Skip to Main Content

Academic Bulletin History - Course Descriptions - 2007-08

Currently viewing 2007-08 bulletin


Course Descriptions—World and Comparative

HIS 101 World History to 1500
Exploration of the origins of human civilization and the development of individual civilizations across the world. Emphasis will be on the major old-world areas of civilization and their connections with each other. An effort will be made to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing different civilizations comparatively so as to highlight meaningful similarities and differences among them. This course, along with History 102, is especially recommended to those students planning to take their first college-level history course. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1

HIS 102 World History since 1500
This course traces the increasing interdependence of the world’s different civilizations as improved communications tie more of the world closely together. This will involve explaining the transformations wrought upon different areas by industrialization and the reactions this process has created across the globe. This course, along with History 101, is especially recommended to those students planning to take their first college-level history course. This course is offered in the spring semester and some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 200 Topics in World and Comparative History
One-half or one course credit.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 201 The World from 1945-present
The focus of this course will be global in perspective, seeking to show how World War II shaped the development of various continents and nations. Topics will include: anti-imperialism and the emergence of Third World nations, the evolution of super-powers, world-wide economic and technological change, and the continuing threat of nuclear war.
Credits: 1

HIS 260 Topics in Asian History
One-half or one course credit.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 261 Classical and Imperial China to 1911
A survey of the early history of China from its first dynasties (Shang, Chou) to its last (Ch'ing). This course will examine the complex internal dynamics that came to shape its peoples and institutions. External forces on China's past, before, during, and after sustained contact with the rest of Asia (Buddhism, for instance, and the Mongols) and the West (Marco Polo and the White Lotus and Boxer Rebellions), will be given special attention. Emphasis on social, cultural, economic, and military developments. Extended analysis of primary source documents, web-based materials, and film through the complex and often contradictory perspectives of age, gender, ethnicity, and class will be a major focus. Strong geographic component. This course is offered some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 262 Modern China from 1911 to the Present
A survey of modern China, in three thematic parts. The first section will examine the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty and the emergence of Nationalism through the end of the Second World War. Part two, the rise of Chinese Communism and the fate of Chairman Mao tse-tung will be explored in depth, through the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. The third phase delves into contemporary China through the Tiananmen Square Uprising to the present. Extended analysis of primary source documents, web-based materials, and film through the complex and often contradictory perspectives of age, gender, ethnicity, and class will be a major focus. Strong geographic component. This course is offered some spring semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 270 Topics in African History
One-half or one course credit.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 271 African History to 1885
Precolonial African history, focusing on the sociocultural, economic, and political realities of sub-Saharan societies between the Neolithic Period and the Partitioning of the Continent by European powers inaugurated in 1885. Special emphasis will be placed on the tools scholars use to write African history, with particular reference to oral tradition, linguistic and archaeological evidence, and the material cultural record. Important themes include the indigenous, trans-Saharan, and trans-Atlantic slave trades, gender, the role of women in African history, Islam, art, and music. Course will culminate in regional vistas of Africa on the event of imperialist expansion of European powers. Expanding general geographic knowledge will be highly encouraged. This course is offered some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 272 African History from 1885
The period from the European Partition of Africa in 1885 to Post-independence was one of the most significant and drastic eras of change for Africans. Their relationship with the Western world fundamentally altered African lifeways, drawing them into a global wage labor economy, and seeing them interact in new ways with migration, the World at War, and the Colonial Endeavor. This course will explore these changes through the use of video, primary and secondary source materials, CD-ROMs, art and material culture, and music. Expanding general geographic knowledge will be highly encouraged. This course is offered some spring semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 300 Advanced Topics, World and Comparative History
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in world and comparative history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in world history or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 301 Craft and Theory of World History
This is an upper level course in world history. Students will read secondary literature about world history and will read world history textbooks more for historiographical analysis than for content.  Emphasis will therefore be on the theories and practices of world history; students will be expected to produce a significant term paper focusing either on a curricular proposal for a world history course or on an historiographical analysis of current trends and developments in the field. This course is offered alternate spring semesters.
Prerequisite: previous work in world history or consent of instructor.
Credits: 1

HIS 360 Advance Topic in Asian History
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in Asian history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor's approval.
Prerequisite: Previous course work or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 370 Advanced Topics in African History
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in African history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

Course Descriptions—Europe

HIS 210 Topics in Ancient History (CLA 213)

Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 211 Ancient History: Greece (CLA 105)
A survey of Greek history from the end of the Bronze Age (ca. 1100 B.C.) to the time of the Roman conquest of the Greek world (first century B.C.). Emphasis is on the origin, evolution, and problems of the most important Greek political-social-cultural structure, the polis or “city-state.” This course is offered in the fall semester 2006-2007 and in alternate years.
Credits: 1

HIS 212 Ancient History: Rome (CLA 106)
A survey of Roman history from the Etruscan period (6th and 5th centuries B.C.) to the transformation of the Roman world to the Medieval (4th and 5th centuries A.D.). Emphasis is on the origins, nature, effects, and evolution of imperialism in Roman politics, culture, and society. This course is offered in the spring semester 2006-2007 and alternate years.
Credits: 1

HIS 220 Topics in Medieval and Early Modern Europe

Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 221 Medieval Europe, 400-1400
The history of Europe from ca. 400 to ca. 1400, focusing on Latin Christendom. The course traces the creation of the medieval synthesis out of elements of late Roman and Germanic societies and the dissolution of that synthesis in the troubles of the 14th century. Emphasis is on examining economic, institutional, and social structures and the historical context of medieval cultural production through examination of primary sources. This course is offered in some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 222 Early Modern Europe, 1400-1800
Europe from the breakup of the medieval world to the dawn of the modern age. The course traces the transformations of all aspects of European life—economic organization, state structures, religious institutions and sentiments, and intellectual outlooks—with an emphasis on different historiographical approaches and analysis of secondary sources, especially monographs. This course is offered in some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 230 Topics in Modern Europe

Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 231 19th Century Europe
This survey will cover events in European history from the French Revolution to the end of the 19th century. It will explore nationalism, utopianism, Europe's quest for colonial expansion, and the rise of the Industrial Revolution. In addition to these vast issues, the course also examines developments in social history including family life, change in urban areas, health, medicine, and gender. This course is offered some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 232 20th Century Europe
This survey will examine significant events in European history from 1900 to the end of the twentieth century. The course will cover circumstances leading to World War I, the rise of fascism, and World War II. The survey ends with a discussion of the Cold War, its ultimate demise, and nuclear legacy. Since there was more to the twentieth century than military history, the class will also consider how European societies reacted to war and will focus on life on the home front, gender relations, cultural change, and consumerism. This course is offered some spring semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 235 Topics in Economics History: European (ECO 214)

Credits: 1

HIS 236 History of Economic Thought (ECO 205)

Credits: 1

HIS 310 Advanced Topics, Ancient History (CLA 212)
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in Ancient history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in ancient history or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 320 Advanced Topics, Medieval and Early Modern Europe
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in medieval and early modern European history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in medieval or early modern Europe or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 330 Advanced Topics, Modern Europe
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in modern European history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in modern Europe or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 334 Russia, 1860-present
The reforms of Alexander II; the rise of Russian revolutionary movements; the revolutions of 1905 and 1917; abdication of the Czar; victory of the Bolsheviks; the “dictatorship of the proletariat”; organization of the Soviet Union; and the era of Stalin and events since his death are some of the major topics considered. Recommended for upperclassmen or with the consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1

Course Descriptions—Americas

HIS 141 America to 1877
An introduction to American history and to the departmental Core Goals in the process of historical investigation and understanding. Students will learn the basic facts and conceptual themes involved in Native Indian cultures, Puritanism, the American Revolution, the New Nation, expansionism, slavery, reform, Civil War and Reconstruction. The course focuses on significant landmark political events, but also on the everyday experiences and social history of women, minorities, and other underrepresented groups. This course is offered some fall semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 142 America since 1877
The emphasis is upon some of the major issues in American politics and society since 1877: the growth of big business; changes in the lives of farmers, workers, and immigrants; the rise of the city; reform movements among rural and urban labor and among minority groups. In addition to studying national history and the emergence of America as a world power, students will have an opportunity to investigate their own family histories. This course is offered some spring semesters.
Credits: 1

HIS 240 Topics in American History

Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 244 African-American History
Emphasis on three crucial periods: slavery, Reconstruction and its aftermath, and the civil rights and Black liberation movements of the 1960s. Relations between Blacks and Whites will be examined through the reading and discussion of classic African-American texts by Douglass, Jacobs, Washington, DuBois, Wright, Angelou, Moody, Walker, Malcolm X, King, Baldwin, Gates, and others. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1

HIS 245 Topics in Economic History: American (ECO 213)

Credits: 1

HIS 250 Topics in Latin American History
One-half or one course credit.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 252 Peoples and Nations of Latin America
A survey of the history of Latin America from Pre-Columbian times through the Wars of Independence and the national period to the current day. This course will examine the various internal dynamics and external influences that have shaped the experiences of the countries of Latin America since independence. Emphasis on socio economic structures as the conditioning environment for political and cultural developments. A major focus will be historical analysis of scholarly monographs and primary source documents. This course is offered in the spring semester 2006-2007 and in alternate years.
Credits: 1

HIS 340 Advanced Topics, American History
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in American history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in American history or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 350 Advanced Topics, Latin America
This course provides opportunities for small group and independent work in intensive study of selected topics in Latin American history. Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval. One-half or one course credit, either semester.
Prerequisite: Previous course work in Latin America or consent of the instructor.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

Course Descriptions—Departmental

HIS 187 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 188 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 287 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 288 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 387 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 388 Independent Study
Open to history majors with permission of the instructor and the department chair. Level of the course (100, 200 or 300) determined by the instructor. One-half or one course credit each semester.
Credits: 1 or 1/2

HIS 497 Philosophy and Craft of History
This course is required of all majors in history and should be taken in the junior year. Students have an opportunity to read different examples of historical writing and to examine the philosophical and methodological assumptions which underlie the historian’s craft. This course is offered in the fall and spring semester.
Credits: 1

HIS 498 Research Seminar
All history majors must take this course in the fall semester of their senior year, while other juniors or seniors are welcome to enroll, with the consent of the instructor. Topics will vary from year to year, with an emphasis on research techniques, small group discussions, conferences with the instructor, and independent development of individual projects. This course is offered in the fall semester.
Credits: 1

Back to Top