HIS365H1

History of the Great Lakes Region

This course is a survey of the Great Lakes Region as a “trans-national space” from the 1780s to recent times. Attention is focused on the development of the region from indigenous space to industrial heartland and its subsequent deindustrialization. Key themes include economic development, colonialism and re-settlement, environmental history (particularly of the lakes themselves), and the role of the Canada-US border in shaping the region. The course includes material from both Canadian and American history. Considerable attention is paid to Toronto as a Great Lakes city.