Staff

Department Head: T. Bredohl, Ph.D

Professors: M. Anderson, Ph.D.; R.B. Blake, Ph.D.; J.W. Brennan, Ph.D.; S.D. Kenny, Ph.D.; J.M. Pitsula, Ph.D.

Associate Professors: T. Bredohl, Ph.D.; P. Charrier, Ph.D.; A. Fizzard, Ph.D.; I. Germani, Ph.D.; K. Leyton-Brown, Ph.D.; Y. Petry, Ph.D.

Assistant Professors: D. Flood, Ph.D.; R. Ganev, Ph.D.

Department Description

The Department of History offers graduate work leading to the M.A. degree. With the approval of the department, M.A. candidates may undertake research in Canadian, English/British, American, Latin American, European, Asian, and Ancient History. The resources of the University and Legislative Libraries, the City of Regina Archives, the University of Regina Archives, and the Saskatchewan Archives Board are of particular value to researchers working in the field of Western Canadian History.

The Department of History also offers a Special Case Ph.D. in History. The Special Case Ph.D. may be taken only in fields in which the department has the strength and depth to offer the requisite supervision based upon the specialized knowledge of faculty members.

Degree Requirements

Fully-qualified students with a 4-year B.A. will normally be required to complete four courses and a thesis. Fully-qualified students with an Honours B.A. will normally be required to complete three courses and a thesis. The programme would therefore be as follows.

For students with a 4-year B.A.:

For students with an Honours B.A. (at the discretion of the Supervisory Committee):

The thesis research may be carried out in parallel with the course work.

Candidates for the M.A. degree in Canadian History may submit their thesis in either French or English.

Course Descriptions

HIST 800 (400) Theories of History (3)
This is a seminar course examining the variety of approaches to the study of history from 1900 to the present. Movements studied include Marxism, the Annales School, Feminist Theory, and Post-Modernism.

HIST 801 Studies in Canadian Intellectual History (3)
Studies in the sources, development and impact of ideas that have shaped Canadian society since Confederation. The course examines the lies and works of thinkers who have enlarged and refined our understanding of nationalism, political ideology, social justice, religion, and, more generally, what it means to be a Canadian.

HIST 803 (403) Studies in Canadian Political History (3)
An analysis of how prime ministers of Canada have envisioned the country, devised and implemented plicies, and managed political affairs. Based on a comparative approach, the course is a study in power as it was exercised by such leaders as John Diefenbaker, Lester Pearson, Pierre Trudeau, and Brian Mulroney.

HIST 805 (405) Contemporary Quebec (3)
Nationalism in the 1920’s; the impact of the depression; the rise of the Union Nationale; Dominion-Provincial relations; the defeat of the Union Nationale and the beginnings of the Quiet Revolution.

HIST 806 (406) Canada and World War I (3)
On the home-front and battle-front, World War I transformed Canada. Social movements came to a crescendo and national identity was reshaped. The multi-faceted impact of the war is contextualized in the pre- and post-war periods using the analytical categories of ethnicity, class and gender.

HIST 809 (409) Canadian Nationalism in Comparative Perspective (3)
This course will examine the theoretical framework of nationalism, study the history of nationalism throughout the world, and investigate the manifestations of nationalism in Canada. Some of the topics to be studied include the origins of nationalism, the uses of nationalism, and modern examples of nationalism.

HIST 811 (411) The Prairie West, 1929-1945 (3)
Depression and drought in the 1930s; the crisis in politics and the ferment of radicalism; federal and provincial initiatives in rehabilitating the wheat economy; the impact of World War II on the economic and social fabric of the prairie west.

HIST 812 (412) Saskatchewan Since 1905 (3)
A study of selected topics in the economic, social and political history of Saskatchewan from the creation of the province in 1905 to the post World War II resourse boom.

HIST 813 (413) Prairie Urban History (3)
A critical study of the emergence of towns and cities on the prairies; the evolving urban economy; population growth; the physical environment; social and cultural life; urban political behavior.

HIST 814 (414) The Legal History of the Prairie West (3)
Aboriginal legal regimes; the law of the fur trade; the establishment of European law; the territorial period; the provincial era; the search for inclusion; Aboriginal self-government, sentencing circles, civilian oversight.

HIST 815 The Writing of Canadian History (3)
A study of the evolution of Canadian historical writing in terms of major historians, schools of thought, changing frameworks of analysis and contested interpretations of significant events.

HIST 818 (418) Canadian Colonial Times (3)
This course seeks to understand Canada as a colony. One inexorable phenomenon of the 20th century was the process of national affirmation and decolonization. Focusing on fundamental political and economic change in the 18th and 19th centuries, it also examines subjects such as immigration, religion, education, as well as cultural and material conditions.

HIST 822 (422) From Wife Sales to Princess Di: Popular Culture since 1700 (3)
The course covers Britain and North America; theories of popular culture; traditional popular art forms and rituals, including ballads, rough music and wife-sales; the press and the invention of new forms such as cartoons, comic strips and celebrity culture; the history of shopping and consumption; the fragmentation of popular culture. 

HIST 834 (434) American Trials of the Twentieth Century (3)
A consideration of landmark United States court decisions during the twentieth century with emphasis on the changing social context in which trials took place to understand how everyday life and popular ideals affected the law, as well as to appreciate the impact of the courtroom on modern American life.

HIST 835 (435) Frontier Hollywood, Myth and American History (3)
This course explores the dynamic relationship between American film and the mythical American frontier. Myth and its cultural significance, Ferederick Jackson Turner's Frontier Thesis, the history of American cinema, the role of myth in film, the genesis of the Western, and the nature of Manifest Destiny, will be examined.

HIST 850 (450) Modernity in Asia (3)
This seminar introduces students to recent critical theories and explores the meaning of ‘modernity’ as reflected in the relationship between culture and society in 19th and 20th century Asian history. It does so by associating readings in social theory with academic and literary texts from or about the Asian region.

HIST 860 (460) Ancient History: Theory and Practice (3)
The main focus is on the use of archaeology in the study of ancient history. Topics addressed include: domestication; human remains; the environment; beliefs; the spread of cultures; the ownership of antiquities; the use of technologies.

HIST 864 (464) Roman Social History (3)
Themes in the history of Roman society and social institutions. Topics include methodology, childhood and family structure, health and diet, living conditions, recreation and social attitudes.

HIST 866 (466) The Middle Ages in Film (3)
This course critically examines films set in the Middle Ages in order to explore the issue of the value of cinematic representations of medieval history. Topics addressed include race and ethnicity, gender roles, epic heroism, faith, religion, and holiness, and war in films set in the Middle Ages.

HIST 867 (467) Marriage and Family in the Middle Ages (3)
This course investigates the history of marriage and the family in medieval Europe. It covers such topics as the development of Christian attitudes towards marriage; marriage practices; family structures and strategies; and children and childhood.

HIST 872 (472) From Magic to Science: the Evolution of Early Modern European Thought (3)
Between 1450 and 1700, the mental landscape of Europe changed dramatically. Magic and alchemy flourish in the Renaissance, but were abandoned by the time of the Scientific Revolution. This course will examine the main facets of this evolution and the impact it had on both scholarly and popular culture.

HIST 874 (474) War and Culture in Europe: World War I (3)
This course examines the controversial idea of the Great War as a watershed in European cultural history and the different ways in which class, gender, nationality, politics and the passage of time have conditioned the experience and memory of the war. Writers’, artists’ and historians’ views are considered.

HIST 876 (476) War and Culture in Europe: World War II (3)
This course considers the cultural significance of the Second World War in Europe. Subjects covered include pre-war pacifism and appeasement; soldiers’ attitudes, experiences and memories; collaboration and resistance; the experiences of women and civilians; the role of politics and ideology; racism and the holocaust; post-war commemoration.

HIST 878 (478) The Berlin Seminar (3)
This course focuses on aspects of Berlin’s history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Themes include: the effects of industrialization, the transformation of urban life during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich, the division of the city after World War II, and changes following the collapse of the Wall.

HIST 879 Hitler in History: An Historiographical Investigation (3)
More than six decades after Hitler’s death, academic and popular interest in him is unabated. In this seminar course, students will analyze various interpretations of Hitler and his historical significance offered by various historians. It will also look at the portrayal of Hitler in books, films, television programs and documentaries.

HIST 880 Paris in the Age of Revolutions (3)
This course examines the revolutionary upheavals that convulsed the French capital between 1770 and 1880, with particular focus upon the events of 1789, 1830, 1848 and 1871. it considers the relationship between Paris and its provinces, and the ways in which both metropolitan and provincial identities evolved and interacted.

HIST 890AA-ZZ Directed Reading and Research (Variable credit 1-3)
Special topics in which a student may do independent study in history under the supervision of a faculty member in the department.

HIST 901 Research (Variable credit 3-15)
Thesis research.