DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
FALL 2004
HIST 105C/H Pre-Modern World
(4 credits)
Brooks Hedstrom
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 106C/H Modern World
(4 credits)
Staff
(Two sections)
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 111H Medieval Civilization
(4 credits)
Livingstone
Knights in shining armor, peasants toiling in the fields, damsels in distress, castles, cathedrals, crusades....these are some of the enduring images of the medieval world. This course will explore the social, cultural, and economic changes that made up the dynamic period we call the middle ages. Through lectures, discussion, films, debates and readings, the important developments, accomplishments and failings of the medieval centuries will be brought to life. Students will write thematic and analytical essays examining a particular topic or source of medieval history.
HIST 135H Latin American Civilizations
(4 credits)
Wood
HIST 135 is an introduction to the history, culture and civilization of Latin America from the fifteenth century to the present. Since we cannot begin to cover all of Latin American history in one semester, we will focus instead on selected major questions and issues. We will discuss indigenous civilizations in Latin America and the events surrounding the Conquest of Mexico by Spanish conquistadors. We will explore the impact and legacy of Spanish and Portuguese colonial rule in Latin America. We will analyze the development of a multiracial society, the process and consequences of revolution and the strategies used by Latin American nations to compete in the worldwide economy. We will also attempt to understand the causes and consequences of chronic poverty, political violence and underdevelopment. Class time will consist of lecture and discussion. Students will grapple with problems of historical perspective and interpretation and are expected to participate in discussion, raise questions and form opinions based on material presented in class and in reading assignments. Students will be evaluated on their participation in class and on their timely completion of all written assignments. Writing intensive.
HIST 161C Pre-Modern East Asia
(4 credits)
Huffman
This course surveys the history of East Asia’s three major countries--China, Japan, and Korea--from earliest times until the beginning of the seventeenth century. Themes include the birth of the region’s major religions, China’s brilliant cultural and technological innovations, Korea’s fierce maintenance of independence from its larger neighbors, and the fluctuating influence of nobles and warriors in Japan’s political and cultural life. Lectures will predominate, with a number of sessions devoted to discussions and videos. A text and several paperbacks will be used. Requirements will include quizzes, several short papers, and three tests.
HIST 171C Africa to 1500
(4 credits)
Rosenberg
This class will cover the major themes and issues of African history before the arrival of Europeans and the Atlantic Slave Trade. Topics will range from the African roots of human society, to placing ancient Egypt within African history. We will also examine the role of Islam in Africa. In particular, this class will explore the role of oral traditions and “myth” in African societies and will attempt to ascertain their usefulness as historical documents. Additionally, in our examination of these societies we will focus on the roles of trade, environment, and religion in African political and social systems. Writing intensive.
HIST 201H-1.1 Topics: 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 201H-1.2, America’s Civil War, 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. Prerequisite: Sophomore preference.
HIST 201H-1.2 Topics: 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 home front, 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-1.1, 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. Prerequisite: Sophomore preference.
HIST 202H Myth and History: The Sources of Serbian Nationalism
(4 credits)
O’Connor
This course will compare and contrast the myths which have fueled present-day Serbian nationalism, especially those that stem from the 14th century battle of Kosovo and the Serbian role in World Wars I and II, with historical accounts of those same subjects. The reading material will consist of both primary and secondary sources, and the grade will be based on class participation, several short papers, a mid-term, and a final. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. 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 home front in the two World Wars. How do historians write about 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. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Writing intensive.
HIST 203C Meiji Japan
(4 credits)
Huffman
Japan’s rush from feudalism to modernity in the late 1800s will be the focus of this course. Using a variety of historical sources (novels, documents, film, monographs), we will examine both the causes and the results of Japan’s rapid transformation: its forced entry into the imperialist world, the creation of a constitutional system, the explosion of mass culture, its own imperialist turn in wars against China and Russia. There will be one or two essay exams, and students will learn research and writing skills by writing and presenting a lengthy research paper, and completing several shorter assignments. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor. Writing intensive.
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 225R Film and Religion
(4 credits)
Taylor
This course explores the interaction between film and religion in 20th-century American culture. We thus will examine the interconnections between one of America's most enduring characteristics, the religiosity of her people, and the growth of what is arguably the most important art/entertainment form of the century, the movies. To trace these stories we will read relevant portions of several books and see films from throughout the century, each chosen for its religious content and for what it can tell us about film in its respective era. Sample film genres: epics, Jesus, the Ten Commandments, anti-Semitism, angels, non-western religions, and Roman Catholicism. Readings include selections from Michael Medved, Hollywood vs. America and Timothy Corrigan, A Short Guide to Writing about Film .
Prerequisite: Sophomore preference.
HIST 230H African-American History
(4 credits)
Cook
This course in African History will examine the development of Slavery in the Western Hemisphere, and the United States in particular, from the standpoint of its impact on Africa and the African Captive-Slave community in the Western Hemisphere. Special attention will focus on slavery’s internal structure and organization in the United States. Secondly, this course will examine the efforts of Africa and the African free, captive, and slave communities to confront slavery, war, emancipation, reconstruction, and migration. This confrontation will highlight the African struggle for freedom, survival, and the destruction of the slave system. African thought, culture, family, behavior, religion, and personality will be examined as the basis for African survival and resistance to total domination and control of the slave community by southern and northern forces of slavery and commercialism before and during the Civil War and Reconstruction. Third, this course will focus on topics related to slavery such as Communal Africa, African Slavery , Merchant Capitalism, Colonialism, Expansion and Invasion, Political Compromise, Maroonage, Industrialism, and Sharecropping. Covers 1600-1870's. Classes will consist of lectures and discussion, with frequent writing exercises and a term paper assigned, along with mid-term and final exams. Writing intensive.
HIST 251C Russia to 1917
(4 credits)
O’Connor
The history of Russia from the formation of the Kievan state to the collapse of the tsarist autocracy. Primary emphasis is on the relevance of political and social history to the developments in the 20th century. The final grade will be based on class participation, several short papers, a few quizzes and a midterm and final exam of essays. Writing intensive.
HIST 270C Settlers and Liberators of South Africa
(4 credits)
Rosenberg
This course will focus on conflicts in southern Africa from a historical perspective. We will consider the nature of the European colonial societies and the Africans who resisted them. Africans fought not only against a range of inequalities, but in their creative resuscitation of a suppressed past, fought over descriptive languages, social and cultural categories that are themselves the product of domination. Africans used passive, hidden, and violent methods to overcome a variety of difficulties in achieving independence and survival. The main focus of this class will be South Africa, but neighboring countries such as Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe will also be considered. Readings will include novels, biographies, and a few manuscripts. Students will be evaluated on class participation, take-home exams, and papers based upon the readings. Writing intensive. No prerequisite.
HIST 301 Early Modern Europe
(4 credits)
Staff
Thematic approach to major issues in early modern European history from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Students will research social, political, religious, and intellectual changes that transformed European and world history in this period. Writing intensive.
HIST 332 American Constitutional History II
(4 credits)
Taylor
A survey of American constitutional and legal history since the Reconstruction Era: the rise and expansion of the regulatory state; the emergence of civil liberties law; centralization of governmental power in the mid-twentieth century; civil rights and liberties in the postwar decades; and the contemporary struggle between liberal and conservative constitutionalism. Projects will include preparing briefs from an FBI file. Books will include Michael Les Benedict’s The Blessings of Liberty and Sources in American Constitutional History. Writing intensive. Prerequisite: HIST 222 or 331 or POLI 101 or permission of instructor.
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 411 Senior Seminar
(4 credits)
Brooks Hedstrom
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.
