Spring 2026 Featured Courses

HIST BC1302 European History Since 1789, with Prof. Tiersten

This course introduces students to the political, social, economic, and cultural history of modern Europe, from the end of the Old Regime to the growth of the European Union in the twenty-first century. Topics include the French Revolution, industrialization, the emergence of the modern metropolis, nationalism and empire building, the World Wars, fascism and Stalinism, the welfare state, and the emergence of new forms of identity and citizenship in post-industrial and post-colonial European society. 

Check out this course if you:

• are interested in the massive shifts in the distribution of social and political power that have occurred over the course of the past 200-odd years—
• would like to learn about the  emergence of the most important political ideologies of the modern era, including liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, socialism, communism, and fascism

HIST BC 2099 Making Vikings, with Prof. Delvaux

This course asks the linked pair of questions—how did people in the Viking Age make their lives, and how do researchers recover or recreate those lives today? Students will literally recreate various kinds of sources from the Viking Age to reflect on what the processes of production as well as the sources themselves can tell us about the past.

Check out this course if you:

• are interested in how people craft identities and communities through things and texts
• want to be in a class where you get to make things and think about the makers of the past
• want a glimpse of connections across the premodern world ranging from North America to Central Asia

HIST BC2195 Gender and Sexuality in European History, with Prof. Booth

This course examines the history of gender and sexuality in Europe, from the Renaissance to the present day. Topics include queer and trans histories, early modern witchcraft trials, European imperialism, revolutions (both political and sexual), sexual commerce, the science of sex, and more. 

Check this course out if you:

• want to look at a variety of sources including film, painting, photography, literature, and music
• are interested in learning about the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and class
• are curious about the the place histories of gender and sexuality have in our contemporary world

Of particular interest to: WGSS students

HIST BC2681 Women, Gender, and Sexuality in Latin American History, with Prof. Milanich

This course traces the history of Latin American societies over the course of two centuries through the lens of gender and sexuality. We explore a number of themes, including the intersection of social class, race, ethnicity, and gender; capitalism, labor, and patriarchy; gender and the state; gender and revolution; Latin American feminisms and gender- and sexuality-based mobilizations in the region. 

Take this class if you are interested in exploring:

• how different social science disciplines, such as political science, anthropology, and history, define politics and approach the study of society
• the pitfalls and possibilities of cross-cultural comparison
• how political ideologies, such as feminism, travel across borders and change as they move
• the historical roots of contemporary Latin American politics and society

HIST BC2699 Latin American Civilization II (Modern Latin American History), with Prof. Salgado

This course offers a survey of the history of Latin America since the wars of independence to the present. We will look closely at the formation of class and ethnic identities, the struggles around state formation, and the links between Latin America and other regions of the world. 

Check out this course if you are interested in: 

• racial and national identities
• political ideologies--republicanism, liberalism, populism
• Latin American politics and cultures

Of interest to students in political science, sociology, and, obviously, Latin American studies.

HIST BC3803 Gender and Empire, with Prof. Rao

This course uses gender and sexuality as an important lens for understanding the intimate lives of empire, anti-colonialism, and contemporary neoliberalism. 

Check out this course if you:

• would like to explore how scholars relate personal memory with public history
• would like to learn about how cultural difference impacts social inequalities –would like to understand gendered controversies of the present