Department of History
Course Descriptions, Spring 2003

HIST 105H/C Pre-Modern World (4 credits) Brooks Hedstrom
(Two Sections)
This World History course will closely examine how pre-modern people regarded those who differed from themselves during the period from 3000 BCE-1400 CE. We will consider how travel, motivated by the need for conquest, conversion, and/or commerce, reveals the history of those who ventured to areas outside of their own empires. In reading accounts referring to the “Other,” as perceived by these ancient individuals, we will learn about how civilizations become more interconnected until at 1250 CE there was what some historians have called a “world-system” that allowed the Afro-Eurasian landmass to be connected in a way not seen before in history. Students will be assessed on the basis of weekly written assignments, participation in the form of in-class discussions and on-line work, maps, analytical essays and a final paper. Writing intensive.

HIST 106H/C Modern World (4 credits) Proctor
Are you interested in what the Aztecs thought of the Spanish? Have you ever thought about how Japanese farmers experienced life in the 19th century? In "The Modern World," we will examine such questions in an attempt to re-examine our assumptions about non-western cultures since 1400, while seeing the connections between these cultures and western civilizations. Using a global framework, students will explore the development of modern civilizations in the Near and Far East, Eastern/Western Europe, Africa and the Americas. Assessment will focus on the students' ability to express their ideas in essay exams, short papers, and oral presentations. Writing intensive. Prerequisite: None. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 112H Western Civilization (4 credits) O’Connor
An introductory course designed to give students a basic understanding of the traditions of western Europe since the 16th century. Significant emphasis is placed upon acquainting the student with the distinctive features and problems of the historical approach and on furthering his or her skills of critical reading, analysis, and reflection. The final grade will be based on class participation, several short papers, a few quizzes and a mid-term and final exam of essays. Writing intensive.

HIST 162C Modern East Asia (4 credits) Huffman
Westerners fighting for the right to sell opium in China. Japanese challenging the world on the battlefield and in the marketplace. Communists practicing capitalism in China. Koreans emerging from foreign shadows and talking unity. Japanese polluting commuter trains with cell phones. We will attempt to pull all of those strands, and more, into some sort of coherent pattern, as we look at East Asia's experience with self-sufficiency, imperialism, and modernity during the last three centuries. Lectures will be supplemented with audiovisual materials and in-class discussion. Students will be expected to read five or six books. Grading will concentrate on test, a series of short "summary" papers, and one 3- to 5-page paper. No prerequisite.

HIST 172C Africa Since 1500 (4 credits) Rosenberg
This course will examine how African political, cultural, religious, economic, and social institutions have responded to the penetration of outsiders over the last 500 years. These outsiders include European slave traders, missionaries, and colonizers as well as Arab traders and Islamic scholars. The impact of the slave trade and later European colonization will be explored in depth. Africans were not passive victims in their own history, and we will focus on how Africans responded to these challenges and struggled for their independence, and how these movements helped shape the face of Post-Colonial Africa. It is this dynamic interplay between Africans and outsiders, which has shaped the formation of modern Africa. Writing intensive.

HIST 201H- 01 The American Revolution (2 credits) Taylor
First half of the semester only.
Overview of the revolutionary era in American history, from 1750 to 1800. Topics include the French and Indian War; cultural variety in pre-Revolutionary America; the British colonial crises of the 1760s and 1770s; the New England, northern, southern, and western phases of the war for independence; the slave trade and the rise of the anti-slavery movement; the Articles of Confederation and the origins of the Constitution; Washington and Adams administrations; the first party system and the election of 1800; the Indian wars of the 1790s. Students may not receive credit for this section of 201 and for HIST 221. This course and HIST 201-02, if taken together, may be substituted for HIST 221 in the History/Social Studies major. Likely books include Roark et al, The American Promise: A History of the United States to 1877, Volume I; and Thomas Paine, Common Sense.

HIST 201H-02 America’s Civil War (2 credits) Taylor
Second half of the semester only.
Overview of the Civil War era. Topics include the plantation economy of the antebellum South; slavery, antislavery, and antebellum reform; the ideology of free labor; expansionism and the west; the political crises of the 1850s; the secession crisis and the outbreak of war; the major military campaigns; the homefront, North and South; internal and international wartime politics; the battle over black equality during and after the war; Reconstruction, equality and the restoration of white rule in the South. Students may not receive credit for this section of 201 and for HIST 221. This course and HIST 201H-01,The American Revolution, if taken together, may be substituted for HIST 221 in the History/Social Studies major. Likely books include Roark et al, The American Promise: A History of the United States to 1877, Volume I.

HIST 202H Law in America (4 credits) Taylor
Consideration of and writing about law in various eras in American history. Likely books include: Kermit Hall, The Magic Mirror, Hall, Wiecek and Finkelman, American Legal History: Cases and Materials; Marius, A Short Guide to Writing about History; Knappman, Christianson, and Paddock, eds., Great American Trials: From Salem Witchcraft to Rodney King. Writing intensive.

HIST 202H Americans and a World at War (4 credits) Wood
This course will introduce students to different modes of historical writing and to problems in historical interpretation by exploring the American homefront in the two World Wars. How do historians write about a topic as complex as war? What are the differences between a political and social history of war? How useful are memoirs and novels for understanding the American wartime experience? Why have historians only recently studied the role of women in wartime? This course will consist mainly of class discussion and projects, with occasional lectures. Attendance is absolutely essential. Students are expected to take an active part in class, raise questions and form opinions based on material presented in class and in the reading assignments. Writing intensive.

HIST 203H Negro Leagues (4 credits) Rosenberg
The course will focus on the Negro Leagues that existed in the United States from the early 20th century until the late 1960s. We will also explore the experience of black baseball players both before and after the period of segregation in the United States. While it is essential that we come to grips with the broader political, social, and economic institutions that supported racial segregation, the main focus of this course is to expose the lives that black baseball players made for themselves. In exploring the lives of African-American baseball players, we will focus on an emerging culture and the evolution of race relations. Of particular interest will be the few successful Negro Leagues that operated from 1919 through the 1940s and the long process of breaking baseball's color barrier from 1946 through the 1960s. Writing intensive.

HIST 203C Excavating Egypt’s History (4 credits) Brooks Hedstrom
Africana Studies Credit
"Excavating Egyptian History" will explore the art, archaeology and history of Ancient Egypt from the age of the Pyramids of Giza until the reign of Cleoptra VII. We will establish a basic framework for Egyptian history from which we will examine key Egyptian monuments at Luxor, Aswan and Saqqara. Likewise we will examine the reigns of several key pharaohs such as Djoser, Mentuhotep, Thuthmosis III, Hatshepsut, Akhenaten, Ramesses, and Amasis. Through the reading of primary texts in the form of letters, myths, military annals, and biographies, we will ask questions about what life was like from an Egyptian perspective. We will also examine archaeological discoveries which have reconfigured the field of Egyptology and how current excavations are refining our understanding of Egyptian culture. Through class discussion of primary and secondary sources we will consider the major historical questions in the field of Egyptology; for example we will consider the impact of M. Bernal s Black Athena and how Egyptologists are responding to the quest for the pharaoh of the Exodus. One component of the course will include a visit to an Egyptian museum collection in the Miami Valley and a trip to the research library at the Ohio State University.

The course will be based upon several pre-writing, writing, and revision exercises to train students how to write a well-designed and argued research paper based upon archaeological and textual material. This methodology course will include pre-writing exercises that will give students the experience in writing summaries of scholarly articles, revising thesis statements, designing research outlines, and providing peer reviews of early versions of the final research paper. The main project will include a bibliography, footnotes, and a research text that analyzes a topic within Egyptian history, art and archaeology. Prerequisite: English 101. Writing intensive.

HIST 221H U.S. History I (4 credits) Gaffield
This course follows American history from the first North American settlements through the decade following the Civil War. Although political events will provide structure for the course, our attention will be centered on both the political and non-political. Themes that will be discussed include the dynamics of nation building; the development of a democratic political culture and a democratic social order; ideas of national (and regional) purpose, mission, character, and identity; American geography; the two-party system; and the sources of social change in the United States, including, among others, war and ideology. The course can also serve as an introduction to the discipline of history and the principles and practice of historical analysis. Classes will consist of lectures and discussion. There will be several short papers assigned. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 222H U.S. History II (4 credits) Wood
How did new technology change the lives of average Americans in the late nineteenth century? What role did American women play in World War I? How did the Civil Rights Movement change American society? Was the U.S. decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima right or wrong? These are just a few of the questions we will discuss in HIST 222, a survey of major themes, topics and issues in American history from 1877-present. We will focus on selected social, political, diplomatic, economic and cultural developments which have shaped the nation, all its regions and all its people. This course will consist of lecture, class discussion and numerous reading and writing assignments. Students will grapple with problems of historical perspective and interpretation, and are expected to participate in discussion , raise questions and form opinions. Students will be evaluated on their participation in class and on their timely completion of all written assignments. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 230H African-American History (4 credits) Lewis
The African American Historical Experience is a study of the accomplishments, contributions and experiences of African derived people in America from Reconstruction to the present. Course will include the use of a standard text, biographical reading, historical documentaries and numerous student-centered activities. It is African and African American-centered. Additionally, the course will include frequent writing exercises as well as a term-ending writing exercise. Writing intensive.

HIST 242H Modern Britain (4 credits) Behrman
A study of British society since 1689, with a focus on Britain's unique role as a cultural and imperial arbiter, up to the Second World War. Her precipitous decline after 1945 may have lessons for the USA in the 21st century. Method will be lecture/discussion. One text, a dozen or more primary sources, and perhaps a novel will be assigned. Three exams, several short papers, and class presentations. Writing intensive.

HIST 252C Russia since 1917 (4 credits) O’Connor
This course will deal with some of the factors which have shaped Russia and the Soviet Union, including the revolutions of 1917, the regimes of Lenin and Stalin and the collapse under Gorbachev and Yeltsin. There will be a mid-term and a final, and the course will require a fair amount of reading and writing. Writing intensive.

History 263C Age of the Samurai (4 credits) Huffman
Like the American cowboy, the Japanese samurai has become the focus of some of Asia's most enduring myths. This course will examine the age that produced those myths (1150-1800), looking at literature, art, government, fighting styles, and values. Several films will be shown and several paperbacks required. There will be two or three tests, a book review and a major project, with an accompanying paper. No prerequisite. Writing intensive.

HIST 317 Europe in the Twentieth Century (4 credits) O’Connor
This course will deal with the major intellectual and political developments in European history in the twentieth century, including the world wars, the Russian revolution, the rise of fascism, the development of the European Union, etc. Requirements will include considerable reading and writing, a midterm and final exam. Prerequisite: one course in history or permission of instructor. Writing intensive.

HIST 324 20th Century U.S. Foreign Relations (4 credits) Wood
This course will examine the history of American foreign relations in the 20th century. We will focus particularly on the emergence of the U.S. as a global power, the role the U.S. played in two world wars and on the post-1945 Cold War world (including America’s role in Vietnam). We will also pay special attention to the many ways in which domestic issues and American lives both shape and are shaped by international and global issues and events. This course will be discussion-oriented, with numerous required reading and writing assignments. Attendance is absolutely essential. Students will grapple with problems of historical perspective and interpretation, and are expected to participate in discussion, raise questions and form opinions. Students will be evaluated on their participation in class discussions and projects and on their completion of all written assignments. Writing intensive. Prerequisite: HIST 222 or permission of instructor.

HIST 370 Race in South Africa and the U.S. (4 credits) Rosenberg
This course will compare the political, economic, and cultural motivations behind the construction of racially discriminatory systems in the United States and South Africa. White settlers in both the United States and South Africa turned to the exploitation of slave labor; why did they do this and how did they justify it? After the abolition of slavery each society developed new forms of institutional racism, Jim Crow and Apartheid. We will also devote a considerable amount of our attention to the responses of African-Americans and Black South Africans to these systems. In our analysis of their responses, we will explore why certain communities opted for violent and non-violent measures. We will also explore why some strategies for equality were successful for one group and not the other. This class will conclude with an examination of the state of race relations today. Class participation, short papers based on readings and a large research paper. Prerequisite: none. Writing intensive.

HIST 390 Wives, Wenches, Saints & Sinners (4 credits) Livingstone
Saints, martyrs, damsels in distress, grimy peasant women, ladies in pointy hats are some of the prevailing images of medieval women. Scholarship on medieval women is also fraught with different visions of medieval women. Some find medieval women’s voices silent and refer to the medieval era as the “male middle ages.” More recently, historians have come to challenge this model and suggest more of “rough and ready equality” for medieval women. Keeping in mind these two paradigms of women’s experience, this class will explore the lives of a variety of medieval women, including peasants, aristocratic ladies, nuns, heretics, prostitutes, urban women, artists, and women mystics. Through examination of primary sources and historical monographs, students will explore the complexities of medieval women’s experiences and the historiography of this topic. Students will write a research paper, as well as a shorter analyses. Prerequisite: HIST 202 and 111 or 105 or permission of instructor. Writing intensive.

HIST 390 Impeachments and Contested Elections (4 credits) Taylor
The problems that befuddled us during the Clinton impeachment proceedings and in the aftermath of the Bush-Gore election of 2000 have deep roots in American history and are much contested in scholarly literature. This course will examine that literature, focusing primarily on five controversies: the Andrew Johnson impeachment, the election crisis of 1876-77, the Nixon impeachment, the Clinton impeachment, and the election of 2000 and Bush v. Gore. Likely books include: Peter Baker, The Breach: Inside the Impeachment and Trial of William Jefferson Clinton; Richard A. Posner, An Affair of State: The Investigation, Impeachment, and Trial of President Clinton; Raoul Berger, Impeachment: The Constitutional Problems; Michael Les Benedict; The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson; William H. Rehnquist, Clyde Adams Phillips, Grand Inquests: The Historic Impeachments of Justice Samuel Chase and President Andrew Johnson; Alan M. Dershowitz, Supreme Injustice: How the High Court Hijacked Election 2000; Bill Sammon, At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election; Lloyd Robinson, The Stolen Election: Hayes Versus Tilden - 1876. Prerequisite: HIST 202 or permission of instructor. Writing intensive.

HIST 411 Senior Seminar (4 credits) Proctor
A seminar designed for SENIOR HISTORY MAJORS. This capstone course examines historical and historiographical problems, philosophical issues pertaining to substance and methods of history as a discipline, and the process of research and writing history. A long analytical paper, an analysis of a historian, oral presentations, and active class participation are required. (And it all promises to be fun!) Prerequisite: Senior standing in history and HIST 202 and HIST 203, and permission. Writing intensive.