HISTORY DEPARTMENT
GRADUATE COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
SPRING 2016
HIS 500 (10139) (1cr)
N. Kizenko (nkizenko@albany.edu)
Tues 4:15pm-7:05pm
SS 117
Grant Writing
Part of work in academia is applying for—and winning—grants. This class introduces students to the principles and
fundamentals of grant writing, from identifying suitable grant-giving agencies, writing a grant proposal, and revising
it. By the end of the class, students will have identified key grant-giving bodies in their subject field and written a
sample grant proposal.
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HIS 506 (10141) (3crs)
History Museums
P. West McKay (patricia_west@nps.gov)
Mon 4:15pm-7:05pm
SS 117
This course will investigate the history and function of American museums, emphasizing the historical contexts of
their establishment and their role in the shaping of popular knowledge.
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HIS 509 (8173) (3crs)
Introduction to Historic Preservation
J. Bonafide (jbonafide@albany.edu)
Tue 4:15pm-7:05pm
ED 126
This course will provide an overview of the field of historic preservation, emphasizing the history, evolution, and
application of its programs. Significant areas, such as the history of the preservation movement, historic
preservation laws and their application, and the identification, evaluation, registration and protection of historic
resources will be discussed.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 530 (6821) (4crs)
Topics in American History
D. Becker (dbecker@albany.edu)
Mon, Wed 7:15pm-8:35pm
BBB 004
*Also taught as HIS 406 (6375) and DOC 406 (6376)
Practicum in Historical Documentary Filmmaking This is a hands-on production course. Student working in teams
will make original 10-15 minute historical documentary films during the semester. Along the way they will learn each
step of the production process: Research, pitching, writing treatments, pre-production, shooting, script writing,
editing and post-production. The class will emphasize developing strong storytelling skills: Digging through the past
to find good stories, then figuring out how to tell them both dramatically and accurately. Labs will introduce
students to the camera, lighting & sound technical skills necessary to shoot professionally as well as basic editing
skills. Giving and receiving criticism is an essential part of the creative process, so substantial class time will be
devoted to critiquing each other’s work throughout the semester.
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HIS 530 (7393) (3crs)
Topics in American History
K. Van Acker (kva@katherinevanacker.com)
Thu 2:45pm-5:35pm
SLG 002
*Taught with DOC 324(7631) and JRL 324
History and Practice of Documentary Photography From Matthew Brady's Civil War photographs, to the work of
photographers of the U.S. Farm Security Administration in the 1930s, and through the stunning and emotive images
of contemporary social, ethnographic, scientific, and war photographers, documentary photography has
experienced a long and vigorous development. In this introductory hands-on workshop, students will examine the
long heritage of documentary photography as well as the practical lessons to be learned from renowned
practitioners. Students will research and photograph a documentary issue as part of a project that will be sustained
throughout the semester (students may choose to also incorporate video components). Students should have a
working knowledge of computers and of the fundamentals of digital camera operation, and are required to have
access to a digital SLR camera with a zoom lens and flash.
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HIS 530 (10347) (4crs)
J. Hobson (jhobson@albany.edu)
Wed 4:15pm-7:05pm
LC 014
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Topics in American History
Black Women in the U.S. This reading and research seminar will examine the history of black women in the United
States. We will evaluate both historical and interdisciplinary literature and documentaries on black women’s lives,
covering periods from enslavement up to the twenty-first century. We will also explore black women’s resistance
strategies, communal organizing, labor force participation, and creative expressions.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 596 (10143) (4crs)
M. Kane (mkane2@albany.edu)
Tue 2:45pm-5:35pm
SLG 12
*Also taught with HIS 407 (9016)
Practicum in Digital History
This course introduces students to major new directions in the practice of history on the web and the growing
distinction between digital history as method and digital history as medium. Students will gain skills in web
publishing, identifying avenues for public engagement, and using digital tools for historical analysis. Through a series
of case studies on social networks, mapping, text analysis, and narrative, students will build a collaborative, publicly
engaged historical project. The Spring 2016 offering of this course will focus on the history of Albany before 1860,
but PhD students may work on a research project related to their dissertation area with permission of the instructor.
Home use of a computer with internet access and the ability to install software is required.
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HIS 599(3920) (1-4crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
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Special Projects in History
Students will be able to choose from among several projects sponsored by area institutions. These projects might
involve archival or museum work, or primary historical research. See instructor for further information.
PERMISSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR IS REQUIRED. S/U graded.
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HIS 599(7078) (3crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
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Special Projects in History
Students will be able to choose from among several projects sponsored by area institutions. These projects might
involve archival or museum work, or primary historical research. See instructor for further information.
PERMISSION OF THE INSTRUCTOR IS REQUIRED. S/U graded.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 603(10150) (4crs)
Social and Economic Histories of the Twentieth-Century United States
K. Smith-Howard (ksmith-howard@albany.edu)
Thu 5:45pm-8:35pm
BBB 356
*Also taught as HIS 628(10161) & HIS 630(10211)
Through discussion of classic works and new scholarship, this seminar will deepen students’ engagement with
twentieth-century US social and economic history. Themes explored through the readings will include: the
development of consumer culture and its effect on the political, economic, and environmental life of the nation;
technologies and policies shaping urban, suburban, and rural life and the relation between these locales; the effects
of immigration and foreign policy on domestic life and policy. Since the scholarship on the twentieth-century US is so
vast, and so diverse, this seminar cannot capture the main currents of any one field. Rather, it will sample and begin
to identify some of the key interpretive strains and methodologies used to study the twentieth-century United
States, and provide students with a good launching point for MA or PhD comprehensive exams and/or research
projects in this period.
Students will be expected to read and offer substantive comments about at least one book and one article or book
chapter each week. They will be expected to write four short review essays and two longer, more comprehensive
historiography essays. By the end of the course, you should be able to engage some of the field’s key questions, be
equipped to explore the field further (having practiced using historical databases, footnotes, review essays, and
book reviews to guide such forays), and be able to bring the insights of the field to bear on your own research and
reading.
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HIS 607 (4879) (4crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
Tue 5:45pm-8:35pm
BBB 04
* Also taught with DOC 450 (4936)
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Seminar and Practicum in History and Media
The aim of this course is to assist students in planning, researching, and producing a substantial research-based
documentary project in any one of the following forms: audio, video, digital/Web, still photography (with an “exhibit
catalog”), or text. Students are expected to come into the course with skills needed to work in their planned media
area. Class members will work with oversight from the course instructor as well as appropriate on-campus experts;
they will receive feedback, as well, from fellow students enrolled in the course. Discussion of such topics as
research, project planning, prospectus preparation, scriptwriting, media ethics, and workflow organization will assist
students undertaking their research, production, and postproduction work.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 609 (3817) (4crs)
R. Irwin (rirwin@albany.edu)
Wed 5:45pm-8:35pm
SLG 24
*Also taught as HIS 620(10041)
Seminar in American History
Students will conduct research on American or world history. Their research will result in a scholarly paper based on
primary sources, which will serve as the basis for a dissertation chapter, a thesis, or a peer-reviewed article. In
analyzing primary sources, students will use appropriate historical methodologies. The seminar is open to all
students, but the professor's expertise is limited to nineteenth and twentieth century U.S./world history. Before the
semester begins, students must consult the professor, and every student must begin the term with a clearly defined
research question and a preliminary research plan. As the course proceeds, students will conduct their research
independently, complete several research activities, and read and evaluate each other's scholarship. Our objective is
to maintain a productive, collegial environment throughout the semester and write a top-shelf piece of historical
analysis.
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HIS 609 (10152) (4 crs)
D. White (dwhite@albany.edu )
Wed 7:15pm-10:05pm
SS 255
*Also taught as HIS 620(10154)
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Seminar in American History
Explorations in Public Policy History. This research seminar will focus on the area of public policy history, defined
broadly and encompassing developments in Europe as well as the United States. Students will be free to identify
and define the topics they wish to explore. It is likely that such projects will fall into the historical span that extends
at the earliest from 1750 onward inasmuch as purposeful state actions become more plentiful from that point and
primary sources are increasingly likely to be available. Topics can range up to the near-present; the suggested arena
of investigation is domestic policy, although explorations of foreign policy formulation may be undertaken as well.
The objective is to gather sufficient primary materials to support an essay of around 25 pages built on the
researcher/writer’s interpretation of events. Class meetings oriented toward common issues in research and writing
will alternate with individual discussions with the instructor as the semester progresses. Students considering
enrolling in the course are encouraged to contact the instructor prior to the spring semester to exchange ideas
about possible subjects. One caveat: those who wish to undertake a project in the history of a non-English speaking
country must have a reading competence in the relevant language.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 611 (7168) (4 crs)
Readings in European History
J. Monfasani (jmonfasani@albany.edu)
Mon 7:15pm-10:05pm
SS 117
Christianity from the First to the Seventeenth Century. This will be a graduate version of my lower division course
on early and medieval Christianity. We shall examine a series of specific issues starting with the historical Christ and
the New Testament and continuing through to the Reformation era. This will not be a survey but a weekly
examination through common readings of specific central and/or controversial issues. Students will be required to
write short analytical papers on five of the common readings and a historiographical paper on a debate chosen by
the student relevant to the subject matter of the course.
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HIS 611 (10159) (4crs)
Readings in European History
B. Trachtenberg (btrachtenberg@albany.edu)
Wed 5:45pm-8:35pm
SS 117
*Also taught as HIS 626 (10373)
Readings in War & Genocide in the 20th Century
The twentieth century has appropriately been called The Century of Genocide. Genocide in most instances occurs
under the cover of total warfare. Many of these genocides have prompted refugee crises as well as attempts at
memorialization and reconciliation. In this seminar, we will start by reading Eric D. Weitz’s A Century of Genocide:
Utopias of Race and Nation and continue with Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism (as well as critical responses
to both works). We’ll then read texts related to the Armenian Genocide during World War I, the Ukrainian Genocide
under Stalinism, the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, the Cambodian Genocide under the Khmer Rouge, and the
Tutsi Genocide during the Rwandan Civil War (unfortunately, this is not a complete list). In our survey, we will
examine a number of theoretical, ideological, and methodological approaches to discussing war and genocide.
Each student will write a number of critical reviews, as well as make at least one substantive, wellorganized presentation on a week’s readings. Students will also write a final paper that critically engages a topic
related to the course.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 620 (10154) (4 crs)
D. White (dwhite@albany.edu )
Wed 7:15pm-10:05pm
SS 255
Also taught as HIS 609(10152)
Seminar in European History
Explorations in Public Policy History. This research seminar will focus on the area of public policy history, defined
broadly and encompassing developments in Europe as well as the United States. Students will be free to identify
and define the topics they wish to explore. It is likely that such projects will fall into the historical span that extends
at the earliest from 1750 onward inasmuch as purposeful state actions become more plentiful from that point and
primary sources are increasingly likely to be available. Topics can range up to the near-present; the suggested arena
of investigation is domestic policy, although explorations of foreign policy formulation may be undertaken as well.
The objective is to gather sufficient primary materials to support an essay of around 25 pages built on the
researcher/writer’s interpretation of events. Class meetings oriented toward common issues in research and writing
will alternate with individual discussions with the instructor as the semester progresses. Students considering
enrolling in the course are encouraged to contact the instructor prior to the spring semester to exchange ideas
about possible subjects. One caveat: those who wish to undertake a project in the history of a non-English speaking
country must have a reading competence in the relevant language.
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HIS 626 (10373) (4crs)
Readings in Global and Comparative History
B. Trachtenberg (btrachtenberg@albany.edu)
Wed 5:45pm-8:35pm
SS 117
Also taught as HIS 611 (10159)
Readings in War & Genocide in the 20th Century
The twentieth century has appropriately been called The Century of Genocide. Genocide in most instances occurs
under the cover of total warfare. Many of these genocides have prompted refugee crises as well as attempts at
memorialization and reconciliation. In this seminar, we will start by reading Eric D. Weitz’s A Century of Genocide:
Utopias of Race and Nation and continue with Hannah Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism (as well as critical responses
to both works). We’ll then read texts related to the Armenian Genocide during World War I, the Ukrainian Genocide
under Stalinism, the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, the Cambodian Genocide under the Khmer Rouge, and the
Tutsi Genocide during the Rwandan Civil War (unfortunately, this is not a complete list). In our survey, we will
examine a number of theoretical, ideological, and methodological approaches to discussing war and genocide.
Each student will write a number of critical reviews, as well as make at least one substantive, wellorganized presentation on a week’s readings. Students will also write a final paper that critically engages a topic
related to the course.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 628(10161) (4crs)
Social and Economic Histories of the Twentieth-Century United States
K. Smith-Howard (ksmith-howard@albany.edu)
Thu 5:45pm-8:35pm
BBB 356
Also taught as HIS 603(10150) & HIS 630(10211)
Through discussion of classic works and new scholarship, this seminar will deepen students’ engagement with
twentieth-century US social and economic history. Themes explored through the readings will include: the
development of consumer culture and its effect on the political, economic, and environmental life of the nation;
technologies and policies shaping urban, suburban, and rural life and the relation between these locales; the effects
of immigration and foreign policy on domestic life and policy. Since the scholarship on the twentieth-century US is so
vast, and so diverse, this seminar cannot capture the main currents of any one field. Rather, it will sample and begin
to identify some of the key interpretive strains and methodologies used to study the twentieth-century United
States, and provide students with a good launching point for MA or PhD comprehensive exams and/or research
projects in this period.
Students will be expected to read and offer substantive comments about at least one book and one article or book
chapter each week. They will be expected to write four short review essays and two longer, more comprehensive
historiography essays. By the end of the course, you should be able to engage some of the field’s key questions, be
equipped to explore the field further (having practiced using historical databases, footnotes, review essays, and
book reviews to guide such forays), and be able to bring the insights of the field to bear on your own research and
reading.
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HIS 630(10211) (4crs)
Social and Economic Histories of the Twentieth-Century United States
K. Smith-Howard (ksmith-howard@albany.edu)
Thu 5:45pm-8:35pm
BBB 356
Also taught as HIS 603(10150) & HIS 628(10161)
Through discussion of classic works and new scholarship, this seminar will deepen students’ engagement with
twentieth-century US social and economic history. Themes explored through the readings will include: the
development of consumer culture and its effect on the political, economic, and environmental life of the nation;
technologies and policies shaping urban, suburban, and rural life and the relation between these locales; the effects
of immigration and foreign policy on domestic life and policy. Since the scholarship on the twentieth-century US is so
vast, and so diverse, this seminar cannot capture the main currents of any one field. Rather, it will sample and begin
to identify some of the key interpretive strains and methodologies used to study the twentieth-century United
States, and provide students with a good launching point for MA or PhD comprehensive exams and/or research
projects in this period.
Students will be expected to read and offer substantive comments about at least one book and one article or book
chapter each week. They will be expected to write four short review essays and two longer, more comprehensive
historiography essays. By the end of the course, you should be able to engage some of the field’s key questions, be
equipped to explore the field further (having practiced using historical databases, footnotes, review essays, and
book reviews to guide such forays), and be able to bring the insights of the field to bear on your own research and
reading.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 697 (1-4crs)
ARR
Independent Study in History
Directed reading and conferences on selected topics in history for the M.A. student. Faculty have individual class
numbers for HIS 697. PERMISSION OF INSTRUCTOR REQUIRED.
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HIS 698 (6366) (2-6crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
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History and Media Master’s 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)
ARR
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Master’s Thesis in History
Independent research leading to an acceptable thesis for a master’s degree. Faculty have individual class numbers
for HIS 699. PERMISSION of INSTRUCTOR REQUIRED.
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HIS 798A (9756) (6crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
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Internship in Public History
A full-time internship with an agency concerned with historical and cultural resource policy. All interns will be
required to participate in regularly scheduled internship colloquium meetings. Interns will be expected to undertake
and complete a major project.
Prerequisite: Consent of the Director of the Program in Public History.
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February 12, 2016
HIS 798B (9755) (6crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
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Internship in Public History
A full-time internship with an agency concerned with historical and cultural resource policy. All interns will be
required to participate in regularly scheduled internship colloquium meetings. Interns will be expected to undertake
and complete a major project.
Prerequisite: Consent of the Director of the Program in Public History.
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HIS 799 (2056) (6crs)
G. Zahavi (gzahavi@albany.edu)
ARR
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Public History Project Thesis
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)
ARR
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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 (1cr)
ARR
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Doctoral Dissertation
Required of all candidates completing the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Faculty have individual class numbers for
HIS 899.
PERMISSION of INSTRUCTOR is REQUIRED.
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February 12, 2016