History

History

The History faculty welcomes you to explore the past and is eager to introduce you to the people who in their different ways made the world in which we live today. The study of history is vital for our understanding of the present. It offers multiple ways of explaining both how the contemporary world emerged, and how past societies differed from our own. The History program at UTSC provides a dynamic introduction to the global transformations that have taken place over the past two millennia, while also focusing on the experiences and contributions of ordinary people to these transformations.

Our curriculum spans the history of all parts of the world in their complex, transnational connections, and covers a broad range of topics, including religion and everyday life, colonialism, gender relations, the history of work, the environment, urbanization, immigration, race and ethnicity, and material culture.

Findings in history depend upon the precise evaluation of specific evidence, be it texts, images, or objects. Our program emphasizes the critical reading, research, and writing skills that are necessary for the study of the past and for a wide range of professional activities beyond the university. Innovative and interdisciplinary, History courses play a part in a number of other programs, including African Studies, Classical Studies, Food Studies, Global Asia Studies, and Women's and Gender Studies, and can also complement and enhance courses in other Humanities and Social Science disciplines.

The History curriculum encompasses a variety of approaches in order to build a range of knowledge and skills. A-level courses provide both a general introduction to the study of history at the university level and the preparation for further studies in transnational and global history. B-level surveys offer a comprehensive foundation of knowledge in their particular areas, including the histories of particular nation states and regions of the world. In C-level courses, students investigate more specific places, periods, or problems through lectures and tutorials. D-level courses are conducted as seminars, where students make close and thorough studies of particular questions and present their findings in discussions, essays, research papers or other final projects.

History courses at all levels cover a range of periods, from antiquity to the present, and explore a variety of world regions, from North America and Africa, through Europe and the Mediterranean, to South and East Asia.

The History curriculum as a whole stresses training in writing, research, and historical methods. These skills are essential tools for historians but are also readily transferable to any working environment in today's complex world.

Knowledge of other languages is essential to advanced study in history. If you plan to take history to an advanced level, we strongly encourage early study of an appropriate language for your program or areas of interest.

The past is a foreign country, which requires time and attention to get to know beyond a tourist's snapshot. But it is also the platform on which the present rests. To understand the complexity of our own times, we invite you to come and learn about other places and periods and the deep connections that criss-cross the globe at different moments throughout its long history.

For more information about our programs and a full list of courses, please click here.

Programs

  • Specialist Program in History 
  • Specialist (Co-operative) Program in History 
  • Major Program in History
  • Major (Co-operative) Program in History
  • Minor Program in History

Faculty

  • Joshua Arthurs, Associate Professor
  • Daniel Bender, Professor
  • Christine Berkowitz, Associate Professor, Teaching Stream
  • Katherine Blouin, Associate Professor
  • Li Chen, Associate Professor
  • Husseina Dinani, Assistant Professor
  • Suleyman Dost, Assistant Professor
  • Esmat Elhalaby, Assistant Professor
  • Michael Gervers, Professor
  • Anup Grewal, Assistant Professor
  • Rick Halpern, Professor
  • Paula Hastings, Associate Professor
  • Russell Kazal, Associate Professor
  • William Nelson, Associate Professor
  • Jeffrey Pilcher, Professor
  • Bhavani Raman, Associate Professor
  • William Riddell, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream
  • Stephen Rockel, Associate Professor
  • Natalie Rothman, Professor
  • Jayeeta Sharma, Associate Professor

History Courses by Area

  • HISA07H3/CLAA04H3 - The Ancient Mediterranean World
  • HISB10H3/CLAB05H3 - History and Culture of the Greek World
  • HISB11H3/CLAB06H3 - History and Culture of the Roman World
  • HISB53H3/GASB53H3 - Mughals and the World, 1500-1858 AD
  • HISB60H3 - Europe in the Early Middle Ages (305-1053)
  • HISB61H3 - Europe in the High and Late Middle Ages (1053-1492)
  • HISB62H3 - The Early Modern Mediterranean, 1500-1800
  • HISB63H3 - Muhammad to the Mongols: Islamic History 600-1300
  • HISB64H3 - The Making of the Modern Middle East: Islamic History 1300-2000
  • HISC10H3/CLAC05H3 - Environment, Society and Economy in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
  • HISC11H3 - Multiculturalism and Cultural Identities in the Greek and Roman Worlds
  • HISC18H3 - Europe in the Enlightenment, 1700-1789
  • HISC26H3 - The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire
  • HISC52H3 - Ethiopia: Seeing History
  • HISC60H3 - Old Worlds? Strangers and Foreigners in the Mediterranean, 1200-1700
  • HISC65H3 - Venice and its Empire, 800-1800
  • HISC67H3/CLAC67H3 - Early Islam: Perspectives on the Construction of a Historical Tradition
  • HISD10H3/CLAD05H3 - Water Management in the Ancient Mediterranean World
  • HISD58H3/GASD58H3 - Culture, Politics, and Society in Late Imperial China
  • HISD59H3/GASD59H3 - Law and Society in Chinese History
  • HISD60H3 - Travel and Travel-Writing from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period
  • HISD63H3 - The Crusades: I
  • HISD64H3 - The Crusades: II
  • HISA07H3/CLAA04H3 - The Ancient Mediterranean World
  • HISB10H3/CLAB05H3 - History and Culture of the Greek World
  • HISB11H3/CLAB06H3 - History and Culture of the Roman World
  • HISB12H3/CLAB20H3 - The Classical World in Film
  • HISC10H3/CLAC05H3 - Environment, Society and Economy in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt
  • HISC11H3/CLAC24H3 - Multiculturalism and Cultural Identities in the Greek and Roman Worlds
  • HISC67H3/CLAC67H3 - Early Islam: Perspectives on the Construction of a Historical Tradition
  • HISD10H3/CLAD05H3 - Water Management in the Ancient Mediterranean World
  • HISA06H3/GASA01H3 - Introducing Global Asia and its Histories
  • HISA08H3/AFSA01H3 - Africa in the World: An Introduction
  • HISB50H3/AFSB50H3 - Africa in the Era of the Slave Trade
  • HISB51H3/AFSB51H3 - Africa from the Colonial Conquests to Independence
  • HISB52H3/AFSB01H3 - African Religious Traditions Through History
  • HISB53H3/GASB53H3 - Mughals and the World, 1500-1858 AD
  • HISB54H3/AFSB54H3 - Africa in the Postcolonial Era
  • HISB57H3/GASB57H3 - Sub-Continental Histories: South Asia in the World
  • HISB58H3/GASB58H3 - Modern Chinese History
  • HISB74H3/GASB74H3 - Asian Foods and Global Cities
  • HISC51H3/GASC51H3 - From Opium to Maximum City: Narrating Political Economy in China and India
  • HISC52H3/AFSC52H3/VPHC52H3 - Ethiopia: Seeing History
  • HISC54H3/GASC54H3 - Eating and Drinking Across Global Asia
  • HISC55H3/AFSC55H3 - War and Society in Modern Africa
  • HISC57H3/GASC57H3 - China and the World
  • HISC59H3/GASC59H3 - The Making of Tamil Worlds
  • HISC97H3/AFSC97H3 - Women and Power in Africa
  • HISD09H3/GASD01H3 - Senior Seminar: Topics in Global Asian Migrations
  • HISD50H3/AFSD50H3 - Southern Africa: Conquest and Resistance, 1652-1900
  • HISD51H3/AFSD51H3 - Southern Africa: Colonial Rule, Apartheid and Liberation
  • HISD52H3/AFSD52H3 - East African Societies in Transition
  • HISD53H3/GASD53H3/AFSD53H3 - Africa and Asia in the First World War
  • HISD58H3/GASD58H3 - Culture, Politics, and Society in Late Imperial China
  • HISD59H3/GASD59H3 - Law and Society in Chinese History
  • HISB40H3 - Early Canada and the Atlantic World
  • HISB41H3 - Making of Modern Canada
  • HISC45H3 - Immigrants and Race Relations in Canadian History
  • HISC46H3 - Canada and the World
  • HISD25H3 - Oral History and Urban Change
  • HISD44H3 - Nearby History: The Method and Practice of Local History
  • HISD46H3 - Selected Topics in Canadian Women's History
  • HISD47H3 - Cold War Canada in Comparative Contexts
  • HISD48H3 - The World Through Canadian Eyes
  • HISD73H3 - Engendering Canadian Food History
  • HISB93H3 - Modern Europe I: The Nineteenth Century
  • HISB94H3 - Modern Europe II: The Twentieth Century
  • HISC18H3 - Europe in the Enlightenment, 1700-1789
  • HISC26H3 - The French Revolution and the Napoleonic Empire
  • HISC27H3 - The History of European Sexuality: From Antiquity to the Present
  • HISC65H3 - Venice and its Empire, 800-1800
  • HISD14H3 - Selected Topics in Modern European History
  • HISB60H3 - Europe in the Early Middle Ages (305-1053)
  • HISB61H3 - Europe in the High and Late Middle Ages (1053-1492)
  • HISB63H3 - Muhammad to the Mongols: Islamic History 600-1300
  • HISB64H3 - The Making of the Modern Middle East: Islamic History 1300-2000
  • HISD63H3 - The Crusades: I
  • HISD64H3 - The Crusades: II
  • HISB02H3 - The British Empire: A Short History
  • HISB14H3 - Edible History: History of Global Foodways
  • HISC29H3 - Global Commodities: Nature, Culture, History
  • HISB62H3 - The Early Modern Mediterranean, 1500-1800
  • HISC04H3 - Drink in History
  • HISC05H3/FSTC05H3 - Feeding the City: Food Systems in Historical Perspective
  • HISC08H3 - Colonialism on Film
  • HISC34H3 - Race, Segregation, Protest: South Africa and the United States
  • HISC58H3 - Delhi and London: Imperial Cities, Mobile People
  • HISC60H3 - Old Worlds? Strangers and Foreigners in the Mediterranean, 1200-1700
  • HISC66H3/WSTC66H3 - Histories of Gender and Sexuality in Muslim Societies: Between Law, Ethics and Culture
  • HISC75H3 - Migration in Global History
  • HISD05H3 - Between Two Worlds? Translators and Interpreters in History
  • HISD16H3/WSTD16H3 - Socialist Feminism in Global Context
  • HISD31H3 - Thinking of Diversity: Perspectives on American Pluralisms
  • HISD60H3 - Travel and Travel-Writing from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Period
  • HISD65H3 - The Good in Islam: Ethics in Islamic Thought
  • HISD70H3 - History of Empire and Foods
  • HISD72H3 - History of Beer and Brewing
  • HISB30H3 - American History to the Civil War
  • HISB31H3 - History of the United States since the Civil War
  • HISB37H3 - History of Mexico
  • HISC30H3 - The U.S. and the World
  • HISC32H3 - The Emergence of Modern America, 1877-1933
  • HISC33H3 - Modern American Political Culture
  • HISC36H3 - People in Motion: Immigrants and Migrants in U.S. History
  • HISC37H3 - Eating and Drinking Across the Americas
  • HISC39H3 - Hellhound on My Trail: Living the Blues in the Mississippi Delta, 1890-1945
  • HISD32H3 - Slavery and Emancipation in the American South
  • HISD35H3 - The Politics of American Immigration, 1865-present
  • HISD36H3 - From New Deal to New Right: American Politics since 1933