History
History is the study of the past, a process that produces an ever changing view of the past, not a static picture. The History Department therefore strives to make every student his own historian, a task encompassed in the Core Goals of the department:
- Content: to acquire a degree of mastery of both essential factual material and conceptual, thematic and comparative knowledge in several geographical areas, diverse cultures, and different time periods in human history, with particular sensitivity to the change over time of a diverse, global society.
- The Craft of History: to acquire the habit of the many analytical skills which historians use in recovering, researching, and writing about the past; such as, constructing important questions, making inferences from primary sources, putting sources into larger contexts, and making one’s own interpretations of the past.
- Historical Thinking: to develop habits of thinking like an historian: e.g., an appreciation for the complexity of both change and continuity over time and in different ages, cultures, and areas of the world; an awareness of historical interpretation and historiographical schools of thought; and an understanding of how events and ideas from the past affect the present.
- Self-Expression: to become competent, confident, and fluent in the oral, written, and group skills necessary to speak and write about and explore historical questions.
- Self-Development: to become an independent intellectual inquirer into the past, as well as a lifelong learner of history; and to locate oneself and one’s family, community, and cultural traditions in history.
Requirements for a Major
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HIS-101 | World History to 1500 | 1 |
| or HIS-102 | World Hist Since 1500 | |
| HIS-497 | Phil & Craft of Hist | 1 |
| HIS-498 | Research Seminar | 1 |
| Two credits from the 300 level | 2 | |
| History Electives | 4 | |
| Total Credits | 9 | |
Advanced (300 level) courses may include independent studies. Students are advised that their performance in HIS-497 Phil & Craft of Hist, HIS-498 Research Seminar, and Comprehensive Exams will be enhanced by their familiarity with a variety of geographic, temporal, thematic, and topical areas of the field of history.
In addition, majors must maintain a portfolio of selected papers they have written for history courses (details of which are available on the History Department website or from the Department Chair). Evaluation of portfolios will be an aspect of comprehensive exams in the history major.
History majors, especially those planning to pursue graduate historical studies, are urged to gain a proficiency in a least one foreign language. Proficiency is here defined as the ability to read, without undue difficulty, historical works in the appropriate foreign language. Majors are also encouraged to gain experience with overseas cultures through immersion experiences and study abroad.
Comprehensive Examinations
The Written Comprehensive Exam in History is a two-day exam that is designed to evaluate the students’ mastery of the core goals of the department. For one day, students discuss some aspect of history, approach to historical studies, or theories of history with respect to those areas of history the student has studied. The other day generally asks students to act as historians using a selected set of primary and secondary source texts provided ahead of time.
Requirements for a Minor
A minimum of five course credits including
| Code | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| HIS-101 | World History to 1500 | 1 |
| or HIS-102 | World Hist Since 1500 | |
| One course credit at the 300 level | 1 | |
| Three course credits at the 200 or 300 level | 3 | |
| Total Credits | 5 | |
HIS-101 World History to 1500
Exploration of the origins of human societies and
the development of their hierarchical structures
and the network connections between them across
the world. An effort will be made to develop a
conceptual framework for analyzing different
societies and network interactions comparatively
so as to highlight meaningful similarities and
differences among them. This course, along with
HIS 102, is especially recommended to those
students taking their first college-level history
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-102 World Hist Since 1500
This course traces the increasing interdependence
of the world's different societies as improved
communications tie more of the world closely
together. This will involve explaining the
transformations wrought upon different areas by
industrialization and the reactions this process
has created across the globe. This course, along
with HIS 101, is especially recommended to those
students taking their first college-level history
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-200 Topics World Comp History
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-201 Big History
The Big History movement within World History
started a couple decades ago, and was more fully
brought to light by the publication of David
Christian's Maps of Time in 2004. Big Historians
believe that the proper temporal unit to study
human history should include the full thirteen
billion years since the Big Bang. Therefore, this
course provides an interdisciplinary look at the
history of our planet from the perspectives of
physics, geology, biology, chemistry, and
environmental studies in addition to more familiar
disciplines such as anthropology, economics,
political science and history. In essence students
will be studying human history from the widest
possible frameworks, as well as from the more
detailed attention that is more typical of
historians. This course can fulfill a requirement
for the Environmental Studies minor.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-210 Topics in Ancient History
This is an introductory course that focuses on a
specific topic in ancient history and requires no
previous work. Course may be repeated as topic
changes. Depending on subject matter, this course
may be cross-listed. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: CLA-113
HIS-211 Ancient History: Greece
A survey of Greek history from the end of the
Bronze Age (ca. 1100 B.C.) to the time of the
Roman conquest of the Greek world (first century
B.C.). Emphasis is on the origin, evolution, and
problems of the most important Greek
political-social-cultural structure, the polis or
city-state.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: CLA-105
HIS-212 Ancient Rome
A survey of Roman history from the Etruscan
period (6th and 5th centuries B.C.) to the
transformation of the Roman world to the medieval
(4th and 5th centuries A.D.). Emphasis is on the
origins, nature, effects, and evolution of
imperialism in Roman politics, culture, and
society.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, Literature/Fine Arts
Equated Courses: CLA-106
HIS-220 Topics Med & Early Mod Europe
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-230 Topics in Modern Europe
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-231 19th Century Europe
This survey will cover events in European history
from the French Revolution to the end of the 19th
century. It will explore nationalism, utopianism,
Europe's quest for colonial expansion, and the
rise of the Industrial Revolution. In addition to
these vast issues, the course also examines
developments in social history including family
life, change in urban areas, health, medicine,
and gender.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-232 20th Century Europe
This survey will examine significant events in
European history from 1900 to the end of the 20th
century. The course will cover circumstances
leading to World War I, the rise of fascism, and
World War II. The survey ends with a discussion
of the Cold War, its ultimate demise, and nuclear
legacy. Since there was more to the 20th century
than military history, the class will also
consider how European societies reacted to war
and will focus on life on the home front, gender
relations, cultural change, and consumerism.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-235 Topics Economic Hist European
The purpose of this course is to study economic
issues in European history. A substantial part of
the course is devoted to the Industrial
Revolution. What caused the Industrial Revolution
and why did it occur in England? What effects did
it have on living standards? Other topics will
vary, but may include: agriculture, demography,
Poor Laws, the Great Depression, and the gold
standard. Refer to the Course Descriptions
document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and
descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: ECO-101
Credits: 0.5-1
Equated Courses: ECO-214
HIS-236 History of Economic Thought
Designed for non-majors as well as majors, this
course examines the intellectual history of
economics. The ideas of great economists
(including Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Keynes,
Schumpeter, and Knight) are analyzed and
compared. Particular emphasis is placed on
differing views toward capitalism-especially
predictions about its eventual fate.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion, Behavioral Science
Equated Courses: ECO-205
HIS-240 Topics in American History
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-241 United States to 1865
An introduction to American history and to the
departmental Core Goals in the process of
historical investigation and understanding.
Students will learn the basic facts and conceptual
themes involved in Native Indian cultures,
Puritanism, the American Revolution, the New
Nation, expansionism, slavery, reform, and the
Civil War. The course focuses on significant
everyday experiences and social history of women,
minorities, and other underrepresented groups.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-242 US 1865-1945
The emphasis is upon some of the major issues in
American politics and society between 1865 and
1945: Reconstruction, the growth of big business;
populism, farmers, workers, and immigrants;
urbanization and reform movements among rural and
urban labor and minority groups; and the Second
World War. In addition to studying national
history and the emergence of the United States as
a world power, students will have an opportunity
to investigate their own family histories.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-243 US Since 1945
This course surveys the transformation of
politics, culture, and society in the United
States since the end of the Second World War. It
provides an introduction to some of the critical
events and issues confronting the post-1945 world.
Key themes will include the reconfiguration of
work, consumption, and the structure of the U.S.
economy; the changing role of the U.S. in the
world in the context of the Cold War; changing
patterns and meanings of immigration;
suburbanization, urban poverty, and the
relationship between space, race, and class;
social movements on behalf of black civil rights
and the liberation of women, gay men, and
lesbians; the expansion of state power in wartime
and peacetime; and the rise of a new conservative
movement.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-244 African American History
Emphasis on several crucial periods: slavery;
Reconstruction and its aftermath; the civil
rights and Black liberation movements of the
1960s; and contemporary African American culture.
Relations between Blacks and Whites will be
examined through the reading and discussion of
classic African American texts by Douglass,
Jacobs, Washington, DuBois, Wright, Angelou,
Moody, Walker, Malcolm X, King, Baldwin, Gates,
and others.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-245 Topics in Economic Hist: US
The purpose of this course is to use economics to
improve our understanding of history and to use
history to improve our understanding of
economics. Examples of questions that may be
addressed are: Why is the U.S. wealthy? How do
government policies affect the economy? How has
the role of government changed over the course of
U.S. history? How did the institution of slavery
and its abolition affect Southern economic
development? Is the current U.S. banking system
better than the systems that preceded it? What
caused the Great Depression? Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: ECO-101
Credit: 1
Equated Courses: ECO-213
HIS-250 Topics Latin American History
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval.Refer to the
Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's
webpage for topics and descriptions of current
offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-252 Peoples & Nations of Latin America
A survey of the history of Latin America from
Pre-Columbian times through the Wars of
Independence and the national period to the
current day. This course will examine the various
internal dynamics and external influences that
have shaped the experiences of the countries of
Latin America since independence. Emphasis on
socioeconomic structures as the conditioning
environment for political and cultural
developments. A major focus will be historical
analysis of scholarly monographs and primary
source documents.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-260 Topics Asian History
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-262 Modern China 1911 to Present
A survey of modern China. The class will examine
the end of the Ch'ing Dynasty and the emergence
of Nationalism through the end of the Second
World War, the rise of Chinese Communism through
the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural
Revolution, and contemporary China to the
present.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-270 Special Topics: African History
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval. Refer to
the Course Descriptions document on the
Registrar's webpage for topics and descriptions of
current offerings.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-272 Africa Since 1885
The period from the European Partition of Africa
in 1885 to Post-independence was one of the most
significant and drastic eras of change for
Africans, drawing them into a global wage labor
economy, and seeing them interact in new ways
with migration, the World at War, and the Colonial
Endeavor.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-287 Independent Study
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-288 Independent Study
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-300 Adv Topics:World&Comp History
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in world and comparative history.
Since the content of this course varies from
semester to semester, it may be repeated for
credit upon the instructor's approval.Refer to the
Course Descriptions document on the Registrar's
webpage for topics and descriptions of current
offerings.
Prerequisites: at least 0.5 credit in HIS
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-301 Craft & Theory of World History
This is an upper level course in world history.
Students will read secondary literature about
world history and will read world history
textbooks more for historiographical analysis
than for content. Emphasis will therefore be on
the theories and practices of world history;
students will be expected to produce a
significant term paper focusing either on a
curricular proposal for a world history course or
on an historiographical analysis of current
trends and developments in the field.
Prerequisites: HIS-101 or HIS-102
Credit: 1
HIS-310 Advanced Topics in Ancient History
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in ancient history. Since the
content of this course varies from semester to
semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the
instructor's approval.Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for Topics and Descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: at least 0.5 credits in HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
Equated Courses: CLA-212
HIS-320 Adv Topics:Med&Early Mod Eur
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in medieval and early modern
European history. Since the content of this
course varies from semester to semester, it may
be repeated for credit upon the instructor's
approval. Refer to the Course Descriptions
document on the Registrar's webpage for topics and
descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: 0.5 credit from HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-330 Adv Topics: Modern Europe
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in modern European history. Since
the content of this course varies from semester
to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon
the instructor's approval. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: 0.5 credits from HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-340 Advanced Topics: American History
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in American history. Since the
content of this course varies from semester to
semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the
instructor's approval. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: One previous credit in History
Credit: 1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-350 Advanced Topics Latin America
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in Latin American history. Since
the content of this course varies from semester
to semester, it may be repeated for credit upon
the instructor's approval. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: 0.5 credit from HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
Distribution: History/Philosophy/Religion
HIS-360 Advanced Topics in Asian History
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in Asian history. Since the
content of this course varies from semester to
semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the
instructor's approval. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: 1 course from HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-370 Advanced Topics in African History
This course provides opportunities for small
group and independent work in intensive study of
selected topics in African history. Since the
content of this course varies from semester to
semester, it may be repeated for credit upon the
instructor's approval. Refer to the Course
Descriptions document on the Registrar's webpage
for topics and descriptions of current offerings.
Prerequisites: 0.5 credits from HIS
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-387 Independent Study
Individual research
projects. The manner of study will be determined
by the student in consultation with the
instructor. Students must receive written
approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-388 Independent Study
Individual research
projects. The manner of study will be determined
by the student in consultation with the
instructor. Students must receive written
approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-487 Independent Study
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-488 Independent Study
Individual research projects. The manner of study
will be determined by the student in consultation
with the instructor. Students must receive
written approval of their project proposal from a
department Chair before registering for the
course.
Prerequisites: none
Credits: 0.5-1
HIS-497 Phil & Craft of Hist
This course is required of all majors in history
and should be taken in the junior year. Students
have an opportunity to read different examples of
historical writing and to examine the
philosophical and methodological assumptions
which underlie the historian's craft.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1
HIS-498 Research Seminar
All history majors must take this course in the
fall semester of their senior year, while other
juniors or seniors are welcome to enroll with the
consent of the instructor. Emphasis on research
techniques, conferences with the instructor, and
independent development of individual projects
focused on a topic with a global or comparative
component.
Prerequisites: none
Credit: 1