| History G8061x |
652 Schermerhorn |
| Columbia University |
M 2:10–4:00 |
| Fall 2010 |
Professor Kosto |
This course is designed as an introduction to the historiography of ancient, medieval, and early modern Europe. Reading and discussion of both classic and newer studies are intended not only to introduce some of the major historical problems and questions of these periods, but also to demonstrate the development and reformulation of these questions. We will not work extensively with primary sources, except as aids in discussing and evaluating the secondary studies. This course is required for graduate students in ancient, medieval, or (early) early modern European history and to be taken during the first two years, if possible; more advanced students in history and qualified students from other departments may enroll with the permission of the instructor. Students without advanced coursework in one of the subfields may wish to review a short textbook, which the instructor will be happy to recommend.
A c. 5000-word review essay. Clear your choice of subject with the instructor by 20 October. I recommend one of three approaches. 1) Deal critically with the development of the (standard) secondary literature on a topic, preferably one not dealt with explicitly on the common syllabus. 2) Write a review essay of a group of recent secondary works on a topic (five is a good target number). 3) Write a review essay of the work of a single historian. The first approach will involve a more detailed treatment of older scholarship, as well as some newer work. The second approach will of course require an understanding of the historiographical background of more recent literature, but can focus on that newer material. The third will involve reading as much as is practical of an individual’s oeuvre. In any case you should attempt not only to summarize, but to synthesize and add your own critical observations. Treat this as an opportunity to read on a topic with which you are not familiar.
I have not ordered books at the bookstore. Most are in print; many will be available in multiple copies in the various Columbia libraries, and all are on reserve. Used copies of many will be easy to acquire on the web. Cooperation will be essential. If you have difficulty getting a hold of any of the readings, please let the instructor know as soon as possible.
Office: Fayerweather 404
Office Hours: MW 9:45–10:45, or by appointment
Phone: (85)4-3005
E-mail: ajkosto@columbia.edu
Regular Mail: Mail Code 2504; Fayerweather, 3rd Floor, Box
13
P: In print E: E-book/journal C: Courseworks A: Good Discount on Amazon
H. Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlemagne, trans. (from the 10th French ed.) B. Miall (New York, 1939) [Mahomet et Charlemagne (Paris, 1937 etc.)] [P, E]
P. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity, AD 150–750 (New York, 1971) [P]
B. Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (Oxford, 2005) [P, A]
P. Brown et al., “SO Debate: The World of Late Antiquity Revisted,” Symbolae Osloenses 72 (1997), 5–90 [C]
T. N. Bisson, The Crisis of the Twelfth Century: Power, Lordship, and the Origins of European Government (Princeton, 2009) [P, A]
J. Burckhardt, The Civilization of the [Period of the] Renaissance in Italy, trans. (from the 3rd German edn) S. G. C. Middlemore (London, 1878, etc.) [Cultur der Renaissance in Italien (Basel, 1860, etc.)] [P, E]
R. Starn, “The Early Modern Muddle,” Journal of Early Modern History 6 (2002), 296–307 [E]
Michael A. Meyer, “Where Does the Modern Period of Jewish History Begin?” Judaism 24 (1975), 329–38 [E]
“AHR Forum: The Persistence of the Reniassance,” American Historical Review 103 (1998), 50–124 [E]
M. I. Finley, The Ancient Economy, updated ed. (Berkeley, 1999 [1973]) [P, E]
M. Mauss, The Gift: Forms and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies, trans. W. D. Halls (London, 1990) [“Essai su le don,” L’année sociologique, n.s. 1, 30–186 (1925)] [P, E, A]
P. Crone, Pre-industrial Societies (Oxford, 1989) [P, A]
M. McCormick, The Origins of the European Economy: Communications and Commerce, AD 300–900 (Cambridge, 2002) [P, A]
T. H. Aston and C. H. E. Philpin, eds., The Brenner Debate: Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-Industrial Europe (Cambridge, 1987) [P]
M. Howell, Commerce Before Capitalism in Eruope, 1300–1600 (Cambridge, 2010) [P]
E. Tufte, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, 2nd ed. (Cheshire, Conn. 2001 [1983]) [P, A]
Read Tufte’s book. Find a book in your field of interest that employs lots of data, displayed visually. Present a critique (5 minutes max.) of said book’s use of the visual display of data on the basis of what you have learned from Tufte’s book.
1 November (NO CLASS: ELECTION DAY HOLIDAY)
R. Fulton, From Judgment to Passion: Devotion to Christ and the Virgin Mary, 800–1200 (New York, 2002) [P, E]
K. Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England (London, 1971)
Fernand Braudel, The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II, 2 vols (New York, 1972) [La Méditerranée et le monde méditeranéen à l’époque de Philippe II, 2nd ed., 2 vols (Paris, 1966 [1949])] [P]
S. Schwartz, Were the Jews a Mediterranean Society: Reciprocity and Solidarity in Ancient Judaism (Princeton, 2010) [P, A]
W. V. Harris, ed., Rethinking the Mediterranean (Oxford, 2005), sel. [C]
A. Winroth, The Making of Gratian’s Decretum (Cambridge, 2000) [E, P]
D.
R. Kelley, Foundations
of Modern Historical Scholarship: Language, Law and History in the
French
Renaissance (New York, 1970) [E]