Sophomore Seminar

This course is a sophomore seminar in history; topics vary per semester. Prerequisite: sophomore standing. This course examines urban history through Native American cities and asks what happens when we position indigenous towns and cities at the center of American history? Typically, people place the beginning of American history in seventeenth century townships such as Jamestown and Plymouth, however, the first American cities began 15,000 years earlier in an area known as "Turtle Island" with the settlements of Snaketown, Anasazi, Acoma, Mandan-Hidatsa-Arikara, and most famously, Cahokia and Comanche Nation. Native Americans built and defended sophisticated cities long before European arrival. This course begins with an examination of America's earliest cities and moves into 19th and 20th century battles for the urban landscape. The course ends with 2018 novel There, There. Representation in popular culture and academic scholarship have denied the existence of indigenous urban pasts and presents. This course instead views indigenous urban histories in the towns, villages, and cities as essential to understanding American history. . Prior knowledge of the subject matter is not required. 3 units.
Course Attributes: EN H; BU Hum; BU IS; AS HUM; FA HUM; AR HUM

Sophomore Seminar

HISTORY 2061

Section 01