This course offers an introduction to the study of history by exploring the history of a particular city. Cities are complicated places, where many peoples, cultures, and histories overlap and interact. Their histories are also shaped by many forces, such as economic, cultural, demographic, social, and sexual, operating at levels from local to national to global. Studying a city offers a window into the history of a local place as well as a nation. The choice of the city is left up to the individual professor. Cities under study in the past have included Rochester, Las Vegas, and Paris.

This course will examine the American Revolutionary era as a key moment in both U.S. and global history. Focusing on the era between 1760 and 1800, the course will survey the key political, social, economic and cultural events in the founding and development of the United States as an independent nation. Key topics include debates over American independence, the development and meaning of civil society at the state and federal levels, debate over social issues such as slavery and women’s equality, American foreign policy and global views of the American Revolutionary project and the formation of both the U.S. Constitution and political parties at the close of the 18th century.

The National Parks are some of America's most treasured and spectacular landscapes, but even these wild places are the product of historical forces. In this class, we will explore the history of America's National Parks, and use these spaces to unpack the relationship between Americans, their land, and their history.