Course 21H: History
IAP/Spring
2026
Introductory
21H.000 The History of Now
 ( )
Prereq: None
Units: 1-0-0 [P/D/F]
Lecture: F2 (E51-285)
Exposes students to the study of history for a deeper understanding of the past, the present and the future by exploring current events in a historical perspective. Features guest lectures from experts inside and outside MIT. Subject can count toward the 6-unit discovery-focused credit limit for first-year students; preference to first-year students.
E. Wood & H. Padalko
No textbook information available
21H.001 How to Stage a Revolution
 () 
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: T2-5 (4-265)
Explores fundamental questions about the causes and nature of revolutions by looking at how people overthrow their rulers and establish new governments. Considers a set of major political transformations throughout the world and across centuries to understand the meaning of revolution and evaluate its impact. Examines how revolutionaries have attempted to establish their ideals and realize their goals. Asks whether radical upheavals require bloodshed, violence, or even terror. Seeks to explain why some revolutions succeed and others fail. Materials include the writings of revolutionaries, declarations and constitutions, music, films, art, novels, memoirs, and newspapers.
M. Ghachem, C. Wilder, M. Kars
No textbook information available
21H.007[J] Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Studies
 () 
(Same subject as 21L.014[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the fascinating history, culture, and society of the ancient and medieval worlds and the different methodologies scholars use to interpret them. Wrestles with big questions about the diversity of life and thought in pre-modern societies, the best ways to study the distant past, and the nature (and limitations) of knowledge about long-ago eras. Considers a wide range of scholarly subjects such as the rise and fall of the Roman empire, the triumph of Christianity and Islam, barbarian invasions and holy wars, courts and castles, philosophy and religion, and the diversity of art, literature, and politics. Ponders different types of evidence, reads across a variety of disciplines, and develops skills to identify continuities and changes in ancient and medieval societies.
E. Driscoll & S. Frampton
21H.009 World History and Its Fault Lines Since 1800
( )
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores how the world, as we know it today, came to be. Examines what it means to be modern and the consequences of modernity on people's everyday lives. Introduces real and perceived changes that made the world recognizably "modern." Surveys the rise of empires, nation-states, industrialized economies, mass consumption, popular culture, and political ideas and movements, and studies how they resulted in new, often contested, dynamics of racial, class, religious, gendered, and political identity. Instruction provided in how the evolving relationships of people with political, social, and economic structures produced a world that is highly interconnected and, at the same time, divided along different fault lines.
S. Aiyar, H. Nagahara
21H.061 The History of American Presidential Elections
(); first half of term
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-3
Introduces the main themes and topics in the history of presidential elections from 1788 to the present. Explores structures of the US executive branch, the primary, convention, and election systems, and the Electoral College. Students examine academic debates in history and other social sciences, and write short papers on historical and contemporary topics. Meets with 21H.203 when offered concurrently. 21H.061 is offered only in an election year (not for HASS credit) and covers the first half of the course, leading up to election day.
C. Capozzola
21H.079[J] The Making of Roman Pompeii
(New)
( )
(Same subject as 1.059[J], 3.079[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-3-3
TBA. Lab: TBD (TBD)
Explores space and society in ancient Pompeii. Combines on-site lectures and discussions in Rome, Pompeii, and Herculaneum exploring the political, social, economic, and cultural history of the built environment with hands-on materials-based research in collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. Includes experimental archaeology labs on ancient concretes, frescoes, mosaics, and Egyptian blue. Takes place in Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Naples, Italy; program fee required. Enrollment limited to 20. Offered as a MISTI Global Classroom program; travel costs covered by Global Classroom. Contact department for details. Enrollment limited; undergraduates only. Application required.
W. Broadhead, A. Masic, L. Rabieh, M. Tarkanian,
No textbook information available
21H.090 Digital Humanities Laboratory
(, )  
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: 6.100A
Units: 2-2-8
Combines research in HASS fields with computational methods of analysis, data collection, and presentation. Rotates to a different research project within SHASS each offering and meets with a research seminar taught by the PI of that project. Students work in teams to produce original computational research within the existing project, in collaboration with the research staff of the Programs in Digital Humanities. Leverage techniques from a wide range of practices including natural language processing, computer vision, machine learning, and web development. Repeatable for credit with permission of instructor. Limited to 25.
Staff
21H.101 American History to 1865
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
A basic history of American social, economic, and political development from the colonial period through the Civil War. Examines the colonial heritages of Spanish and British America; the American Revolution and its impact; the establishment and growth of the new nation; and the Civil War, its background, character, and impact. Readings include writings of the period by Winthrop, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, W. H. Garrison, G. Fitzhugh, H. B. Stowe, and Lincoln.
Staff
21H.102 American History since 1865
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the social, cultural, political, and economic history of the United States, from the Civil War to the present. Uses secondary analysis and primary documents, such as court cases, personal accounts, photographs, and films, to examine some of the key issues in the shaping of modern America, including industrialization and urbanization, immigration, the rise of a mass consumer society, the emergence of the US as a global power, and the development of civil rights activism and other major social movements.
Staff
21H.106[J] Black Matters: Introduction to Black Studies
() 
(Same subject as 24.912[J], 21L.008[J], 21W.741[J], CMS.150[J], WGS.190[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: T2-5 (E15-335)
Interdisciplinary survey of people of African descent that draws on the overlapping approaches of history, literature, anthropology, legal studies, media studies, performance, linguistics, and creative writing. Connects the experiences of African-Americans and of other American minorities, focusing on social, political, and cultural histories, and on linguistic patterns. Includes lectures, discussions, workshops, and required field trips that involve minimal cost to students.
M. DeGraff, D. Fox Harrell, D. Wood
No textbook information available
21H.107[J] From Yellow Peril to Model Minority: Asian American History to 1968
()
(Same subject as 21G.043[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an overview of Asian American history between the 1830s and 1968 and its relevance for contemporary issues. Covers the first wave of Asian immigration in the 19th century, the rise of anti-Asian movements, the experiences of Asian Americans during WWII, the 1965 immigration reform, and the emergence of the Asian American movement in the 1960s. Examines the role these experiences played in the formation of Asian American ethnicity. Addresses key societal issues such as racial stereotyping, xenophobia, ethnicity and racial formation, citizenship, worker activism, immigrant community building, the "model minority" myth, and anti-Asian harassment and violence. Taught in English.
Consult E. Teng
21H.108[J] Sexual and Gender Identities in the Modern United States
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as WGS.110[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an introduction to the history of gender, sex, and sexuality in the modern United States, from the end of the 19th century to the present. Surveys historical approaches to the field, emphasizing the changing nature of sexual and gender identities over time. Traces attempts to control, construct, and contain sexual and gender identities. Examines the efforts of those who worked to resist, reject, and reform institutionalized heterosexuality and mainstream configurations of gendered power.
Staff
21H.109[J] Gender: Historical Perspectives
()
(Same subject as WGS.303[J])
(Subject meets with 21H.983[J], WGS.310[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: W2-5 (4-144)
Examines the definition of gender in scientific, societal, and historical contexts. Explores how gender influences state formation and the work of the state, what role gender plays in imperialism and in the welfare state, the ever-present relationship between gender and war, and different states' regulation of the body in gendered ways at different times. Investigates new directions in the study of gender as historians, anthropologists and others have taken on this fascinating set of problems. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
E. Wood
No textbook information available
21H.130 The Ancient World: Greece
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
History of Ancient Greece from the Bronze Age to the death of Alexander. Major social, economic, political, and religious trends. Homer, heroism, and the Greek identity; the hoplite revolution and the rise of the city-state; Herodotus, Persia, and the (re)birth of history; Empire, Thucydidean rationalism, and the Peloponnesian War; Aristotle, Macedonia, and Hellenism. Emphasis on use of primary sources in translation.
E. Driscoll
21H.132 The Ancient World: Rome
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW12 (4-231) Recitation: R12 (56-191) or F1 (56-180)
History of Rome from its humble beginnings to the 5th century A.D. First half: Kingship to Republican form; the conquest of Italy; Roman expansion: Pyrrhus, Punic Wars and provinces; classes, courts, and the Roman revolution; Augustus and the formation of empire. Second half: Virgil to the Vandals; major social, economic, political and religious trends at Rome and in the provinces. Emphasis on use of primary sources in translation. Enrollment limited.
W. Broadhead
No textbook information available
21H.133 The Medieval World
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Investigates the dynamic history of Europe and the wider world between the late Roman empire and voyages of discovery. Examines the rise of Christianity, the cult of the saints, and monasticism; the decline of the Roman empire, the barbarian invasions, and the foundation of post-Roman kingdoms; the meteoric rise of Islam; the formation of the Carolingian, Byzantine, and Islamic empires; the Vikings and Mongols; castles, knights, and crusades; religious thinkers, reformers, and heretics; changes in art, architecture, and literature; the Black Death and the fall of Constantinople; the Italian Renaissance and the voyages of discovery.
E. Goldberg
21H.134[J] Medieval Economic History in Comparative Perspective
() 
(Same subject as 14.70[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: T EVE (7-10 PM) (16-160)
Surveys the foundations of material life and changing social and economic conditions in medieval Europe in their broader Eurasian context. Covers the gradual disintegration of the Roman imperial order, the emergence and decline of feudal institutions, the transformation of peasant agriculture, living standards and the impact of climate and disease environments, and the ebb and flow of long-distance trade across the Eurasian system. Particular emphasis on the study of those factors, both institutional and technological, which contributed to the emergence of capitalist organization and economic growth in western Europe in comparison to the trajectories followed by the other major medieval economies.
A. McCants & E. Spero
No textbook information available
21H.135 J.R.R. Tolkien: Scholar, Author, and Thinker
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores how an Oxford professor of medieval philology and literature wrote the most influential work of fantasy, The Lord of the Rings. Investigates how Tolkien's scholarship on Anglo-Saxon and Middle English, fascination with inventing languages, experiences during the First World War, and Catholic faith shaped the creation of his fantasy world often (mistakenly) called Middle Earth. Examines Tolkien's books within the context of his life, scholarship, ideas, and beliefs to uncover how an author of fantasy literature helped shape the image of the Middle Ages in the modern popular imagination. Considers the extent to which film adaptations do justice to the complexity of Tolkien's stories, themes, and characters.
E. Goldberg
21H.141 Renaissance to Revolution: Europe, 1300-1800
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an introduction to major political, social, cultural and intellectual changes in Europe from the beginnings of the Renaissance in Italy around 1300 to the outbreak of the French Revolution at the end of the 1700s. Focuses on the porous boundaries between categories of theology, magic and science. Examines how developments in these areas altered European political institutions, social structures, and cultural practices. Studies men and women, nobles and commoners, as well as Europeans and some non-Europeans with whom they came into contact.
Staff
21H.143[J] The Making of Modern Europe: 1789-Present
()
(Same subject as 21G.056[J])
(Subject meets with 21G.356)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an introduction to European history from 1789 to the present. Surveys the Enlightenment and the French Revolution, industrialization and the rise of labor politics, imperialism and nationalism, the First and Second World Wars, the Holocaust, Cold War divisions and the dissolution of the Eastern bloc, decolonization, and the ongoing search for a new Europe after 1989. Taught in English.
E. Kempf
21H.144[J] Introduction to Russian Studies
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21G.087[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores Russian culture and society by analyzing its unique position at the crossroads of Europe and Asia throughout medieval, Imperial, Soviet, and contemporary periods. Investigates a variety of topics: defining the borders of the country and shaping its relationship with the outside world; changes in living spaces from rural to urban, development of cultural centers; and daily life, customs, and traditions. Includes readings in literature, history, and cultural studies, as well visual arts, music, and film. Limited to 25.
E. Wood, M. Khotimsky
21H.145[J] French Photography
() 
(Same subject as 4.674[J], 21G.049[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Introduces students to the world of French photography from its invention in the 1820s to the present. Provides exposure to major photographers and images of the French tradition and encourages students to explore the social and cultural roles and meanings of photographs. Designed to help students navigate their own photo-saturated worlds; provides opportunity to gain practical experience in photography. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.
C. Clark
21H.151 Dynastic China
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the first dynasty to 1800. Traces the rise of the world's first centralized bureaucratic state, the development of the world's oldest living written culture, and the formation of the pre-modern world's largest single commercial market. Studies women and men as they founded dynasties, engaged in philosophy, challenged orthodoxies, and invented technologies used around the globe. Explores China's past to understand the country's present, and reflects on what its stories mean for the global world.
T. Brown
21H.152 Modern China
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW2.30-4 (E52-164)
Discusses China's emergence as a global power, which has arisen out of two centuries of significant change. Explores those transformations from 1800 to the present by examining the advent of foreign imperialism in the nineteenth century, the collapse of the last imperial dynasty in 1911, China's debilitating war against Japan, the communist revolution, and the tumultuous history of the People's Republic of China from 1949. Addresses the historical transformations that have shaped contemporary Chinese politics, ethnicity, gender, environment, economics, and international relations.
T. Brown
No textbook information available
21H.154 Inventing the Samurai
()
(Subject meets with 21G.554)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR9.30-11 (1-273)
Explores the historical origins of the Japanese warrior class as well as its reinvention throughout the archipelago's history. Special focus on the pre-modern era (200-1600 CE). Highlights key historical contexts including the rise of the imperial court, interactions with the broader world, and the establishment of a warrior-dominated state. Also considers the modern imaginations and uses of the warrior figure.
H. Nagahara
No textbook information available
21H.155 Modern Japan: 1600 to Present
()
(Subject meets with 21G.555)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Surveys Japanese history from the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate in 1603 to the present and explores the local and global nature of modernity in Japan. Highlights key themes, including the emergence of a modern nation-state, the rise and fall of the Japanese Empire, the development of mass consumer culture and the middle class, and the continued importance of historical memory in Japan today.
H. Nagahara
21H.156[J] Global Chinese Food: A Historical Overview
()
(Same subject as 21G.045[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR1-2.30 (14E-310)
Introduces the history of Chinese food around the world. Illustrates how the globalization of Chinese food is deeply connected to Chinese migration patterns, expansion of Western influence in Asia, Chinese entrepreneurship, and interethnic relations in places of Chinese settlement. With an overview of earlier periods in Chinese history, focuses on the 18th through 20th centuries, specifically on major events in modern world history that affected the availability and demand for Chinese food. Considers environmental issues in relation to China's changing food systems. Includes a mandatory field trip to Boston Chinatown. Taught in English. Limited to 30.
E. Teng
No textbook information available
21H.157[J] Modern South Asia
()
(Same subject as STS.037[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the political, social, and economic history of South Asia from the 18th century to the present day. Presents South Asia as a region defined by its diversity — of peoples, languages, histories, and states. Topics covered include: colonialism, nationalism, and the creation of modern India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh; decolonization and economic, scientific, and technological development; social and cultural change; and South Asia's interactions with the wider world.
S. Aiyar, D. Banerjee
21H.160 Islam, the Middle East, and the West
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides students with an overview of basic themes and issues in Middle Eastern history from the rise of Islam to the present, with an emphasis on exchanges and encounters between the Middle East and Europe/North America. Examines the history of the notion of "East" and "West;" the emergence of Islam and the Christianization of Europe; Ottoman expansion; the flourishing of European powers; European competition with and colonization of Middle Eastern societies, and Middle Eastern responses, including Arab and Iranian nationalisms as well as the rise of Political Islam, the "Clash of Civilizations", and Islamophobia.
P. Alimagham
21H.161 The Modern Middle East
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: MW12 (4-159) Recitation: R1 (1-273) or R2 (1-273)
Surveys the history of the Middle East, from the end of the 19th century to the present. Examines major political, social, intellectual and cultural issues and practices. Focuses on important events, movements, and ideas that prevailed during the last century and affect its current realities. Enrollment limited.
L. Ekmekcioglu
No textbook information available
21H.165 A Survey of Modern African History
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Surveys the history of 19th- and 20th-century Africa. Focuses on the European conquest of Africa and the dynamics of colonial rule, especially its socioeconomic and cultural consequences. Looks at how the rising tide of African nationalism, in the form of labor strikes and guerrilla wars, ushered out colonialism. Examines the postcolonial states, focusing on the politics of development, recent civil wars in countries like Rwanda and Liberia, the AIDS epidemic, and the history of Apartheid in South Africa up to 1994.
K. Mutongi
21H.170[J] Introduction to Latin American Studies
()
(Same subject as 17.55[J], 21A.130[J], 21G.084[J])
(Subject meets with 21G.784)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines contemporary Latin American culture, politics, and history. Surveys geography, economic development, and race, religion, and gender in Latin America. Special emphasis on the Salvadoran civil war, human rights and military rule in Argentina and Chile, and migration from Central America and Mexico to the United States. Students analyze films, literature, visual art, journalism, historical documents, and social scientific research.
T. Padilla
21H.172[J] Latin America Through Film
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21G.078[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Traces Latin American history through film and analyzes how this medium represents events in the recent and distant past. Weekly movies provide a window through which to analyze themes such as colonialism, national formation, revolution, gender, race relations, popular mobilizations and counterinsurgency. Examines films for how they represent a particular group or country, the reality they capture or obscure, and the message they convey.
T. Padilla
21H.173 Socialism in Latin America, from Che Guevara to Hugo Chavez
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR2.30-4 (E51-385)
Explores various socialist projects in the Americas. Studies how Latin America's poor have supported socialism as an alternative to capitalist exploitation, as a strategy to break colonial vestiges, and an anti-imperialist ideology. Focuses on various case studies to address the meaning of socialism, how governments have implemented socialism and who has fought against it. Explores how socialism has attempted to address women's rights and combat racism, and how socialist projects have extended beyond national borders.
T. Padilla
No textbook information available
21H.181[J] Libertarianism
()
(Same subject as 17.035[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the history of the ideal of individual liberty in light of contemporary arguments over the proper scope of the regulatory state. Surveys the political theory of freedom and its relationship to other dominant norms (e.g., property, equality, community, republicanism, innovation, and the pursuit of wealth). Revisits the diversity of modern libertarian movements with attention to issues such as abolitionism and the Civil Rights revolution, religious liberty, the right to bear arms, and LGBTQ rights. Concludes with a set of policy and legal/constitutional debates about the role of government in regulating the financial markets, artificial intelligence, and/or the internet.
M. Ghachem
21H.185[J] Environment and History
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 12.386[J], STS.031[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Focusing on the period from 1500 to the present, explores the influence of climate, topography, plants, animals, and microorganisms on human history and the reciprocal influence of people on the environment. Topics include the European encounter with the Americas, the impact of modern technology, and the current environmental crisis. Enrollment limited.
Staff
21H.186 Nature and Environment in China
()
(Subject meets with 21H.976)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Focuses on the late imperial period with forays into the modern area. Explores how Chinese states and people related to and shaped their environments, which, in turn, shaped China. Considers the degree to which China's long environmental history has integrated with global trends and ponders the historical experiences and precedents we bring to today's environmental challenges. Explores the diverse ways in which scholars study China's environmental history and conceptions of nature, including the use of digital humanities tools for visualizing data and analyzing geography. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
T. Brown
21H.187 The History of US Environmental Governance
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the interwoven threads of politics, economics, and the environment in the 20th century. Examines topics such as preservation, conservation, national park creation, federal projects, infrastructure, economic growth, hydrocarbon society, international development, nuclear power, consumer rights, public health crises, environmentalism, Earth Day, globalization, sustainability, and climate change. Studies how politics, economics, and environment converged in modern U.S. history, the "Green New Deal" and how its role promoting economic growth conflicts with its commitments to environmental management, and the emergence of the environmental movement.
M. Black
Intermediate
21H.201 The American Revolution
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Covers the American Revolution in the broadest sense; not only the independence movement and the military conflict, but also the liberation struggles launched by Indigenous people, enslaved Americans, free women, and others. Modes of learning could include reenactments, close reading of primary sources, or field trips. Field trips may be optional or mandatory depending on scheduling. Limited to 18.
M. Kars
21H.203 The History of American Presidential Elections
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Introduces the main themes and topics in the history of presidential elections from 1788 to the present. Explores structures of the US executive branch, the primary, convention, and election systems, and the Electoral College. Students examine academic debates in history and other social sciences, and undertake a research project based on a past election of their choosing. Meets with 21H.061 when offered concurrently. 21H.061 is offered only in an election year (not for HASS credit) and covers the first half of the course, leading up to election day.
C. Capozzola
21H.211 The United States in the Cold War Era
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the history of the Cold War era (1947-1991), with a focus on the impacts of that conflict on American social and political life. Topics under consideration include: the United States as a global actor and the repercussions of decolonization in a Cold War context; the formation of the military-industrial-academic complex and its role in the development of computing and other technologies; disaster planning, civil defense, and apocalyptic imaginaries that arose in response to the threat of nuclear warfare; McCarthyism, propaganda, and political repression; the emergence of student, environmental, civil rights, and anti-nuclear protest movements; and the legacies of the Cold War at home and abroad.
C. Horan
21H.213[J] The War at Home: American Politics and Society in Wartime
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 17.28[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the relationship between war and domestic politics in the US since the start of 20th century. Students engage in historical and social scientific research to analyze the ways that overseas military commitments shaped US political institutions, and how domestic politics has in turn structured US engagements abroad. Moving chronologically from World War I to the Iraq War, subject draws on materials across the disciplines, including political documents, opinion polls, legal decisions, and products of American popular culture.
A. Berinsky, C. Capozzola
21H.214 War and American Society
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines how issues of war and national security have affected politics, economics, and society from the First World War to the war in Iraq. Draws on historical evidence as well as representations in film, music and popular culture.
C. Capozzola
21H.217[J] American Urban History
()
(Same subject as 11.013[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Seminar on the history of institutions and institutional change in American cities from roughly 1850 to the present. Among the institutions to be looked at are political machines, police departments, courts, schools, prisons, public authorities, and universities. Focuses on readings and discussions.
Staff
21H.218[J] History of the Built Environment in the US
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 11.014[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 2-0-7
Seminar on the history of selected features of the physical environment of urban America. Among the features considered are parks, cemeteries, tenements, suburbs, zoos, skyscrapers, department stores, supermarkets, and amusement parks.
Staff
21H.220[J] Metropolis: A Comparative History of New York City
()
(Same subject as 11.150[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the evolution of New York City from 1607 to the present. Readings focus on the city's social and physical histories. Discussions compare New York's development to patterns in other cities.
C. Wilder
21H.223 History of Work in the Modern US
(New)
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the history of work in the United States from the late-nineteenth century to the present, with an emphasis on the changing meaning and nature of work itself. Topics will include historical transformations in the management of work; the impact of technological change on workers and workplaces; the role of government in shaping the economy and regulating employment; The relation of both paid and unpaid labor to the family and other social institutions; changes to the composition of the workforce and the role of nationality, ethnicity, race, gender, and sexual identity in shaping the experience of work, and labor movements and other collective efforts to transform working conditions and employment relations in the United States.
C. Horan
21H.225 History of American Capitalism
()
Prereq: None
Units: 2-0-10
Discussion-based seminar offering an introduction to the history of capitalism and a broad overview of debates concerning its impacts on social life, with a particular focus on the modern American experience. Examines the central position that the United States occupies in today's capitalist global system and the key role it has played in shaping both the development of capitalism and critical responses to its advance. Drawing on primary historical documents and secondary literature from multiple disciplines, students examine capitalism's historical relationship to race, class, gender, government, finance, technology, and the natural environment. Limited to 15.
Staff
21H.226[J] Riots, Strikes, and Conspiracies in American History
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 11.015[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Focuses on a series of short, complicated, traumatic events that shed light on American politics, culture, and society. Events studied may include the rendition of Anthony Burns in 1854, the most famous fugitive slave controversy in US history; the Homestead strike/lockout of 1892; the quiz show scandal of the 1950s; and the student uprisings at Columbia University in 1968. Emphasis on finding ways to make sense of these events and on using them to understand larger processes of change in American history.
Staff
21H.227 History of the US Supreme Court
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Exploration of the historical development of constitutional law and the relationship between the Supreme Court and broader social, political, and cultural trends. Introduces major themes and patterns of change in American constitutional law since 1787, including federal-state relations, racial and gender equality, economic regulation, and civil liberties. Readings consist of original court cases, especially from the US Supreme Court, including cases of the current term.
C. Capozzola
21H.228 American Classics
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Students read, discuss, and write about critical works in American history from the 17th through the 20th centuries. Includes writings by early Puritan writers, Franklin, Paine, Jefferson, and Madison; Lewis and Clark; Frederick Douglass; Harriet Beecher Stowe; the Lincoln-Douglas debates; U. S. Grant, W. E. B. Dubois, Andrew Carnegie, Horatio Alger, F. D. Roosevelt, Betty Friedan, and Martin Luther King, Jr. May also include music, recorded speeches, television programs, visual images, or films. Enrollment limited.
C. Wilder
21H.229 The Black Radical Tradition in America
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Focuses on American history from the African-American perspective. Includes alternative visions of the nation's future, and definitions of its progress, that have called for a fundamental restructuring of political, economic and social relations. Introduces events, figures and institutions that have shaped African-American history, from the struggles to dominate the African coast and the emergence of a modern slave trade, through the fall of the Western slave societies. Also examines the experiences of Africans in other parts of North America, as well as South America and the Caribbean.
C. Wilder
21H.230 Barbarians, Saints, and Emperors
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the late Roman Empire and its transformations during Late Antiquity (c.300-c.700). Questions the traditional decline and fall narrative of the period, which argues that Christianity and barbarians destroyed classical civilization and ushered in the Dark Ages. Explores such topics as Romans and barbarians, paganism and Christianity, politics and war, Rome and Constantinople, and bishops and saints. Discusses the influence of such characters as Constantine the Great, St. Augustine, Attila the Hun, and the prophet Mohammed.
E. Goldberg
21H.234[J] Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient Mediterranean World
(New)
()
(Same subject as WGS.262[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR1-2.30 (4-251)
Introduces students to gender, sex, and sexuality in the ancient world. Focuses on ancient Greece, with comparative consideration of Roman and ancient Jewish cultures. Emphasizes the historical construction of gender and sexual identities and how they intersect with other cultural and political structures. Topics include the mythological origins of gender difference, medical and scientific theories of sex, philosophical perspectives on sexuality, homoeroticism and queer attachments, and legal and social control of gendered bodily functions. Readings include ancient literary, legal, philosophical, and scientific texts as well as modern scholarship. One field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts is required.
E. Driscoll
No textbook information available
21H.237 The City of Athens in the Age of Pericles
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Historical topography of ancient Athens. Investigates the relationship between urban architecture and political, social, and cultural history of Athens in the 5th and 4th centuries BC. Surveys and analyzes archeological and literary evidence, including the sanctuary of Athena on the Acropolis, the Agora, Greek houses, the histories of Herodotus and Thucydides, plays of Sophocles and Aristophanes, and the panhellenic sanctuaries of Delphi and Olympia.
E. Driscoll
21H.238 The Vikings
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the complex relationship of the Vikings with the medieval world. Investigates the dynamics of Viking expansion, not only in terms of raiding and conflict, but also as a process of diplomacy, settlement, assimilation, and colonization. Examines developments within Scandinavian society such as state formation, social structures, trade, shipbuilding, slavery, urban growth, and Christianization. Considers the methodological difficulties presented by the diverse and often contradictory historical sources for information about the Vikings, such as chronicles, archaeology, coin hoards, stone inscriptions, and sagas.
E. Goldberg
21H.239 The City of Rome in the Age of the Caesars
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Historical topography of Ancient Rome. Investigates the relationship between urban architecture and the political, social, and cultural history of Rome from the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD. Surveys and analyzes archaeological and literary evidence, including the Roman Forum, the Imperial fora, the palace of the emperors, the atrium houses of Roman Pompeii, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Polybius' history, Martial's Epigrams, and Vitruvius' treatise on architecture.
W. Broadhead
21H.240 The World of Charlemagne
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR9.30-11 (E51-385)
Investigates the world of the first medieval emperor, Charles the Great, or Charlemagne (768-814). Focuses on how Charlemagne and his dynasty, the Carolingians (ruled 751-888), forged a vast empire out of the diverse peoples and territories of Europe - not only through conquests and military might, but through Christianity and the Church, education and literacy, government and law, art and architecture, and a fundamental reorganization of the economy and society. Considers the enduring contributions of Charlemagne and his family to the formation of Europe as well as the shortcomings and failures of their empire.
E. Goldberg
No textbook information available
21H.241[J] France and Haiti: Enlightenment, Slavery, and Revolution
()
(Same subject as 21G.054[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the relationship between the Enlightenment, slavery, and the French and Haitian revolutions. Studies France and Haiti prior to 1789, analyzes some of the central texts of the Enlightenment with an emphasis on ideas about monarchy, slavery, and democracy. Considers the place of these ideas and the role of popular mobilization in the French and Haitian revolutionary era from 1789 to 1804. Concludes with an examination of some of the legacies of the eighteenth-century experience for modern French and Haitian politics.
M. Ghachem
21H.242[J] Frenchness in an Era of Globalization
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21G.322[J])
Prereq: One intermediate subject in French or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Approaches the question of what constitutes Frenchness in today's era of globalization through issues of memory, belonging, and cultural production. Explores the role of timeless traditions - common technologies, an internationally-spoken language, monuments open to the world, and foods such as wine and cheese - remain quintessentially French. Also covers recent scandals about France's role in the world, such as its colonial identity and Dominique Strauss-Kahn's New York debacle. Taught in French. Limited to 18.
C. Clark
21H.243 Modern Germany
(New)
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Surveys the history of modern Germany from the mid-eighteenth century to the present. Traces the rise of nationalism, German empire-building in Europe and globally, the cataclysms of the First and Second World Wars, Weimar, the Holocaust, occupation and division during the Cold War, and reunification. Places emphasis on memory politics and understanding German history in its European and global contexts.
E. Kempf
21H.244[J] Imperial and Revolutionary Russia: Culture and Politics, 1700-1917
()
(Same subject as 21G.085[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR2.30-4 (56-169)
Analyzes Russia's social, cultural, and political heritage in the 18th and 19th centuries, up to and including the Russian Revolution of 1917. Compares reforming and revolutionary impulses in the context of serfdom, the rise of the intelligentsia, and debates over capitalism. Focuses on historical and literary texts, especially the intersections between the two.
E. Wood
No textbook information available
21H.245[J] 20th Century Ukraine and Russia: Entangled Histories and Identity Politics
()
(Same subject as 17.57[J], 21G.086[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the political and historical evolution of relations between Ukraine and Russia from 1900 to the present, with particular focus on the Soviet period from 1917 onward. Examines Ukrainian debates about autonomy and independence in the pre-revolutionary period; the revolutions of 1905 and 1917; the creation of the new Soviet state; the wars of 1917-1922; industrialization and collectivization, including the famines of 1932-1933; Stalinism; World War II; reform and stagnation; attempts at reform under Gorbachev; and, finally, the dramatic divergence of the two regions after 1991. Enrollment limited.
E. Wood
21H.247[J] Looking East/Looking West
()
(Same subject as 21G.050[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: R2-5 (E51-285)
Examines how objects and images mediate encounters between people and helped define the "Orient" and the "Occident." Explores the visual and material culture as well as textual accounts produced by and consumed during encounters between European and Asian travelers, diplomats, artists, writers, and tourists since the seventeenth century. Considers the frameworks scholars have used to understand these encounters and how we might deploy those frameworks ourselves. Employs historical thinking to work on our skills of visual and cultural analysis. Questions how these legacies of material and visual exchange have shaped the community within Boston area.
H. Nagahara
No textbook information available
21H.253[J] Global Chinese Migration, 1567-Present
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21G.075[J])
(Subject meets with 21G.196)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines Chinese migration in historical and comparative perspective, beginning in 1567 with the lifting of the imperial ban on private maritime trade. Covers migration to diverse venues across the globe, including tropical colonies, settler societies, Chinese frontiers, and postcolonial metropoles. Topics include the varied roles of Chinese migrants in these diverse venues, the coolie trade and anti-Chinese movements, overseas students, transnational networks, cultural adaptation, and the creolization of Chinese food in migrant communities. Critically examines the degree to which this transnational migration has produced a "Global Chinese" identity. Taught in English.
E. Teng
21H.260 Cities in the Middle East: History, Politics and Society
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the role and centrality of cities in the history of the modern Middle East, through political, social, cultural and urban interactions. Begins with a theoretical introduction of the different approaches for investigating urban spaces, and follows with discussions of case studies that demonstrate the diversity of urban centers in the Middle East, including Beirut, Istanbul, Jerusalem, Mecca, Algiers, and Cairo.
Staff
21H.261 Modern Iran: A Century of Revolution
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an overview of Iran's modern history from a social, cultural, and political perspective while also considering factors as they relate to gender and race. Covers the country's long and complicated interaction with the "West." Situates Iran in the wider region, thereby delineating how political trends in the Middle East influenced the country and how its history of revolution has in turn impacted the region. Unpacks the Sunni-Shi'ite divide as a modern phenomenon rooted more in inter-state rivalry than in a theological dispute, Western perceptions of the Iranian and the Middle Eastern "Other," the Iranian Diaspora, political Islam, and post-Islamism.
P. Alimagham
21H.262 Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Surveys the history and various realities and challenges of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Introduces the fundamental historical trajectories of the conflict. Analyzes the conflicting narratives and perceptions of both Palestinians and Israelis over key moments and issues in the conflict's history. Considers current challenges and possible solutions to the conflict. Limited to 40.
P. Alimagham
21H.263[J] Women and Gender in the Middle East and North Africa
()
(Same subject as 21A.138[J], WGS.220[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Provides an overview of key issues and themes in the study of women and gender relations in the Middle East and North Africa. Includes readings from a variety of disciplines, e.g., history, anthropology, sociology, literature, religious studies, and media studies. Addresses themes such as the relationship between the concepts of nation and gender; women's citizenship; Middle Eastern women's activism and the involvement of their Western "sisters" to this movement; gendered interpretations of the Qur'an and the example of the Prophet Muhammad; and the three H's of Orientalism (hijab, harem, and hamam).
L. Eckmekcioglu
21H.265 Humanitarianism and Africa: A Critical History
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines two centuries of foreign interventions in Africa in the name of humanitarian principles, from the abolition of the slave trade to the most recent Ebola crisis in West Africa. Explores humanitarianism and how it informs the understanding of poverty, race, and violence; and who gives and receives aid. Scrutinizes the prejudices about Africans embedded within salvation projects and how these campaigns have been part of the larger dynamics of power that have defined Africa's position in the world before, during, and after the European colonization of the continent. Reflects upon the practical and morally ethical alternatives in a world still shaped by suffering and injustice.
K. Mutongi
21H.266 South Africa and Apartheid
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR1-2.30 (26-314)
Explores the spatial, legal, economic, social and political structures that created Apartheid in South Africa, and the factors that led to the collapse of the racist order. Examines the many forces of black oppression and the various forms of resistance to Apartheid. Themes include industrialization and the formation of the black working classes, constructions of race, ethnicities and sexualities, land alienation and rural struggles, township poverty and violence, black education, and the Black Consciousness Movement.
K. Mutongi
No textbook information available
21H.267 Resistance and Revolt in Atlantic Slavery
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Examines the many ways enslaved people in the Americas resisted slavery, individually and collectively. Studies shipboard revolts, maronage, conspiracies, and armed uprisings. Investigates the causes and organization of rebellion. Uses the topic of rebellion to study how historians analyze and use primary sources, historical context, and write convincing prose.
M. Kars
21H.268 Urban History in Africa
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the emergence of cities in sub-Saharan Africa, and traces major themes in the history of urban Africa. Examines urban Africans at work and leisure, including their popular culture and politics and the conflicts that arise from the cities' growth. Questions how the city emerged in Africa, what distinguishes African cities, and how urban Africans have responded to the dramatic historical changes and intense cultural interactions of African history (e.g. colonialism, industrialization, urbanization, globalization). Incorporates scholarly monographs and articles, African life histories, primary sources, fiction, and film to explore the variety of perspectives on urban history in Africa.
K. Mutongi
21H.270[J] Latinx in the Age of Empire
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
(Same subject as 21A.131[J])
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Analyzes the histories and presence of the Latinx population in the context of US territorial expansion, foreign intervention and economic policy toward Latin America. Combines both historical and anthropological approaches to analyze local conditions that lead people to migrate within the broader forces of international political economy. Pays attention to the historical context in the home countries, especially as impacted by US policy. Explores Latinx community dynamics, politics of migrant labor, relational formations of race and transnational forms of belonging. Historically and ethnographically seeks to understand structures of criminalization, activist practices of resistance and the development of deportation regimes.
H. Beltran, T. Padilla
21H.273 From Coca to Cocaine: Drug Economies in Latin America
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR11-12.30 (E51-061)
Explores how drug production and consumption has affected Latin America's political, cultural and economic life and shaped US foreign policy toward the region. Discusses the history of different psychoactive substances and analyzes why certain drugs became illegal. Pays particular attention to the relationship between strategies of interdiction, poverty, and drug violence. Limited to 35.
T. Padilla
No textbook information available
21H.274[J] Creation of a Continent: Media Representations of Hispanic America, 1492 to present
()
(Same subject as 21G.731[J], CMS.357[J])
Prereq: One intermediate Spanish subject or permission of instructor
Units: 3-0-9
Traces the creation of a new literature in Spanish to record and interpret New World experiences. Begins with excerpts from Columbus's diary and ends with writings on the late 19th-century Cuban and Puerto Rican independence movements. Pairs some of these pre-20th-century texts with more recent literary and film interpretations of the first 400 years of Hispanic American history. Conducted in Spanish.
Staff
21H.276 Medicine, Health, and Healing in the Global South
(New)
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Through the lens of Latin America, explores the history of social medicine, a field that understands health and illness through structural determinants such as poverty, underdevelopment, and socio-demographic inequality. Topics include: Latin America's national initiatives — past and present — for social medicine; historical figures who trained as doctors but became presidents or revolutionaries; South-South cooperation in the field of medicine; and Indigenous practices to care and wellbeing. Explores the history of medical practices that defy Western paradigms and challenges students to think about the perils and possibilities of their own medical system and the diverse population it serves.
T. Padilla
21H.281 MIT and Slavery: Research
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Explores the influence of slavery and race on MIT's founding and early development, and the connections between slavery and the rise of sciences and engineering. Students will have their research projects published through the MIT and Slavery website. While 21H.281 and 21H.282 are sequential, students have the option of taking either or both.
C. Wilder
21H.282 MIT and Slavery: Publication
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Students work on turning research from 21H.281 into publishable quality essays, researching images and other supporting documentary materials, and developing the main narrative of the MIT and Slavery website, for which they receive editorial credit. While 21H.281 and 21H.282 are sequential, students have the option of taking either or both.
Staff
21H.283 The Indigenous History of MIT
()
Not offered regularly; consult department
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Students work with MIT faculty, staff, and alumni, as well as faculty and researchers at other universities and centers, to focus on how Indigenous people and communities have influenced the rise and development of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Students build a research portfolio that will include an original research essay, archival and bibliographic records, maps and images, and other relevant documentary and supporting materials. Limited to 15.
Staff
21H.284 South Asia, the United States, and MIT: Transformative Connections
()
Prereq: None
Units: 2-0-10
Explores the longstanding connections between MIT and South Asia (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal) since 1882. Investigates the history of MIT's alumni, faculty, and staff to examine the history of colonization and nation-building in South Asia, race and immigration in the United States, and globalization and technical revolutions across the world. Examines key historical moments of significance to both South Asia and America such as decolonization, the Cold War, and globalization as they intersected with the lives of MIT's South Asian affiliates. Instruction provided in historical methodologies through archival research and oral histories that are showcased in a final project. Limited to 18.
S. Aiyar
21H.289 History Near and Dear: Writing Yourself into History
()
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Lecture: TR11-12.30 (E51-385)
Studies a broad range of writers who have investigated their family history or an instance of local history near and dear to their hearts. Examines questions about historical and emotional truths, memory and identity and place, and the ability of individual experience to illuminate a broader social and political history. Selected texts are simultaneously narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism. Students produce a paper investigating an aspect of their own family or local history. Exercises include workshops, peer-review, reflections, and revisions.
M. Kars
No textbook information available
21H.290 Economic Classics: The History of Economic Ideas from Ancient Times to the Present
()
(Subject meets with 21H.920)
Prereq: None
Units: 3-0-9
Surveys the history of economics by introducing students to some of the most powerful and influential economic thinkers, from Xenophon and Huan K'uan through Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and Paul Samuelson, to Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo. Explores the evolution of key economic concepts — the state and the market, natural resources, and crises — by situating them in historical context and perspective. Through the close reading, analysis and discussion of some of the most important texts in the history of economic thought, traces the development of ideas, norms and ways of thinking that continue to shape decision-making in both daily life and global policy. Students taking graduate version complete additional assignments.
A. McCants & I. Kumekawa
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