Academic Bulletin History - Course Descriptions - 2009-10

Course Descriptions—World and Comparative

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.

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.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

This course examines the development of “the modern world” from a variety of global perspectives, including demographics, the human impact on the environment, social transformations and the rise of gender, ethnic and class issues and identities, the impact of warfare and political and ideological conflict, and the implications for culture of global communications networks.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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. This course is offered some fall semesters. 

A survey of modern China. The class will examine the end of the Ch’ing Dynasty and the emergence of Nationalism through the end of the Second World War, the rise of Chinese Communism through the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, and contemporary China to the present. This course is offered some spring semesters.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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. This course is offered some fall semesters. 

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, 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 is offered some spring semesters. 

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in world history or consent of the instructor.

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 some spring semesters.

Prerequisite: previous work in world history or consent of instructor.

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.

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.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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 2008-2009 and in alternate years.

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 2008-2009 and alternate years.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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.

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.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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.

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 20th 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.

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in ancient history or consent of the instructor.

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in medieval or early modern Europe or consent of the instructor.

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in modern Europe or consent of the instructor.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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 in the fall semester.

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 in the spring semester. 

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 some spring semesters.

Since the content of this course varies from semester to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the instructor’s approval.

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 some spring semesters.

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in American history or consent of the instructor.

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.

Prerequisite: Previous course work in Latin America or consent of the instructor.

Course Descriptions—Departmental

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 semesters.

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, 2009.