The close study of communities – from village life in pre-industrial times to neighborhood relationships in the modern city – is an important theme of research in our department. We focus in particular on the role of subcommunities defined by class, race, gender, age, and ethnicity as well as aboriginal and migrant groups in rural and urban communities. The defining feature of this cluster is our interest in the close study – the microhistory – of social relationships within and between such groups within the physical spaces of villages, towns, and cities.