Survey of the peoples, cultures, and social, economic, and political systems that have characterized the world’s major civilizations in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania from 1000 to 1700 CE.

Survey of the history of Europe in the Medieval and Early Modern periods, 800-1700. Discusses the major social, political, religious, and cultural characteristics and developments of the period, as well as key interactions between Europe and other parts of the world. Weekly discussion sections are an important feature of this course, enabling students to develop and expand upon material presented during the lecture hour.

Through studying a particular topic in history, students gain insight into historical methods and skills. Course designed for freshmen and sophomore history majors or prospective majors. Others may enroll by permission of instructor. Topics vary by quarter and instructor.

Through studying a particular topic in history, students gain insight into historical methods and skills. Course designed for freshmen and sophomore history majors or prospective majors. Others may enroll by permission of instructor. Topics vary by quarter and instructor.

Through studying a particular topic in history, students gain insight into historical methods and skills. Course designed for freshmen and sophomore history majors or prospective majors. Others may enroll by permission of instructor. Topics vary by quarter and instructor. 

Sectional crisis through progressivism. A survey of the leading issues in American life from colonial times to the present. The course focuses on politics, cultural development, social conflict, economic life, foreign policy, and influential ideas. Features discussion sections.

Modern Iranian history from the 1906 Constitutional Revolution to the 1979 Islamic Revolution and the post-revolutionary years. Shi’i Islam, the rise of nationalism, the quest for modernization, democracy and authoritarianism, and imperialism and politics of oil.

1800 – 1945. History 49-A-B-C is a general survey course designed to introduce students to major themes in African history. The course focuses on African civilizations and identities, European colonial conquests, governance and colonial economies, African resistance and engagement with global capitalism. Weekly discussion sections are an important feature of this course, enabling students to develop and expand upon material presented during lecture.

An introduction to the basic issues and themes of Mexican history, from the pre-Hispanic era to the present.

A basic introduction to the history of Japanese culture from its origins to the present day, with particular emphasis on the evidence of architecture and painting (presented through audiovisual modules). Selected examples of fiction and poetry will also be used.

Introduces upper-division undergraduates to some of the main themes and topics in queer history from the seventeenth through to the late twentieth century across North America. The course is organized both chronologically and thematically. It may include discussions of sex, law, and religion, sex, science, and colonialism, sex, immigration, and urbanization, and sex, love, and resistance from perspectives that highlight those who sought to maintain heterosexual hegemony and those who lived lives that were deemed a threat to the sexual order of North America.

Explores the entangled histories of race, medicine, science, and health in American history from the colonial era to the present. The course foregrounds the African American experience in the production of medical knowledge and power. Students explore histories of scientific racism, chattel slavery, medical experimentation, Jim Crow hospitals, environmental racism, and racialized medicine alongside the more familiar story of the development of professional medicine, science, healthcare, and public health.

Seminar, with a required research paper, on the relationship between science and technology and society. Topics, one each course, include Hiroshima and Nagasaki, arms race, arms control, science and social responsibility, politics of science, scientific advice to government, civilian uses of nuclear energy. Students conduct historical research in a seminar context, using both primary and secondary source materials, to produce an original and substantial research paper.

A seminar in early modern European history, 1450-1700. Students develop research skills and use them to complete a research topic of their choice in early modern European history. Emphases will vary with instructor and offering.

The Nazi campaign of ethnic purification through eugenics and mass murder can be considered a watershed event in European history. This course examines the factors that combined to result in the Nazi genocides, as well as the contexts, causes and consequences of other modern genocides.

1917-present. A history of the Soviet Union from the Russian Revolution of 1917 to its collapse, focusing on political and social history.

The rise of Britain as an industrial, urban, and imperial nation. Topics include the nature of industrialization, urbanization, and class formation, the role of gender and race in cultural society, the arts, and the construction of Victorian identities.

A survey of Middle Eastern history from the rise of the Safavid Empire in Iran and the Ottoman conquest of the Mamluk Empire until the French occupation of Egypt and the first Ottoman attempts at modernizing reform.

A seminar on a topic in African history. A research paper is required.

This course examines the rise of Hip Hop music as a predominant form of social, political, and cultural expression for African descended peoples in the diaspora. It begins with an analysis of African musical and discursive forms, then explores the emergence of Hip Hop in Black, Caribbean, and Latinx populations in NYC before focusing on the ways in which this Diasporic form has taken on unique expression on the African continent itself.

A continuation of History 159A. From 1900 to the present. Same course as Feminist Studies 159C.

A survey of American workers from the turn of the century to the present period. Topics include workers and American socialism, the 1919 steel strike, the rise of the CIO, labor and the cold war, and deindustrialization and workers.

Studies in selected aspects of Chicano history and the United States-Mexico borderlands with an emphasis on social and economic history.

Surveys African American history from the end of Reconstruction in 1877 to the present. The course emphasizes struggles for economic justice as well as civil rights, examining both key movement leaders and lesser-know activists and grassroots organizations. Topics include labor and labor organizing, policing and mass incarceration, segregation and housing discrimination, politics and political activism, and health and welfare.

Capstone seminar for the Minor in Poverty, Inequality, and Social Justice. Students participate in structured discussion and in-depth reflection of the knowledge acquired through interdisciplinary coursework and internship experiences, to produce a final paper, series of essays or policy briefs, and/or other kinds of creative products in consultation with the course instructor. Students will present their work at a public symposium, providing an opportunity to hone their public speaking skills, while contributing to community understanding of how poverty and inequality can be addressed through purposive social research and action.

A study of dominant and alternative representations of American values and identity in high and popular culture.

A study of traditional Chinese thought from the classical period to the beginning of the last imperial dynasty (500 BCE -1700 CE). Same course as Chinese 184T.

History of Ancient China to 589CE. Same course as Chinese 184A. Not open for credit to students who have completed History 186A or Chinese 186A.

A survey of Japanese social and cultural history from the mid-sixteenth century to the nineteenth century.

An undergraduate reading seminar in Atlantic World history. Topics vary based on the instructor. Using primary & secondary readings, students examine key themes in Atlantic World history: encounters between Native Americans, Europeans and Africans; indigenous societies; imperialism and settler colonialism; capitalism; piracy and smuggling; religions and spirituality; voluntary and forcedmigration; plantation societies, slavery and slave resistance; racism and white supremacy; cross-culturalexchanges and creolization; revolution and abolition.

Examines the age of revolution from a global perspective. We will look beyond national narratives to discuss citizenship, republicanism, slavery and colonialism and bring together histories of resistance in Europe, Africa and the Americas.

Students taking part in departmental honors program will write a senior thesis on a research topic of suitable depth under close supervision of faculty mentors. A 2-quarter in-progress sequence course with grades for both quarters issued upon completion of History 194BH. All 8 of the units for the course sequence may be applied toward the major.

Through this year-long internship, students work under faculty direction to produce an issue of the UCSB History Departments Undergraduate Journal. Students meet every two weeks and gain practical experience in scholarly publishing disseminating calls for papers, soliciting undergraduate contributions, locating peer reviewers, facilitating revisions with authors, and bibliographic and copywriting work. They also gain a working knowledge of the UCSB Library’s online publication platform, which will host the journal. Students utilize various digital humanities tools – podcasts, social media, and websites – to promote the undergraduate research being published in Journal as well as host an annual showcase of scholars work.

Students gain practical experience by working in organizations or initiatives engaged in addressing poverty and inequality through policy analysis, advocacy, direct social provision, community action, and/or political organizing. Opportunities to cultivate problem-solving, communication, organizational, and interpersonal skills needed to work effectively in institutional or collectively organized settings and to gain exposure to professional, post-graduate educational and training, and related career opportunities in anti-poverty and social justice fields. Students work under faculty supervision to produce reports, a research paper, or other types of creative material based on their experiences.

A reading course in a general area of history specifically designed to prepare M.A. candidates for their comprehensive examination fields, but also appropriate for Ph.D. students seeking broad preparation. Introduces the student to the sources, historiography, and general literature of the field in question.

A reading course in a field of the professor’s specialty. Introduces students to the sources and literature of the field in question. Written work as prescribed by the instructor.

This graduate level readings seminar provides a survey of key works in the history of technology. Introduces the student to the sources and literature of the field. Written work as prescribed by the instructor.

A general introduction to selected historiographical issues and historical methods.

Research seminar in selected issues in comparative history. Such topics might include urban history, history of religion, slavery, the family, gender systems, and consumer societies. Themes vary with instructor.

Research seminar in selected issues in comparative history. Such topics might include urban history, history of religion, slavery, the family, gender systems, and consumer societies. Themes vary with instructor.

This year-long interdisciplinary colloquium brings together graduate students who study Japanese history and culture. It introduces current scholarship on Japan via readings, discussions and presentations by visiting scholars, UCSB scholars and graduate students. The colloquium meets bi-weekly. Students will prepare readings for discussion, write on seminar-length paper and present their paper to the colloquium once during the year.

A research seminar on selected problems in Japanese history. Some working knowledge of the Japanese language desirable but not necessary.

A colloquium introducing the important issues, themes and literature in the history of the United States, from 1846 to 1917. Historiographical in nature the course assumes a basic familiarity with the period.

This year-long colloquium brings together undergraduate students, graduate students, as well as scholars at UCSB and beyond to explore the history of labor, capitalism, commodities, trade, colonialism, imperialism, poverty, race, gender, class, law, and politics. It meets three to four times a quarter and includes guest lectures, workshops, and reading groups.

This year-long interdisciplinary colloquium brings together graduate students and UCSB scholars who study the histories of women, gender, or sexuality across time and space. It introduces students to current literature and contemporary debates through readings, discussion, and public presentations by visiting scholars, UCSB scholars, and graduate students. Participants will meet every other week. Preparation might include coordinating readings for discussion, writing a chapter/article for peer review, or presenting original research to colloquium members.

A year-long professional colloquium on major topics and new work in Public History. Leading practitioners share theory and practice of the discipline in talks, workshops and occasional field visits. Relevant reading and writing assigned. Meets three to four times per quarter.