Course Schedule and Catalog
Course Schedule - Spring Semester 2027
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
Meeting location information can now be found on student schedules in ESTHER (for students) or on the Course Roster in ESTHER (for faculty and instructors).Additional information available here.
HIST 517 001 (CRN: 26599)
MATERIAL AND NATURAL WORLDS
Long Title: MATERIAL AND NATURAL WORLDS
Department: History
Instructor: Tomasson, Julia
Meeting: 1:00PM - 3:30PM W (11-JAN-2027 - 23-APR-2027)
Part of Term: Full Term
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
Course Type: Seminar
Language of Instruction: Taught in English
Method of Instruction: Face to Face
Credit Hours: 3
Course Syllabus:
Course Materials: Rice Campus Store
Restrictions:
Must be enrolled in one of the following Level(s):
Graduate
Section Max Enrollment: 15
Section Enrolled: 0
Enrollment data as of: 2-NOV-2026 2:14AM
Final Exam: No Final Exam
Description: This course offers a look at the intersecting historiographies and methodologies of histories of science, technology, medicine, and environment that cut across historical subfields and frameworks. By asking questions of the material and natural worlds that we are embedded in, we bring to light new subjects and objects of knowledge and explore the limits of possibility of our human narratives. Themes covered may include: evidence, truth, and certainty; the construction of knowledge; professionalization and expertise; the nonhuman world in relation to social and political systems (e.g., infrastructures and built environments, colonization and decolonization); and common questions of constraints, agency, and contingency across human and nonhuman worlds.