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Program Details

History is an innovative, dynamic discipline, providing an understanding of how politics, society, culture and economics developed in the past that’s essential for making sense of today. As you study history, you’ll gain critical-thinking, research, problem-solving and communication expertise, as well as the ability to produce evidence-based arguments — all transferrable skills that are crucial for the current global job market and any profession that deals with information.

Our professors’ research and teaching specialities let you explore a range of issues and fields, such as cross-cultural exchanges in the ancient world, food history, medieval science and thought, the Italian Renaissance, employment and labour movements in Canada and Quebec, Cameroonian feminism, global commodity exchanges, Latin American revolutions, women’s and gender history, decolonization and Canadian environmental history. Our geographical focus is on Canada, Latin America, Europe and Africa.

You can also choose to complete an experiential Certificate in Public History that involves placements in historical and cultural institutions in the Greater Toronto Area. Explore what each year of your degree could look like, as well as how you can boost your major and career options.

Wondering what each year of your degree will look like? Check it out here.

Courses


Throughout your degree, you’ll find a curriculum that offers an in-depth and balanced approach to history, from introductory survey courses to specialized topics. About two-thirds of the course offerings are taught in English, with the other third taught in French. Written assignments and examinations may be submitted in either official language in all History courses.

View course timetables on York University's site

Course Catalogue

GL/HIST 1615 6.0 EN The Roots of World Civilizations

Categories: EU & World before 1800 / EU & World after 1800

General Education: HUMA, SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA, SOSC

Language of instruction: English

An exploration of cultural, intellectual, social, economic and political developments from prehistory to 1914 AD. Events and processes in different continents will be studied across the centuries from a global perspective.

GL/HIST 1615 6.0 FR Les origines des civilisations du monde             

Catégories : Europe et monde avant 1800 / Europe et monde après 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA, SOSC

Co-inscriptions: HUMA, SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Une perspective globale des développements intellectuels, sociaux, politiques, et culturels de la préhistoire jusqu’en 1914 sera explorée. Les événements et les évolutions à travers les siècles dans les différents continents seront étudiés. Cours incompatibles : GL/HIST 1200 6.00, GL/HUMA 1615 6.00.

GL/HIST 1618 3.0 EN Ancient Roots of Modern History

Category: EU & World before 1800

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the discipline of history through the major works of Greek and Roman antiquity. The course begins with the origins of the historical discipline and proceeds to examine how it changed in response to social and political crises.

GL/HIST 1672 6.0 EN Culture and Power in the Americas

Category: The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

This course begins with the encounters of Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans in the making of the Americas, then moves through independence and the rise of nation-states. We study how slavery, migration, trade, and war contributed to the process of globalization.

GL/HIST 1680 6.0 EN Modern Economic History: A Canadian Perspective

Please see ECON 1680 6.0 for description.

Category: The Americas

General Education: SOSC

GL/HIST 1690 6.0 FR Introduction à la philosophie : les grands penseurs

Voir GL/PHIL 1690 6.0 FR pour la description.

Catégories: Europe et monde avant 1800/Europe et monde après 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions : PHIL et HUMA

GL/HIST 2000 3.0 EN How to study History

Category: None

Language of instruction: English

This course introduces students to the discipline of history and to potential career paths for history majors. Reading, research, writing and digital skills are developed through in-class seminars and assignments based on visits to archives, libraries, and Glendon’s digital media lab.

GL/HIST 2000 3.0 FR Comment étudier l’histoire

Catégorie : aucune

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours est une initiation pratique à la méthodologie de la critique historique. Il développe les habiletés nécessaires à la sélection, à la lecture et à l’analyse des documents, en vue de maîtriser les étapes et la façon dont on écrit l’histoire.

GL/HIST 2525 3.0 EN Black Experience in Africa and its Diasporas

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the diversity of African experiences from the 19th through 21st centuries. It addresses the field of African studies from a multidisciplinary standpoint (using texts, videos, conferences, among other sources) to understand the complex social, political and cultural realities of the continent, Africans, and their diaspora.
Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 2750 6.00.

GL/HIST 2601 3.0 EN The History of Early Medieval Europe

Category: Europe and World before 1800

General Education: HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course surveys the History of Europe (c.300-1100), beginning with Late Antiquity and the transformation of the Roman Empire. It explores significant events, social, intellectual and economic developments that contributed to the emergence of distinctly "European" cultures and institutions.

GL/HIST 2603 3.0 EN The History of Later Medieval Europe

Category: Europe and World before 1800

General Education: HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course surveys European History (c.1000-1500), focusing on social, political and economic developments that fostered the emergence of European Nation-States, the elaboration of Western cultural and intellectual traditions and institutions, and subsequent European expansion beyond the continent. Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 2600 6.00.

GL/HIST 2608 3.0 FR À la rencontre de l'Afrique : une perspective pluridisciplinaire

Catégorie : Europe et monde après 1800

Co-inscriptions : ILST et POLS

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours étudie la diversité des expériences africaines entre le 19ème et 21ème siècle. Il aborde les études africaines dans une perspective critique et pluridisciplinaire à partir d'une diversité de sources (ouvrages/articles académiques, podcast, vidéos, conférences, blogs romans, etc.)

GL/HIST 2618 3.0 EN Visual Arts of the Twentieth Century in Canada

Please see GL/CDNS 2618 3.0 EN for description.

Category: The Americas

Cross-listing: CDNS

Language of instruction: English

GL/HIST 2635 6.0 FR Histoire ancienne

Catégorie : Europe et monde avant 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA et SOSC

Co-inscriptions : HUMA et SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Un survol du monde ancien dans le bassin méditerranéen de la préhistoire jusqu'à la chute de l'Empire romain. Le cours met l'accent sur l'interdépendance de l'évolution sociopolitique et de l'évolution culturelle des civilisations anciennes.
Cours incompatibles : GL/HIST/HUMA/SOSC 2932 3.00, HIST/HUMA/SOSC 2935 3.00.

GL/HIST 2641 3.0 EN Ancient Near East

Category: Europe and World before 1800

General Education: HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the history of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Levant, tracing the rise and fall of the Persian empire. Proceeding chronologically, the course emphasizes the interdependence of socio-political and intellectual-cultural developments.
Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 2110 6.00.

GL/HIST 2670 6.0 EN Canadian History

Category: The Americas

General Education: SOSC

Cross-listings: SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course surveys the history of Canada from European-Indigenous encounters through to the contemporary era. Themes include: The impact of colonization; the social and political relations that formed around colonial economies; state formation and ecological transformation; French-English relations, international migration, and Canada's place in the world. Course credit exclusions: AP/HIST 2500 6.00, AP/HIST 2501 3.00.

GL/HIST 2670 6.0 FR   Histoire du Canada

Catégorie :  Les Amériques

Éducation générale : SOSC

Co-inscription : SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours examine l’histoire du Canada de la rencontre entre les Autochtones et les Européens jusqu’à nos jours. Les thèmes comprennent l’impact de la colonisation, les relations sociales et économiques dans les économies coloniales, la formation de l’État et les transformations écologiques, les relations entre les francophones et les anglophones, les migrations internationales et la place du Canada dans le monde.  Cours incompatibles : AP/HIST 2500 6.00, AP/HIST 2501 3.00

GL/HIST 2695 3.0 FR Introduction à la philosophie ancienne

Voir GL/PHIL 2695 3.0 pour la description.

Catégorie : Europe et monde avant 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions : PHIL et HUMA

GL/HIST 2696 3.0 FR Introduction à la philosophie moderne

Voir GL/PHIL 2696 3.0 pour la description.

Catégorie : Europe et monde après 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions : PHIL et HUMA

GL/HIST 2901 6.0 EN Introduction to Latin American History

Category:  The Americas

General Education:  HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

Introduces students to Latin American History from the moment of contact between Europeans and Americans through the 20th century.  After a brief survey of the Colonial Era, it will explore the histories of several southern Republics, contrasting their development with that of North America. PRIOR TO FALL 2014: course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 2200 6.00.

GL/HIST 2901 6.0 FR Histoire de l'Amérique latine

Catégorie : Les Amériques

Éducation générale : HUMA et SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours introduit l'histoire de l'Amérique latine depuis le premier contact entre l'Europe et les Amériques jusqu'à la fin du vingtième siècle. Après un bref résumé de l'époque coloniale, il analysera l'histoire de plusieurs républiques du sud en comparaison avec l'Amérique du Nord. Avant l'automne 2015 : cours incompatible : GL/HIST 2200 6.00(FR).

GL/HIST 2905 6.0 EN Introduction to the History of Modern Europe: 

From 1450 to the Present

Categories:  EU & World before 1800 and EU and World after 1800 

General Education:  HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listing: HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course surveys the formation of Western civilization in Europe during the modern era as a foundation for subsequent studies in particular aspects of Western society or European civilization. It covers principally the social, political, economic and cultural history of Europe from the mid-15th century to the present.

GL/HIST 2905 6.0 FR Introduction à l'histoire de l'Europe contemporaine de 1450 à nos jours

Catégorie : Europe et monde avant 1800 et Europe et après 1800 

Éducation générale : HUMA et SOSC

Co-inscriptions : HUMA et SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours passe en revue la formation de la civilisation occidentale en Europe pendant l'ère moderne. Ce cours présente aussi les éléments nécessaires à de futures études plus détaillées sur la société occidentale et la civilisation européenne. Il touche principalement à l'histoire sociale, politique, économique et culturelle de l'Europe du XVe siècle jusqu'à nos jours.

GL/HIST 2930 6.0 EN The Twentieth-Century:  A Global Perspective

Category:   EU and World after 1800

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

The history of the world from the First World War to the fall of communism.  The course will consider the history of politics, war, culture and society.  Subjects and themes will include the two world wars and their political and cultural impacts, the great depression of the 1930s, communism, fascism, liberalism and conservatism, feminism, demographic change, movements for national independence, the rise of the global economy, the environment and the apparent triumph of capitalism at the end of the century.

GL/HIST 2930 6.0 FR Le Vingtième siècle : une perspective mondiale

Catégorie: Europe et monde après 1800

Co-inscription : ILST

Langue d'instruction : français

L'histoire du monde depuis la première guerre mondiale jusqu'à la chute de l'URSS. Les thèmes traités incluront les deux guerres mondiales, la grande dépression économique des années 1930, le communisme, le fascisme, le libéralisme qui semble de plus en plus triomphant, le féminisme, le changement démographique, les mouvements de libération nationale, la guerre froide, l'environnement et la mondialisation.

GL/HIST 2932 3.0 EN Ancient Greece

Category:   EU and World before 1800 

General Education:  HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA, SOSC and AP/CLST

Language of instruction: English

Explores ancient Mediterranean history from the early third millennium BCE through the rise and fall of Alexander the Great in the third century BCE.  Proceeding chronologically, the course emphasizes the interdependence of social-political developments and intellectual-cultural movements.  Course credit exclusions:  GL/HIST 2635 6.00, AP/HIST/CLST 2100 6.00.

GL/HIST 2935 3.0 EN Ancient Rome

Category:   EU and World before 1800 

General Education:  HUMA, SOSC and AP/CLST

Cross-listings: HUMA, SOSC and AP/CLST

Language of instruction: English

This course surveys the History of Ancient Rome from the founding of the Republic (753 BCE) to the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century.  Proceeding chronologically, the course emphasizes the interdependence of socio-political developments and intellectual-cultural movements. Course credit exclusions:  GL/HIST 2635 6.00, AP/HIST/CLST 2100 6.00.

GL/HIST 3205 6.0 FR L'école, la communauté et la nation au Canada

Catégorie : Les Amériques

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours porte sur l'histoire de l'éducation depuis l'époque des missionnaires français jusqu'à aujourd'hui. Il approfondit les questions linguistiques, sociales et religieuses marquantes dans l'évolution du système scolaire qui continuent d'animer les débats sur la place de l'école au Canada.

GL/HIST 3214 3.0 EN Indigenous Resistance in the Americas

Category:   The Americas

Language of instruction: English

This course compares the history of indigenous resistance from European contact with the Americas through to the expanding nation-state periods of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Case studies will focus on Latin America and the United States with an emphasis on borderlands, religion, gender, and the law.

GL/HIST 3222 3.0 EN The European Resistances during World War II

Category:  EU and World after 1800 

Language of instruction: English

This course analyzes the development of European resistance movements during the Second World War via a comparative perspective that highlights their specificities. The values they championed shaped post-war European societies and their struggle against oppression became a model in other wars of liberation.

GL/HIST 3222 3.0 FR Les résistances européennes durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale

Catégorie : Europe et monde après 1800

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours étudie les origines, les manifestations et l'héritage des mouvements de résistance en Europe durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Ce phénomène d'action civile en temps de guerre sera étudié dans une perspective comparative et en utilisant diverses sources documentaires.

GL/HIST 3242 3.0 EN Memory and Public History

Language of instruction: English

This course explores memory of the past and public history. It examines the construction of collective identities through historical events and processes and the conflicts that emerge with different interpretations of past. Students analyse the mechanisms of production and consumption of the past.

GL/HIST 3242 3.0 FR Mémoire et histoire publique

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours explore le phénomène de la mémoire et l'histoire publique et explique la construction d'identités collectives autour d'évènements historiques, les conflits qui entourent différentes versions de l'histoire, les mécanismes de production et de consommation de l'histoire publique.

GL/HIST 3246 3.0 EN The Invention of Africa: 1880-1945

Category:   Europe and World after 1800

Language of instruction: English

This course analyzes the dynamics of colonization in Africa and related conflicts between the colonial powers, and also within their subject populations, from the end of the 19th century to the end of the Second World War. Course credit exclusions: GL/HIST 3016 6.00, AK/HIST 3950 6.00.

GL/HIST 3246 3.0 FR L'invention de l'Afrique : 1880-1945

Catégorie : Europe et monde après 1800

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours analyse les dynamiques de colonisation de l'Afrique et les tensions que celles-ci suscitent entre les puissances coloniales mais également au sein de la population, de la fin du 19e siècle à la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale. Cours incompatibles : GL/HIST 3016 6.00, AK/HIST 3950 6.00.

GL/HIST 3247 3.0 EN The Invention of Africa: 1945-1990

Category:   Europe and world after 1800

Language of instruction: English

This course analyzes the social, political, and economic reconfiguration in Africa between the end of World War II and the end of apartheid. Course credit exclusions: GL/HIST 3016 6.00, AK/HIST 3950 6.00.

GL/HIST 3247 3.0 FR L'Invention de l'Afrique: 1945-1990

Catégorie : Europe et monde après 1800

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours analyse les reconfigurations de l'espace social, politique et économique africain qui ont eu cours en Afrique entre la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale et la fin de l'apartheid. Cours incompatibles: GL/HIST 3016 6.00, AK/HIST 3950 6.00.

GL/HIST 3250 3.0 EN Fifteenth-Century Europe

Category:   Europe and world before 1800

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the corrosive impact of urbanization, capitalism and humanism on late medieval Europe with particular emphasis on Italian social life, politics and culture. Course credit exclusions: AP/HUMA 3460 3.00, AP/HIST 3550 6.00.

GL/HIST 3255 3.0 EN Sixteenth-Century Europe

Category:   Europe and world before 1800

Language of instruction: English

Although much of the course is devoted to an examination of the religious upheaval in northern Europe, considerable time is also spent on state building, international politics, art and culture and overseas expansion. Course credit exclusions: AP/HUMA 3460 3.00, AP/HIST 3550 6.00.

GL/HIST 3257 3.0 EN European Reformations

Category:   Europe and world before 1800

Language of instruction: English

The Protestant Reformations shattered the unity of Europe and transformed notions of faith, community, salvation, and government. This course examines the theology and political context of major reformers. Topics include the medieval church, heretical movements, Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anabaptism and the Radical Reformation.

GL/HIST 3310 3.0 FR Francophonies d’Amérique de 1604 à 1867

Catégorie : Les Amériques

Langue d'instruction : français

L'histoire des communautés francophones de l'Amérique du Nord depuis les débuts de la colonisation française jusqu'à la Confédération canadienne. L'attention porte bien sûr sur le Québec, mais aussi sur l'Acadie, sur la Louisiane et sur les autres centres de peuplement français.

GL/HIST 3315 3.0 FR Francophonies d’Amérique de 1867 à nos jours

Catégorie :  Les Amériques

Langue d'instruction : français

L’histoire des communautés francophones de l’Amérique du Nord entre la continuité culturelle, le renouveau et l’éclipse.  Le cours examine les raisons pour lesquelles ces communautés ont connu des parcours si différents.

GL/HIST 3344 3.0 EN The Immigrant Experience in Canada before 1920

Category:   The Americas

Language of instruction: English

This course examines immigrants’ rural and urban experiences from European settlement to the First World War.  Within a broadly chronological framework, a number of thematic issues are examined: public policy, work, gender, class structure, religion, institutional development, and xenophobia.

GL/HIST 3348 3.0 EN The Immigrant Experience in Canada since 1920

Category:   The Americas

Language of instruction: English

This course probes different aspects of the immigrant experience in Canada from the 1920s to the present. Topics include urban and rural settlement, immigration laws and public policy, labour, institutional development, gender and the family, religion, and social stratification.

GL/HIST 3400 3.0 EN The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Era: 1789-1815

Category: EU and World before 1800 and EU and World after 1800

Language of instruction: English

A detailed examination of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era with particular attention to historiography.

GL/HIST 3436 3.0 EN Machiavelli’s World

Category:  EU and World before 1800

Language of instruction: English

This course examines Renaissance culture between 1350-1500. It focuses in particular on the relationship between the writings of Niccolò Machiavelli – the period’s most influential political philosopher, historian, and playwright – and the social, political and intellectual history of Renaissance Florence.

GL/HIST 3436 3.0 FR Le monde de Machiavelli

Catégorie : EU et monde avant 1800

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours analyse la culture de la Renaissance de 1350-1500. Il étudie en particulier les liens entre les écrits de Niccolò Machiavelli - l'homme politique et philosophe, historien et dramaturge le plus influent de cette époque - et l'histoire intellectuelle, sociale, et politique de la ville de Florence durant la Renaissance. Cours incompatible : GL/HIST 3436 3.00 (EN).

GL/HIST 3450 3.0 EN Oral History Workshop

Category:  The Americas

Cross-listing: CDNS

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the methodology, theory, and ethics of gathering, preserving, and interpreting the voices and memories of people and communities from the past. Students develop the skills to research, design, carry out, and write about an oral history project.

GL/HIST 3620 3.0 FR L'engagement de l'écrivain dans la France du XVIIIe siècle

Voir GL/FRAN 3620 3.00 (FR) pour la description.

Catégorie : EU et monde avant 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions : FRAN et HUMA

GL/HIST 3628 6.0 EN Food:  A Social and Cultural Journey

Categories: The Americas, Europe and World before 1800; Europe and World after 1800

General Education: HUMA and SOSC

Cross-listings : HUMA and SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the cultural history of food. The scope is global, covering African, American, Asian and European civilizations and focusing on the relationship between foodstuffs, culture, and technology. Students will actively analyse their modern consumption habits via historical pathways. Prerequisite: six credits in HIST or permission of the Department.

GL/HIST 3639 3.0 EN Comparative Slavery and Emancipation in the Americas

Category:  The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

Africans formed a core population in the colonies of the Americas. This course looks at the daily life of slaves along with the laws and codes that constructed and justified racial difference, comparing slave societies from fifteenth-century Iberia through to post-emancipation. Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 3317 3.00.

GL/HIST 3641 3.0 EN From Sugar to Cocaine:  Latin America’s Global Commodities

Category:  The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

By looking at specific commodities like silver and coffee over time, this course situates local modes of production within global markets of consumption, mapping workers' lives and environments in Latin America from the mercantilism of empire to contemporary globalization.

GL/HIST 3641 6.0 EN From Sugar to Cocaine:  Latin America’s Global Commodities

Category: The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

By looking at specific commodities like silver and coffee over time, this course situates local modes of production within global markets of consumption, mapping workers' lives and environments in Latin America from the mercantilism of empire to contemporary globalization.

GL/HIST 3647 3.0 EN The Politics of Memory

Categories: The Americas, Europe and World after 1800

See GL/ILST 3240 3.0 for description.

Cross-listings: POLS, SOCI

GL/HIST 3651 3.0 FR Politiques féministes et afro-féministes I : « Les turbulentes ouvrent la voix »

Catégorie : EU et monde après 1800

Co-inscriptions : FRAN, GWST, POLS et SOCI

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours éclaire les trajectoires et experiences personnelles des 'femmes' noires africaines et de la diaspora, en contexte colonial et postcolonial, à partir des luttes intersectionnelles (anticolonialisme, antiracisme, antisexisme, anti-impérialisme) et qu'elles mènent.

GL/HIST 3652 3.0 FR Politiques féministes et afro-féministes I : « Les turbulentes ouvrent la voix »

Catégorie : EU et monde après 1800

Co-inscriptions : GWST et SOCI

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours éclaire les trajectoires et experiences personnelles des 'femmes' noires africaines et de la diaspora, en contexte colonial et postcolonial, à partir des luttes intersectionnelles (anticolonialisme, antiracisme, antisexisme, anti-impérialisme) et qu'elles mènent.

GL/HIST 3654 3.0 FR Politiques féministes et afro-féministes II

Catégorie : EU et monde après 1800

Co-inscriptions : GWST et SOCI

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours examine les sites de mobilisations féministes/féminines noires africaines et de la diaspora, la manière dont elles s'inscrivent dans les luttes globales d'émancipation, ainsi que les enjeux soulevés en terme de rapports de pouvoir et de transformations sociales.

GL/HIST 3658 3.0 EN Colonialism and Gender in Black Africa

See AP/GWST 3524 3.0 for description.

Cross-listings: ILST, SOCI, GWST

GL/HIST 3658 3.0 FR Colonialisme, genre sociétés en Afrique noire

Voir AP/GWST 3524 3.0 pour la description

Co-inscriptions: ILST, SOCI, GWST

Ce cours est administré par l'École d'études des femmes et de genre.

GL/HIST 3659 3.0 EN Revolutions in Latin America

Category:  The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

This comparative course focuses on the socio-political and economic roots of revolutions, as well as the changing nature of revolutionary experiences in Latin America, from the Cuban wars for independence (1868-98) through the uprising in Chiapas, Mexico (1994).   Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 3212 6.00. Previously offered as: GL/HIST 3659 6.00.

GL/HIST 3659 6.0 EN Revolutions in Latin America

Category: The Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

This comparative course focuses on the socio-political and economic roots of revolutions, as well as the changing nature of revolutionary experiences in Latin America, from the Cuban wars for independence (1868-98) through the uprising in Chiapas, Mexico (1994).
Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 3212 6.00, GL/HIST 3659 3.00.

GL/HIST 3667 3.0 EN War, Power, and Sovereignty: Early Modern Political Theory I

See GL/POLS 3667 3.0 for description.

Category: Europe and world before 1800

General Education: HUMA

Cross-listings: HUMA, ILST, PHIL, POLS

This course is administered by the Department of Political Science.

GL/HIST 3668 3.0 EN War, Power, and Sovereignty: Early Modern Political Theory II

See GL/POLS 3668 3.0 for description.

Category: Europe and world before 1800

General Education: HUMA

Cross-listings: HUMA, ILST, PHIL, POLS

This course is administered by the Department of Political Science.

GL/HIST 3669 3.0 G21 Passion Project Preparation / Préparation pour projet passion G21

See GL/SOSC 3669 3.0 for description.

Voir GL/SOSC 3669 3.0 pour la description.

General Education: SOSC

Cross-listings: CDNS, ILST, LIN, DRCA, PHIL, PSYC

GL/HIST 3670 3.0 EN Brazil in the Era of Globalization: the 20th Century

Category:  EU and World after 1800 

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

The course examines major contemporary developments in Brazil's domestic situation and external relations, notably the rise of nationalism, industrialization, urbanization, the social condition of natives and blacks, migration flows, and the country's role in intra-Hemispheric and world cooperation.

GL/HIST 3675 3.0 EN Brazil in the Atlantic World: the 16th to the 19th Centuries

Category: EU and World before 1800

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

The history of Brazil interweaves stories of cannibalism, slavery, commodity booms, and the creation of an Atlantic World. Beginning with European-Indigenous encounters, we explore the Portuguese colony that became an American monarchy in the tropics, ending with slave abolition and Republicanism.

GL/HIST 3680 6.0 EN German History from 1871 to the Present

Category: EU and World after 1800

General Education: HUMA, SOSC

Cross-listings: HUMA, SOSC

Language of instruction: English

Modern German history from the unification of the German states in 1871 to the end of the 20th century, including the partnership with the European Union. The following subjects are included: the world wards, Nazism, the partition of Germany, the fall of Communism and the reunification in 1990. Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 3620 6.00.

GL/HIST 3695 6.0 EN Medieval Intellectual History

Category:  EU and World before 1800 

Cross-listing: PHIL

Language of instruction: English

A survey of the development of medieval thought and learning. This course emphasizes primary sources, and the works of a series of major medieval authors are studied in detail.

GL/HIST 3696 6.0 EN The History of Women in Canada

Category: The Americas

General Education: SOSC

Cross-listings: CDNS, GWST, SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the history of women in Canada over the last four centuries. Race, family, work, education, politics, religion, migration and sexuality are some of the themes addressed. Course credit exclusions: AP/HIST 2220 6.00, AP/HIST 3533 6.00, GL/HIST 3690 6.00 (EN) (prior to Fall 2015), GL/HIST 3690 6.00 (FR), GL/SOSC 3690 6.00, GL/GWST 3690 6.00.

GL/HIST 3696 6.0 FR Histoire des femmes au Canada

Catégorie : Les Amériques

Éducation générale : SOSC

Co-inscriptions : CDNS, GWST, SOSC

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours d'histoire des femmes présente une structure chronologique et conceptuelle permettant de découvrir et d'analyser la diversité de l'expérience historique de la vie des femmes au Canada depuis la période précédant l'arrivée des Européens jusqu'à la fin du XXe siècle. Cours incompatibles : AK/AP HIST 2220 6.00, AP/HIST 3533 6.00 and GL/HIST/GWST 3690 6.00.

GL/HIST 3700 3.0 EN World War I

Category:  EU and World after 1800 

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the cataclysmic events of World War I, assessing the political, economic, social, and cultural responses to the fighting. Topics covered include: the theatres of war and home fronts, the global conflict, and the memory of the war.

GL/HIST 3926 3.0 EN Utopias and Dystopias: Old Worlds and New

Language of instruction: English

Cross-listings: CDNS, HIST, HUMA

See GL/HUMA 3926 3.0 for description.

Voir GL/HUMA 3926 3.0 pour la description.

This course is administered by Multidisciplinary Studies.

GL/HIST 4000 6.0 EN Honours Thesis

Language of instruction: English

This course allows students to complete a thesis of approximately 12,500 to 15,000 words including the bibliography. Each student admitted to the course works independently under the guidance of a member of the History Department. Note: Open only to students in the fourth-year.

GL/HIST 4000 6.0 FR Mémoire avancé

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours donne aux étudiant.e.s l'occasion de faire des recherches sur un sujet de leur choix et de rédiger un mémoire avancé de 12,500 à 15,000 mots bibliographie comprise, sous la supervision d'un membre du département d'histoire. Remarque : Offert uniquement aux étudiant.e.s de quatrième année.

GL/HIST 4100 3.0 EN Independent Reading Course

Language of instruction: English

Students do independent reading and/or research, together with written assignments, under the guidance of a member of the History Department. There is an oral examination at the end of the academic year. Prerequisite: Permission of the Department of History.

GL/HIST 4100 6.0 EN Independent Reading Course

Language of instruction: English

Students do independent reading and/or research, together with written assignments, under the guidance of a member of the History Department. There is an oral examination at the end of the academic year. Prerequisite: Permission of the Department of History. Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 4000 6.00.

GL/HIST 4200 3.0 EN Work Placement: Community-engaged public history project

Language of instruction: English

Work placements provide students with the opportunity to gain professional experience and develop valuable competencies for the workplace. Students create or contribute to a public history project for a cultural and heritage institution or community group.
Prerequisite: permission of the department.

GL/HIST 4200 6.0 FR Stage en milieu de travail

Langue d'instruction : français

Les stages en milieu de travail offrent aux étudiant.e.s l’opportunité de bénéficier d’une expérience professionnelle et de développer des compétences indispensables au monde professionnel. Les étudiant.e.s créent ou contribuent à un projet d’histoire publique pour une institution culturelle et patrimoniale, ou pour un groupe communautaire.
Condition préalable : la permission du département.

GL/HIST 4210 3.0 EN Canada from the Great Depression to Pierre Trudeau, 1929-1980

Language of instruction: English

The course deals with selected aspects of Canadian economic, social, political, intellectual, and cultural history from the stock market crash of 1929 to the era of Pierre Trudeau. Prerequisite: GL/HIST 2670 6.00 or permission of the course director.

GL/HIST 4210 6.0 EN Canada from the Great Depression to Pierre Trudeau, 1929-1980

Language of instruction: English

The course deals with selected aspects of Canadian economic, social, political, intellectual, and cultural history from the stock market crash of 1929 to the era of Pierre Trudeau. Prerequisite: GL/HIST 2670 6.00 or permission of the course director.

GL/HIST 4215 3.0 EN Bottles, Borders and Bootleggers: The Origins, Evolution and Revival of Ontario’s Wineries

Category:  The Americas

Language of instruction: English

This course examines the social, economic and political forces including immigration history that have influenced the birth, decline, and subsequent renaissance of Ontario’s wineries.

GL/HIST 4220 6.0 EN / AP/HIST 4505 6.0 Canadian Labour and Immigration History

Category:  The Americas

Language of instruction: English

The growth and development of the trade union movement and the impact on it of immigration and other policies of the Canadian government.

GL/HIST 4250 3.0 EN The History of Fascism and Nazism

Category: EU and World after 1800

Language of instruction: English

This seminar examines the history of Fascism and Nazism in the political, economic and social life of Europe, from their origins as ideological syntheses and modern mass movements to the end of the Second World War.
Prerequisite: Six credits in European History. Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 4230 6.00.

GL/HIST 4310 6.0 EN Living History:  Creating History in the Greater Toronto Area

Category :   The Americas

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the approaches and practices of public history in Canada. Students learn about historical memory and commemorations, visit museums, meet experts, and students spend 12-weeks in a work placement during the Winter term in a heritage or cultural institution. Prerequisite: Permission from the Department. Course credit exclusion: AP/HIST 4840 6.00.

GL/HIST 4310 6.0 FR Histoire vivante : créer l'histoire publique du grand Toronto

Catégorie : Les Amériques

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours explore les approches et pratiques de l'histoire publique au Canada. La classe étudie la mémoire du passé et les commémorations, visite des musées, reçoit des experts. Remarque : Les étudiant.e.s passent douze semaines en stage pendant le semestre d'hiver.

Condition préalable : Permission du département. Cours incompatible : AP/HIST 4840 6.00.

GL/HIST 4410 3.0 EN Society, Human Rights and the Archives

Category:  The Americas

Cross-listing: CDNS

Through field trips and in-class activities, this course analyses the role of archives in facilitating or impeding human rights activism, movements for redress, and documenting the experience of historically marginalized groups. It considers questions of access, preservation, and memory.

GL/HIST 4500 6.0 EN Historiography

Language of instruction: English

A survey of history’s evolution as a unique intellectual craft. It examines history’s changing relationship with the broader social and cultural milieu, its varied functions and significant methodological innovations.

Prerequisites: 36 credits in History or permission of the Department.

GL/HIST 4616 3.0 EN France in the Era of Decolonization

Category: EU and World after 1800

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

This seminar examines the history of France as it confronted liberation struggles in its empire from the Second World War until 1968. It covers the causes and consequences of decolonization, and places the French example within the framework of imperial experiences.

Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST/ILST 4617 3.00

GL/HIST 4616 3.0 FR La France à l'ère de la décolonisation

Catégorie : EU et monde après 1800

Co-inscriptions : ILST et FRAN

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce séminaire sur l'histoire de la France et de son empire, de la Seconde Guerre mondiale à 1968, étudie les facteurs internes et externes
du processus de décolonisation et situe l'exemple français dans le cadre général des expériences impériales.
Note : Les étudiant.e.s qui désirent recevoir des crédits en Études françaises (FRAN) pour ce cours doivent obligatoirement remettre leurs travaux en français.
Cours incompatible : GL/HIST/ILST 4617 3.00.

GL/HIST 4618 3.0 EN Canadian Environmental History 

Category: The Americas

General Education: NATS

Cross-listings: CDNS and NATS                                                   

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the relations between humans and non-human nature from a historical perspective, focusing on the region that is now Canada. It covers the period from early Indigenous contact with Europeans to the present. Prerequisite: six credits in either HIST or CDNS or NATS or permission of the Department. Course Credit Exclusion: AP/HIST 4500 6.00.

GL/HIST 4619 3.0 EN Cultural Encounters in Early Modern Europe

Category:  EU and World before 1800

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

This seminar course examines European society’s first contact with the world beyond the Mediterranean, a crucial sustained moment in the cultural transformation of Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The course considers questions of power, perception, and understanding in that long cultural encounter.

GL/HIST 4622 6.0 EN Renaissance Italy

Category:  EU and World before 1800

General Education: HUMA

Cross-listing: HUMA

Language of instruction: English

This seminar combines primary and secondary readings to explore the history of the Italian Renaissance, from the rise of the fourteenth century despots to the Italian wards of the sixteenth century. Topics for reading and discussion include the Florentine and Venetian republics, civic humanism, the Renaissance papacy, warfare and diplomacy, and Machiavelli, Guicciardini and sixteenth century political thought.

GL/HIST 4630 6.0 EN Brazil Globalization Seminar

Category:  Americas

Cross-listing: ILST

Language of instruction: English

This discussion seminar examines major contemporary developments in Brazil’s domestic situation and external relations, notably the rise of nationalism, industrialization, urbanization, the social condition of Afro-Brazilian and indigenous peoples, migration flows, and the country’s role in intra-Hemispheric and world affairs. Course credit exclusions: GL/HIST 3670 3.00, GL/HIST 3710 6.00.

GL/HIST 4631 3.0 EN Gender in Modern Latin American History

Category:  Americas

Cross-listing: GWST

Language of instruction: English

This seminar engages the history of women, gender and sexuality studies in modern Latin America from colonial society, through the Age of Revolution, to the modernization of patriarchy in the twentieth century. Prerequisite: six credits in AP/HIST or AP/GWST or permission of the Department. PRIOR TO FALL 2017: course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 4221 3.00.

GL/HIST 4635 6.0 EN Domains of Abstract Thoughts in the Middle Ages

Category:  EU and World before 1800

Cross-listing: PHIL

Language of instruction: English

The course presents discussion of abstract thought in the Middle Ages in three different lights: medieval systems of classifying knowledge (ontological, epistemological and pedagogical), the content of certain domains of thought and medieval teaching of that content.
Prerequisite: six credits in either HIST or PHIL or permission of the Department. Course credit exclusion: GL/HIST 4245 6.00.

Subject to budgetary approvals and changes, May 15, 2024./ Sous réserve d’approbation budgétaire et de changements, 15 mai 2024.

Cross-listed courses are administered by other departments.

Courses which have 1 or 2 as the first digit of the course number are open to first-year students.

GL/ECON/HIST/SOSC 1680 6.0 EN Modern Economic History:  A Canadian Perspective

Category : The Americas

General Education:  SOSC

Cross-listings: HIST, SOSC

Language of instruction: English

The economic history of Canada seen as an aspect of North American and, more generally, North Atlantic development, from the earliest staple trade to the present day. PRIOR TO FALL 2014: Course credit exclusions: GL/ECON 2680 6.00, GL/HIST 2680 6.00.

GL/PHIL/HIST/HUMA 2695 3.0 FR Introduction à la philosophie moderne

Catégorie : Europe et monde avant 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions: HIST, HUMA

Langue d'instruction : français

Vue d’ensemble de la pensée philosophique de l’Antiquité par l’étude d’oeuvres marquantes des deux grands représentants de cette époque : Platon et Aristote, dont les oeuvres portent sur des questions de morale et de politique mais aussi de science naturelle.

Cours incompatibles : GL/PHIL/HIST/HUMA 1690 6.00; AP/PHIL 2015 3.00.

GL/PHIL/HIST/HUMA 2696 3.0 FR Introduction à la philosophie moderne

Catégorie : Europe et monde avant 1800

Éducation générale : HUMA

Co-inscriptions: HIST, HUMA

Langue d'instruction : français

Ce cours se penche sur les débuts au 17e siècle de la pensée philosophique moderne, que marque, notamment, le renversement de la conception aristotélicienne des sciences naturelles pour lui substituer celle – demeurée la nôtre – d’une science que structurent les mathématiques.

Cours incompatible : GL/PHIL/HUMA/HIST 1690 6.00.

GL/ILST 3240 3.0 GL/POLS 3640 3.0 GL/HIST/SOCI 3647 3.0 EN The Politics of Memory

Category:

Cross-listings: POLS, HIST, SOCI

Language of instruction: English

The course encourages students to critically think about memory and memorialization as political constructs and sites of struggle. This course explores how race and gender offer epistemological and ontological positions to investigate conceptualizations of power in the production of memory in a globalized world.

GL/HIST/ILST/SOCI 3658 3.0 FR Colonialisme, genre, sociétés en Afrique noire

AP/GL/GWST 3524 3.0

Catégorie : 

Co-inscriptions : ILST, SOCI, HIST

La colonisation par sa mission civilisatrice a contribué entre autres à forger des rapports de genre dans les sociétés africaines. Dans ce sens, ce cours traite de son impact sur les rapports sociaux de sexe autant en Afrique coloniale que postcoloniale.

Cours incompatible : AP/GL/WMST 3524 3.00.

AVANT L’AUTOMNE 2009 : Cours incompatible : AK/AS/WMST 3524 3.00.

GL/POLS/HIST/HUMA/PHIL 3667 3.0 EN War, Power, and Sovereignty: Early Modern Political Theory I 

Category :  Europe and World before 1800 

General Education:  HUMA 

Cross-listings: HIST, HUMA, PHIL

Language of instruction: English

This course examines concepts such as war, power, and sovereignty through the works of thinkers such as Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Locke not as abstract ideas but as responses to, comments on, defences, or critiques of historical events and social realities.

Prerequisites: none required, but students can acquire recommended background by taking GL/HIST 2905 6.00, GL/HIST 3225 3.00, GL/HIST 3436 3.00, GL/PHIL 1690 6.00, GL/PHIL 2620 6.00, GL/PHIL 2645 6.00, GL/POLS 2485 6.00 or GL/POLS 2920 6.00. 

Course credit exclusion: GL/POLS 3660 6.00.

GL/POLS/HIST/HUMA/PHIL 3668 3.0 EN Community, Liberty, and Institutions: Early Modern Political Theory II

Category :  Europe and World before 1800 /Europe and World after 1800

General Education:  HUMA 

Cross-listings: HIST, HUMA, PHIL

Language of instruction: English

This course examines concepts such as community, liberty, and institutions through the works of thinkers such as Rousseau, Madison, Mill, and Marx not as abstract ideas but as responses to, comments on, defences, or critiques of historical events and social realities.

Prerequisites: none required, but students can acquire recommended background by taking GL/HIST 2905 6.00, GL/HIST 3225 3.00, GL/HIST 3436 3.00, GL/PHIL 1690 6.00, GL/PHIL 2620 6.00, GL/PHIL 2645 6.00, GL/POLS 2485 6.00 or GL/POLS 2920 6.00.

Course credit exclusion: GL/POLS 3660 6.00.

GL/HUMA/CDNS/HIST 3926 3.0 EN Utopias and Dystopias: Old Worlds and New

Cross-listings: HUMA, CDNS, HIST

This course examines the concept of utopias in Western European and North American thought from the time of Thomas More to the present, focusing on Canadian examples. Key texts of utopian and dystopian writing are studied, along with historical examples of utopian experiments.

Course credit exclusion: GL/HUMA 3885 3.00.

GL/CDNS/HIST/SOCI/SOSC 4621 6.0 Decolonising Canada – Décoloniser le Canada

Category:  Americas

General Education: SOSC

Cross-listings: HIST, SOCI, SOSC

Languages of instruction: English and French

This seminar course examines the history, current state, and possible futures of Indigenous-non-Indigenous relations in Canada.

Ce séminaire examine l’histoire, l’état actuel, et les avenirs potentiels des relations entre les autochtones et les non-autochtones au Canada.

Prerequisite: Six credits in any discipline on the study of Canada or permission of the Department. 

Course credit exclusion: GL/CDNS/SOSC 4622 6.00.

GL/EN/HIST/DRST/DRCA 4625 6.0 EN Imagining the Past: Literary Uses of History in the Renaissance

Category: EU and World before 1800

Cross-listing: EN, DRST, DRCA

Language of instruction: English

This course explores the literary uses of history and the meaning of historical memory in English literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries by focusing on a variety of authors and popular Renaissance literary forms.

AP/GL/GWST 4507 3.0

GL/HIST/SOSC 4670 3.0 EN Writing Women’s History

General Education:  SOSC

Cross-listings: HIST, SOSC

Language of instruction: English

This course examines how feminist issues and theories have influenced the ways women’s history has been written, the questions asked and the themes studied. Students are encouraged to develop the conceptual and methodological skills to undertake their own historical research.

Course credit exclusions: AP/GL/WMST 4507 3.00. 

GL/SOSC 4669 3.0 G21 Passion Project / Projet passion G21

General Education: None. See note below.

Cross-listings: CDNS, DRCA, HIST, ILST, LING, PHIL, PSYC

Language of instruction: English

This course provides students an opportunity to work on a research passion project designed in consultation with a faculty mentor. All projects will correspond to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, applying theory to address a real-world problem. NOTES: 1. This course cannot be used to satisfy the general education requirement. 2. Enrollment by permission of the MDS department. If registering under a cross-listing from another program, permission must be provided by that program as well.

Subject to budgetary approvals and changes, May 15, 2024.

Students in a classroom.

Degree Types & Program Requirements

The History program offers the following degree types and certificates:  

The History program is also available as a bilingual or trilingual international Bachelor of Arts.

This program is also available as a Glendon BA, with flexible language requirements.

Book an Appointment with an Academic Advisor

View Academic Calendar for program requirements

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Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Public History

Glendon undergraduate students may earn a Cross-Disciplinary Certificate in Public History concurrent with fulfillment of the requirements for a bachelor’s degree. The Cross-Disciplinary Certificate provides students with an introduction to the theory, methods, and practice of work in historical, heritage, and cultural institutions, and a critical understanding of the production and presentation of historical knowledge for public audiences.

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Other Program Details

Join the Glendon Historical Society

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Discover the careers some of our alumni have excelled in, and find out how their experience at Glendon gave them an advantage in the job market.

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