Historical & Political Studies

Courses in this category have as their primary focus the historical and political processes and patterns that have structured the relationship between individuals and communities. This concentration explores how communities attempt to reconcile the claims of justice, power, liberty, and authority, historically and in contemporary public life. By developing an interdisciplinary approach that can include law, economics, sociology, and philosophy, Historical and Political Studies is a broadly based concentration that shares the traditional aims of liberal arts education while attempting to come to grips with the origins and contemporary manifestations of major political and social issues.

Sponsored by: History & Society

Faculty Contact: Nabaparna Ghosh

Required Courses

Students must take four (4) courses from those listed below to complete this concentration, including at least one (1) Historical course and one (1) Political course. At least two (2) courses must be at the advanced level (3000 or above).

Historical Courses (Choose at least one):

• AMS 4672 Working in America: Labor in the US since 1892 
• CVA 2002 African American History and Foodways
• CVA 2026 Immigrants, Race, and the American Promise
• CVA 2055 Peoples and Cultures of Latin America 
• HIS 4606 History and Culture of American Business
• HIS 4612 Drugs and Intoxicants in World History
• HIS 4616 Cambodia: Rebuilding Culture and the Economy after Genocide
• HIS 4619 Crossroads Manhattan
• HIS 4626 Global Cities 
• HIS 4670 History and Ethics of Capitalism
• HIS 4682 Women in China
• HSS 2000 Making of Modern America
• HSS 2003 Latin American History  
• HSS 2006 South Asian History
• HSS 2010 U.S. Foreign Policy Since 1900
• HSS 2013 China Today
• HSS 2019 History of Food and Election Campaigns
• HSS 2025 Decolonization and Revolution in the 20th Century
• HSS 2032 African History and Foodways
• HSS 2034 Modern European History
• HSS 2038 Modern Middle East
• HSS 2039 Contemporary Africa
• HSS 2041 Global Goods: Histories of Commodities, Exchanges, and Cultures
• HSS 2058 The Modern American City
• LVA 2006 Russia in Modernity
• VSA 4615 Early Twentieth-Century Art

Political Courses (Choose at least one):

• CVA 2015 Political Thought
• CVA 2033 Radical Politics Today
• ECN 3662 Political Economy of Latin American Development and Underdevelopment
• ENV 4605 Global Environmental Activism
• GDR 4605 Global Gender Politics
• HSS 2028 Global Politics
• HSS 2030 U.S. Politics
• HSS 2033 Comparative Politics
• HSS 2040 Environmental Politics
• LAW 3601 Public International Law
• LIT 4682 Interdisciplinary Approach to Human Rights
• POL 4604 Understanding Political Risk
• POL 4630 Critical Race and Indigenous Studies
• POL 4635 International Politics of Asia
• POL 4645 Comparative Latin American Politics