HIST 2392

Where Fire Meets Ice: Histories of the U.S.-Canada Border Across Four Centuries

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2024-2025.

The international boundary between Canada and the United is the longest, straightest border in the world. Although frequently cast as "boring" in juxtaposition to its southern counterpart, this viewpoint overlooks the U.S.-Canada border's longstanding history as a site and engine of trans-national tensions and controversies. This course addresses the complex histories of the 3,500 mile boundary separating the United States from Canada from its eighteenth century colonial antecedents to contemporary challenges related to drug smuggling, border fence construction, pandemic-related travel restrictions, immigration, commerce, environmental issues, Indigenous peoples' rights, and national identity construction. The instructor, a dual citizen of Canada and the United States, brings not only life experience of border-crossing, but also a recent background in legal testimony on border-related issues.

When Offered Spring.

Distribution Category (GLC-AS, HST-AS) (CA-AG, HA-AG)
Course Subfield (HNA)

View Enrollment Information