DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Fall 2005

HIST 101H/C 1.1 - Antiquity in Novels and Film

(2 credits)

Brooks Hedstrom

“Antiquity in Novels and Film” will critique popular presentations of the ancient worlds of Egypt, China, Alexander the Great and Muhammad. By using novels and films (such as Hero, The Message, The Egyptian and Alexander), we will study the historical context for each period and then assess how the authors and screenwriters, along with directors, present the past. How accurate are these films and novels? In what ways do they portray history? The course runs for 8 weeks and is non-writing intensive. Assessment will be based upon reading, class participation, quizzes and exams.

HIST 101H/C 2.1 - Silk Road Empires

(2 credits)

Brooks Hedstrom

In “Silk Road Empires” we will examine empires that participated in long distance trade along the pathways and seaways that connected Asia from 200 CE-1300 CE. Participants in the class will gain an understanding of the religions, cultures, art and history of Islamic, Tibetan, Chinese, Central Asian and nomadic empires. In addition we will also consider how the Roman and later Byzantine empires participated in this diverse cultural exchange. The course runs for 8 weeks and is non-writing intensive. Assessment will be based upon reading, class participation, quizzes, presentations and two exams.

HIST 101H 03  - United States History I & II

(4 credits)

Taylor

U.S. History I surveys American history from colonization through the Civil War era, and U.S. History II takes the story from 1877 to the present. Both courses meet the Western Historical Perspectives (H) goal and requirement that one "gain an understanding of the histories of the peoples and cultures of Europe and/or the post-Columbian Americas" and the Diversity of Human Experience goal that one "gain an appreciation for and understanding of the role of human diversity in contemporary culture." Each counts toward the History major/minor, and both are required for the History/Secondary Social Studies licensure major, as well as for the American Studies major. The required text is James I. Roark et al, The American Promise: A History of the United States to 1877 (Boston: Bedford Books, third edition) Frequent quizzes and three or four tests. Non-writing intensive. Students may not receive credit for U.S. History I and HIST 221, or U.S. II and 222. Students may not receive credit for U.S I and HIST 201H 1.1 or 1.2.

HIST 105H/C Pre-Modern World

(4 credits)

Thomas

This World History course will closely examine how pre-modern people lived and thought during the period from 3000 BCE-1600 CE. Themes will include the relationship between the human and the divine, the nature of political authority, and early encounters between Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Readings will include holy texts from around the world, plays, histories, poetry, epics and philosophical treatises. Students will be assessed on the basis of weekly written assignments, participation in in-class discussions, maps, mid-term examinations and a final exam.

HIST 105 H/C Pre-Modern World

(4 credits)

Proctor

Using a global framework, students will explore the development of ancient civilizations in the Near and Far East, Africa, and pre-Columbian Americas. Students will be asked to re-examine their own assumptions about non-western cultures prior to 1400, while seeing the connections between these cultures and western civilizations. The class will look at political and ideological change, but it will also delve into the everyday experiences of life. Pre-Modern World will ask students to use concepts of race, class, and gender as ways of viewing world history. In addition, students will use documents to examine their assumptions about “civilization,” “culture,” and “values.” Assessment will focus on the students’ ability to express their ideas in essay exams, class discussions, papers, and oral presentations. In particular, I will ask students to begin with the question—what is civilization?—in order to develop a framework for the study of the past. From there, we will examine particular themes in world history, such as comparative religion, trade networks, cultural exchange, impact of nomads, etc. Students will need to explore these questions and themes using a variety of sources (text, documents, novels, film) in order to gain an understanding of how historians interpret the past. Writing intensive.

HIST 106H/C Modern World

(4 credits)

Thomas

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. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 106H/C Modern World

(4 credits)

Staff

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. (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. Writing intensive.

Hist 162C - Modern East Asia

(4 credits)

Huffman

Westerners fighting for the right to sell opium in powerful China. Japanese challenging the world in the marketplace, in the anime world, on the battlefield. Koreans emerging from foreign shadows and talking about both unity and nuclear weapons. China re-emerging in the 21st century. We will attempt to pull all of those strands, and more, into some sort of coherent narrative as we look at East Asia’s experience with self-sufficiency, imperialism, modernity–and even dominance–during the last four centuries. Lectures will be supplemented with readings (including primary sources), audiovisual materials, and in-class discussion. Students will be expected to read four books. Grading will concentrate on tests, a series of short “summary” papers, and one 3- to 5-page paper.

HIST 171C - African Societies 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 201C - Occupiers and Occupied in Postwar East Asia

Frost, D.

How does one country occupy another? What is it like to live in a society under foreign occupation? By exploring the post-World War II occupations of Japan, Okinawa, and both north and south Korea, we will seek to address these questions and understand how this period of occupation shaped—and still today, continues to affect—East Asia and its people in both positive and negative ways. We will also give attention to the ways in which the goals and attitudes of the occupiers, particularly those from the US and the USSR, influenced the region. In our comparative study of these occupations, we will draw from the rich English-language archive of primary and secondary materials, including historical studies, memoirs, government and military documents, as well as works of fiction, cartoons, and film. Students will be expected to write several short responses to readings, essay exams, and a research paper. Writing intensive.

HIST 202H  - Writing History: Origins of Recent Balkan Wars

(4 credits)

O’Connor

The disintegration of Yugoslavia in a series of four wars in the 1990's produced the most vicious slaughter that Europe has seen since World War II and introduced the world to a new euphemism for genocide: ethnic cleansing. This course will examine those wars and their causes, giving special attention to the role of historical myth. Grades will be based on a midterm and final exam, several short papers, a number of quizzes and student participation. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

 

History 202H European Reformations

(4 credits)

Thomas

The goal of this course is to discover just how historians do history, with a particular focus on the European Reformation. Students will explore different approaches to this complex topic and evaluate the range of arguments that historians have made in the contentious debates about the origins, progress and ultimate outcome of the Reformation. Was the Reformation driven by princes, preachers or the people? What drew people to Reformed religion? What inspired them to remain Catholic? What was the role of radical religion in the Reformation? How did the Reformation affect women, Jews and the poor? We may not find answers to all of these questions, but well give it a try. Students will be assessed on the basis of frequent written assignments, participation in in-class discussions and debates, a long analytical paper. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 203H Decade of Decadence

(4 credits)

Proctor

The course will train students in research methods through an examination of the crisis of European society that developed in the 1890s. Students will be asked to understand political structures, intellectual and cultural change, and social transformations that led up to the turn of the 20th century. The class will spend a great deal of time discussing questions of race, gender and sexual identity, through discussions of the eugenics and suffrage movements as well as through examinations of the trials of Oscar Wilde and Alfred Dreyfus. Assessment will focus on the students’ ability to express their ideas in essay exams, papers, and oral presentations. In particular, students will complete an independent research project focusing on some aspect of the 1890s in Europe. Students will need to explore their questions using a variety of sources (text, documents, novels, film) in order to gain an understanding of how European history fits into the larger history of the western world. Prerequisite: none. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 230H  - African-American History

(4 credits)

Gallagher

The African American Historical Experience is a study of the contributions and experiences of African-derived people in America from Reconstruction to the present. Course will include use of standard text, collateral readings and is African and African-American centered. The course will include frequent writing exercises as well as a term paper. Writing intensive.

HIST 270C - 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. Prerequisite: none.

HIST 301 1.1W - The Great Mongol Khans

(2 credits)

Brooks Hedstrom

Who were the Mongols and do they deserve the recognition for establishing the first global empire in world history? In this course we will read extensively in primary sources that consider the rise of Chinggis Khan, his legacy, and the four empires: the Ilkhans, the Chaghatai, the Golden Horde, and the Yuan. These empires provide a unique example in history of a nomadic community that conquered their enemies and then remained in those areas to evolve into sedentary empires. How did the Mongols retain their nomadic roots while ruling over populations dramatically different from themselves? Did the Mongols truly deliver the storm of terror and destruction that their enemies claimed that they did? How realistic is the portrait of the Mongols given our access to archaeological evidence? This 2-credit course will be writing intensive and will meet only for the first half of the semester, once a week. There will be writing exercises dedicated to interpreting primary source materials in both textual and archaeological forms, class discussions, and a final paper. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of the instructor.

HIST 301 2.1W - Archaeology of the Nomadic Empires

(2 credits)

Brooks Hedstrom

Nomadic empires are often overlooked in surveys of world history because they seem to be elusive or merely less glamorous land pirates; they disrupt well-established empires and then disappear from our vision of world events. Or do they? Through a variety of sources (anthropological, archaeological, documentary, and literary) we will examine a selection of prominent nomadic civilizations. We will look at the literary portraits of nomadic life as found in the traditional sources and how well these portraits accord with the recent archaeological discoveries throughout West, Central and East Asia. This 2-credit course will be writing intensive and will meet only for the first half of the semester. There will be writing exercises dedicated to interpreting primary source materials in both textual and archaeological forms, class discussions, and a final analysis of an archaeological nomadic site. Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of the instructor.

HIST 301  - Evolution

(4 credits)

Taylor and T. Lewis

Prerequisite: Junior standing or permission of instructor.

Writing intensive.

History 361C  - East Asia and the West

(4 credits)

Huffman

We will examine Japanese, Chinese, and Philippine interactions with Westerners in two eras: the centuries before European imperialism in Asia (1500-1800) and those after imperialism reached its peak (1800-1900). An effort will be made to understand what impact each side had on the other, and how the interaction affects today’s world. Class time will be fairly evenly divided between discussion and lectures. Requirements will include several paperbacks, book summaries, participation in a debate, a research paper related to the debate, and two or three tests. Writing intensive. Prerequisite: One East Asian History course or permission of instructor.

HIST 390 Reading Colloquium: Stalin

(4 credits)

O’Connor

The course will deal with the changing images of Stalin, from his radical youth in Georgia through the “Cult of Personality” in the 30’s and 40’s to the post-Soviet era. There will be a research paper, a good deal of reading, writing, and student discussion. Writing intensive. Prerequisite: HIST 202 or HIST 203 or permission of instructor. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 411 Senior Seminar

(4 credits)

Livingstone

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!) Writing intensive. Prerequisite: Senior standing in history and HIST 202 and HIST 203, and HIST 390. (Satisfies certification requirements).