If you could teach any course...

[Kleio_77]

I'd love to teach a course on Southeastern Europe from 1389 to the Present, or a History of Socialism/Marxism/Communism type thing. Or something similar to my favorite undergrad class, which was Russia 1861-1939 (from emancipation to right before WWII, mostly focusing on the revolutionary movements and the February/October Revolutions and all the political shenanigans in the 20s). I'd also love to teach something on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. I figure I'll probably end up teaching upper-division courses on Nazi Germany/the Holocaust and Russia/Soviet Union for the most part.

 

I would also love to teach a course on the history of Communism... I did my undergrad thesis on the ideological origins of Leninism and really enjoyed it. My proposed research topic for my applications is to examine the evolution of Communism in East Germany between the Stalinist and post-Stalinist periods.  I also would enjoy teaching a course on the Volkisch movement in Germany and the ideological origins of Nazism. 

[kotov]

I really enjoyed the class I took in Germany on Fascist movements and authoritarian regimes during the interwar period. It's not what I write on mostly, but I secretly love the interwar/postwar periods a lot more than the war period itself. Anything on the political stuff during that period would be tons of fun for me. German Revolution? Russian Revolution? Romanian far-right ideologists (oh my God, I took a seminar on this when I was in Germany and it was amazeballs)? Anything like that.

[Kleio_77]

I really enjoyed the class I took in Germany on Fascist movements and authoritarian regimes during the interwar period. It's not what I write on mostly, but I secretly love the interwar/postwar periods a lot more than the war period itself. Anything on the political stuff during that period would be tons of fun for me. German Revolution? Russian Revolution? Romanian far-right ideologists (oh my God, I took a seminar on this when I was in Germany and it was amazeballs)? Anything like that.

 

I'm really interested in the history of fascism in Britain, and the British Union of Fascists... As that is Sir Oswald Mosley in my profile pic. LOL. I covered the Populist movement in Russia for my thesis on Leninism, and would like to read more, especially about Nikolai Chernyshevsky. However, I have so many books to read and Russian Populism is on the back burner for now. That is awesome you got to study in Germany, I have yet to travel there. I will definitely be visiting in the next couple of years for primary source research. 

[kotov]

I'm really interested in the history of fascism in Britain, and the British Union of Fascists... As that is Sir Oswald Mosley in my profile pic. LOL. I covered the Populist movement in Russia for my thesis on Leninism, and would like to read more, especially about Nikolai Chernyshevsky. However, I have so many books to read and Russian Populism is on the back burner for now. That is awesome you got to study in Germany, I have yet to travel there. I will definitely be visiting in the next couple of years for primary source research. 

 

Oh yeah, Germany is a great place to travel and study. Everybody in my program gets sent abroad for a year, so I opted for Germany. I was at the University of Jena, but I also spent a couple of months in Freiburg, where the military archives are. I didn't end up doing much actual archival research there, since most of the archival materials I needed were from the Romanian archives, not the German, but there's just so much more variety in course offerings there, etc. There's no way a graduate seminar in the U.S. (at most places anyway) would've been like "here, read Cioran and Codreanu and A.C. Cuza and let's discuss this." It was a blast.

 

Russian populism sounds like tons of fun. I studied Russian history in undergrad and got really into reading about like, Ukrainian nationalism in the USSR and then into stuff like the Holodomor, and I was like, legitimately conflicted about whether I wanted to keep working on that and like, Russian agricultural history, or go more toward fascism/Holocaust studies. I ended up going for the latter, but I'd still love to get to teach on Russia since I honestly probably know Russian history better than German history. That Russia 1861-1939 class I took at Auburn was incredible. I think the professor who taught it when I was there retired a couple years after I graduated (which makes me feel old talking about a class I took from a retired professor), which is a shame, because I don't know if they even have a Russianist there anymore.

[Kleio_77]

My undergrad mentor, who supervised both my independent study and thesis, was not too fond of supervising topics on Nazism and the Holocaust. After my independent study, I wanted to continue studying Nazism but he suggested Leninism. I was a bit conflicted but agreed, and do not regret it. He just retired this summer and his mom was a nurse during WWII, and she experienced the end of the war and liberating a concentration camp. He rarely talked about it in class, and hated supervising topics concerning Nazism and the Holocaust. However, I'm thankful to have some undergrad research experience in both German and Russian political history. I'm happy to know there is someone else on grad cafe with similar interests. Let me know if you publish any articles, as I'd be interested to read your work. 

[mvlchicago]

I have a preliminary syllabus, a set of primary sources, and even pre-emptive questions for class discussions all set up for my landmark course called "Historiography and Historical Methods in Star Wars." It was inspired by a professor at Chicago who hosts a History class on the works on J.R.R Tolkien every four years. The class would primarily function as a course for advanced undergraduates who are about to embark on thesis research. My experience with such classes has normally been the wide diversity of interests often serves as a hindrance for discussion, since everyone is situated in different sets of primary and secondary sources and no one felt like they could seriously engaged with the projects of other classmates. By using the sources given within a variety of contexts for Star Wars, it would (hopefully) teach how to seriously interrogate primary sources and allow for open discussion given that everyone will be learning within the same specific historical context. Rigorous but enjoyable.  

Edited March 14, 2015 by mvlchicago

[kotov]

I have a preliminary syllabus, a set of primary sources, and even pre-emptive questions for class discussions all set up for my landmark course called "Historiography and Historical Methods in Star Wars." It was inspired by a professor at Chicago who hosts a History class on the works on J.R.R Tolkien every four years. The class would primarily function as a course for advanced undergraduates who are about to embark on thesis research. My experience with such classes has normally been the wide diversity of interests often serves as a hindrance for discussion, since everyone is situated in different sets of primary and secondary sources and no one felt like they could seriously engaged with the projects of other classmates. By using the sources given within a variety of contexts for Star Wars, it would (hopefully) teach how to seriously interrogate primary sources and allow for open discussion given that everyone will be learning within the same specific historical context. Rigorous but enjoyable.  

 

I think there was a History of Science Fiction or something like that course at Auburn. I never took it, since scifi isn't my thing (I never even saw Star Wars), but it sounded neat in theory. CMU has the History of Rock and Roll.

[Sigaba]

On 3/14/2015 at 1:22 PM, mvlchicago said:

I have a preliminary syllabus, a set of primary sources, and even pre-emptive questions for class discussions all set up for my landmark course called "Historiography and Historical Methods in Star Wars." It was inspired by a professor at Chicago who hosts a History class on the works on J.R.R Tolkien every four years. The class would primarily function as a course for advanced undergraduates who are about to embark on thesis research. My experience with such classes has normally been the wide diversity of interests often serves as a hindrance for discussion, since everyone is situated in different sets of primary and secondary sources and no one felt like they could seriously engaged with the projects of other classmates. By using the sources given within a variety of contexts for Star Wars, it would (hopefully) teach how to seriously interrogate primary sources and allow for open discussion given that everyone will be learning within the same specific historical context. Rigorous but enjoyable.  

As long as it was made clear that Han shot first, this sounds like a promising topic.

[time_consume_me]

International History of non-Liberal Anti-Colonial Nationalism

[ladydobz]

I have a couple of thoughts on courses I'd love to teach... although my top would be History of Women in Medicine

History of Sexuality
History of Women in Medicine
History of Childbirth (this is actually a current class at IU apparently)
Evolution of Modern Medicine
History of Public Health
LGBTQIA+ History
Women's History in US (Early & Modern separated into two courses)
 

[Prophecies]

That Star Wars class sounds awesome!

I'd teach the following hypothetical classes (there's quite a few, I had fun with this!):

Angels and Demons: A History of the Russian Orthodox Church

It's hard to find a comprehensive overlook of the R.O.C. There are some excellent historians working in the field, but few communicate the rich history, art and theology to students. Unfortunately, the R.O.C is prone to simplifications and treated as an oddity- as opposed to a faith that Russia has fully embraced. Special attention is given to warfare and the interesting perspectives of Russians on it. 

'Tis The Season: A History of Christmas From Antiquity to The Culture Wars

Okay, I love Christmas. Yet perhaps we can observe European history through Christmas-themed sources: choirbooks, Christmas cracker wrappings, Children's literature, the visual arts, newspaper articles and letters. The primary sources are quite terrific for those into Christmas history, although this course would consider perspectives from the Middle East, North America and my home country, Australia! I'd use this course to teach students the variety of sources a historian encounters as well as dwelve into religious history.  

Glitch In The Matrix: The Intellectual Roots And Reality of Neo-Nazism, Nouvelle Droite, The Alt / Dissident Right 

Much of the focus on Neo-fascism / Nazism works in a comparative way and understands current far-right movements as an extension of the 'same old fascism.' In this course, I will convey to students that as the wheels of history turned... so did Nazism. This course focuses on intellectual history and the thinking of far-right contemporary figures (as well as the differences between pre-WWII fascists and National Socialists to Neo-Nazis and far right figures). There's also a focus on globalism, diplomacy, communications, Islam (+ other religions), and technology.

The Salman Rushdie Affair In Its Historical And Geopolitical Context

The Salman Rushdie affair is the most notorious event in modern English-language publishing. Fatwas, murder, protests, book burnings, diplomatic breakdowns... are all present in the Rushdie Affair. But there are other stories, too. Muslims in the UK, postcolonialism, the English language, free speech, media history and the Iranian revolution are all interesting topics, worthy of interrogation by young scholars. They'll also read The Satanic Versus and try to make sense of the Rushdie affair. 

Just War Theory: A Discussion

Discussions over the morality of war have always existed - but some thinkers are validated, whilst others are left to the dust. This course is about these ideas, juxtaposed against a variety of conflicts. Students will work on a nuanced understanding of how to consider warfare in the 21st century. Special attention is given to medieval theologians and post WWII thinkers. 

As you can probably gather, I'm a modernist who focuses on religion in Europe. Although my time period begins after the French Revolution, I'm quite interested in the Middle Ages and Classical World (and how modern individuals perceive them).