History

Federated History Department

Chairs: Stephen Pemberton (NJIT), Kornel Chang (Rutgers-Newark)

The Federated History Department of NJIT and Rutgers-Newark offers the Master of Arts in History for generalists and for students interested in preparing for further graduate study in history, and the Master of Arts in Teaching for current and prospective secondary school teachers of history and social studies. The objective of the graduate history program is to furnish a broad yet rigorous course of study in preparation for careers in teaching, business, law, government, administration, and other fields related to history, as well as to enhance the professional experience and increase the opportunities for advancement of students who are already working as professionals in these fields.

Program administration and teaching are shared by faculty from both campuses, and the full resources of both universities are available to all history graduate students and faculty. Resources include access to the Rutgers University library system of more than three million volumes, to the outstanding collection in the history of medicine at UMDNJ, and to excellent history collections in the region. The program emphasizes hands-on learning and archival research in association with local institutions, such as the Thomas Edison National Historic Site in nearby West Orange and the Newark Museum and the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark.

The joint Rutgers-Newark/NJIT graduate history program is the largest and most diverse master's-level history program in New Jersey. Many of the graduate faculty have national or international reputations as scholars, representing a wide variety of time periods and fields of study. The program is particularly noted for its strengths in environmental history and the history of science, technology and medicine; the history of communication, cultural and intellectual history; diplomatic history; history of women; pre-Civil War and contemporary America; African and African-American history; legal history; and global and comparative history.

Master of Arts in History

The M.A. in History furnishes a broad yet rigorous training in history in preparation for a wide variety of careers in education, law, business, medicine, and administration.

Admission Requirements

Applicants must have an undergraduate degree from an accredited institution and favorable letters of recommendation from professors familiar with their work. An undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0 is normally required. Students must provide GRE scores.

Application

Students interested in the program should contact the NJIT history graduate coordinator, and apply to Rutgers-Newark.

Major Fields

  • American History

  • World History

  • History of Technology, Environment, and Medicine/Health

Based at NJIT, this concentration is a unique integration of three relatively new and increasingly important historical sub-disciplines. Students concentrating in the History of Technology, Environment, and Medicine/Health explore not only the interrelationships between environmental transformations, technology in society, and health and medicine, but also their social meanings, their cultural relations, their political, social, and gender histories, and their local, national, and global contexts. NJIT has a distinguished concentration of faculty in these areas, with particular strengths in American environmental and urban environmental history; the social and cultural history of medicine; and the history of technology and communication.

Students interested in pursuing this major field of concentration should contact the NJIT history graduate coordinator.

Master of Arts in Teaching (History)

The Master of Arts in Teaching is a terminal degree for students who are preparing for, or are already engaged in, careers in secondary school teaching in history and social studies. See the Federated History Department website and the Rutgers Graduate School-Newark catalog for more information. 

NJIT History Faculty

A
Arcadi, Teal, University Lecturer

D
Dent, Rosanna J., Visiting Research Professor

E
Esperdy, Gabrielle, Professor

H
Hamilton, Louis, Professor

K
Kostopoulou, Elektra,  University Lecturer

L
Lefkovitz, Alison L., Associate Professor

M
Maher, Neil M., Professor

Mitchell, Mary X., Assistant Professor

P
Pemberton, Stephen, Associate Professor

S
Schweizer, Karl W., Professor

Rutgers-Newark History Faculty

A
Amzi-Erdogdular, Leyla, Assistant Professor

Asen, Daniel, Assistant Professor

C
Caplan, Karen, Associate Professor

Chang, Kornel, Associate Professor

Cooper, Melissa, Assistant Professor

Cowans, Jon, Associate Professor

D
Diner, Steven J., University Professor

E
Esquilin, Marta, Assistant Professor

F
Farney, Gary D., Associate Professor

Feldstein, Ruth, Professor

G
Giloi, Eva, Associate Professor

Goodman, James, Distinguished Professor

Green-Mercado, Mayte, Assistant Professor

K
Krasovic, Mark, Associate Professor

M
Monteiro, Lyra D., Assistant Professor

P
Philips Murphy, Brian, Associate Professor

R
Riismandel, Kyle, Associate Teaching Professor

Rizzo, Mary, Assistant Professor

S
Satter, Beryl, Professor

Stewart-Winter, Timothy, Associate Professor

Strub, Whitney, Associate Professor

T
Tchen, John Kuo Wei, Professor

Tegegne, Habtamu, Assistant Professor

Troiano, Laura,  Associate Professor

Truschke, Audrey, Assistant Professor

V
Varlik, Nükhet, Associate Professor"

History Courses

HIST 600. History Research Seminar. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

This seminar course introduces students to various methods for conducting historical research using primary and secondary source materials, and teaches them how to write a formal research paper. The seminars are on a particular topic chosen by the professor, and can focus on a chronological period or geographic region, on an historical event, cultural movement, or social group, or on a type of history such as environmental history, the history of technology, or the history of health and medicine.

HIST 620. City and Disease in History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Explores the dynamic interaction between the growth of cities and changes in the experience and location of disease. Presumes the intertwining of these two historical developments in the birth of a distinctly urban identity, one predicated on the notion that the modern city is somehow inherently diseased. Focuses on the New York and Newark metropolitan areas in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among the topics considered are epidemic outbreaks, quarantines, the technology and organization of sanitation and hygiene, the professional formation of public, industrial and occupational medicine, and medical and popular responses to immigration.

HIST 622. Culture and Science in the History of American Medicine. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Provides an overview of American medical history and a familiarity with the theoretical and practical ramifications of different approaches to the complex relationships between medicine, science, and culture. Topics include: the extent to which medicine is or has been scientific; reasons why science has been considered so important to medicine's professional culture; and the degree to which medicine's professional culture has been shaped by science as well as other factors, such as economic and political self-interest, technology, class, race, gender, and other kinds of cultural values.

HIST 624. Technology, Environment and Medicine in World History, 1500-1900. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examines the interrelationship between the emerging modern world system and changes in technology, environment, and medicine, with particular emphasis on European overseas expansion and its impact in non-Western regions.

HIST 626. Social History of American Medicine Since 1800. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Topics include the practices of 19th-century regular medicine; the relation between medical concepts and mainstream social thought; the treatment of women's health; antebellum alternative healers and alternative politics; the triumphs of late 19th- and early 20th-century medical therapeutics; the emergence of medicine as big business; medicine and racism; the emergence of nursing as a profession; modern medicine in an international perspective; New Age healing; the AIDS crisis and AIDS activism; and contemporary debates on the future of health care in the United States.

HIST 628. Gender, Science and Technology in the Modern World. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to a wide range of political and cultural analyses of science and technology, with an emphasis on recent feminist critiques of science. Explores the questions of scientific neutrality; the gendering of scientific knowledge; the relationship between science, technology, and capitalism; the role of science in international politics; and why science has not freed women.

HIST 630. History of the Body in Modern Western Culture. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Considers medical or scientific history primarily in terms of implications for bodily experience in everyday life. Begins with grand narratives of historical shifts in bodily perceptions and practices, and proceeds to more focused narratives of changing bodily experience, engaging key distinctions between genders, classes, and species as well as perceptions of pain and internal bodily structure. Materials will be drawn from early modern and modern Europe, as well as more recent bodily experience in the United States.

HIST 632. Global Hist of Tech & Culture. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Treats the relationship between technology and cultural values in a variety of historical and geographical settings, from early modern Japan to twentieth-century America. Examines the ways in which cultural ideals, conceptions, and preconceptions serve to influence the rate and manner of technological change, as well as the ways in which technology affects social and cultural life.

HIST 634. Environmental History of North America. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Explores the dialogue between humankind and the environment in North America over the course of the last four centuries. Examines the latest and most interesting work done in the new field of environmental history to see what such a perspective has to offer.

HIST 635. History of Technology, Environment and Medicine: Theory and Method. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

A team-taught course which surveys the methods employed in the three fields. Explores the interdisciplinary nature of each field, and the value of interdisciplinary scholarship.

HIST 637. Global Environmental History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

This course takes a global view of human interaction with the natural world, mixing broad themes such as colonialism and industrialization with detailed case studies in an effort ot understand the ways that people and the environment have mutually shaped one another. Because environmental change often transcends national boundaries, this course places important subjects in environmental history such as disease, agriculture, pollution, and environmentalism into a global and transnational context.

HIST 638. Social History of Communication. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Treats selected themes in the history of communication in different social and cultural contexts, from the ancient world to the twentieth century. Topics include: orality, proto-literacy, and literacy in ancient and medieval cultures; printing and the development of print culture in the early modern world; the ?communication revolution? of the late 19th and early 20th centuries; and historiographical debates over the role of communication technologies in society.

HIST 640. The Urban Environment. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

Examines the role of the economy, culture, and technology in shaping the urban environment. Makes extensive use of Newark and the New York metropolitan area, including field observations and local research. In addition to other topics, explores in detail spatial relationships, the role of transportation, and the development of suburbia.

HIST 642. The History of Health and International Development. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

This course examines the history of western efforts to promote health and nutrition in the 'developing world" from the beginnings of tropical medicine. We will trace this history through its many permutations from the establishment of colonial health services to the development of the Global Programme on AIDS. In doing so, we will explore the various economic and political interests and underlying cultural assumptions that have shaped the development of ideas and practices associated with international health and development.

HIST 644. War, Technology and Society, 1500-1914. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examines key themes in the interrelationship between warfare, technology and society from the beginnings of modern warfare until World War I. Primary emphasis placed on the historical connections between violent conflict, the technical means by which it is carried out, and the socio-political environment within which wars take place. The effect of technology upon war and considerations of the effect of war on technological change and development. Samples the rich tradition of thought and ideas produced by philosophers and theorists on these themes.

HIST 645. American Legal History to 1860. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Readings and discussion on the legacy of common law after the Revolution; the emergence of legal instrumentalism; and the evolution of tort, contract, and damages in the context of industrialism and economic growth.

HIST 650. History of American Conservatism. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

This course examines postwar American conservatism through classic works and contemporary studies. Topics include the rise of conservatism, groups under the conservative umbrella, and the rise of the right as related to key events in postwar history (Cold War, McCarthysim, the '60s, the suburbs and urban change). Course interrogates postwar conservatism with respect to American political and intellectual history and in relation to histories of gender, race, class, sexuality, place and religion.

HIST 652. Topics in the History of Technology. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Selected topics in the history of technology.

HIST 653. Topics in European Intellectual and Cultural History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examination of issues and methods in European intellectual and cultural history, with a consideration of some leading problems in the field.

HIST 654. Topics in American Intellectual and Cultural History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examination of issues and methods in American intellectual and cultural history, with a consideration of some leading problems in the field.

HIST 655. Topics in American Urban and Ethnic History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examination of issues and methods in American urban and ethnic history, with a consideration of some leading problems in the field.

HIST 656. Topics in the History of Health. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Selected topics in the history of Health.

HIST 657. Topics in Environmental History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Selected topics in environmental history.

HIST 658. Topics in American Legal History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Readings and discussion on the growth of legal formalism, the evolution of substantive due process, changes in legal education and the legal profession, and the evolution of private law.

HIST 660. The Enlightenment in Britain. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

The 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment. Great Britain became a unified polity and the most powerful imperial force in the world. We examine the Enlightenment in Britain against the backdrop of war and empire, imperial consumer culture, the growth and significance of sociability and politeness, representations of gender, the writing of cultural history, social uses of science/technology, print culture, and competition among varying notions of ethnic identity.

HIST 661. Problems and Readings in European History since 1850. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literature in European history since 1850.

HIST 662. Prob. and Read: Hist/US Foreighn Policy and Diplomacy. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Examination of issues and methods in American diplomatic history, with a consideration of some leading problems in the field.

HIST 663. Problems and Readings in American History, 1492-1789. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literature in American history rom 1492 to 1789.

HIST 664. Problems and Readings in American History, 1789-1865. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literature in American history from 1789 to 1865.

HIST 665. Problems and Readings in American History, 1865-1914. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literature in American history from 1865 to 1914.

HIST 666. Problems and Readings in American History, 1890-1945. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literatue in American history from 1890 to 1945.

HIST 667. Problems and Readings in American History, 1945-Present. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Introduction to the major historiographical problems and recent literature in American history since 1945.

HIST 701B. Master's Thesis. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Restriction: permission of graduate history advisor. For students writing a master's thesis in the history of technology, environment and medicine. Master’s students registering for the first time in Master’s Thesis must take simultaneously the INTD 799 (Responsible Conduct of Research) course.

HIST 701C. Master's Thesis. 6 credits, 6 contact hours.

Restriction: Permission of graduate history advisor. For students writing a master's thesis in the history of technology, environment and medicine.

HIST 702. Master's Essay. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

For those who don't write a 6 credit thesis, the 3 credit Master's Essay caps the M.A./M.A.T. A substantial work done with an advisor, may be: 1. Interpretive historical essay based on primary source research. 2. Narrative history based on primary source research. Prereq: R510:504, R510:505, or R510:506. 3. Historiographical essay. 4. Content-focused curriculum design, either a course or significant portion thereof. 5. Design for an historical museum exhibition/other work in public history. Prereq: R510:565.

HIST 725. Independent Study. 3 credits, 1 contact hour.

Restriction: permission of graduate history advisor and course instructor.

HIST 726. Independent Study. 3 credits, 1 contact hour.

Restriction: permission of graduate history advisor and course instructor.

HIST 727. Independent Study. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

Restriction: permission of graduate history advisor and course instructor.

HIST 791. Seminar in History of Technology, Environment and Medicine. 0 credits, 0 contact hours.

Faculty, students and invited speakers present and discuss current topics of research in history, technology and medicine.

Rutgers-Newark Courses

R510 505. History, Fiction And Fact. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 506. Poetics Of History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 515. Hist Of Gender. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 520. Topics/History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 525. Colloq History Of Women. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 526. Rdngs Afro-Amer History. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 527. European Diplomatic Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 528. Eur Polit & Diplom Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 529. ST:Eur Intell&Cult Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 531. Amer Diplomatic Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 532. American Diplomatic History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 533. Topics In Envir Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 537. Problems Ancient World. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 538. Problems Ancient World. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 539. Probs Medieval History. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 543. European Hist 1650. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 547. Comparative Colonial History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 548. Amer Environmntl History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 549. Mod Latin Am History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 551. Amer Intellect & Culture Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 552. Topics-Amer Intell Cult Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 553. Amer Polit & Legal Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 555. Am Urban & Ethnic History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 563. Heredity, Health And Disease. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 564. History of Urban Education. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 565. Public History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 566. Writing American History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 567. Global Environ. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 571. Historical & Social Theory. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 576. American Hist, 1492-1789. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 577. Prob Am Hist 1789-1865. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 581. Amer History 1865-1914. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 583. American History 1912 To 1945. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 585. Prob & Rdngs Amer Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 589. Prob & Rdng African Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 590. Prob & Read African Hist. 3 credits, 0 contact hours.

R510 593. Cult & Sc Hist Am Med. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 595. Soc Hist, Am Med-1800. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 598. Hist-Tech, Env & Med. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 599. Social History-Communic. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 618. Sem Teaching History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 619. Intership In Public History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 632. Technology Culture & History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 678. Advanced Topics In Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 695. Independent Study In History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 696. Adv Ind Study Hist. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 697. Adv Research. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.

R510 698. Research In History. 3 credits, 3 contact hours.