Syllabi

In this course we will examine the complexities of Canada in the modern era through an examination of the social movements that have both shaped it and protested it. We will pay particular attention to the ways that identities and inequalities — of gender, race, class, nation, religion, language, sexuality and more – were encoded in Canada’s nation-state. We will also pay attention to how social movements (Indigenous rights, feminism, the labour movement, gay and lesbian liberation, and more) aimed to challenge this, and to the particular combination of successes and failures that they experienced in doing so.

This course builds on survey-level introductions to Canadian history and raises questions of historical methodology, including the use of primary sources and the critical analysis of historiography. There are no pre-requisites, and the course is suitable for students with little or no Canadian history background. The course aims to prepare students for more detailed and in-depth studies, including in seminar-level investigations into Canadian history, gender history, or Indigenous history.

This course is a team-taught introduction to Canadian history, designed and delivered by Canadian historians in the UBC Department of History. Rather than a broad survey, the course investigates different interpretations of a number of “defining moments” that have shaped northern North America. More specifically, HIST 235 revolves around the question – what “moments” have mattered in Canada’s history, and why? – and the wide range of ways in which we might answer this question. Lectures are delivered by different historians, who each draw on their particular areas of expertise in order to answer the question posed by the course. Readings, assignments, and tutorial discussions and activities then give students further opportunity to assess lecturers’ answers, to understand each “moment” in its broader historical context, to make connections between different “moments,” and to explore other possible responses to the question. Like other 200-level courses in the UBC History department, HIST 235 is also designed to introduce key areas of historical practice including primary source analysis, historical writing, library and media skills, and public history.

From conquest through the present day, sex and sexuality have been both means and symbols for establishing power relations in American society. This course examines the centrality of sex to the first encounters between indigenous people and settlers, the organization of North American colonies, the creation of a slave society, the origins of feminism, the development of American masculinity, the growth of capitalism, and the establishment of the modern state. We will study many varieties of sexual behaviour, including marital sex, commercial sex, rape, same-sex sex, and self-sex. Small-group discussions will analyze both primary and secondary sources.

In this course we will take a deep dive into post-World War II American political history by playing two “Reacting to the Past” games. The first, “Chicago, 1968,” explores the backroom politics and riotous street fighting that took place during that year’s national Democratic Party convention. The second game, “Watergate, 1973-1974,” explores the constitutional crisis provoked by the investigation of the Watergate burglary. By taking on the roles of historic figures and recreating these debate-filled moments, drawing on extensive primary and secondary source readings, students will gain a deep familiarity with major themes in modern US political history.