Winter 2026 History Courses

December 01, 2025

Islamic or Islamic-influenced astrolabe, likely from Spain, probably 14th century. © Trustees of the British Museum, shared through Creative Commons.

The Department of History is pleased to present a diverse range of courses this winter, enabling students to explore their interests in the past and prepare for their futures through enhancing understanding of how our world emerged. The following form a small sample of the variety of our offerings.

HST 786 “Science and Technology in Middle-Eastern History,” taught by Dr. Ingrid Hehmeyer (including explorations of material culture), examines studies that occurred across cultural boundaries between the 7th and 16th centuries. These include how astronomy challenged ancient ideas, paving the way for Copernicus and the Scientific Revolution; how trade and communications improved geographical understanding; how alchemy prepared the ground for innovative military technologies; and how mathematics changed everyday life, as represented by geometric patterns used in architecture and the arts.

HST 522 on the 20th- and 21st-century Middle East, presented by Professor Farzin Vejdani, studies relationships between state, society, gender, and culture. Themes include the pre-1914 revolutions, the Great War’s impact on forming some of the region’s current nation states, the interwar European mandates, and Iran and Turkey’s authoritarian modernization projects. For the post-1945 years, the course explores decolonization, the Cold War, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Pan-Arabism, nationalism, political Islam, and the Iranian Revolution, before concluding with the Green Movement, Arab Spring, and Gezi Protests.

HST 211 “The Century of Revolution,” offered by Dr. Martin Greig, investigates crises and changes as Europe evolved from the traumas of the French Revolution through the great but difficult period of modernization that followed between 1789 and 1914. It also includes examinations of imperialism and nationalism within a survey that helps students understand many of the forces that shaped Western society and even the world beyond.

HIS 710 “Museum and Heritage Management,” is one of the department’s career-centred museological courses, and is one of the choices in the Curatorial Studies Minor. This winter, Dr. Ross Fair presents it, drawing upon his expertise from working in the heritage field as well as his academic background.

HST 222 “The History of the Caribbean,” taught by Professor Patrice Allen, journeys through the history of the region from the intrusion of Europeans at the end of the 1400s, to the creation of slave societies, the subsequent dismantling of the slave system in the 1800s, and beyond to examine important issues in more-recent decades.

HIS 828 “Science, Corporations, and the Environment,” presented by Dr. Jennifer Hubbard, notes how recognizing environmental problems starts with identifying their impacts on human health. It explores environmental carnage from the Industrial Revolution to the present day, such as through examining how corporations and governments have gotten away with wanton indifference. It also considers how activists have brought them to account, and studies ongoing issues of environmental apartheid’s exploitation of the world’s most vulnerable people.

HST 523 “Colonial South Asia,” taught by Professor Janam Mukherjee, investigates British rule through such topics as the use of violence for the conquest and control of South Asian peoples, the nature of white supremacy in maintaining colonialism, the catastrophic economic and social outcomes of British rule, along with the traumas associated with the independence movement and its consequences.

For a full list of our winter courses, click here. Also, don’t forget that the Department of History offers courses beyond its daytime sessions through the Chang School, which may be seen here.