Graduate Courses

Course Type: History Elective

This course examines the development of the Chinese Communist movement from 1919 to the present, analyzing its urban and rural dimensions and the processes through which the Chinese Communist Party established authority in 1949. Students evaluate the formation of the Party State and the implementation of socialist institutions in the People’s Republic of China. The course draws on primary documents, scholarly debates, and comparative historical studies to investigate political, social, and ideological change. Through analytical reading and writing, students assess differing interpretations of major events and consider how historians construct explanations for state formation, policy shifts, and transformations in governance.

Course Type: History Elective

This course examines selected topics in the colonial, revolutionary, and early national periods of North American history. Students analyze political, social, cultural, and economic developments with attention to  primary sources, historiographical debates, and comparative methods. The seminar format encourages close reading, discussion, and evaluation of differing scholarly interpretations. Emphasis may vary by semester, allowing focused study on themes such as governance, identity formation, regional variation, social relations, or institutional change. Students assess how historians construct arguments about early America and develop their own evidence-based analyses through research, writing, and critical inquiry. This course may be repeated with different thematic emphases.

Course Type: History Elective

This course examines the topics, methods, and theories historians use to study health, disease, disability, and medicine across different historical contexts. Students analyze influential texts and evaluate scholarly interpretations concerning the relationships among health, medicine, and society. The course emphasizes historiographical analysis, asking students to examine how methodological choices, theoretical frameworks, and source materials influence historical interpretations. Through critical reading, discussion, and analysis of historical scholarship, students develop skills in evaluating evidence, comparing interpretations, and assessing competing approaches to the study of health and medicine. Geographic, topical, and chronological emphases may vary by semester and instructor.

Course Type: History Elective

This course investigates immigration and citizenship in the United States from the colonial period to the twenty-first century, analyzing the factors that drove migration and the varied experiences of newcomers and their descendants. Students examine how historians interpret identity formation, community building, and interactions with legal and political institutions. As a graduate-level reading seminar, the course engages both foundational monographs and recent scholarly works to evaluate changing methodological and interpretive approaches within the field. Assignments focus on assessing arguments, comparing analytical frameworks, and situating historical developments within broader scholarly conversations about migration and national membership.

Course Type: History Elective or Public History Elective

This course examines the development of musical traditions in Texas and the American Southwest from pre-Columbian times to the present, analyzing how musical forms emerged, changed, and interacted across different cultural settings. Students evaluate primary recordings, historical documents, and scholarly studies to understand how historians and ethnomusicologists interpret the relationship between music and regional history. The seminar emphasizes critical listening, contextual analysis, and attention to diverse communities and influences. Through discussion and written work, students assess interpretive frameworks, compare methodological approaches, and develop evidence-based analyses of how music has been shaped by the social, cultural, and political dynamics of the region.

Course Type: Required Course

This course examines foundational concepts and methods used in professional historical research and writing. Students analyze a range of sources to evaluate how historians construct interpretations and frame analytical questions. The course introduces approaches to archival inquiry, source criticism, historiographical debates, and the development of evidence-based arguments. Through guided discussions and structured research exercises, students practice evaluating scholarly works, refining research questions, and applying disciplinary conventions in historical writing. By the end of the course, students demonstrate the ability to assess historical methodologies and articulate informed, analytical interpretations.

Course Type: Public History Elective

This course examines the development of architectural history alongside key frameworks in preservation theory and practice in the United States and elsewhere. Students analyze major architectural periods, methodological approaches to historical interpretation, and evolving preservation standards. Through readings, comparative case studies, and class discussion, the seminar investigates how architects, historians, and preservation professionals document, interpret, and evaluate the built environment. Participants assess the analytical tools used to understand architectural form, material integrity, cultural context, and conservation strategies. The course trains students to evaluate evidence and apply theoretical models to questions surrounding historical significance and decisions about preservation.

Course Type: Required Course

This course examines advanced research and writing practices in the discipline of history. Students formulate research questions grounded in relevant historiographical debates and investigate primary and secondary sources appropriate to their chosen subjects and questions. Through workshops, peer review, and iterative drafting, students analyze historical evidence to construct coherent written arguments and revise their work for clarity and rigor. The course emphasizes methodological evaluation, scholarly communication, and adherence to disciplinary citation standards. Students also assess peer drafts to strengthen analytical reasoning and evidence use.

Course Type: Public History Elective

This course examines the history, theory, and professional practices that shape archival management. Students analyze the development of archival principles, evaluate major organizational models, and investigate how institutions acquire, preserve, describe, and provide access to records. Seminar discussions draw on case studies, professional standards, and current scholarship to assess how archival decisions influence recordkeeping systems and the role of archives in society. Through readings and applied exercises, students develop an analytical understanding of archival workflows and the methodological considerations that guide institutional decision making.

Course Type: Public History Elective or History Elective

This course examines how social groups, institutions, and communities construct and negotiate collective memories of past events. Students analyze theories of memory, the mechanisms through which narratives are formed, and the factors that shape how interpretations change over time. The course evaluates the influence of contemporary political, cultural, and social contexts on the remembrance and representation of history. Through engagement with case studies, scholarly debates, and primary materials, students assess differing explanations of why collective memories emerge, persist, or shift. Topics may include, but are not limited to, the memorialization of fascism in Europe, the sanitization of the Civil Rights Movement, controversies over the Alamo, and the development of pilgrimage sites. Assignments emphasize analytical reasoning, evidence-based interpretation, and the ability to explain how memory functions as a historical process. This course may be repeated with different thematic emphases.