Fields of Study
The Trent M.A. Program offers six fields of study, three of which (Colonialism and Conflict, Iberian-American History, and Regional and Trans-National History) are offered nowhere else in Canada. These three complement and work synergistically with the other three fields (Canadian, European, Social and Cultural History). The fields guide students in defining their research interests and structuring their
course-work.
1. Canadian History
The study of Canadian history constitutes a core element of our Department, and includes some of the leading Canadian historians in their fields, known nationally and internationally for their research. Faculty interests cover a wide range of social, cultural, political, and economic fields in Canadian history, from before contact to the present day. Particular areas of interest and strength include modernity and cultural history, gender and women’s history, youth culture, working class and labour history, politics and political economy, native-white relations, Canadian historiography, and Canada in a comparative North American and international context. The Department’s core Canadian faculty is further supplemented by Canadian historians throughout the University, including those associated with the Frost Centre for Canadian and Native Studies, the Canadian Studies Department, and a number of other departments. History students may take courses cross-listed with the Canadian and Native studies M.A. offered through the Frost Centre.
Courses
HIST 5105H Gender and Women's History in North America
HIST 5106H Cuba and North America
HIST 5116H A Cultural History of Medicine in the North American Context
CSID/HIST 5202H Approaches to the Study of Culture in Canada
CSID/HIST 5301H Themes in the State and Political Economy of Canada
CSID/HIST 5102H/INDS 605H The Study of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada
2. Colonialism and Conflict
The Department has a high level of expertise in the area of Western colonial conquest and/or domination and its impact in parts of Africa, Asia, the Americas, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. This field also includes early resistance to colonization, the impact of colonial rule, the rise of early nationalist/anti-colonial movements, decolonization, wars of national liberation and the legacy of the colonial experience. Examples of subjects that faculty members have worked on include the Cape-Xhosa Wars of 19th century South Africa, Africans and the First World War, the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle East, women and Islamist movements, Russian imperialism in Eastern Europe and Asia, French colonialism in Vietnam, early French expansion in North America, methods of transportation in a colonial context and the frontier in history.
Courses
HIST 5103H The International History of United States-Latin American Relations after 1900
HIST 5104H Responding to Colonialism: Nationalist Movements in South-East Asia
HIST 5109H Topics in the History of Sub-Saharan Africa
HIST 5115H Cross-Cultural Relations in the Early Modern Atlantic World
HIST 5117H Muslim Women, Islams and Feminisms in the 20th-21st Centuries
CSID/HIST 5102H/NAST 605H The Study of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada
3. European History
With seven full-time faculty members teaching in the area, the Department has considerable depth in European History. Expertise spans from the High Middle Ages through to the twentieth century, with geographic foci stretching from the British Isles to the Mediterranean to Central and Eastern Europe. Particular strengths include modern totalitarianism, guided by faculty with expertise in fascist Spain, Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, as well as the medieval/early modern period. Graduate students in this latter area are encouraged to take part in M.A.RS, Trent’s Medieval and Renaissance Studies program. Areas of faculty research include studies of medieval adolescence, nationalism, overseas expansion, poverty and illness, petty violence, eighteenth-century military families, German childcare advice, early modern suicide, and political terror.
Courses
HIST 5101H Political Violence and Memory in Twentieth-Century Europe
HIST 5108H The Third Reich: German Politics, Culture and Society under Hitler
HIST 5107H Values, Emotions, and Identities in the Late Medieval Iberia and Europe
HIST 5110H Making History: Revolution and the Re-construction of the Past
HIST 5111H Women in the Middle Ages
HIST 5112H Enlightenment Cultures & English Society: 1650-1800
4. Iberian-American History
The Department has established experts in Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American history. Faculty members are working on a range of research and teaching problems that include the Atlantic slave trade, Portuguese imperial expansion, late medieval/renaissance Portugal and Spain, the social history of Franco's Spain, Iberian fascisms, cultural aspects of the problem of human rights in the Southern Cone, the political cultures of boxing in Argentina, and Canadian-Cuban relations. They are prepared to supervise incoming students in a wide variety of topics in the political, social, cultural, and international histories of the Iberian-American world. This niche has been further enhanced by the presence of the Portuguese Studies Review at Trent which is produced by members of the History Department and is supported by SSHRC.
Courses
HIST 5103H The International History of United States-Latin American Relations
HIST 5107H Values, Emotions, and Identities in the Late Medieval Iberia and Europe
HIST 5106H Cuba and North America
5. Social and Cultural History
Our Department contains an impressive concentration of scholars working within the fields of social and cultural history. Their geographic and chronological range extends from medieval Europe through much of the twentieth-century world. Looking at how different historical actors and groups of people have shaped the past, social historians in the department have produced cutting-edge studies of a wide range of topics, including the history of medicine, work and labour, criminality, the family, gender, poverty, social welfare, and sexuality. The department’s cultural historians focus on the contest over symbols, myths, ideas and images in a variety of historical contexts and are working on projects concerning such issues as consumer culture, sports, childhood, national identity, the body and the visual arts.
Courses
HIST 5106H Cuba and North America
HIST 5108H The Third Reich: German Politics, Culture and Society under Hitler
HIST 5110H Making History: Revolution and the Re-construction of the Past
HIST 5111H Women in the Middle Ages
HIST 5112H Enlightenment Cultures & English Society: 1650-1800
HIST/ENGL 5114H Visual Culture and the Creation of Publics in Modern America
HIST 5115H Cross-Cultural Relations in the Early Modern Atlantic World
HIST 5116H A Cultural History of Medicine in the North American Context
HIST 5117H Muslim Women, Islams and Feminisms in the 20th-21st Centuries
CSID/HIST 5202H Approaches to the Study of Culture in Canada
CSID/HIST 5301H Themes in the State and Political Economy of Canada
6. Regional and Trans-national History
Our Department has a reputation for its innovative approach to the study of encounters and exchanges across frontiers. This research methodology includes working on regional general histories and on the flows of people, ideas, and socio-economic phenomena beyond national boundaries. We have recognized experts in the following regions: the Mediterranean, North America, Western and Eastern Europe, Southern Africa, Southern Latin America, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Regarding Trans-National History, our faculty members have done extensive research in, for example, North American industrial and commercial integration, the evolution of Fascism in Europe, environmental history, women’s studies, political violence, and the spread of scientific knowledge in Modern Europe. These lines of research reflect the growing influence of globalization on local, regional and national evolution, and its effects in economies, politics, social relations and culture.
Courses
HIST 5101H Political Violence and Memory in Twentieth-Century Europe
HIST 5103H The International History of United States-Latin American Relations
HIST 5104H Responding to Colonialism: Nationalist Movements in South-East Asia
HIST 5105H Gender and Women's History in North America
HIST 5106H Cuba and North America
HIST 5109H Topics in the History of Sub-Saharan Africa
HIST/ENGL 5114H Visual Culture and the Creation of Publics in Modern America
HIST 5115H Cross-Cultural Relations in the Early Modern Atlantic World
HIST 5116H A Cultural History of Medicine in the North American Context
HIST 5117H Muslim Women, Islams and Feminisms in the 20th-21st Centuries
