HIST 337D History of the Present: Introduction to Global History
This course will introduce students to global history. Its immediate theme is the Ukraine crisis. The course will include "live" journalism, which is to say events that are occurring while the class is being taught. The course will also involve a historical investigation into the causes and background of this crisis. Relevant actors will include Russia, Ukraine, the United States and the member states of the European Union: these multiple actors will shed light on what can be called global history. A major theme will be the legacy of the Cold War and break-up of the Soviet Union. More broadly, this class will focus on history's relationship to the crises of the present, offering students a way to peer beyond the headlines, on the one hand, and a way to apply historical insight to contemporary issues on the other.