Europe and the Mediterranean World
The Europe and the Mediterranean World concentration offers students the opportunity to explore the histories of Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, and connections between these places and the larger world. We look at the continual flow of ideas, people, and material goods across this region, from the earliest states in the ancient world until today. We examine how empires, colonialism, religion, culture, the environment, and social and economic forces, including the development of capitalism and of the nation-state, shaped these interactions in profound ways. Collectively, we trace over 5000 years of intersecting histories, examining linkages and conflicts forged by geography, trade, war, migration, imperial aspirations, colonial violence, religious and ethnic minorities, and struggles for liberation.
The caucus includes intensive study of the histories of Europe, Russia, North Africa and the Middle East, as well as imperial, colonial, and transnational histories that trace the changing relations among these places. Major periods and areas of focus include the ancient and medieval worlds, oceanic empires in the early modern period (1450-1800), modern imperialism and colonialism, and decolonization and postcolonial states in the twentieth century.
Major Requirements
The history major requires a minimum of 12 unique courses. At least eight of the 12 courses must be upper-division (HIS 100-199). A maximum of four courses, including the introductory survey course, may be lower-division (HIS 1-99).
Major Planning Worksheet
Copy a History Major Planning Worksheet and Sample Academic Plans to your UCSC Google Drive.
Region of Concentration: Europe and the Mediterranean World (6 courses)
I. One lower-division introductory survey course:
- HIS 41, The Making of the Modern Middle East
- HIS 58, From Pirates to Refugees: The History of the Modern Mediterranean (Effective Fall 2022)
- HIS 65B, Plagues, Peasants, and Pirates: Late Medieval Europe, 1000-1500 (Effective Fall 2022)
- HIS 70A, Modern European History, 1500-1815
- HIS 70B, Modern European History, 1815-Present
- HIS 74, Introduction to Jewish History and Cultures (Effective Fall 2022)
- HIS 74A, Introduction to Middle Eastern and North African Jewish History: Ancient to Early Modern (Effective Fall 2022)
- HIS 74B, Introduction to Middle Eastern and North African Jewish History, 1500-2000 (Effective Fall 2022)
HIS 41, 65B, 70A, and 70B satisfy the Cross-Cultural Analysis (CC) general education requirement. HIS 58, 74, 74A, and 74B satisfy the Ethnicity and Race (ER) general education requirement.
II. Four additional Europe and the Mediterranean World courses, three of which must be upper-division
III. One Europe and the Mediterranean World Comprehensive Requirement
Historical Skills and Methods (1 course)
IV. HIS 100, Historical Skills and Methods
HIS 100 introduce history majors to historical methods and provides preparation for advanced historical research. Students develop critical reading, historical analysis, research, and disciplinary writing skills. HIS 100 also satisfies the Textual Analysis and Interpretation (TA) general education requirement.
Students who enter UCSC as frosh are expected to complete HIS 100 by the end of their second year. Transfer students are expected to complete HIS 100 no later than their second term at UCSC.
Catalog of Course Requirements
The History Catalog of Course Requirements indicates what region(s) of concentration and what chronological distribution requirement(s) individual history courses may apply toward.
Breadth Requirements (4 courses)
V. Two courses from each of the remaining two regions of concentration:
Upper-Division Elective (1 course)
One additional upper-division history course of your choice from any of the three regions of concentration
Distribution Requirements
Of the 12 courses required for the major, at least three must meet chronological distribution requirements. One must be set before 600 C.E., and two must be set in periods prior to the year 1800 C.E.
Intensive Major Option
The intensive history major offers students a pathway to enrich their study of history, refine their skills in writing and research, and receive a designation on their transcripts that signals their ambition and accomplishment to potential employers and graduate schools. All history majors are eligible to declare the intensive track, including junior transfers. If a student attempts but does not complete the intensive track they may still graduate with a standard history degree, provided the appropriate major coursework has been completed.
- Title
- Associate Professor
- Division Humanities Division
- Department
- History Department
- Affiliations Anthropology Department, Classical Studies, Archaeological Research Center, Center for the Middle East and North Africa (CMENA)
- Phone 831-459-3109
- Website
- Office Location
- Humanities Building 1, 236
- Office Hours Spring quarter 2024: Tues&Thurs 2:30-3:30 in Humanities or via Zoom (please email for appointment)
- Mail Stop Humanities Academic Services
- Mailing Address
- Santa Cruz CA 95064
- Faculty Areas of Expertise Egyptology; Archaeology; Digital Humanities; Virtual Reality, Immersive, and Augmented Reality Environments; Ancient World / Classics; History
- Courses History 050: When Pharaohs Reigned: The History of Ancient Egypt, HIS 051: Pyramids of Earth, History 159A: Cleopatra to Constantine: Greek and Roman Egypt, History 189: @history: Doing History in a Digital Age, History 159B: Women and Gender in Ancient Egypt, History 159C: Temple and City: The Egyptian New Kingdom and the City of Thebes, History 159D: When Cities were New: the Rise of Urbanism in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, History 194S: Who Owns the Past?: Object Lives in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean, HIS 208: An Introduction to Digital Humanities (Graduate Class)
Research Interests
Research interests include landscape, temples and ritual sites, women and gender, and the use of digital toolkits in historical research.
Biography, Education and Training
Elaine A. Sullivan is an Egyptologist and a Digital Humanist whose work focuses on applying new technologies to ancient cultural materials. Her born-digital publication, Constructing the Sacred, utilizes a geo-temporal 3D model of the necropolis of Saqqara (near modern Cairo) to investigate questions of ritual landscape and visibility at the site. This digital monograph (https://constructingthesacred.org, Stanford University Press, 2020) was awarded prizes by the American Historical Association and the Archaeological Institute of America.
Her archaeological work in Egypt includes five seasons of excavation with Johns Hopkins University at the temple of the goddess Mut (Luxor), as well as four seasons in the field with a joint UCLA-Rijksuniversiteit Groningen project in the Egyptian Fayum at the Greco-Roman town of Karanis. She has also excavated at sites in Syria, Italy, and Israel. Sullivan has published extensively on the use of digital technologies for research and scholarship.
Dr. Sullivan received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Egyptian Art and Archaeology from Johns Hopkins University. Her B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) in History is from Duke University.
Honors, Awards and Grants
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) Award for Outstanding Work in Digital Archaeology, 2022
American Historical Association (AHA) Roy Rosenzweig Prize for Innovation in Digital History, 2020
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Publication Awardee, 2018-2019
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant Awardee, 2015-2016
American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Digital Innovation Fellowship, 2012-2013
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), National Lecture Program speaker, 2012-2013
UC Chancellor's Award for Post-Doctoral Scholarship, 2010
ARCE Dissertation Fellowship, 2005
Selected Publications
- Constructing the sacred: Visibility and ritual landscape at the Egyptian necropolis of Saqqara. Stanford University Press, March 2020. https://constructingthesacred.org
- "Seeking a better view: Using 3D to investigate visibility in historic landscapes." Journal of Archaeological Method & Theory, Vol. 24, issue 4. 2017.
- "Digital Karnak: An experiment in publication and peer review of interactive, three-dimensional content." Co-author Lisa M. Snyder. Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol 76, issue 4. December 2017.
- "Potential pasts: Taking a humanistic approach to computer visualization of ancient landscapes." Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies, Vol 59, issue 2, 71-88. December 2016.
- "The 3D SAQQARA project: Technical Workflow for Creating 3D Environments from 2D Archaeological Data." Co-Author: Aaron Cole. Required 'White Paper' submitted to the NEH Official of Digital Humanities, 2017.
- A Glimpse into Ancient Thebes: Excavations at South Karnak (2004-2006). Archaeopress: 2013.
- “Teaching Digital Humanities through Digital Cultural Mapping.” Co-authors: Chris Johanson, Willeke Wendrich, et. al. In Brett Hirsch (ed.), Teaching Digital Humanities: Principles, Practices, and Politics. Open Book Publishers: 2013.
- “Visualizing the Size and Movement of the Portable Festival Bark at Karnak Temple.” British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan. No. 19, December 2012.
- “The Development of the Temple of Amun at Karnak.” In Willeke Wendrich (ed.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles: 2010.
- “An Offering to Amun-Ra: Building a Virtual Reality Model of Karnak.” Co-author: Willeke Wendrich. In Nigel Strudwick (ed.), Information Technology and Egyptology in 2008. Gorgias Press, Piscataway: 2009.