Summer 2009 Course Listings Available

Course listings for Summer 2009 History courses are now available online. Sign up now to avoid waiting lists!

Spring 2009 Featured Course

History 185B
Christianity in the Modern World

This course might also be called 'From Martin Luther to Richard Dawkins', but its story will not be one of religion's steady decline, from the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformation to the atheistic twenty-first century. Nor is it a course just about men. Rather, we will trace the lively history of Christianity from the religious debates and wars of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, through the intellectual shifts of the Enlightenment, the challenge of science in the 19th century and the decline in churchgoing in the 20th century, to show how it has nevertheless remained an active force, shaping people's beliefs and practices, to the present day. We will look at 'lived religion' as well as religious belief; the importance of women to the life of the churches despite the persistent prohibition on their taking leadership roles; the underside of the Enlightenment in the form of the slave trade, and the role of the churches in abolishing that trade; the place of prophecy in challenging the institutional churches; the ways in which the nation state shaped religious identity; the rise of new religious movements in the nineteenth century, many of them 'unorthodox'; the increased engagement with other religions and the globalisation of Christianity through travel, missionary movements and immigration patterns; and finally the extraordinary vehemence of the 'new atheists' of our own day, pointing to the re-emergence of religion as a political and cultural force. Our focus will be Britain and Europe, though we will from time to time look at other parts of the world when our stories and sources lead us to do so. Readings will include both primary and secondary sources
More information...

Spring 2009 Featured Course

History 154
Canada: Forging a Nation

This course will focus on the big questions of Canadian history: including the origins of Canada, the construction of a modern nation-state prior to the Great War, the Great Depression, World War II and the social service state, and the challenges of cultural and linguistic diversity and province building in the late 20th century. More information...

Image: Macdonald Campaign Poster
"The Old Flag, The Old Policy, The Old Leader," poster published by the Industrial League to appeal to the old ways on which Macdonald built the power of the Conservative Party (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/C-6536)

Undergraduate Research and Travel Opportunities

This fall don't forget to take advantage of all the great opportunities this University has to offer! As a History Major you are uniquely qualified to apply for various programs like undergraduate research projects on this campus, your own research funding, study abroad, and the renowned UC in Washington D.C. program. This is your chance to experience new places, people and ideas. You'll make your resume look more interesting, and you may even discover your true calling! The links to these programs can be found on our Research and Travel Opportunities page: http://history.berkeley.edu/undergraduate/opportunities.html. Look now, deadlines are coming up!!