Course Descriptions
HISTORY 10300 INTRODUCTION TO THE MEDIEVAL WORLD
Cr. 3
This course is a survey of medieval history in Europe from the fall of the Roman Empire to the birth of the Renaissance. We explore political, religious, and social changes as well as economic, technological, and cultural developments, seeking to understand the complexity of the medieval past, including an awareness of the experiences of peasants, townsfolk, students, the religious, knights and nobles. Topics include: the Birth of Christianity and decline of the Roman Empire; Barbarian nations; the Feudal World and Crusades; Chivalry, Medieval Warfare, and the Arthurian legend; Cities, Education and Daily Life; the Church, Heresy & Witchcraft; and The Black Death.
HISTORY 10400 INTRODUCTION TO THE MODERN WORLD
Cr. 3
Traces the expansion of Europe into the Americas, Africa, and Asia. The French Revolution, nationalism, and the development of Western European states from the era of the Reformation to the present are studied.
HISTORY 10500 SURVEY OF GLOBAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course surveys the cross-continental interactions between the civilizations of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas since 1300, with attention to cultural comparisons over time, and to the impacts of global interdependence upon ecosystems and economies, cultures and geopolitics. Among the themes we cover are: the politics of religious culture, the rise of land and sea empires, epidemic diseases through history, race and gender relations, revolutionary ideologies and new labor and social relations, the cultures of colonialism and neo-colonialism, the technologies of world wars, and the rise of global production and consumer markets. Our formats include lectures, discussions, classroom interactions; our sources include original documents, histories, maps, literature, and feature films.
HISTORY 12300 HISTORY AT WORK
Cr. 1
The course is a combination of orientation to the discipline and the department, and professional development for history majors. Students will learn how history majors’ distinctive skills and expertise can help them achieve success in many different careers. Various career paths will be presented by guest speakers, and various academic and professional skills will be introduced and developed.
HISTORY 15100 AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1877
Cr. 3
This course treats developments in American history from the earliest colonial beginnings through the period of the Reconstruction. For about the first third of the course the subject materials covered include: the processes of colonial settlement, the growth of self-government in the English colonies, and an examination of the problems which beset the British empire during the years 1763-1775. Attention is next focused on the American Revolution in its military, social and political dimensions. The launching of the new government under a federal constitution and the growth of political parties form the broad pattern for the middle of the course. Westward expansion is treated as an integral part of the economic and national growth of the country. Concurrently, with this analysis of political, economic, and social growth, the student's attention is directed to the concepts of American nationalism offered to the electorate by the major political parties, i.e., their ideas and programs for national life. The remaining portion of the course emphasizes the hardened definitions of nationalism presented by the breakdown of the democratic process, and the Civil War and Reconstruction.
HISTORY 15200 UNITED STATES SINCE 1877
Cr. 3
This course begins by emphasizing the problems after Reconstruction, the new industrialism, the last frontier, and agrarian discontent. Attention is focused next upon overseas expansion and the Progressive Era. Later topics include the approach to and participation in World War I, the problems of prosperity during the "normalcy" of the 1920's, the depression and the New Deal, the role of the United States in World War II, the Cold War at home and abroad, the politics and culture of reform in the postwar era, the Vietnam war, the conservative ascendancy of the 1970s and 1980s, and a view of America in the 1990s. The course covers the social, economic, and political developments within the United States as well as its diplomatic history in the period of its emergence as a leading world power.
HISTORY 20100 SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY
Cr. 3 (May be repeated for credit.)
This variable title course deals with broad historical topics that transcend and telescope traditional analytical, chronological, and geographical boundaries. Content will vary with the instructors teaching the course.
HISTORY 21000 THE MAKING OF MODERN AFRICA
Cr. 3
This course provides students with a comprehensive introduction to modern African history from 1800 to the present. Using a variety of films, novels and scholarly resources, we will examine the major historical forces that have shaped African lives over the last two centuries. Emphasis will be placed on African experiences of slavery, colonialism, liberation struggles and post-independence nation building. Students will also learn to analyze contemporary African issues within a larger historical context.
HISTORY 21100 THE GLOBAL FIELD: WORLD SOCCER AND GLOBAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
This is an introductory course to teh history of soccer, on and off of the pitch. It studies the history of the game itself as well as the international economic, political, social, and cultural trends that shaped it.
HISTORY 22100 HISTORY BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Cr. 3
This course introduces undergraduate students to the study of history and provides an overview of the various ways history is communicated outside the academy in narrative nonfiction, journalism, museum exhibitions, policy documents, political speeches, advertising, podcasts, television, film, and social media.
HISTORY 22800 ENGLISH HISTORY TO 1688
Cr. 3
This course deals with the story of England from the Anglo-Saxon period to 1603; a principal theme is the growth of Anglo-Saxon society, legal rights and political institutions. Among the topics to be considered are the Norman Conquest, Magna Carta, the changing nature of medieval England beset by black death and economic growth, the emergence of the strong Tudor state and the challenge to authority that resulted in the revolutions of the seventeenth century. Readings will include original documents as well as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.
HISTORY 22900 ENGLISH HISTORY SINCE 1688
Cr. 3
History 229, the history of England from 1603 to the present, is primarily concerned with change. It deals with the questions of what causes political revolution and industrial revolution, what effects they have, and which have the more fundamental effect on most people’s lives. The course will consider the following problems: Why did England have a revolution in the period 1640-1660 four decades after the death of its most popular monarch Queen Elizabeth? How was stability restored and what was the political and social structure of Jane Austen's England? Why did England have the first industrial revolution? What impact did industrialization have on people's lives—was it a “good thing”? How did England go from being the foremost example of the laissez-faire economy to the welfare state?
HISTORY 23005 HITLER’S EUROPE
Cr. 3
This course will examine the rise, seizure, and consolidation of power by the Nazi Party and will trace the development of Adolf Hitler from a provincial Austrian to dictator of Nazi Germany.
HISTORY 23800 HISTORY OF RUSSIA FROM MEDIEVAL TIMES TO 1861
Cr. 3
This course surveys the rise of the Russian state and land empire: spreading over the Eurasian plains and woodlands, into the tundra and forest of Siberia and the Far East, through the plains and mountains of Central Asia and the Caucasus, and back into the heart of Eastern Europe. This process was sometimes peaceful, often violent, always unrelenting. We pose several questions. What were the main characteristics of Russian culture, social structure, and political life? What were the sources of its triumphs and tragedies? What did the Russians give, what did they take, as they gathered hundreds of peoples around them into the “all-Russian” state? We search for answers in the history of Kievan Rus', Orthodox Christianity, the Mongol Conquest, the rise of Muscovy, Ivan the Terrible, the Romanovs. the reforms of Peter the Great, peasant and national rebellions, Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion, revolutionary movements, and the rise of empire to the Crimean War. Students will also help to create and play a serious-game simulation, with player cards and game pieces, on "Russia at the Gates: The Rise of Muscovy."
HISTORY 23900 HISTORY OF RUSSIA FROM 1861 TO THE PRESENT
Cr. 3
This course discovers Russian history as a metaphor for global history, a study of the crises posed by the world revolution of western values. Spanning from the borders of Europe to the steppes of Asia, Russia became one of history's greatest land empires. Yet twice in recent times (1917 and 1991), the state collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions, driven in part by the pace of European and American modernization. We will study Russian history from the "Great Reforms" of the late empire (1861) to the Russian federation under Vladimir Putin, surveying the growth of revolutionary movements; political and economic reforms; ethnic conflict and Russian imperialism; social transformations and cultural revolutions; Bolshevism, Leninism, and Stalinism; World War II and the Col War; the collapse of the USSR; and present challenges. Besides essay examinations and short papers, students will work together to create the enact a game-style simulation on, "The Genesis and Structure of the Stalinist State."
HISTORY 24000 EAST ASIA AND ITS HISTORIC TRADITION
Cr. 3
Using archeology, myth, art, and architecture, as well as written texts, this course will explore East Asian society and culture from the formation of the earliest state in the Yellow River Valley (ca. 1400 BCE) to the early nineteenth century. The content includes the Confucian tradition, the creation of centralized states in Korea and Japan, the introduction of Buddhism, the conquests of the Mongols and Manchus, and the development of an urban, commercialized early modern culture. Readings include a textbook and literary works. Students will be evaluated on the basis of essay examinations, reading quizzes, and papers.
HISTORY 24100 EAST ASIA IN THE MODERN WORLD
Cr. 3
A survey of China, Japan, and Korea from the Seventeenth Century to contemporary times, this course investigates the formation of modern nation states in East Asia. In addition to a textbook, readings include personal narratives by East Asians, lectures, slides, and videos.
HISTORY 24300 SOUTH ASIAN HISTORY AND CIVILIZATIONS
Cr. 3
The South Asian subcontinent is home to over a billion people, just over 23% of humanity. A vivid mixture of languages and religions, the region has an equally rich and complex history and culture. Orientalist stereotypes, however, have dominated the image of South Asia as composed of certain simple and spurious religious and cultural essences shorn of all their complexity. For a lot of people in the United States, for example, India often equals
- docile women with dots on their foreheads;
- religion, non-violence and/or Gandhi
- poverty stricken masses, the object of pity or charity.
This course seeks to provide a more dynamic conception of the peoples of the subcontinent as historical actors contributing to and engaging with their own history. We will survey the history, culture and political economy of the subcontinent from the coming of the British to the present. Some topics under consideration will be: the transition to colonialism; social, economic and cultural change under British rule; nationalism before and after Gandhi; regional and religious identities; decolonization and partition; the character of the post-colonial era in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. There will be significant use of primary written sources (in English) and multi-media presentations.
No background requirements but a love of Indian films essential!
HISTORY 24600 MODERN MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Cr. 3
This course analyzes events and conditions in Middle East and North Africa from the early-nineteenth century to the present day. For 200 years, peoples in this region have grappled with issues of democracy, religion and national identity as well as conflicting reactions toward Western intervention. Students examine everyday life, environmental conditions, food provisioning, access to political power, aspirations of upward mobility, and efforts to control national resources.
HISTORY 25000 US RELATIONS WITH THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA
Cr. 3
This course surveys US policy towards the Middle East and North Africa since 1777, when an Arab kingdom became the first country to recognize American independence. Special attention is given to US policies in the twentieth century, as the US assumed a new role in world affairs. How have interests and values shaped American policy? Students assess continuity and change in US engagement with this region over the course of nearly 250 years.
HISTORY 27100 INTRODUCTION TO COLONIAL LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY (1492-1810)
Cr. 3
Despite being our closest neighbors, the countries of Latin America remain a mystery to most Americans. This is a general survey course, the purpose of which is to explore the principal historical themes of Latin America during the colonial period (roughly, from 1492 to 1810). We will cover such topics as the encounter between Europeans and indigenous peoples, institutional structures of empire, the composition of society, Spanish and Portuguese policies toward native peoples and their responses, economies and labor systems, and, finally, the growth of distinctive cultural and ethnic identities on the eve of independence. The class format consists primarily of lectures, augmented by discussion, slides, and written assignments.
HISTORY 27200 INTRODUCTION TO MODERN LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY (1810-PRESENT)
Cr. 3
This course is a continuation of History 271, and examines the consequences of independence and the long struggle toward nationhood. Problems common to all Latin American countries are analyzed followed by a detailed examination of the political development of the major nations during the nineteenth century. Primary attention is given to the many complex problems faced in the twentieth century to include the role of the church and the military in political affairs, the influence of foreign capital and investments, the emergence of the middle class sectors and major labor movements, the need for land reform, monoculture, population pressures, and foreign relations.
HISTORY 27800 MONEY, TRADE, AND POWER: THE HISTORY OF CAPITALISM
Cr. 3
This course explores the story behind capitalist institutions. How did banks and joint-stock companies emerge? Why
did capitalism drive overseas imperial expansion? What is “growth,” and why did it accelerate during the industrial
era? How did modern corporations emerge, and what role did they play in driving the globalization of capital?
HISTORY 30000 EVE OF DESTRUCTION: GLOBAL CRISES AND WORLD ORGANIZATION IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Cr. 3
Using a variety of case studies, this course considers turning points – often violent and disastrous ones – in an emerging global conversation about urgent world problems and their possible solutions. Topics include the successes (and failures) of the League of Nations and the United Nations; the development of international law; and the increasing significance of NGOs in recent decades. No prerequisites.
HISTORY 30105 BIG HISTORY: TIME AND SCALE
Cr. 3
This course explores Big History, a new form of world/global history. Like all forms of world history, Big History transcends the limitations of nation-centered perspectives. Drawing on the history of science and environmental history, Big History considers the many forces (physical, biological, environmental, social, and political) that drive change across time.
HISTORY 30200 HISTORICAL TOPICS
Cr. 3 *May be repeated for credit.
This variable title course deals with broad historical topics that transcend and collapse traditional analytical, chronological, and geographic boundaries. Content will vary with instructor teaching the course.
HISTORY 30305 FOOD IN MODERN AMERICA
Cr. 3
This course examines the kitchen as an architectural space, a place of labor and food production, and an arena for technological innovation in modern American history. Cooking and eating reflect cultural sentiments about modernity, progress, ethnicity, and family, and the politics of how society nourishes bodies.
HISTORY 30400 AMERICA IN THE 1960S
Cr. 3
This course surveys the political, social, and cultural history of 1960s America. The “Sixties” is something of a misnomer. The period was defined less by the borders of a single decade than by movements and issues that emerged in the 1940s and were only partially resolved by the time Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in 1974. There also is no consensus about the era’s meaning or significance—the 1960s continue to be the subject of passionate debate and political controversy in the United States. The times they were a-changin’, but why, how, and to what end? In exploring this turbulent decade, the course examines what did and what did not change in the 1960s. Topics include: the presidencies of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Richard M. Nixon; the triumph and breakdown of postwar liberalism; the resurgence of conservatism; the many insurgent political and social movements of the decade, including the civil rights and black power movements, the new left, environmentalism, the chicano and red power movements, feminism, and the gay liberation movement; the counterculture; the sexual revolution; rock ‘n’ roll; and the Vietnam war. Students will investigate these and other issues in a mix of printed, visual, audio, and multimedia sources such as speeches, correspondence, newspapers and magazines, autobiographies and oral histories, photographs, television, movies, and music. This course is open to all undergraduates. There are no prerequisites.
HISTORY 30505 THE UNITED STATES IN THE WORLD: 1898-PRESENT
Cr. 3
This course explores the central issues and themes of American foreign relations during the twentieth century with a primary focus on the expansion of American political, military, economic, and cultural power and the broader global context of Americans’ engagement with the world. We will move from the United States’ emergence as a world power at the end of the nineteenth century, a process that culminated in the Spanish-American War and the United States’ acquisition of a colonial empire in the Caribbean and the Pacific, and end by addressing the conclusion of the Cold War.
HISTORY 30605 TECHNOLOGY AND WAR IN U.S. HISTORY
Cr. 3
War has been a central component of U.S. statecraft from the war of independence through the war on terror. This lecture class examines the complication relationships between technology and war from the colonial period through the present day.
HISTORY 30701 HISTORY OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: MINDS AND MACHINES
Cr. 3
This course examines the long history of efforts in automating human cognition. Historically, the attempts to automate human cognitive functions — from the mere reckoning of numbers to complex decision-making — have been entangled with heated debates about what counts as good, proper, and desirable thinking; whose thinking machines should emulate; and whether the thinking of some humans is inferior to that of machines. In this course, we will examine how the invention of calculating machines — analogue and then digital — has developed in tandem with philosophical and scientific theories of human thinking and intelligence. In their turn, the latter developed as a response to changing social, political, and economic currents.
HISTORY 30705 HISTORY OF DATA: HOW DATA BECAME BIG
Cr. 3
We begin with several episodes from the 16th-19th centuries to explore how states and businesses have historically used numerical technology, such as mortality bills, census, statistics, and accounting tables, to make populations legible and governable. As we transition into the twentieth century, we unpack how cybernetics and developments in artificial intelligence have contributed to the idea that the world could be abstracted into sets of symbols and logical rules. We also attend to the practices of data collection and processing and pay specific attention to the questions policy-making and privacy The final weeks of the course focus on artificial intelligence, big data, their technical limitations, and the ways they amplify, exploit, and contribute to a wide array of social problems.
HISTORY 30801 AMERICAN EUGENICS
Cr. 3
This course explores the pre-history and history of American eugenics, as well as its afterlives. It analyzes how Americans have used scientific ideas to grapple with questions of heredity and human worth from the Early Republic to the present. We will explore the social and political uses of phrenology, physiognomy, and eugenics, and consider how those scientifically discredited ideas do and do not shape modern studies in demography, genetics, social work, and genetic engineering.
HISTORY 30805 HISTORY OF LIFE SCIENCES
Cr. 3
This course introduces approaches to the life sciences over time. It considers critical problems related to biology and society. The "life sciences" include all the sciences that deal with life as an organic entity.
HISTORY 30902 HISTORY OF BIOTECHNOLOGY
Cr. 3
This class examines historical intersections between engineering and biology in the Western world. The course starts off by considering several possible meanings of “biotechnology.” Next, it examines how and why different biotechnologies from the life sciences, biology, and medicine have arisen in specific historical contexts, changed over time, and affected society from the late 19th century to the present. We will study vaccines and beer-making in the 19th century, cell culture, birth control pills, and DNA sequencing in the 20th century, and 21st-century genome editing and synthetic biology, for example. Overall, this course argues that biotechnologies have always forced human beings to consider whether living and non-living entities are made up of the same fundamental “stuff,” the implications of manipulating living things, and the nature of life itself. Thus, biotechnologies also exemplify how science and engineering have impacted society, and vice versa, both historically and today.
HISTORY 30905 HISTORY OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Cr. 3
This course introduces students to various approaches to environmental science through time. It considers critical problems related to the environment and society. The "environmental sciences" include all the sciences that deal with the Earth's physical and organic environments.
HISTORY 31005 THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION, 1850 TO 1877
Cr. 3
This course will examine the causes, fighting, and outcomes of the American Civil War and Reconstruction. The course combines lectures, readings, films, and discussion to address such questions as why the war came, why the United States won (or the Confederacy lost), and how the war affected various elements of American society. The principal goal of the course is to provide students with an understanding of the scope and consequences of the bloodiest war in our nation's history--a war that claimed more than 620,000 lives, freed nearly 4,000,000 enslaved African-Americans, and settled definitively the question of whether states had the right to withdraw from the Union. Although this is not a course on Civil War battles and generals, about half of the time in class will be devoted to military affairs. It is impossible to understand the broad impact of the war without a grasp of how campaigns and battles shaped attitudes and actions on the home front, and there will be a special effort to tie events on the battlefield to life behind the lines.
HISTORY 31205 THE ARAB-ISRAELI CONFLICT
Cr. 3
This class traces the emergence of political fault lines in what was once a province of the Ottoman Empire. In tracing the history of Ottoman Palestine to the present day, students assess the effects of the immigration of European Jews to this region in the late-nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as the divisive policies of the British Mandate, the establishment of a Jewish state and the subsequent wars between Israel and surrounding Arab countries.
HISTORY 31305 MEDICAL DEVICES AND INNOVATION
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of material cultures of health care in the United States. The class will analyze how technological innovation has become central to medicine over the last two centuries and how we are coping with the consequences, both intended and unintended, of our reliance upon such medical devices. We will look at identities associated with medical devices, the ways in which disease is constructed, how technologies contribute to the naming of maladies, and implications for emergent bioengineering and biotechnologies.
HISTORY 31405 STEM AND GENDER
Cr. 3
Technological innovation has been a cornerstone of American identity. How technology matters to gender, and gender matters to technology, will be explored through studying amateur and professional scientists, industrialization, education, sexual division of labor, and home and work spaces in twentieth century America. Examining objects of technological innovation, their production, consumption, and use, reveals changing relationships between men and women.
HISTORY 31505 AMERICAN BEAUTY
Cr. 3
This course explores twentieth-century gender history in the United States through beauty and its intersections with politics, economics, technology, medicine, and nation building. Modern womanhood, everyday life, and identity will be exploried through advertising, pageants, and material culture.
HISTORY 31700 A HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH AND THE EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY I
Cr. 3
The Christian Church shaped the West, and continues to influence it profoundly. Born within the ancient Roman Empire, Christianity survives in diverse forms throughout the world: the Church is arguably the most influential and long-lived institution in world history. Tracing the Church’s evolution from its foundations to the fourteenth century, History 317 will concentrate on five interlocking themes: 1) the Christianization of the Roman Empire and of the Germanic peoples; 2) the hierarchical structure and governance of the Church; 3) the relations between the Church and various monarchies; 4) the rise, triumph, and decline of papal authority; and 5) the principal movements aiming at the reform of the Church. Until about 600 CE, the course concerns the Church throughout the Mediterranean world. Thereafter, it concentrates on the Latin Church in Western Europe, devoting little attention to the Greek, Oriental, or Slavic churches.
HISTORY 31905 CHRISTIANITY IN THE GLOBAL AGE
Cr. 3
Christianity is the religion of one-third of the world’s population. At the beginning of the twentieth century, seventy percent of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America. Today, the majority is non-Western. This shift from a Western-dominated religion to a global one over the past century has brought fundamental changes to both Christianity and global society. Christians of the Global South and East are more likely to be young; poor; female; non-white; linguistic, ethnic, or religious minorities; and victims of religious persecution than their co-religionists in the West. Their theologies address their distinctive concerns and commitments. Their growth in size and influence has had far-reaching social, cultural, economic, legal, political, and religious effects on global societies. This course traces the causes and consequences of these developments from the perspective of Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Topics include: religious pluralism, religious persecution; religious freedom; religious majorities and minorities; human rights; imperialism and post-imperialism
HISTORY 32105 SPAIN: THE FIRST GLOBAL EMPIRE, 1469-1713
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of Spain's global empire from the unification of the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon to the War of the Spanish Succession. Topics include Spain's European possessions, overseas empire, ruling dynasty, society, and culture.
HISTORY 32300 GERMAN HISTORY
Cr. 3
How could the Germans, a people of great historical and cultural accomplishments, produce the barbarity of Nazism and the Holocaust? This is the central question of modern German history. The answers lie not only in the story of the Nazis themselves, but in the entire history of the German people. This survey requires no prerequisites. It introduces German history with brief coverage of the medieval, reformation, and early modern periods, and then turns to a more detailed study of German unification under Bismarck, the rise and fall of the Weimar Republic, and the victories and defeats of Hitler and the Nazis. The post-World War II period deals with West Germany, East Germany, Austria, and German reunification.
HISTORY 32400 MODERN FRANCE
Cr. 3
This course covers the history of France from 1789 to the present. It addresses the following topics: French Revolution; Napoleon; continuing revolutions throughout the nineteenth century culminating in a democratic republic; industrialization and its effects on society; the persistence and transformation of farming and peasant life; changes in women's roles, gender relations, and sexuality; colonialism; victory in World War I and its implications; defeat and collaboration in World War II; intellectuals' role in postwar society and politics; decolonization and postcolonialism; the long and turbulent history of Franco-American relations.
The format will be lectures, discussions, readings, papers, and some films. The objectives of this course are to introduce students to major developments in the history of the West and the world through the close study of one nation in the modern era - France, and to develop students' analytical, communication, and writing skills.
HISTORY 32501 TWENTIETH CENTURY EUROPE THROUGH AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Cr. 3
This course analyzes a variety of personal narratives (autobiographies) written by Europeans who lived through the twentieth century to consider their merits and limitations as sources for understanding history. Specific topics covered include World War I, the rise of Nazism, World War II, the Holocaust, the Soviet take-over of Eastern Europe, and the welfare state, as well as family, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, and social class. It addresses questions like the following: how did individuals represent their lives and events in twentieth-century Europe? How and why did they write autobiographies? What are appropriate ways for historians to analyze personal narratives? How do autobiographies enhance understanding of twentieth-century Europe?
The goal of this course is to articulate the role of personal narratives in modern history. To that end, students will read numerous autobiographical accounts, and discuss them extensively in class throughout the semester. This will be the main method of learning and evaluation. Some lectures will provide historical background and context, and at least two films will represent an alternative "narration" of twentieth-century European historical events. Students will be asked to lead a discussion and provide background information. Some short essays (5 pages) and a longer reflective essay will also be required. Through the discussions, the papers, and the final take-home essay examination students will convey exactly what they have learned about twentieth-century European history from the autobiographies, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of particular autobiographies as historical sources.
HISTORY 32900 HISTORY OF WOMEN IN MODERN EUROPE
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of women in modern Europe from 1789 to the present, analyzing both women's experiences, and the social and cultural constructions of femininity. It also attends to different contexts of class, ethnicity, and nationality in the history of European women. Subjects covered include women's participation in revolutions, state interventions in the family, working lives of women, ideals and practices of sexuality, the middle-class model of domesticity and women's responses to it, the rise of feminist movements, women in socialism, the role of women and femininity in imperialism, the experiences of two world wars, women under fascism, women in the transition from communism to capitalism, and contemporary feminisms in Europe.
The format will be both lecture and discussion, with a few films. Students will be called upon to be historians themselves by reading and interpreting a variety of primary source materials, including fiction, autobiography, and other historical documents written by women.
No prior knowledge of European or women's history is necessary or expected. Students who take the course for honors credit will read additional works and/or view additional films, meet for discussion outside of class, and write a short research paper.
HISTORY 33205 THE NUCLEAR AGE
Cr. 3
Once seen as revolutionary and exceptional, nuclear technologies have become central to many aspects of life in the U.S. This course uses the history of nuclear technologies to trace how American society has grappled with technological change.
HISTORY 33300 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION I
Cr. 3
A survey of the main lines in the development of science and society in western civilization from earliest times to Newton's discovery of gravitation. Beginning with prehistory and Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations, the course treats in more detail the Greeks and Romans. The course then considers science during the Middle Ages, examining the transmissions of ancient science and its incorporation into the body of Christian doctrines. The course concludes with the new efforts of physicians and astronomers to free their studies from the influences of the Church and antiquity, and the new accommodations between science and society during Scientific Revolution.
HISTORY 33400 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN WESTERN CIVILIZATION II
Cr. 3
This course considers Western science and society from the time of Newton to the present. Beginning with Copernicus to Newton, topics next include biological classification, modern chemistry, and the onset of the industrial revolution. For the nineteenth century the course stresses the maturation of biology, Darwinian evolution, the dynamic synthesis and electromagnetic studies, and the second industrial revolution. In the twentieth century, the course covers modern physics, the life sciences, the understanding of the universe, and the interaction between pure and applied science. The course concludes with some of the modern social and political problems with science caused by its success.
HISTORY 33505 NATIONALISM AND SOCIALISM IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE
Cr. 3
This course examines how the peoples of East Central Europe engaged and coped with the most influential ideologies of the 20th century; with special attention to the weaknesses of the interwar and postwar regimes, strategies of modernization , survival, and dissent. By the end of this course, students will have gained a deeper understanding of the patterns and processes, ruptures and continuities which have shaped modern east central European society, culture, and politics.
HISTORY 33605 GLOBAL LGBTQ HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course will examine sexual and gender diversity during the last two centuries of accelerating global interconnectivity. Although the US-derived framework of LGBTQ+ identities has become increasingly popular, people around the world have and continue to understand themselves in a multitude of ways that extend beyond this current acronym. This course will discuss the rich complexity of sexual cultures across the world as well as how they connect through global processes, such as colonialism, warfare, and migration, that have defined the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
HISTORY 33700 EUROPE IN THE AGE OF THE COLD WAR
Cr. 3
This course examines the predicament of a Europe ruined by war, caught between the might of the United States and the Soviet Union. How did Europeans respond to American cultural, military, and economic power? What explains Western Europe's remarkable recovery in the 1950s and the cultural turbulence of the 1960s? Why did the Soviets fail in their quest to dominate East Central Europe? From the Marshall Plan to the fall of the Berlin Wall, this course aims to place current disagreements between "Old Europe" and the New World in a broader historical context. The final weeks will also raise contemporary issues such as immigration and European unification.
HISTORY 33805 HISTORY OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Cr. 3
This course explores human rights' genealogy and uneven historical development from Atlantic Revolutionary articulations through the late 20th Century and experience of globalization.
HISTORY 33900 TRADITIONAL CHINA
Cr. 3
A consideration of Chinese civilization from its origins to the end of the Ming Dynasty (1644). Attention is divided equally between political and cultural history, (i.e., art, literature, religion, and philosophy) with an emphasis on the development of traditional institutions in Chinese society, such as the imperial system, the family system, and China's traditional economic structure. In addition, China's attitudes toward government, commercial activity, the foreigner and religion are discussed. Periodic lectures are devoted to artistic and literary achievements, which are regarded as an integral part of the development of Chinese society. This course serves not only the student who is curious about China but the history major who is concentrating on some aspect of Western civilization but wishes to broaden his experience through a study of another society. Slides and films are incorporated into the course.
HISTORY 34000 MODERN CHINA
Cr. 3
A study of Chinese history from the establishment of the Ch'ing (Qing) Dynasty in 1644 to 1949, stressing the period since l800. Primary attention is given to internal developments and China's response to Western thought and material accomplishments. In this second semester on Chinese history emphasis falls upon the transition of Chinese civilization from traditional institutions under the imperial system to China's confrontation with the modern world. The persistence of traditional factors, while the nation is challenged internally by frequent rebellions and externally by Western influences, is an important phenomenon to understand if contemporary events in China are to be meaningful. It is for this reason that internal affairs and interpretations of the Chinese response to the modern "barbarian" challenge are stressed. Particular attention is also given to developments which led to the rise of nationalism and its conflict with communism in the twentieth century. The Republican government that was established in 1911 is considered until its demise on the mainland in 1949. The course is of value for students of modern history in general, as well as undergraduate majors in American and European history, and students interested in the process of imperialism/colonialism.
HISTORY 34300 TRADITIONAL JAPAN
Cr. 3
Using archeology, myth, art, and architecture, as well as written texts, this course will explore Japanese society and culture from the formation of a state in about the third century CE to the early nineteenth century. Topics of study include the imperial institution, the introduction of Buddhism, the development of a rich literary culture in the Heian period, the rise of the samurai, the transformation of the institution of shogun, and the development of an urban, commercialized early modern culture. Readings include a textbook and literary works. Students will be evaluated on the basis of essay examinations, reading quizzes, and papers.
HISTORY 34400 HISTORY OF MODERN JAPAN
Cr. 3
A survey of the history of Japan from the nineteenth century to the present, this course will include Japan's constructive response to Western economic expansionism, the formation of the modern state, the industrialization of Japan, the development of a mass society, the Pacific War, the American Occupation, the post war "economic miracle," and Japan's position in the world today. Readings include a textbook, one scholarly book, a memoir, and an autobiography. Requirements for the course: hour examinations, paper (on the primary sources), quiz, and a final examination.
HISTORY 34505 ARABS IN AMERICAN EYES
Cr. 3
The Arab world has fascinated Americans ever since eighteenth-century Barbary pirates preyed on ill-fated ships in the Mediterranean Sea. Mark Twain, Edith Wharton and Malcolm X are among the many Americans who set their works in the Middle East and North Africa. How do these authors describe the Arab world? What comparisons do they make between life abroad and life at home? And what effect do these representations, often false, have on US policy? These central questions have taken on a new urgency in the present day, an era fraught with mounting international tensions.
HISTORY 34705 HISTORY OF RELIGION IN AMERICA
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of religion in the United States from the colonial period to the present. It traces the evolution of religious life in America and religion's influence on American politics, society, and culture. Typically offered fall spring.
HISTORY 34901 THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Cr. 3
First World War. Ideally this course will be taken in conjunction with History 351, Second World War, in the Spring since together the two world wars present a modern Thirty Years War (1914-45). History 349 is designed to explore the origins, course, meaning, and lasting legacy of World War I.
HISTORY 35000 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WORLD
Cr. 3
An introductory survey emphasizing cultural contexts, relationships with other institutions, and occasional forays into the biographies of major figures. Covering selected major achievements as well as the problems these generate. Neither science nor engineering background is required.
HISTORY 35100 THE SECOND WORLD WAR
Cr. 3
Second World War. Ideally this course will be taken in conjunction with History 349, First World War in the Fall since together the two world wars present a modern Thirty Years War (1914-45). History 351 will cover the military, diplomatic, political, social, and cultural history of World War II. It will focus on the causes of the war, the battles that decided the war, the leaders (civilian and military) who made the key decisions, and how the war changed society. An additional feature will be how the war is remembered in novels and films. Hollywood features and documentaries will play a crucial part in the course. In short, the course will cover the history of the war from the rise of Adolf Hitler to “Saving Private Ryan.”
HISTORY 35205 DEATH, DISEASE, AND MEDICINE IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of disease, dying, and medicine in United States in the 20th century.
HISTORY 35305 SPORTS IN AMERICA
Cr. 3
Today sports virtually dominate American culture From. From fantasy leagues and 24-hour a day news shows to business decisions and off-the-field troubles the games themselves, sports entertain Americans at the same time as they define American culture and social norms. The course with look at the growth of the sport industry in the 20th Century. It will examine the lives and importance of Bobe Ruth, Joe Louis, Jackie Roinson, Muhammad Ali, and other athletes, as well as the economic, social, and medical impact of the games we watch. Typically offeref Fall Spring.
HISTORY 35400 WOMEN IN AMERICA TO 1870
Cr. 3
This course will examine women's evolving social, political, cultural, and economic position in America from the colonial period to 1869 when the women's movement split over the Fifteenth Amendment. We will explore how both men and women thought of women’s proper "place" in society, and how race, class, ethnicity, and the region in which they lived shaped women's experiences. We will examine both the everyday lives of women, such as domestic work, as well as women's efforts to dismantle the private / public barrier-- and the limitations to these efforts. We will discuss women's family responsibilities, work, education, political role, legal position, and sexuality over a period of two and a half centuries. Finally, we will emphasize women's changing relationship with their families, each other, and the state.
HISTORY 35500 HISTORY OF AMERICAN MILITARY AFFAIRS
Cr. 3
This course will explore the history of the United States from its colonial origins to the present by looking at issues of war and defense. We will ask a number of questions about the history of American military affairs. How have Americans confronted threats to their national security? In what ways have Americans used military force to advance foreign policy objectives? How have America's military institutions changed over time? How has technology affected the conduct of of war? How has war influenced American culture? How have American values and assumptions about war evolved? While we will explore questions of peacetime defense, this course will concentrate on armed conflict. We will examine domestic strife and foreign invasions rebellions and civil wars, imperial and world wars, and finally terrorism and counterinsurgency in order to assess the role of war in American history. In so doing, we will questions whether there is, or has ever been, an American way of war.
HISTORY 35900 GENDER IN EAST ASIAN HISTORY
Cr. 3
Examination of the construction of tradition and modernity in East Asia through the lens of gender. Topics include the influence of “Confucian” ethics; gender and imperialism; nationalism and revolution; and social change in the aftermath of war and decolonization.
HISTORY 36105 HISTORY OF SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND ENVIRONMENT IN PRE-MODERN EAST ASIA
Cr. 3
This course explores developments in scientific, technological, ecological history specifically in Pre-modern East Asia. In this class, we will read basic theories and methods in the history of science and technology, as well as basic debates and questions that challenge scholars studying the history of science, technology, and the environment in non-western pre-modern context. We will explore how society, culture, and politics affect knowledge production and people’s engagement with nature, and how these interactions, in turn, shaped society, culture, and politics. All readings are in English, no prior knowledge of East Asia is necessary.
HISTORY 36305 THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Cr. 3
The purpose of this course is to provide students with a historical understanding of the role public health and medicine have played in American history during the 19th and 20th centuries. How does the health status of Americans reflect and shape the U.S.?
HISTORY 36405 PATIENT VOICES IN THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE
Cr. 3
This course examines the history of medicine in the United States from the early twentieth century to the present by starting with patient voices, which provide a glimpse into the experience of illness. Using patient reflections as the primary lens through which to examine the history of medicine, topics covered include historical changes and historical decision making related to the diagnostic process, therapeutic interventions, access to care, and medical institutions. The course also examines how assumptions about gender, race, and class have shaped differential health outcomes such as mortality rates, time to diagnosis, and determination of treatment approach and efficacy.
HISTORY 36600 HISPANIC HERITAGE OF THE UNITED STATES
Cr. 3
Despite their numerical prominence, Hispanics have received relatively little attention in U.S. history. This one-semester course provides a historical perspective on this important group of Americans from the colonial era to the present. Part I of the course treats the historical roots of the Hispanic community by examining the interaction of Europeans, Indians, and Africans in the New World during the colonial period (late-fifteenth to early nineteenth centuries). Part II dwells on the crucial developments in the nineteenth century, when changes in sovereignty made some Hispanics virtual "foreigners in their native land." The patterns of political, economic, and social subordination of Hispanics in nineteenth-century America had a lasting impact on the subsequent history of the Hispanic community. Part III takes a somewhat different approach and examines the history of the three largest groups of Hispanics—Mexican-Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans—during the twentieth century. Treating each group in turn, we will discuss how Hispanics reacted to and helped shape some of the major historical trends of the century. We will also discuss the nature of ethnic identity and how each of these groups has perceived itself.
HISTORY 37005 QUEENS AND EMPRESSES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE
Cr. 3
This course explores the lives and legacies of queens and empresses in early modern Europe within the wider context of gender, political authority, culture, and monarchy. Students will be introduced to new scholarly approaches to the study of female rulership.
HISTORY 37100 SOCIETY, CULTURE, AND ROCK AND ROLL
Cr. 3
This class surveys the social and cultural fabric of post-World War II United States through the prism of rock & roll music. At one level the class surveys trends and styles in rock. It tracks the rise of rock & roll in the 1950s and the corporate, political, and social backlash against it. The focus on the 1960s is on music as an expression and extension of the social, cultural, and political changes of that decade. Finally, the class examines the paradoxical developments of “corporate rock and roll” and the emergence of an abrasive, often angry music by the end of the 1970s and into the 1980s. In the end, this class will examine and explain the technological, business, and social forces that helped cement rock’s position in modern popular culture.
HISTORY 37200 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WEST
Cr. 3
This course examines both the “place” and the “process” of the history of the U.S. West, a shifting region of Native North America that was the object first of Spanish, French, English, and then American expansionism, and finally as a distinct region with a unique relationship to the U.S. federal government, distinctive patterns of race relations, and a unique place in American cultural memory. While this course is a general survey of the west as a region, it will examine the west as both a place and as an idea in American culture and in the popular imagination. Accordingly, it will spend some time in the east exploring the backcountry frontier during the first years of the republic when the west meant the Ohio Valley and Kentucky, as well as focusing on the historical development of the trans-Mississippi west stretching from the Great Plains to the Pacific Ocean. Using films, monographs, memoirs, letters, and academic articles and literary fiction it will explore the struggle for land, resources, identity, and power, which have characterized the west and its role in the history of the American nation-state.
HISTORY 37500 WOMEN IN AMERICA SINCE 1870
Cr. 3
This course surveys the history of women in the United States from 1870 to the present. By examining the social, political, and economic forces that have shaped that history, the course assesses the sources of change and continuity in all women’s lives. We will consider the changing meanings and understandings of gender; the changing meanings and significance of family, motherhood and personal relationships; changes in women’s education and shifts in female employment; women’s involvement in political and social movements; women’s relationship to the state; expressions and regulations of female sexuality; and women and popular culture.
HIST 37500 satisfies the humanities requirement in the university core curriculum and the gender require-ment in the CLA core curriculum. It is open to all undergraduates. There are no prerequisites.
HISTORY 37600 HISTORY OF INDIANA
Cr. 3
This course surveys the history of Indiana from the French and English periods (1679-1783), the organization of the state out of the Old Northwest Territory, and the emergence of the modern commonwealth in the twentieth century. The development of Indiana's economy including the growth and decline of key industries, agriculture, and the transportation system is studied. Attention is given to the trends in local politics, the state's participation in national politics, and the creation of its administrative and legal machinery. Finally, the development of an educational system and of Hoosier intellectual, social and religious activity is analyzed.
HISTORY 37700 HISTORY AND CULTURE OF NATIVE AMERICA
Cr. 3
This emphasis of this course is Native American history as experience by the Indigenous people in the regions that became the United States. This course will present a brief general overview of Native American history for contextual purposes, but will quickly turn to specific regions, events and themes. The course will study cultural, environment and gender themes as well as important political and economic forces. A final component of this course is to introduce students to Native American history close to home by highlighting how larger events impacted those Indigenous peoples living in Indiana and the greater Great Lakes and Ohio River Valley regions.
HISTORY 37900 GANDHI: MYTH, REALITY AND PERSPECTIVE
Cr. 3
The course charts Gandhi's career against the background of events in London, South Africa and India. It examines the evolution and practical application of his ideas and techniques of non-violent resistance, and his attitudes toward the economy, society and state.
HISTORY 38001 HISTORY OF UNITED STATES AGRICULTURE
Cr. 3
This course surveys the main developments in North American agricultural history, emphasizing the continental United States. Topics include early American agriculture, the plantation system, land policy, scientific and technological change, agrarian politics, water rights, migrant labor, and agricultural policy. The course goals are to: (1) gain a broad understanding of the major economic, social, political, and scientific and technological developments in the history of American agriculture; and, (2) analyze the causes, consequences, and significance of the major events and issues that have influenced the agricultural history of the United States.
HISTORY 38105 AMERICAN INDIANS AND FILM
Cr. 3
This course investigates ways that Hollywood filmmakers influence public perceptions of Native American history and culture through feature films. Students explore issues of race, gender, class, ethnicity, ideology, and nature, as well as the work of indigenous filmmakers.
HISTORY 38200 AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course explores how fundamental Anglo-Saxon legal theories on justice, republicanism, and economics have been modified by the American experience from 1763-1896. While the course deals with judicial interpretations of the Constitution, it does so in terms of the political and social environments in which the courts operated. The course examines the legal and historical context in which the Supreme Court established major early constitutional interpretations regarding federalism, contractual obligations, and regulation of monopolies. The course then turns to the constitutional debates over sectional strife, slavery, and the coming of the Civil War. Finally, we conclude by exploring the Reconstruction-era amendments and the debates over racial and gender equality.
HISTORY 38300 RECENT AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
History 383 is an intensive study of constitutional questions and Supreme Court decisions from 1896 to the present. This course considers how the evolution of constitutional law shaped and was shaped by broader social, political, and economic changes. We will trace the evolution of constitutional jurisprudence from the Court's early twentieth century focus on economic regulation, through the current debates over national security. The course is arranged around several broad themes, including national security and civil liberties, racial equality, personal autonomy/privacy, and First Amendment freedoms.
HISTORY 38400 HISTORY OF AVIATION
Cr. 3
This course explores the history of human flight and air power: from the early inventors and pilot heroes of the twentieth century to the institutions of aeronautics in the military and industrial networks of the twenty-first. Our approach is comparative, integrating the national histories of Europe (France, Italy, Belgium, Germany, and Russia), the Americas (North and South), trans-Saharan Africa, and Asia (Japan and China) for a broad, global scope. Our focus is on the applications and impacts of aviation in everyday life; in politics and governance; in science and business; and in the making of modern war. We cover the rise of the French aviation industry; the Zeppelins and dirigibles; Charles Lindbergh and the opening of the trans-Atlantic flights; aviation breakthroughs and strategic bombing in World War I and II; the "turbo-jet" revolution; the X planes and the Cold War; the Korean, Vietnam, and Iraq wars; and the development of commercial aviation. Special topics for study include: the Wright Brothers and the meanings of invention and innovation; human flight in literature and memoir, propaganda and film; and several case studies of aviation disasters.
HISTORY 38505 MEDIA, POLITICS, AND POPULAR CULTURE
Cr.3
This class examines the relationship of media, politics, and popular culture over the course of the twentieth century in American history. Students trace how new media shaped political institutions and practices and afforded opportunities for political change.
HISTORY 38605 LAND OF THE INDIANS: NATIVE AMERICANS IN INDIANA
Cr. 3
This course offers a survey of Native American and Indigenous history and culture in the historic region encompassing the modern state of Indiana. The course opens in the pre-Columbian era and is organized chronologically to the present day.
HISTORY 38700 HISTORY OF THE SPACE AGE
Cr. 3
This course offers a history of the space age since 1900, including such topics as: the development of rockets and ballistic missiles, the origins and challenges of space exploration, and the revolutionary applications of orbital technologies. The course is centered on the Cold War in outer space between the USA and USSR. We examine how their different cultural values, political institutions, and military imperatives helped to determine the character of the space age. In other words, we study space science and technology as forms of cultural creativity. We cover such topics as: the Nazi V-2 rocket program, space fiction and the popular imagination, the Sputnik crisis, astronauts and cosmonauts, Apollo and the moon missions, space stations, space disasters, space weapons systems, earth science and astrobiology, the Mars missions, and the present and future of human exploration.
HISTORY 39400 ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES
Cr. 3
This mid-level survey is intended to introduce students of environmental science to the historical context of environmental developments and to introduce students of history to the unique perspectives of environmental historians. By treating the environment itself as a critical player in historical developments, environmental history highlights the relationships between nature-as-found and nature-as modified by humans. We begin with the settler invasions of North America in the 17th century and follow the story through the so-called “greening” of America in the late 20th century. This class involves lecture, reading, discussion, and writing.
HISTORY 39500 JUNIOR RESEARCH SEMINAR
Cr. 3
This is a variable title course and content will vary with instructor teaching the course.
HISTORY 39600 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1877
Cr. 3
This course introduces students to the trends, events, issues, and people that shaped African American history from its West and Central African roots through the Civil War. In particular, it presents black people as active agents in the American historical narrative that significantly shaped the course of their own lives even within the context of slavery. It discredits American myths about people of African descent, examines key elements of black slavery and freedom in the United States, analyzes the experiences of the enslaved with special emphasis on black resistance and resiliency, and identifies the economic, political, and social factors that shaped and were shaped by African captives, their descendants, black communities and institutions, and plantation society.
HISTORY 39800 AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1877
Cr. 3
This course introduces students to key events, themes, and people that shaped African American and American history from the end of the Civil War into the twentieth century and beyond. Specifically, It focuses on the rise of racial violence in the nineteenth century and African Americans’ response to it, African Americans’ efforts to carve out a place for themselves in a modernizing America, and African Americans’ demands for equal justice and civil rights.
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General prerequisite for all history courses numbered 400 to 499: sophomore standing or consent of instructor.
HISTORY 40000 GREAT BOOKS AND THE SEARCH FOR MEANING
Cr. 3
This intellectual-history course discusses the meanings of the Great Books within their particular historical contexts and teh universal quest for self-understanding, focusing on good and evil; mystery and reason; the nature of power; and what it means to be human.
HISTORY 40300 EUROPE IN THE REFORMATION
Cr. 3
Between 1450 and 1650 Europeans experienced religious upheaval of unprecedented proportions. Heresies there had always been, but rival churches to the once universal Christian Church signaled a sundered Christendom that many contemporaries believed could only end in punishment from God. But religious conflict, important as it was, was only part of the “disorder” that marked the experience of Europeans. Economic transformation, social mobility, unprecedented poverty and vagrancy, rebellion, and war all conspired with religious upheaval to make this epoch an age of anxiety. To fathom these earth-shattering changes, we will search for interconnections between and among these historical phenomena, using interdisciplinary methodology (like psychology and cultural anthropology) at times to aid in our interpretation of what happened during this epoch and why. In the process, we will explore the many minor paradoxes and the one great contradiction that marks these two hundred years: why Europeans were obsessed with a search for order in an age of perceived chaos.
HISTORY 40500 THE FRENCH REVOLUTION AND NAPOLEON
Cr. 3
This course intends to acquaint students with the major events of the French Revolution and Napoleonic era (roughly 1789 to 1815), and introduce them to recent developments in the ways that historians view this decisive (and action-packed) period. Topics we will address include the following: the Old Regime and the origins of revolution, widening political participation of the masses and previously marginalized social groups, changing aims of revolutionaries, the problem of the king and its bloody resolution, revolutionary culture, the extension of human rights, the tragedy of the Terror, the larger Atlantic revolutionary world, slave revolts and racial equality in the Caribbean, the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte, Napoleon's leadership successes and failures, Napoleon in the world, legacies of the French Revolution and Napoleon. Additionally, students will write a significant research paper using primary and secondary sources and applying what they have learned in class to an original work of scholarship.
HISTORY 40600 EUROPE 1815–1870
Cr. 3
This course covers European history from the final downfall of Napoleon in 1815 to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 that led to the creation of the second German empire. Students will learn about topics like industrialization, romanticism, the slow and complicated decline of the aristocracy, the coming to power of the middle class (or bourgeoisie), the formation of the working class, the domestic ideal for women, prostitution, sexuality, masculinity, the Crimean War (1853-56), socialism, the revolutions of 1848, realism, early European imperialism, and the consolidation of the nation-state form.
A premise of the course is that this period witnessed, among other things, a new understanding of the individual and the self, deriving from the revolutionary experiences of the late eighteenth century, and from romanticism. Hence, the course and the final research paper will be orientated to understanding the developments of this era through some of its numerous outstanding personalities, for example, Napoleon Bonaparte, Lord Byron, Frederic Chopin, Queen Victoria, George Sand, Florence Nightingale, William Gladstone, Benjamin Disraeli, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Napoleon III, Friedrich Engels, Karl Marx, Charles Darwin, and Otto von Bismarck.
The objectives of this course are to help students gain an in-depth understanding of this foundational period in the history of the modern West, and to guide them in the research and writing of a historical biography based on primary and secondary sources. To this end the course will consist of assigned readings including both primary and secondary works, frequent class discussions of these readings, lectures that provide the basic historical and biographical facts, selected videos that illustrate the history, and incremental research and writing assignments that will culminate in the final research paper.
HISTORY 40700 ROAD TO WORLD WAR I: EUROPE 1870–1919
Cr. 3
Through reading eyewitness accounts and current scholarship, students will learn about:
*Modernism
*Gender and sexuality
*Race and empire
*Social class relations and politics
*Experiences of war by civilians and combatants
*The global reach of World War I
Through discussion, lectures, short paper assignments, and films students will sharpen analytical, verbal communication, and writing skills.
Students will also conduct original research on a topic of their choice and construct a digital project from that work.
No prior knowledge of European history is required or expected.
HISTORY 40800 DICTATORSHIP AND DEMOCRACY: EUROPE 1919-1945
Cr. 3
This course examines the fleeting triumph of democracy across Europe, followed by the rise of fascism, communism, and Nazism. Emphasis will be placed on broad economic, social, and cultural transformations as well as individual choices to resist or conform.
HISTORY 41005 HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY
Cr. 3
Using a historical perspective, examines the shifting role of the presidency in the American imagination and the cultural, social, and economic changes that have wrought political developments in public functions and expectations of the modern presidency.
HISTORY 41300 MODERN EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM: REPRESSION AND RESISTANCE
Cr. 3
This course examines the expansion, transformation, and collapse of 19th and 20th century European empires, focusing on colonial encounters and relationships. Students should come to the course familiar with major developments, events, and themes in modern European and/or global history.
HISTORY 41505 GENDER AND POLITICS IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE
Cr. 3
This course explores the role of gender (its discourse as well as its practice) in the emergence, consolidation, and centralization of European political systems from the Renaissance to the French Revolution, such as princely courts, republics and monarchies.
There are no pre-requisites for this course.
HISTORY 42100 HONORS HISTORICAL METHODS
Cr. 3
Designed as a prequel to History 422 (Honors Thesis), this course introduces the Honors students to a variety of approaches, methods, genres, and problematics in historical practice. Students will read, discuss and write reviews of works by different historians, examining the sources they use, the construction of arguments, and the habits of good writing. The class will take a field trip to an archival site either in Indianapolis or Chicago. Each student will choose a topic and a mentor for the Honors Thesis, identify relevant primary and secondary sources, write a short grant proposal, and produce a prospectus (a summary and plan of the project) and bibliography for presentation at the end of the semester.
HISTORY 42200 HONORS THESIS IN HISTORICAL RESEARCH
Cr. 3
Designed as a sequel to History 421 (Honors Historical Methods); this course is intended as the culminating academic experience for students in the Department of History Honors Program. It will require the completion of an undergraduate thesis in history.
HISTORY 42300 ADVANCED TOPICS IN MODERN GERMANY
Cr. 3
This course offers a reading-intensive study of a specific period or theme in modern German History. Semester-long topics might include Imperial Germany; Weimar Germany; Divided Germany (1945-1990); or a thematic studies on culture, religion, or military affairs.
HISTORY 43900 COMMUNIST CHINA
Cr. 3
This course in the history of Chinese Communism concerns the Communist movement, as seen through the activities of the Communist Party established in 1921, and the Communist government from 1949 to the present. Ideological factors are given considerable attention, both to explain the roots of Marxism—Leninism in China and Party disputes that have caused internal conflict over policies. Approximately one-third of the course is devoted to the period of the Party movement and the remainder to the Communist government. In addition to political affairs, special attention is given to economic, social and cultural changes that have taken place under Chinese Communism. It is intended that this course will serve to give interested students a full survey of the Communist experience in China. Audio-visual aids, such as films, slides, and tape-recorded interviews with specialists who have been to China, are utilized in the course.
HISTORY 44100 AFRICA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Cr. 3
How did African leaders and societies navigate the challenges of the twentieth century, from world wars to obstinate imperialism and hard-won independence? How differently did these challenges surface in different corners of the African continent? This course examines that history, beginning with the international system’s failure to prevent the Fascist Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 and concluding with the failure to halt the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. The course focuses on the intervening decades, when an unprecedented era of decolonization collided with superpower rivalry during the global Cold War. Whose side, if any, would these newly independent states join? Would they pick capitalism, or communism, or neither? How did these models look from African perspectives? What choices emerged in the wake of that ideological competition? Major themes include peace and conflict, postcolonial state-building, economic development, social movements, international institutions, white supremacy, and Black rights.
HISTORY 45000 THE ENGLISH LANDSCAPE: INTEGRATING HISTORY, HORTICULTURE & LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE (HORT 450, LA 450)
Cr. 3
Intensive four-weeks in-residence in Corsham, UK with visits to significant sites to examine the intersections between human culture and the natural environment that results in the developed landscape. Maymester only. No prerequisites but permission of instructors required.
HISTORY 46000 AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
This lecture/discussion course examines the social, political, economic, and cultural development of England’s mainland American colonies roughly from the founding of Virginia to the middle of the eighteenth century. It explores motivations for colonization, expectations of colonizers, challenges encountered in the American wilderness, and relations between settlers and their British overlords. It also studies the cultural interactions between the settlers and the diverse peoples from non-English societies, including the many native Americans and Africans—both free and slave. The class considers the private as well as the public lives of early Americans, paying close attention to the hopes and realities of men, women, and children of the “lower,” “middling,” and “better” sorts. The primary goals are for students to gain a general understanding of the major challenges and opportunities that the peoples of early America faced and to appreciate the interpretative problems historians encounter in explaining the period. Through a semester-long research project, students sharpen their research skills as they sift through evidence to answer questions that they pose about early America.
HISTORY 46100 THE REVOLUTIONARY ERA, 1763 TO 1800
Cr. 3
When the Eighteenth-Century opened, the British colonies on the North American mainland were loyal dependencies enjoying the protection of the world’s strongest imperial power. When the century closed, the colonies had thrown off British rule along with monarchy itself and transformed themselves into a united, independent republic. This course explores that transformation. It is a story of how thirteen colonies, separated by religious, ethnic, economic, and cultural differences, came together to make common cause and create an independent republic. Gaining independence, however, was the beginning, not the end of the American Revolution, which centered on the struggle for who would rule in the United States. This class concludes, therefore, by examining the process of state-building from the earliest state constitutional conventions of 1776 to the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Many voices contribute to the story of the American Revolution: men and women, prosperous merchants and planters and struggling day laborers and tenant farmers, African-Americans and Native-Americans, Loyalists and Patriots, and generals and privates. Through reading primary sources and scholarly monographs, students will examine the events of the period and the various meanings that contemporaries and subsequent generations have assigned them.
HISTORY 46700 THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN AMERICA
Cr. 3
This course will examine the years after the Civil War, from 1865 to 1900, a period in which Americans witnessed unprecedented economic expansion that profoundly altered political and social arrangements. We will explore how the nation "recovered" from the Civil War, how it reconstructed itself, and continued to define the notion of who was an American and who was not. In short, we will examine how the nation transitioned from one divided to the threshold of world domination in the age of imperialism. The principal themes of the class will be the reconstruction of the "American" nation, conquest of the West, the causes and consequences of industrialization and urbanization, and the beginnings of national popular culture. We will examine how capitalists, workers, farmers, politicians, reformers, the middle class, and different races attempted to shape the new industrial society to their own purposes and visions. The course is open to all undergraduates. There are no prerequisites.
HISTORY 46800 RECENT AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course examines the issues that shaped American society, politics, foreign policy, and culture from 1932 to the present. It covers the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, and the Vietnam War, as well as the social, cultural, and economic impact of those events.
HISTORY 46900 BLACK CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Cr. 3
This course will examine the origins, dynamics, and consequences of the modern black civil rights movement by exploring how struggles for racial equality and full citizenship worked to dismantle entrenched systems of segregation, repression, and discrimination within American society and culture.
HISTORY 47005 WOMEN AND HEALTH IN AMERICA
Cr. 3
This course examines the historical relationship between women and health by exploring a number of critical themes that have affected women's health in the United States.
HISTORY 47100 HISTORY OF THE GREAT PLAINS INDIANS
Cr. 3
The History of the Great Plains Indians examines Native American life on the great plains from before European contact to the current era. The thematic emphasis is on Native American perspectives, including an introduction to the interdisciplinary methodologies used in the field. Students will be introduction to analytical frameworks that emphasize culture, gender and environment as well as political and economic analyses. After a brief contextual introduction to the major events and themes in Plains Indian history, the course will focus on several groups from the northern and southern plains to allow students the opportunity to examine and analyze specific historical issues and topics as they related to different Indian nations. An emphasis will also be placed on identifying and analyzing major historiographical themes in the indigenous history in the United States.
HISTORY 47300 HISTORY OF THE SOUTH
Cr. 3
Geographic, economic, cultural, social, and political aspects of the South. The significance of such figures as Jefferson, Jackson, Calhoun, Jefferson Davis, and Woodrow Wilson. The emphasis is on the evolution of the intellectual climate.
HISTORY 47600 THE CIVIL WAR IN MYTH AND MEMORY
Cr. 3
This seminar will explore how the Civil War has been celebrated and/or remembered from 1865 to the present. We will look at both Union and Confederate (northern and southern), black and white, male and female interpretations of the war. We will focus on how participants of the war understood their own lives, how their descendants chose to remember the war, and how historians have used their writings in crafting contemporary understandings of the Civil War. We will ask such questions as which interpretations of the war were most salient at different times? In what ways were memorialization efforts political? What has been left out of the popular memory of the war? Why? In order to do so, we will examine such topics as death culture in the 19th century, art, construction of personal memoirs, monument building, battlefield preservation, veterans' associations, and film depictions of the war.
HISTORY 47700 NATIVE AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course thematically explores the history of Native American women in North America. Students will explore the experiences of Native American women from earliest contact with European colonization to the present. The course will also cover thematic threads of resistance and resilience exploring how Native American women became the culture keepers for their peoples. Topics will include colonization and decolonization, identity, sovereignty, activism, leadership, kinship, stereotypes and public images.
HISTORY 48005 MADNESS AND THE ASYLUM IN THE U.S.
Cr. 3
This course explores how Americans have understood insanity and asylums. We analyze historical concepts of insanity, the evolution of asylums, how psychiatrists have debated therapeutics, and how ordinary people have experienced treatments and diagnoses.
HISTORY 48500 TOPICS IN AMERICAN POLITICAL HISTORY
Cr. 3
This course deals with broad thematic and chronologically defined topics in American political history from the Revolutionary Era to the late twentieth century. Content will vary with the faculty member teaching the class.
HISTORY 48800 HISTORY OF SEXUAL REGULATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Cr. 3
This course will illuminate broad themes in the historical regulation of sexual violence, consensual sex, and homosexuality. Students will understand and analyze how cultural, social, religious, and moral ideologies have influenced conceptions of deviant and normative sexuality in the United States.
HISTORY 49200 SEMINAR IN HISTORICAL TOPICS
Cr. 3
This is a variable title course and the course description will vary according to specific topic proposed to study.
HISTORY 49400 SCIENCE AND SOCIETY IN AMERICAN CIVILIZATION
Cr. 3
This course examines the development of science in the United States from colonial times to the present. Emphasis in the earlier periods is placed on comparison and contrast of the American scene with that of Europe. Subsequent treatment deals with industrialization, and maturation of the American scientific community, and the increasing social effects of science. Among those considered are the forces making for urbanization, for greater interdependence among science, industry and government, and for repercussions in intellectual affairs.
HISTORY 49500 RESEARCH SEMINAR IN HISTORICAL TOPICS
Cr. 3
*Restricted to undergraduates; 15 student maximum. This course is designed to train history majors in the fundamentals of historical research and writing. Course descriptions vary according to specific topics proposed for study by instructors.
HISTORY 49900 HISTORY INTERNSHIP
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: 12 credits of history and 2.8 GPA in history courses.
This course allows students to earn credit for internships. Examples of qualified internships would include work with museums, historical societies and various units of government. Credit and course requirements arranged with the instructor.
500-level courses are dual level - undergraduate & graduate courses. General prerequisites for all history courses numbered from 500 to 599; junior, senior or graduate standing; or consent of instructor, Department Head and Graduate Dean.
HISTORY 51200 ENGLAND UNDER THE STUARTS
Cr. 3
This course is an examination of the history of England during the period of the Stuart dynasty, 1603-1714. We begin, however, by exploring the events and unresolved issues created by the English Reformation in the mid-sixteenth century. Religious inspiration, disputes, and intense controversy, both political and theological, will play fundamental roles throughout the stormy years of the Stuart monarchs. Another major focal point will be era of the Civil War, regicide, Revolution, and the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. The tumultuous politics of the latter Stuart era will also figure prominently in our investigation as well as the development of modern political ideologies and political parties. This course is also interested the daily lives of ordinary English people; the roles of class and gender; and popular culture and belief systems.
HISTORY 57600 PROBLEMS IN LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3
A detailed examination of specific topics in Latin American history. Subjects vary between the colonial and national periods. Intensive historical investigation, reading, and research is conducted into such topics as Church-State relations, regionalism, nationalism, personalism in government, the Black Legend, conquest, colonization, independence, relations between Spaniards and Indians, economic pursuits, traditions and customs, international problems, and contemporary affairs. May be repeated once with a change of topic.
HISTORY 57700 CONTEMPORARY LATIN AMERICA
Cr. 3
This course is concerned with the recent history of Latin America with special consideration given to the post-1930 period. Attention is given first to a summary of the period in the early twentieth century followed by the impact of the World Depression. An intensive study follows of the societal structure of Latin America in the contemporary period with emphasis upon population groups generally evident in the region and the dynamic changes that Latin America is experiencing in the last half-century. Specific countries are then studied to investigate personalities, events, developments, and problems peculiar to each country. Specific topics include the role of the military, the changing nature of the Catholic Church, land and population pressures, international relations, revolutionary movements, the influence of ideologies, and current problems in historical perspective.
HISTORY 59000 DIRECTED READING IN HISTORY
Cr. 3
This reading course is designed for the advanced student in history who has begun to develop special fields of interest, and who finds that these special interests cannot be satisfied by any of the regular course offerings. It is virtually impossible to list any particular course content, and "ground rules" are variable from instructor to instructor. Since it is a reading course, reports on research papers are emphasized. It is strongly suggested that a student who wishes to establish credit in a reading course have a well-defined idea of what she or he wishes to accomplish before approaching an instructor for permission to enroll in the course and asking for help in planning an appropriate reading program.
HISTORY 59500 THE HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE
Cr. 3
The implications of the attempted destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis during the Second World War - what we term the Holocaust - along with millions of Roma (Gypsies), Poles, Russians, homosexuals, the handicapped, and others are terrifyingly far-reaching. Genocide and ethnic cleansing are central to our understanding of the twentieth century, and beyond. This course moves from memory of the Holocaust and its exploration through fiction, intense examination of the complexity of its causes and nature, the white-hot issues of contestation surrounding it, problems and practices of commemoration (including our local Greater Lafayette Holocaust Remembrance Conference www.glhrc.org), to an investigation of comparative genocide, looking especially at the cases of Armenia, Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and Darfur. We will make use of primary sources and secondary literature, fiction, memoirs, film and other media in the course of our examination. This course was originally developed jointly by Professors Mork (History) and Melson (Political Science). PREREQUISITES: ONE 100 LEVEL HISTORY OR POLITICAL SCIENCE COURSE OR CONSENT OF INSTRUCTOR.
600-level courses are graduate-level courses.
HISTORY 60100 READING SEMINAR IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
Cr. 3 *May be repeated for credit. *Graduate Standing.
This is a variable title course and content will vary with professor teaching course.
HISTORY 60200 SEMINAR IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of the instructor. (May be repeated for credit.) Staff
Individual and group study of topics in European history from the medieval period to the modern era. Topics reflect the research, teaching, or historiographical specialties of the faculty offering the course. Subtitles indicate the focus of the research seminar.
HISTORY 61000 HISTORY: THEORY AND METHODS
Cr. 3
History 61000 is a renamed and renumbered version of History 59800," European and American Historiography." This is the first part of an introductory two-course sequence for new graduate students intended to acquaint them with some important issues regarding the modern professional practice of history. This semester concentrates on historiography, theoretical questions, and methodological debates that today's working historians inevitably encounter. Students read about the practice of historical scholarship and read several important example texts representing different approaches to the discipline over the past 200 years. Students write several short book reviews, position papers, and a mock grant proposal during this semester. This course is required of incoming graduate students in history. It usually will be followed by History 61100, Research Practicum.
HISTORY 61100 HISTORY: RESEARCH PRACTICUM
Cr. 3
The second half of a two-semester sequence for new graduate students intended to acquaint them with important issues regarding the modern practice of historical scholarship. This course is a research seminar in which students shape and execute their own research projects resulting in original article-length historical essays. In addition, matters relating to ethical conduct of research and problems of historical writing and argumentation are discussed. Prerequisite: History 6100.
HISTORY 64100 READING SEMINAR IN GLOBAL HISTORY
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Staff
Individual and group study of topics in global history. Topics reflect the research, teaching or historiographic specialties of the faculty offering the course. Subtitles indicate the focus of the research seminar.
History 64200 SEMINAR IN GLOBAL HISTORY
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of instructor. Staff
Individual and group study of topics in global history. Topics reflect the research, teaching or historiographic specialties of the faculty offering the course. Subtitles indicate the focus of the research seminar.
HISTORY 65000 TEACHING THE HISTORY SURVEY COURSE
Cr. 3
This course provides an introduction to the literature on teaching history at the college level, especially the literature on pedagogy, theory, and conceptualization needed for the undergraduate survey course. Students will become familiar with the professional literature, develop their own syllabus for the survey course, and produce an extensive historiographical essay supporting and justifying the contents of the syllabus. Class discussions will expose students to a number of teaching strategies, concepts, and exercises. Prerequisite: Graduate standing and consent of instructor required.
HISTORY 65100 READING SEMINAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: graduate standing. (May be repeated for credit.) Staff
This course introduces students to the variety of ways that science and technology have been understood, historicized, and studied as cultural practices. We will examine the social processes by which scientific and technical knowledge is used, reconfigured, and contested. Attention will be given to the ways in which culture shapes, and is shaped by, science and technology.
HISTORY 65200 SEMINAR IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3 Prerequisite: graduate standing or consent of the instructor. (May be repeated for credit.) Staff
Individual and group study of topics in American history from the colonial period to the present. Topics reflect the research, teaching, or historiographical specialties of the faculty offering the course. Subtitles indicate the focus of the research seminar.
HISTORY 67000 SEMINAR IN LATIN AMERICAN HISTORY
Cr. 3 (May be repeated for credit.)
Research or reading seminar in Latin American History. Individual research, group study, and class presentations on a selected topic in colonial or national period of Latin American History. Topics vary. May be repeated once for credit with change of topic.
HISTORY 69800 RESEARCH, M.A. THESIS
HISTORY 69900 RESEARCH, PH.D. THESIS