for posing theoretical questions of historical data. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 346.
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HSTAS 354 Modern China: From Empire to Republics (5)
Surveys the major historical events and discourses of twentieth century China and lays a foundation for understanding contemporary China. Themes include reforms; revolutions; colonialism and imperialism; state and society; and social and cultural changes. Offered: jointly with JSIS D 354.
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HSTAS 401 History of Ancient India (5) SSc
India in ancient times; emphasis on forms of political organizations and economic life, social organizations, and cultural developments.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 401
HSTAS 402 History of Medieval and Mughal India (5) SSc
Medieval India; emphasis on forms of political organizations and economic life, social organizations, and cultural developments.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 402
HSTAS 403 History of Modern India to 1900 (5) SSc
Modern India; emphasis on forms of political organizations and economic life, social organizations, and cultural developments.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 403
HSTAS 404 History of Twentieth-Century India (5) SSc
Analysis of the problems in the fields of social life, international and domestic politics, education, economics, and other areas that confront India today. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 409; A.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 404
HSTAS 408 Fabulous Gurus and Fake Fakirs: Religious Reform in Colonial India (5) SSc, DIV
Religious reformers in Colonial India tried to reform and modernize Hinduism, Islam, and Sikhism. Reviews literature from this period to understand what religious identity and practice meant to people, how these changed during this transformative period, and wide-reaching impacts on politics, nationalism, family structure, education, caste, and gender.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 408
HSTAS 421 History of Pre-Modern Japan (5) SSc
Introduces the early years of Japan's political, socioeconomic, and cultural history, culminating in the emergence of the early modern state around 1600.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 421
HSTAS 423 Origins of Modern Japan (5) SSc
Course surveys Japan's early modern age, from the end of the warring-states period in the late 1500s through the Meiji revolution and creation of a modern state in the late 1800s. Japan's history since the early 20th century is continued in a second class, JSIS A 424/HSTAS 424. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 423.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 423
HSTAS 424 Japan Since the Early 20th Century (5) SSc
The making of modern Japan; World War II and surrender; American occupation; postoccupation rebuilding; emergence as an industrial power. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 424.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 424
HSTAS 432 History of the Japanese Empire (5) SSc
The age of "new imperialism" during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as it profoundly shaped the historical trajectory of East Asia. Primary and secondary sources examine Japan's rise as one of the only non-Western empires in the modern era, and its enduring impact on the East Asian region. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 432.
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HSTAS 440 Japanese History in Ecological Perspective (5) SSc
Survey of Japanese history in ecological perspective, from early times to the present. Topics include ancient Japanese lifeways; climate and history; agriculture, population, and resources; Buddhist and animist views of outer and inner nature; urbanization from ancient capitals to megacity Tokyo; industrialization and energy; and future visions. Readings include influential scholarly works and Japanese sources in English translation. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 440; W.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 440
HSTAS 441 Economic and Social History of Japan to 1900 (5) SSc
Lecture-seminar on Japanese economic and social history from 700 to 1900. Analyses of the rise and decline of the shoen system, the rise of commerce, social change, changes in the living standard, demographic changes, and the early phases of industrialization. Political and cultural developments as related to economic and social change.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 441
HSTAS 451 Chinese History: Earliest Times to 221 BC (5) SSc
Pre-imperial China.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 451
HSTAS 452 Chinese History from Earliest Times to 1276 (5) SSc
Traces the development of Chinese civilization form earliest times through the Song dynasty. Examines social, cultural, political, and economic history.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 452
HSTAS 453 Chinese History from 1276-1895 (5) SSc
Political, social, economic, and intellectual history from the time of the Mongol conquest of China to the Sino-Japanese war. Focus on the evolution of the late imperial Chinese state and the "early modern" era in China. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 428.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 453
HSTAS 454 History of Modern China (5) SSc
Offered: jointly with JSIS A 454.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 454
HSTAS 456 Topics in Chinese Social History (5) SSc
Surveys major issues and approaches to the study of the role of the Chinese people in China's historical development. Historical focus of course varies with instructor. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 456.
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HSTAS 457 Women in China to 1800 (5) SSc, DIV
Gender in Chinese culture, women's situations in the patrilineal family system, and the ways women's situations changed as other dimensions of China's political system, economy, and culture changed from early times through the nineteenth century. Offered: jointly with GWSS 457.
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HSTAS 458 Youth in Modern China (5) SSc
Emergence of youth in Modern China as a social category; a distinctive stage of life; from most dominated group in society to driving force of history. Explores how young people experienced history of modern China as individuals, members of family, and society. Youth as shaped in post-socialist consumer culture, new nationalism, cosmopolitanism. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 451.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 458
HSTAS 460 Cities in China: Past and Present (5) SSc
Economic, political, social, and cultural functions of the city in modern Chinese history. Changes in China's urban system. The city as cultural center and focus of literary and cinematic representation. Attention to architecture, commerce, urbanization, the role of capital cities in the power of the state. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 460.
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HSTAS 462 Southeast Asian History to 1800 (5) SSc
Absorption and modification of cultures (Indian and Chinese), religions (Islam, Buddhism, Catholicism), and peoples (northern European) by island- and mainland-Southeast Asians. Main themes are cultural contact and the growth of states and peoples.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 462
HSTAS 463 Southeast Asian History from 1800 to the Present (5) SSc
Post-eighteenth-century history of the present countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Deals with colonial rule, emerging nationalism, and political independence. Investigates broad themes of social, economic, and cultural history.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 463
HSTAS 466 Islam, Mysticism, Politics and Performance in Indonesian Culture (5) A&H/SSc
Examines how Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous country, with the largest Islamic population, weaves together local practices and influences from India and Persia. Offers ways of understanding modern Indonesian performing arts, religion, and polities. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 462.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 466
HSTAS 481 History of Pre-Modern Korea (5) SSc
Examines political, socioeconomic, intellectual, and cultural development of Korea from the earliest times through the nineteenth century.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 481
HSTAS 482 Modern Korean History (5) SSc
Traces complex social, cultural, and political developments that transformed Korea during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Topics include late Choson reforms, changing gender norms, national identity, colonial state and society, territorial division, and democratization. Attention to diversity of Korean experiences, as well as the interplay of local dynamics and global forces in the peninsula. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 446.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 482
HSTAS 484 Korea in the Japanese Empire (5) SSc, DIV
Korean colonial history in the context of Japanese imperial expansion from the 1870s to 1945. Analyzes the Korean quest for modernization and nation-building, colonial industrialization and colonial modernity, assimilation and resistance, wartime mobilization and collaboration, Manchurian experiences, social movements, and cultural developments. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 484.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 484
HSTAS 490 Topics in Asian History (5, max. 10) SSc
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HSTAS 501 Indian History (3-6, max. 6)
Prerequisite: permission of instructor.
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HSTAS 502 Seminar: History of India (3-6, max. 12)
Seminar on selected topics and problems in the history of medieval and modern India. Prerequisite: HSTAS 501 and permission of instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 502
HSTAS 503 Seminar: History of India (3-6, max. 12)
Seminar on selected topics and problems in the history of medieval and modern India. Prerequisite: HSTAS 501 and permission of instructor.
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HSTAS 520 Premodern Japanese History (5)
Field course; Japanese history prior to 1868. Prerequisite: HSTAS 421 and HSTAS 422, or SISEA 441 and SISEA 541, or permission of instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 520
HSTAS 521 Modern Japanese History (3-6, max. 6)
Field course. Prerequisite: HSTAS 422, HSTAS 423, or permission of instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 521
HSTAS 523 Seminar in Modern Japanese History (3-6, max. 12)
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HSTAS 524 Seminar in Modern Japanese History (3-6, max. 12)
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HSTAS 530 Field Course in Southeast Asian History (5)
Introduces major English-language works on Southeast Asian history and to the major historiographical issues of the era. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 580.
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HSTAS 532 Seminar in Southeast Asian History (5)
Selected topics in Southeast Asian history and historiography. Includes preparation for theses and doctoral dissertations on Southeast Asian History. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 582.
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HSTAS 534 Indonesian Histories, Oral Traditions, and Archives (5)
Explores the inscription of Indonesian histories and stories. Focuses on oral traditions, oral testimonies, and archives. Investigates how oral and written testimonies enter historical archives. Explores theoretical work on literary and performance traditions as they relate to nationalism and Islam in Indonesia. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 534.
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HSTAS 540 Japanese History in Ecological Perspective (5)
Survey of Japanese history in ecological perspective, from early times to the present. Topics include ancient Japanese lifeways; climate and history; agriculture, population, and resources; Buddhist and animist views of outer and inner nature; urbanization from ancient capitals to megacity Tokyo; industrialization and energy; and future visions. Readings include influential scholarly works and Japanese sources in English translation. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 539; W.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 540
HSTAS 541 Economic and Social History of Japan to 1900 (5)
Analyses of landholding systems, the rise of commerce, demographic changes, urbanization, early industrialization, and social change. Prerequisite: previous course work in Japanese history or economic history, or permission of instructor. Not open to students who have taken HSTAS 441.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 541
HSTAS 551 Field Course in Chinese History: Pre-Sung Period (3-6, max. 6)
Introduction to the English-language literature on Chinese history through the Song dynasty.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 551
HSTAS 552 Seminar in Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1276 ([3-6]-, max. 12)
Methods and materials for research in early imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of classical Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 552
HSTAS 553 Seminar in Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1276 (-[3-6]-, max. 12)
Methods and materials for research in early imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of classical Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 553
HSTAS 554 Seminar in Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1276 (-[3-6], max. 12)
Methods and materials for research in early imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of classical Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 554
HSTAS 555 Core Research Seminar in Chinese History (5-, max. 10) SSc
An introduction to research practices in Chinese history and exemplary recent works.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 555
HSTAS 556 Core Research Seminar in Chinese History (-5, max. 10) SSc
An introduction to research practices in Chinese history and exemplary recent works.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 556
HSTAS 560 Field Course in Chinese History: 1276-1895 ([3-6]-, max. 6)
Introduction to the English-language literature on the Yuan, Min, and Qing dynasties.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 560
HSTAS 561 Field Course in Chinese History: 1276-1895 (-[3-6], max. 6)
Introduction to the English-language literature on the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 561
HSTAS 562 Seminar in Chinese History: 1268-1895 ([3-6]-, max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 562
HSTAS 563 Seminar in Chinese History: 1268-1895 (-[3-6]-, max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 563
HSTAS 564 Seminar in Chinese History: 1268-1895 (-[3-6], max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 564
HSTAS 566 Islam, Mysticism, Politics, and Performance in Indonesia (5)
Examines how Indonesia, the world's fourth most-populous country, with the largest Islamic population, weaves together local practices and influence from India and Persia. Offers ways of understanding modern Indonesian performing arts, religion, and politics. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 586.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 566
HSTAS 572 Seminar in Twentieth Century Chinese History (-[3-6], max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in imperial Chinese history. Prerequisite: reading knowledge of Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 572
HSTAS 573 Seminar in Twentieth Century Chinese History ([3-6]-, max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in twentieth-century Chinese history. Prerequisite: knowledge of Chinese and permission of instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 573
HSTAS 574 Seminar in Twentieth Century Chinese History (-[3-6]-, max. 12)
Materials and methods for research in twentieth-century Chinese history. Prerequisite: knowledge of Chinese and permission of instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 574
HSTAS 575 Seminar in Chinese History: Modern Period (-[3-6], max. 12)
Research seminar in modern Chinese history. Training in the materials and methods of research, and preparation of extended research papers. Prerequisite: HSTAS 571-572 or permission of instructor and reading knowledge of Chinese.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 575
HSTAS 579 Modern Chinese History (5)
Introduction to the major English-language literature on modern Chinese history and to the major historiographical issues of the period. Prerequisite: HSTAS 454 or equivalent, and permission of instructor. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 576.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 579
HSTAS 581 Modern Korean History (5)
Traces complex social, cultural, and political developments that transformed Korea during the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Topics include late Choson reforms, changing gender norms, national identity, colonial state and society, territorial division, and democratization. Attention to diversity of Korean experiences, as well as the interplay of local dynamics and global forces in the peninsula. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. Offered: jointly with JSIS A 583.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 581
HSTAS 582 Seminar in Korean History ([3-6]-, max. 12)
Selected topics in Korean history and historiography.
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HSTAS 583 Seminar in Korean History (-[3-6]-, max. 12)
Selected topics in Korean history and historiography.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 583
HSTAS 584 Seminar in Korean History (-[3-6], max. 12)
Selected topics in Korean history and historiography.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 584
HSTAS 590 Topics in History (5, max. 15)
Seminar on selected topics in general history, with special emphasis on preparation for field examinations. Topics vary according to interests of students and instructor.
View course details in MyPlan: HSTAS 590
