DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY
COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Spring 2006

HIST 101H 1W. US History I
4.00 credits
Taylor, Thomas

Through discussion, class exercise, and lecture, we will survey early American history from European colonization through the Civil War. Writing assignments include summaries of major documents in American political thought, and an essay on the American political tradition. Tests every other week combine multiple-choice with short-answer questions. The required text is The American Promise, 3/e.

HIST 105C/H 01. The Pre Modern World
4.00 credits
Brooks Hedstrom, Dar

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. Students will be assessed on the basis of weekly quizzes, participation in class discussions and three exams.

HIST 105C/H 02. The Pre Modern World
4:00 credits
Brooks Hedstrom, Dar

See description above.

HIST 106C/H 01. Modern World
4:00 credits
Thomas, Sam

Did you ever wonder how the potato led to the invasion of Iraq? Or how the ideas in Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species help explain the terrorist attacks of 2001? Have you ever thought about how Japanese farmers experienced life in the 19th century? Are you interested in what the Aztecs thought of the Spanish? In "The Modern World," we will examine such questions in an attempt to re-evaluate our assumptions about non-western cultures, while seeing the connections between these cultures and western civilizations. Starting in 2001 and working our way backwards to 1400, students will explore the interaction of cultures in Western Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. Assessment will focus on the students' ability to express their ideas in essay exams, short papers and quizzes. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 106 C/H 2W and 3W C/H. Modern World
4:00 credits
Proctor, Tammy & Taylor, Thomas

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 exams, quizzes, short papers, and oral presentations. ( Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 106C/H 3W. Modern World
4.00 credits
Taylor, Thomas and Proctor, Tammy

See description above.

HIST 111H 01. Medieval Civilization
4.00 credits
Livingstone, Amy

The medieval millennium, perhaps more than any other era of history, was a time when personalities shaped and affected the course of history. This course will explore the social, cultural, political and economic changes through the lives of particular medieval people, including peasants, warriors, mystics, kings and saints. Through lectures, discussions, films, debates and readings, the important developments, accomplishments and failings of the medieval centuries will be brought to life. Course assessment will consist of essay exams, short quizzes and class participation.

HIST 162C 01. Modern East Asia
4.00 credits
Padilla, Rob

More than 300 years of transformation as China, Korea and Japan react to an increase in globalization brought on by social, economic and political interpenetration from the West.  Key issues include: China's response to imperialism and its re-emergence as an economic power in the 21st century, Korean independence and impulses toward reunification, and Japan's rapid rise and decline first, as a military power and then later as an economic power.  The course work includes lectures, readings in secondary and primary sources, audiovisual materials and classroom discussions.  Students will be expected to read three books.  Grading will concentrate on tests, quizzes and a series of short reaction papers based on primary readings.

HIST 172C 1W. Africa Since 1500
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott

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 fact of Post-Colonial Africa. It is this dynamic interplay between Africans and outsiders which has shaped the formation of modern Africa. Assessment will be based on discussions of the readings, four papers as well as a take-home midterm and final. Writing intensive.

HIST 201 1W. Sport in East Asia
4.00 credits
Frost, Dennis

Whether it’s Grand Sumo in Las Vegas, Yao Ming on the All-Star Team, Ichiro in Seattle breaking American baseball records, or the ubiquitous martial arts, East Asian” sports seem to be everywhere these days. How did this come about? What can we learn about East Asian societies—and our own—from studying sports? These are some of the questions we will be tackling (so to speak) this semester as we explore the history and significance of sports in East Asia. Drawing from a combination of primary materials, theoretical writings, comparative studies, and secondary works focused on East Asia, we will consider sports in terms of several issues: invented traditions, nationalism, body culture, gender, stardom, and the modern Olympics, to name just a few. One of our primary goals for the semester will be to apply what we have learned in developing an informative and analytical public website about the Olympic Games in East Asia. In addition to developing the components of the website as group projects, students will write several responses to the readings, three short papers, and a research paper. Writing intensive.

HIST 201H 1W. Slavery and Emancipation
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott

This course will investigate Africa-American history by focusing on slavery and the struggle for equality after emancipation. The first part of the course will examine the institution of slavery, however, greater emphasis will be placed on the lives that slaves made for themselves. We will ask questions such as “how much control did slaves have over their own lives,” and “how did they resist servitude?” The second half of the course will dedicate itself to the study of the struggle for equality. This class will move beyond the political struggle and will explore the role that culture and an emerging and evolving identity played in shaping the quest for equality. Assessment will focus on the student’s ability to express ideas in take-home essay exams, papers, and oral presentation. Grading will be based on discussions of a variety of readings, 3-4 papers and a take-home midterm and final. Writing intensive.

HIST 201H 2W. American Constitutional History II
4.00 credits
Taylor, Thomas

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing only
We will examine the evolution of the U.S. constitution and its interpretation, from the “constitutional revolution” of the Civil war era to the present day. Topics include the fourteenth amendment, the rise of the federal regulatory state, the civil rights movement, federalism, and current battles over original intent. The primary text is Michael Les Benedict’s The Blessings of Liberty. Students will read other books, including Scott Turow’s Ultimate Punishment: Reflections on the Death Penalty. Several tests, writing intensive.

HIST 202 1W. Children of the Past
4.00 credits
Livingstone, Amy

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing only
What was it like growing up in the past? Did pre modern people have a “childhood?” Historians have recently turned their attention to investigating the private lives of medieval and early modern people. In this class we will explore what historians have uncovered about growing up in the past. We will examine the experiences of children in medieval London and Florence, Reformation Germany and sixteenth-century France.

This course will also examine how historians “do” history. What methods, theories, philosophies inform how historians have approached examining the history of childhood? What are the issues that confront historians in regard to the use of primary sources and historiographic traditions? Should historians be objective? Can they be objective? Each of those questions is fundamental to the task, vocation and obligation of the historian. To address such issues, students will read, analyze and critique primary sources. The “history” of historical interpretation, or historiography, will also be explored through a series of monographs and articles. Students will write several short analytical essays, as well as a longer historiographical paper, and participate in discussion and debate. Writing Intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)  

HIST 203H 1W. Historian’s Craft: Excavating Egypt
4.00 credits
Brooks Hedstrom, Dar

Prerequisite:  Sophomore standing only
"Excavating Egyptian History" will explore the art, archaeology and history of Ancient Egypt during the 18th Dynasty, with particular focus upon the Amarna Period. Tutankhamun and Nefertiti are the two most well-known figures of the Amarna period. We will examine their lives in relationship to the most controversial ruler of ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh Akhenaten. Considered a madman, a heretic, or a visionary by some, this course will endeavor to explore the mysteries surrounding him and his successor, Tutankhamun. (Continued next page.)

Contd. HIST 203H 1W. Historian’s Craft: Excavating Egypt
Through the reading of primary textual sources in the form of letters, myths, military annals, and biographies, we will ask questions about what life was like before, during and after the Amarna Period. We will also examine archaeological discoveries at Amarna and Karnak that have reconfigured our understanding of the Amarna Period and the successors of the 19th Dynasty. One component of the course will include a trip to the research library at the Ohio State University.

This sophomore level, research class 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 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 central focus of the assessment in the course is a project that includes a source bibliography, citation with footnotes, and a research text that analyzes a topic related to the Amarna Period. Writing intensive.  Available for credit in Africana Studies. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 203H 2W. Historian’s Craft: Negro Leagues
4.00 credits
Rosenberg, Scott

Prerequisite: Sophomore standing only
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. This course is designed to teach students the basic skills of researching and writing a historical paper. Assessment will be based on a book review, two take home exams, and the main component of the grade will be based on the research assignments and final paper. Writing intensive. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 222H 01. United States History II
4.00 credits
Casey-Leininger, Charles

History 222 will survey American History from 1877 to near the present.  The focus will be on the peoples and processes that have created the American nation in its diversity of culture and belief.  Emphasis will be given to the often conflicting ideals of freedom and representative government that Americans have contended over in the last 125 years and how diverging experiences of different groups have shaped those ideals.  Readings will be taken from the main textbook and from two or three other shorter works that examine specific issues of interest.  Grading will be based on three quizzes and a final, several less formal in-class writing assignments, and a short term paper. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 241H 1W. England from Arthur to Elizabeth I
4.00 credits
Thomas, Sam

The focus of this course will be on the history of England from the end of the Roman presence on the island to the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603. Students will read primary sources, including literary works such as BEOWULF and THE CANTERBURY TALES, as well as letters, diaries and Parliamentary debates. The class will also read DISSOLUTION, a murder-mystery set during the tumult of Henry VIIIs Reformation. Through an examination of these primary and secondary sources, literary works, and modern fiction, students will gain an appreciation for the complexities of the period. The final grade will be based on quizzes, class discussion and essays. Writing Intensive.

HIST 252C 1W. Russian History Since 1917
4.00 credits
O’Connor, Joe

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.

HIST 301 1W. Nazi and Fascist Europe
4 credits
Proctor, Tammy

Prerequisite: One history course or permission
This course will explore the development of fascism and national socialism and their impacts on European history from 1919 to 1945. In particular, students will be asked to read and write intensively in an attempt to better understand these political ideologies in their various forms in Eastern and Western Europe. Assignments will include reading presentations in class, research and analytical papers, and class participation. Writing intensive.

HIST 301 2W. Mothers and Midwives in Early Modern Europe
4.00 credits
Thomas, Sam

Prerequisite: One history course or permission
This course will explore motherhood and midwifery in Europe, 1400-1750. Through a mix of articles, books and primary sources, students first will explore the subject of motherhood, by reading broadly on medical theories about the female body, contraception and abortion, and the experience of pregnancy and childbirth. We will then turn to midwives, and discuss their complex social status. Midwives were central figures in the community of women but also participated in the prosecution of female crimes such as bastard-bearing, infanticide and witchcraft. Finally, we will examine the rise of the male midwife in the eighteenth century, and try to explain how they broke the female dominance of the birthing chamber. The final grade will be based on quizzes, class discussion, one oral presentation, and three essays. Writing Intensive.
 

HIST 390 1W Martyred Bodies in Late Antiquity
4.00 credits
Brooks Hedstrom, Dar

Prerequisite: HIST 202 or HIST 203, junior standing, or permission
Some thought of the ascetics as trained athletes who regulated their diet and daily indulgence, others thought of them as holy fools who were mad for God, and still others regarded them as intellectuals who recognized that the body held no meaning in this life. Martyred Bodies in Late Antiquity will explore the ascetic imperative that existed in the late centuries of Antiquity as the Mediterranean world moved from the practice of Hellenistic religions to the practice of Christianity. Various communities to be studied will include the Neo-Platonists, the Gnostics, the early Church Fathers and Christian monastics. The course will include a research component that explores the theme of the body within one or more of these traditions and the historiographic issues of studying late antique history. The members of the class will be prepared for weekly discussions and presentations of material. Since the class meets once a week, student participation will be a central component of the course as we discuss the sources associated with asceticism and the intellectual traditions of the late antique period. As a class, we will visit one Christian ascetic community in the Miami Valley to explore how ideas from Late Antiquity shape the religious life and history of monks and nuns today. Writing intensive. May be taken for credit in Women’s Studies program. (Satisfies certification requirements.)

HIST 411 1W Senior Seminar
4.00 credits
Proctor, Tammy

Prerequisite: Senior history majors only and HIST 202, HIST 203, and HIST 390
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. (Satisfies certification requirements).

HIST 490 00 Independent Study
1.00 – 4.00 credits
Staff

Prerequisite: Permission required

HIST 491 00 Internship
1.00 – 4.00 credits
Staff

Prerequisite: Permission required

HIST 499 00 Senior Honors Thesis
0.00 – 8.00 credits
Staff

Prerequisite: Permission