The Great Divergence: Why the West Became Rich and Rest Didn’t

In the past 300 years, the world has become rich. Since 1700, after centuries of almost now growth, the global economy has grown nearly 200 times. This newfound wealth is also very unevenly divided. Today, the average income in the ten wealthiest countries is 70 times greater than the average in the ten poorest countries. How did some parts of the world get so rich, and why were other parts left behind? This class explores the various explanations offered by scholars, such as geography, culture, to institutions and colonialism.

Class meets the Modern World History requirement for the Teacher Certification.

International Law and Human Rights

What are "Human Rights"? This course explores the development of international law and human rights from the 1700s to the present, examining how the meaning of "human rights" has shifted over time. While the course is anchored in the United States, it will analyze broader global debates over "human rights" that were sparked by slavery, imperial conquest, migration, genocide, the law of warfare, the creation and disappearance of states, gender violence, and mass expulsions. Who defined human rights and what mechanisms were developed to address abuses? The course takes both a "bottom up" and a "top down" approach. It pays close attention to how individuals and groups-- the victims of abuses-- shaped international law and human rights. It also examines the responses of both governmental (the State Department, the United Nations, the World Court) and non-governmental organizations (e.g. Amnesty International) in negotiating treaties, holding trials and hearings, investigatings and processing claims, and creating new international standards and conventions on human rights. 

Elective for History, Justice Studies, International Affairs

Indigenous Sovereignty &  the United States: Key Issues

Current issues surrounding Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the use of Native Americans as sports team mascots, protests over water rights, conflicts over monuments from Mount Rushmore to Plymouth Rock, protests over violence against Native Americans and the ways the criminal justice system treats Indigenous Americans, all have been informed by the past.  This course contextualizes many of these issues by introducing Native American history through the lens of identity and sovereignty.   

We will study changing US policies towards Indigenous peoples from the beginning of the U.S. period to the present. U.S. federal policy provides the chronological framework of the course, but Indigenous perspectives are an integral part of every unit.  Students will read works written by Indigenous writers and watch videos by and featuring Native American perspectives for each topic covered. Each student will complete a research project on a topic of their choice.  Among the key issues we will explore together are: removal and reservations, treaty obligations, Indigenous resilience and survival, boarding schools, adoption, and foster care, and recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions. This course satisfies the Group I requirement for the History Major and counts toward the Native American and Indigenous Studies Minor (NAIS).