HISTORY DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Fall 2015
HIS 501 (2023) (3crs)
Introduction to Public History
D. Hochfelder (dhochfelder@albany.edu)
Mon 2:45pm-5:35pm
BA 215
This course will provide students with an overview of the fields subsumed under the rubric public
history. Significant issues faced by public historians, such as ethical considerations, will be
examined. Students also will be introduced to the theory and practice of oral history. Readings,
exercises, papers and site visits will be required. This course is a requirement for all students in the
Public History Program. PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR IS REQUIRED.
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HIS 503 (2024) (3crs)
Introduction to Historical Agency Management and Practice
D. Palmquist (dpalmquist@albany.edu)
Tues 5:45pm-8:35pm
LI 220
The course will explore the management and operation of historical agencies, history museums and
historical societies; orient the student to these agencies and their history; provide practical
information on legal, financial, ethical, personnel, collecting, exhibition, educational and program
elements; and prepare the student for professional work in an historical agency. The course will be
run as a seminar and will feature presentations by the instructor, discussion, readings and guest
speakers. The student will choose a critical issue and select a historical agency, visit the institution,
interview management, study the institution in depth, and prepare a mid-term oral report and final
paper addressing the critical issue in terms of the specific historical agency.
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HIS 519 (10087) (4crs)
History of American Architecture
W. Krattinger (William.krattinger@parks.ny.gov)
Thu 5:45pm-8:35pm
SS 145
This course will explore the evolution of American architectural forms from the time of European
settlement to the present and will consider the relationship between the nation’s architecture and
its ethnic, cultural, social and economic development. Through image-accompanied lectures and
assigned readings, History 519 will explore the diverse field of American architecture and consider
buildings as expressions of particular periods, types, styles, and methods of construction; examples
of both high-style and vernacular/folk architecture will be considered. Some emphasis will be
placed on local and regional themes as manifested in buildings in the Capital District which are
readily accessible to students. The goal of this course is to provide the student with a contextual
framework within which to understand, interpret and appreciate the American built environment.
Students will be required to prepare a short written mid-term report and a final research paper
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HIS 555 (9981) (4 crs)
The Diplomacy of Global Conflict: 1890-1945
H.P. Krosby (hkrosby@albany.edu)
Tue, Thu 2:45pm-4:05pm
HU 114
*Also taught as AHIS 455
A history of great-power relations from the demise of the Bismarckian alliance system to the fall of
the Axis Powers. The main theme is the causes and issues of the 20th century’s two global wars,
which will be examined through the prisms of the international crises preceding them and the
worldwide problems unresolved—or even created—by the peace treaties of 1919-20.
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HIS 599 (2025) (1-4crs)
Special Projects in History, Public History, and History & Media
D. Hochfelder (dhochfelder@albany.edu)
ARR
Supervised work on projects in coordination with local museums, historical agencies, or
organizations engaged in history-focused media production. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and department chair. Students working with outside agencies
must have lined up an internship in advance of requesting permission to register for HIS 599;
students proposing an independent research or media project must submit a written proposal and
demonstrate competency in necessary technical skills prior to requesting permission.
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HIS 599 (4247) (1-4crs)
Special Projects in History, Public History, and History & Media
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
Supervised work on projects in coordination with local museums, historical agencies, or
organizations engaged in history-focused media production. May be repeated for credit.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor and department chair. Students working with outside agencies
must have lined up an internship in advance of requesting permission to register for HIS 599;
students proposing an independent research or media project must submit a written proposal and
demonstrate competency in necessary technical skills prior to requesting permission.
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HIS 600 (2026) (4crs)
R. Hamm (rhamm@albany.edu)
Tue 5:45pm-8:35pm
SS 145
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Colloquium on the Theory and Practice of History
This course does two things. First it reviews the broadest contours of historiography. Second it
introduces you the thematic fields around which the University at Albany Ph.D. program is
centered: Cultural History; Gender History; International, Global and Comparative History; Public
Policy History; and Social and Economic History. We also make forays into Public/Digital Media
History. The two most important features of this course are that department faculty members lead
class sessions on their respective areas of expertise and that you as students began developing a
reading expertise in one of these fields. The two parts of this course taken together should give you
a novice’s grounding in professional history as practiced in the United States today. Open to only
incoming doctoral students in history. Permission of the instructor required.
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HIS 601 (9983) (4crs)
Readings in American Colonial and Revolutionary History
C. Pastore (cpastore@albany.edu)
Wed 4:15pm-7:05pm
SS 117
This course provides an introduction to the historical scholarship on colonial and revolutionary
America. We will examine, among other topics, early encounters and concepts of colonization,
religion and society, environment and economy, and the themes of race, class, and gender. We will
explore the origins and outcomes of the American Revolution, the creation of the U.S. Constitution,
and the development of American nationhood in the Early Republic. And finally, we will explore
how Atlantic, continental, hemispheric, and global perspectives have shaped the ways early
American history has been and continues to be written.
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HIS 603 (9950) (4crs)
Latin America in the Age of U.S. Empire
S. Gauss (sgauss@albany.edu)
Wed 4:15pm-7:05pm
BBB 003
*Also taught as HIS 665 (9953)
This course traces Latin America’s exceptional relationship with the United States across the
twentieth century. It will begin by exploring early approaches to Latin America’s historical
relationship with the U.S. and Europe, emphasizing moments of diplomatic, economic, and military
contact. It then turns to literature that focused on the dynamics of power and culture that shaped
the role of the United States in Latin America. It will conclude by delving into recent scholarship
examining Latin America’s significance in the construction of U.S. Empire in the twentieth century,
and in particular the multidirectional interactions that shaped inter-American politics, security, and
capitalism.
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HIS 603 (9984) (4crs)
Readings in United States History: Global and Comparative
Public History
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Tue 2:45pm-5:35pm
HU 134
*Also taught as History 621 (9985), 626 (9986), & 642 (9987)
This readings course explores how public history is practiced in the U.S. and in other parts of the
world – in Great Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. We’ll examine —
on a local, regional, national, and international level — how historical knowledge and historical
interpretations are shaped and communicated to general audiences in popular narratives, media,
museum exhibitions, memorials, and various other forms of public history. Around half of the
semester will be devoted to readings focusing on public history practices and controversies in the
United States. Once grounded in domestic soils, we’ll spend the rest of the semester surveying the
history, theory, and practice of public history abroad. We’ll examine the relationship between
academic and public history; questions and controversies that have arisen around contested
“heritage” and “patrimonial” public histories; the cultural and political debates that have been
ignited when historians, filmmakers, and museum curators presented controversial historical
issues to the general public; and the relationship between history and memory in a variety of
national and regional contexts. The aim of this course is to inspire you to become imaginative and
effective public historians and scholars of public history, and to develop a more cosmopolitan and
global perspective on the field in general.
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HIS 611 (9990) (4crs)
Readings in Russia: History of Russia
N. Kizenko (nkizenko@albany.edu)
Mon 4:15pm-7:05pm
SS 117
This class examines key aspects of Russian history, from Muscovy to the Russian empire to the
Soviet Union and beyond, in its European context. As we read both primary sources and scholarly
interpretations, we consider such aspects as war, imperial consolidation, Church-state relations,
culture, and race. Requirements include two 5-8 page reviews.
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HIS 611 (9991) (4crs)
Readings in European History: Nomadic Empires
D. Korobeynikov (dkorobeynikov@albany.edu)
Thu 5:45pm-8:35pm
SS 117
Since antiquity, Europe often suffered the incursions of the nomadic people, some of whom
managed to establish successful kingdoms on European soil. They include the states of the Huns
and the Avars, the kingdom of the Hungarians, the confederations of the Polovtians along the
Danube and, finally, the Mongols and their states in Eastern Europe. The nomadic impact was vital
throughout the whole course of European history until the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the
‘population exchange’ between Greece and Turkey in 1922, when the last nomads of Europe, the
yürüks, were forced to settle in Asia Minor. The course will explore these peoples, using research
methods from history, anthropology and archaeology.
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HIS 620 (9992) (4 crs) Seminar in European History: A History of the World in 266 Popes
P. Nold (pnold@albany.edu)
Mon 7:15pm-10:05pm
SS 117
“There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of
examination as the Roman Catholic Church. The history of that Church joins together the two great
ages of human civilisation. No other institution is left standing which carries the mind back to the
times when the smoke of sacrifice rose from the Pantheon, and when camelopards and tigers
bounded in the Flavian amphitheatre. The proudest royal houses are but of yesterday, when
compared with the line of the Supreme Pontiffs. That line we trace back in an unbroken series, from
the Pope who crowned Napoleon in the nineteenth century to the Pope who crowned Pepin in the
eighth; and far beyond the time of Pepin the august dynasty extends, till it is lost in the twilight of
fable. The republic of Venice came next in antiquity. But the republic of Venice was modern when
compared with the Papacy; and the republic of Venice is gone, and the Papacy remains. The Papacy
remains, not in decay, not a mere antique, but full of life and youthful vigour” – Thomas Macaulay.
This research seminar will focus on the papacy — an institution that has long seen itself in global
terms — from Late Antiquity until the present day. It thus provides a door onto a variety of
historical periods, regions, subjects and sources. We will read a general history of the papacy,
followed by a number of articles and monographs about specific periods and topics such as: the
relations of the papacy with ancient emperors, medieval kings and modern secular states; its role in
the formulation of doctrine and policing of thought (the Inquisition, the Syllabus of Errors, Index of
prohibited books, etc); its financial operations such as the accumulation of land, the collection of
taxes, the sale of indulgences, the establishment of a bank; its attitude toward other Christian
communities, as well as toward Muslims, Jews, and non-European peoples; its role in formulation of
Church law on matters relating to property, marriage, and sexual behavior (and the influence of this
law on Western law generally); its patronage of the visual arts and literature, as well as its effect on
the urban landscape of Rome. Students will pursue an original research topic of their own devising
that will result in a 25 page paper.
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HIS 621 (9985) (4crs)
Readings in United States History: Global and Comparative
Public History
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Tue 2:45pm-5:35pm
HU 134
*Also taught as History 603 (9984), 626 (9986), & 642 (9987)
This readings course explores how public history is practiced in the U.S. and in other parts of the
world – in Great Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. We’ll examine —
on a local, regional, national, and international level — how historical knowledge and historical
interpretations are shaped and communicated to general audiences in popular narratives, media,
museum exhibitions, memorials, and various other forms of public history. Around half of the
semester will be devoted to readings focusing on public history practices and controversies in the
United States. Once grounded in domestic soils, we’ll spend the rest of the semester surveying the
history, theory, and practice of public history abroad. We’ll examine the relationship between
academic and public history; questions and controversies that have arisen around contested
“heritage” and “patrimonial” public histories; the cultural and political debates that have been
ignited when historians, filmmakers, and museum curators presented controversial historical
issues to the general public; and the relationship between history and memory in a variety of
national and regional contexts. The aim of this course is to inspire you to become imaginative and
effective public historians and scholars of public history, and to develop a more cosmopolitan and
global perspective on the field in general.
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HIS 626 (9986) (4crs)
Readings in United States History: Global and Comparative
Public History
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Tue 2:45pm-5:35pm
HU 134
*Also taught as History 603 (9984), 621 (9985), & 642 (9987)
This readings course explores how public history is practiced in the U.S. and in other parts of the
world – in Great Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. We’ll examine —
on a local, regional, national, and international level — how historical knowledge and historical
interpretations are shaped and communicated to general audiences in popular narratives, media,
museum exhibitions, memorials, and various other forms of public history. Around half of the
semester will be devoted to readings focusing on public history practices and controversies in the
United States. Once grounded in domestic soils, we’ll spend the rest of the semester surveying the
history, theory, and practice of public history abroad. We’ll examine the relationship between
academic and public history; questions and controversies that have arisen around contested
“heritage” and “patrimonial” public histories; the cultural and political debates that have been
ignited when historians, filmmakers, and museum curators presented controversial historical
issues to the general public; and the relationship between history and memory in a variety of
national and regional contexts. The aim of this course is to inspire you to become imaginative and
effective public historians and scholars of public history, and to develop a more cosmopolitan and
global perspective on the field in general.
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HIS 633 (9993) (4crs)
New Histories of Commodities
M. Aso (maso@albany.edu)
Wed 7:15pm-10:05pm
SS 117
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A graduate reading seminar that explores recent approaches to writing the histories of
commodities. The readings for this course will include both articles and monographs that adopt
comparative and world perspectives as well as those that focus on particular locations across the
globe.
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HIS 642 (9987) (4crs)
Readings in United States History: Global and Comparative
Public History
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Tue 2:45pm-5:35pm
HU 134
*Also taught as History 603 (9984), 621 (9985), & 626 (9986)
This readings course explores how public history is practiced in the U.S. and in other parts of the
world – in Great Britain, Western and Eastern Europe, Australia, Africa, and Asia. We’ll examine —
on a local, regional, national, and international level — how historical knowledge and historical
interpretations are shaped and communicated to general audiences in popular narratives, media,
museum exhibitions, memorials, and various other forms of public history. Around half of the
semester will be devoted to readings focusing on public history practices and controversies in the
United States. Once grounded in domestic soils, we’ll spend the rest of the semester surveying the
history, theory, and practice of public history abroad. We’ll examine the relationship between
academic and public history; questions and controversies that have arisen around contested
“heritage” and “patrimonial” public histories; the cultural and political debates that have been
ignited when historians, filmmakers, and museum curators presented controversial historical
issues to the general public; and the relationship between history and memory in a variety of
national and regional contexts. The aim of this course is to inspire you to become imaginative and
effective public historians and scholars of public history, and to develop a more cosmopolitan and
global perspective on the field in general.
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HIS 665 (9953) (4crs)
Latin America in the Age of U.S. Empire
S. Gauss (sgauss@albany.edu)
Wed 4:15pm-7:05pm
BBB 003
*Also taught as HIS 603 (9950)
This course traces Latin America’s exceptional relationship with the United States across the
twentieth century. It will begin by exploring early approaches to Latin America’s historical
relationship with the U.S. and Europe, emphasizing moments of diplomatic, economic, and military
contact. It then turns to literature that focused on the dynamics of power and culture that shaped
the role of the United States in Latin America. It will conclude by delving into recent scholarship
examining Latin America’s significance in the construction of U.S. Empire in the twentieth century,
and in particular the multidirectional interactions that shaped inter-American politics, security, and
capitalism.
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HIS 670 (9994) (4crs)
Seminar in Global and Comparative History
R. Fogarty (rfogarty@albany.edu)
Thu 2:45pm-5:35pm
HU 134
Students will conduct research on the history of any topic related to global and comparative
history. Topics may cover any time period and take any appropriate historical thematic or
methodological approach. Students may explore their topics in an explicitly comparative
framework (across place and/or time), take a global or world historical approach, focus on a
geographical location beyond the United States (unless the focus is on North America before the
late eighteenth century), or examine US history in an explicitly global and/or comparative
framework. The end result of this research will be a substantial scholarly paper based upon
appropriate primary source documents. The focus of the seminar is intentionally broad, and all
topics that fit under the wide umbrella of “global and comparative history” are welcome. Students
will identify appropriate topics and sources in consultation with the instructor, before spending the
bulk of the semester conducting independent research and writing. As this process moves forward,
students will read and comment upon the work of others as well as their own, engaging in the kind
of constructive and critical, supportive and collaborative work that produces good historical
analysis and writing. (The instructor encourages students to contact him upon enrollment, before
the beginning of the Fall semester, in order to begin a discussion about possible research topics, as
well as appropriate and accessible primary sources.)
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HIS 697 (XXXX) (1-4crs)
TBD
Arranged
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Independent Study in History
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Directed reading and conferences on selected topics in history for the M.A. student. Prerequisite:
Consent of Instructor and department chair.
HIS 698 (7086)(2-6crs)
G. Zahavi (GZahavi@albany.edu)
Arranged
TBD
History and Media Masters Project
This course provides MA students concentrating in History and Media an opportunity to plan,
conduct research, and produce a substantial media project reflecting their area of expertise and
interest. Faculty have individual class numbers for HIS 698: Permission of Supervising Instructor
Required.
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HIS 699 (2-6crs)
TBD
Arranged
TBD
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Master’s Thesis in History
Independent research leading to an acceptable thesis for a master's degree. Prerequisite: Consent
of department chair.
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HIS 797 (2crs)
Directed Readings in Public History
G. Zahavi (GZahavi@albany.edu)
Arranged
TBD
Supervised reading related to the student's project in His 798B. Prerequisite: Registration in 798B
and consent of the director of the program in public history.
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HIS 798A (2070) (6crs)
Directed Readings in Public History
D. Hochfelder (dhochfelder@albany.edu)
Arranged
TBD
Full-time internship with an agency concerned with historical and cultural resource policy. All
interns are required to participate in regularly scheduled internship colloquium meetings. Interns
are expected to undertake and complete a major project. Required of all students in the public
history certificate program. Prerequisite: Consent of the director of the program in public history.
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HIS 798B (2071)(6crs)
Directed Readings in Public History
D. Hochfelder (dhochfelder@albany.edu)
Arranged
TBD
Full-time internship with an agency concerned with historical and cultural resource policy. All
interns are required to participate in regularly scheduled internship colloquium meetings. Interns
are expected to undertake and complete a major project. Required of all students in the public
history certificate program. Prerequisite: Consent of the director of the program in public history.
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HIS 799 (6crs)
Public History Project Thesis
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Arranged
TBD
A major work on an aspect of historical and cultural resource policy, deriving from the project in
His 798A, B. Required of all students in the public history certificate program. Prerequisites:
Student must have completed or be concurrently enrolled in His 798A, B, and must have consent of
the director of the program in public history.
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HIS 897 (1-6crs)
TBD
Arranged
TBD
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Directed Reading in History
Supervised reading in history to prepare students for the general examinations in the history Ph.D.
program. Prerequisite: Consent of the student's advisor and instructor.
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HIS 899 (1crs)
TBD
Arranged
TBD
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Doctoral Dissertation
Load graded. Appropriate for doctoral students engaged in research and writing of the dissertation.
Prerequisite: Admission to doctoral candidacy.
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