Cristina Mehrtens

Introduces students to historical method and perspective through comparative study of human societies and cultures. The concept of "civilization" is examined in varied contexts through comparisons of social, economic, and political institutions, as well as systems of thought and religion, from pre-history to around 1400.

Continuation of World Civilization; the study of World Civilizations from 1400 to the present.

Exploration of the lives of ordinary women and men in relation to their place in global history. Examines what particular constructions of gender tell us about those societies and our own. The main strategy focuses on biography as a tool weaving through gender, class, race, and ethnicity in particular historical periods.

Analysis of contemporary historiographies situating women in relation to occupation and the historical implications of gender in the creation, transmission, performance, and representation of women's work. It examines the meaning of female occupations in different cultures as well as gender issues related to the shaping of female leadership. We explore the significance of these projections through writings by and about female professionals.

Emphasis on the period since independence in 1822. Topics include the empire and slavery, coffee, European immigration, the republic, race and class, foreign economic and ideological influences, and Brazil in the 1980s.