Course Descriptions By Program
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HIS101 - United States History to 1877
American history from the Pilgrims to the age of modern industry: the Colonial heritage, American Revolution, the emergence of a new nation, westward expansion, Civil War and postwar Reconstruction.
HIS102 - United States History since 1877
The emergence of modern America, its achievements and its problems: prosperity and depression, war and social unrest, World War I through the Vietnam era and beyond, and the computer age and its challenges.
HIS104 - History of Western Society to 1500
Western society from its origins in the Near East to the period of Absolutism in Europe.
HIS106 - History of Western Society Since 1500
This course covers Western society from the Enlightenment to the present. This course is a survey lecture course with class discussion encouraged. The course is intended to impart a basic knowledge of historical events crucial to the development of western civilization from the Enlightenment through the present day.
HIS111 - World Civilization to 1500
The process and interplay of the major world cultures in their evolution: Indian, Muslim, East Asian (China, Korea, Japan), Slavic, Western European, Latin American and African.
HIS112 - World Civilizations since 1500
Significant factors influencing change in the world's major cultural areas: industrialization and urban conflict, the democratic revolution, and the rise of charismatic leaders from Napoleon to Hitler.
HIS200 - History of Pennsylvania
The history of Pennsylvania from Colonial times to the present: the changes involved in social, economic and political life are treated from internal and external points of view.
HIS240 - History of the Cold War
The origins and continuance of Soviet-American rivalry since World War II. Confrontation in Europe; NATO; the Warsaw Pact; the growing nuclear arsenal; regional conflict in Africa, Latin America and Asia; the Congo, Angola, Cuba, Iran, China and Vietnam; the politics and leadership of both nations; the emergence of Russia as a global power.
HIS288 - Local History
An introduction to the location, evaluation, and significance of local history by using the problem-solving and genealogical approach. Specific topics are analyzed in order to get to know at firsthand the importance of local and family history.
HIS295 - The Craft History
This course acquaints students who are considering history as a major or minor field of study with basic historiography and historical methodology. Students receive a hands-on introduction to historical research and writing, and learn about various schools of history to prepare them for upper-level history courses.
HIS303 - Military History through Wargaming
This course uses military simulations (usually referred to as “war games”) to examine the military side of history. The war games involved are complex simulations which allow both recreations of historical battles and also the exploration of what might have happened had historical events turned out differently. Students will study and discuss the conflicts under consideration in class before and after each simulation/game session, and will prepare written reports analyzing how their simulations of the battles worked out, why, and what they did right and wrong.
HIS304 - The Great Depression and World War II
The stresses and strains of the 1930-1945 period of United States history using recent trends in scholarship.
HIS305 - Contemporary U.S. History
The unprecedented changes that have occurred in the United States since the end of World War II.
HIS308 - History of American Constitution
The growth of the American constitutional system, with special emphasis on those aspects of constitutional growth that relate closely to the fundamental structure of American government and social order.
HIS310 - Christianity to 1500
This course explore Christianity’s role in transforming western society from earliest times to the fifteenth century, through study of its belief system, the growth of monasticism and the institutional church, issues of dissent and reform, and more.
HIS311 - Public History
This course is an overview of the methods and arenas of the public historian. Through hands-on experience in labs focused on such areas as museum design, collection development, museum education, archival management, historical preservation and historical editing, the student will gain an understanding of the challenges and rewards of the public historian.
HIS315 - Christianity since 1500
This course explores Christianity’s role in western society from the time of the Reformation to the present day, through study of its belief system, the impact of the Protestant Reformation, the reaction of Christianity to challenges such as the Enlightenment and the revolutions of the eighteenth through the twenty-first centuries, issues of dissent and reform, and more.
HIS317 - African American History to 1877
This course explores great western African civilizations, the three continents involved in the transatlantic slave trade with special attention on the middle passage. Particular attention will be paid to African retention, African-Americans and the Colonial period and the new nation, the construction of race, the peculiar institution of slavery, free black populations, black resistance to subjugation, abolitionism, gender dynamics, blacks during the Civil War and the Reconstruction eras. The course also offers analysis of African-American literature, spirituals and other cultural manifestations.
HIS318 - African American History since 1877
The course surveys African-Americans in the aftermath of Reconstruction and during the Nadir period, the Great Migration, black urbanization, black cultural manifestations and movements, the rise of black protests, the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, and African-American involvement in 20th century war efforts and postindustrial America. This course also examines themes of identity, gender dynamics, leadership, pan-Africanism, nationalism, American politics and economic issues as they all pertain to African-Americans. Additionally, this course will examine the massive African-American literary canon, as well as two of the most significant cultural epochs, which include the proliferation, demise, and legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, as well as the permanence of hip-hop.
HIS322 - History of Religious Persecution in the U.S.
Religious tolerance and religious persecution have been recurring themes in U.S. history; from the first encounters with Native Americans to continuing controversies over school prayer, religion has played a major role in the development of American culture. This class will examine the diverse groups that sought to practice their religions freely in the U.S. and how they suffered forms of persecution; it will also explore the meaning of the First Amendment and claims of religious freedom.
HIS323 - World Environmental History
Traces the impact of the environment and environmental change on major world cultures and historical events from the Stone Age to the present through the examination of select case studies; explores the impact of different modes of production; the Columbian exchange; and different cultural conceptions of civilization.
HIS324 - The History of Women, Gender and Sexuality in the Modern World
This class will look at comparative women's history, focusing on topics such as sexuality, marriage, beauty and motherhood. Examples will be drawn from all over the world - and from various time periods from 1300 to the present.
HIS325 - Women in U.S. History
A study of women's lives in America from the Colonial era until the present, this course places special emphasis on non-elite women, whose lives have often been hidden or devalued in the annals of history. Topics explored include reform, abolition, political activism, working conditions and contemporary issues.
HIS327 - History of the Civil War & Reconstruction
The American Civil War is the most critical event in the creation of the United States. This watershed ended forever the practice of chattel slavery that had significantly shaped the country. The South as a distinct region changed considerably due to the war in ways that reverberate to the 21st Century while the North also embarked on a new course forward. The process of reuniting the country proved almost as divisive and the war itself. Reconstruction was a complex period that reveals a great deal about 19th Century America. This course examines the history of this national crisis and evaluates how it shaped the nation as a whole.
HIS329 - History Internship
Application of historical methodologies to various professional environments, under faculty supervision.
HIS331 - Ancient Greece
This course provides an overview of the history of ancient Greece, from its earliest foundations in Minoa, through Mycenae, the Greek Dark Age, archaic Greece, classical Greece and the Hellenistic period.
HIS333 - Film and History
Film in History is a course that assesses the important political, economic and cultural roles that film and the film industry play in the world. This study of cinema includes the importance of film in shaping our attitudes toward history as well as its central place in determining the visual language of cultures.
HIS341 - Early Middle Ages
This course traces the story of civilization and culture from late antiquity to the beginnings of the High Middle Ages and the First Crusade.
HIS342 - High and Late Middle Ages
This course will focus on the development of the civilization of medieval Europe from approximately AD 1100 to 1500, with supporting material both before and after the period.
HIS345 - Rise and Expansion of Islam
This course traces the history of the Islamic world from its foundation by Muhammad in the seventh century to the last siege of Vienna in the 17th century. Emphasis is on the Near East, Europe and North Africa and on interactions between the Muslim and Christian worlds.
HIS347 - History of Race and Ethnic in the United States
This course focuses on the changing ethnic and racial make-up of the American population from colonial times to the 20th century. We will consider who came to America and why, how people define their own ethnicity and the ethnicity of others, how ethnicity and race relate to each other, and how cultural diversity has shaped life in the U.S.
HIS348 - History of American Sport
This course offers the history of sport as a subject for scholarly study. It presents sport as a pervasive facet of our popular culture, as a social institution, as an arena of human activity, as drama, even spectacle. The course emphasizes the history of sport as a study of cultural values and value conflict, and also examines the relationship of sport to social change. It investigates, among other things, the literature of sport, the economics of sport, and the influence of modern sport on our language, politics, religion and education.
HIS350 - Adolf Hitler
The philosophical and psychological elements of Adolph Hitler’s life that led to the rise of National Socialism, and its impact upon the western world.
HIS352 - Native American history to 1850
A survey of the history of Native Americans. The class will focus on the major tribal groups that interacted with and impacted the course of American history. We will look at various aspects of Indian life such as gender divisions, political expression, and social organization. A major point of the course will to be recognize the contributions of native peoples in shaping the development of the American nation.
HIS353 - Native American history from 1850
A survey of the history of Native Americans. The class will focus on the major tribal groups that interacted with and impacted the course of American history. We will look at various aspects of Indian life such as gender divisions, political expression, and social organization. A major point of the course will to be recognize the contributions of native peoples in shaping the development of the American nation.
HIS355 - US Civil Rights Movement
This course will explore the modern Civil Rights Movement in the United States as a component of the larger Black Freedom Movement, which spans from Africans’ arrival in North America until today. Scholars throughout multiple disciplines consider the Civil Rights Movement in the US to be the most significant social movement of the 20th century, which students will evaluate. In analyzing the Civil Rights Movements, students will gauge major organizations, events, theaters, national and local leaders. Important victories, legislation and legacies will also be explored. The course will pay special attention to the social categories of gender, class, race, region and age/youth. The latter portion of the course will explore the long-term and immediate legacies of the Civil Rights movement such as its impact on the Women’s Movement, Chicano Movement, LBGT Movement and Black Power Movement.
HIS356 - History of Colonial and Revolutionary America
The founding centuries of our nation shaped the course of the United States. The combination of native inhabitants and immigrants created a unique society which experimented with new ideas for the future. The course will explore American history from the arrival of Europeans to the closing days of a successful rebellion against Britain.
HIS366 - History of Modern Latin America
The emergence of modern Latin America from independence to Castro; economic and social development of the region in the 20th century; struggle for social justice among diverse cultures; conflicts within Latin American political life; military dictatorships; parliamentary democracy; guerrilla warfare; and counter terrorism.
HIS369 - The Legacy of Vietnam
The main goal of this course is to get you to think critically about the Vietnam War. The first portion of this course will explore the origins, escalation and conclusion of American involvement in the Vietnam “War” from roughly 1945 to 1975 through lectures, readings, discussions and oral interviews of war veterans. The second portion of this course will consider the political, social and economic aftermath of the war on both the US and Vietnam. The course examines these ramifications mainly though the lens of film(dramatic and documentary) and assigned readings. Furthermore, the course will also explore Vietnam’s continuing relevance today. Specifically, the course will address the lessons and legacies of the war and why they continue to influence American thinking and foreign and military policy. Additionally, students will consider historical debates about how the war should be interpreted.
HIS379 - Special Problems in History
Topical historical studies determined by departmental faculty.
HIS380 - Readings in African American Studies
This course will examine the history and evolution of the discipline, key scholars, ideas, themes, central disciplinary questions and debates, and prominent theoretical and methodological frameworks used by scholars of African-American Studies (or alternatively Black Studies, Diasporic Studies Africana Studies and African Studies). Students will also evaluate social and political thought and literary, cultural, and aesthetic forms of expression. In all, students will acquire the necessary skills to critically engage each other on the interdisciplinary scholarship within African American Studies.
HIS402 - History of the Nineteenth Century United States
This course focuses on major events and trends in United States in the 19th century. Major topics of study include slavery, abolitionism, the Civil War, industrialization and reform.
HIS410 - Crusades
This course examines the wars fought by Christians in defense of Christendom, from the confrontation between the Byzantines and Arabs in the seventh century to the siege of Vienna in 1683. Special attention is paid to expeditions to the Holy Land in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries.
HIS420 - Renaissance & Reformation in Europe
This course is a study of the Renaissance and the Reformation in Europe from the 14th to 16th centuries, with an emphasis on the Italian Renaissance, northern humanism, and the appearance and character of the principal branches of Protestantism.
HIS430 - Topics in Modern Asian Cultural History
This course focuses on the modern Asian cultural histories of India, China and Japan. Major topics include Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism, Legalism, Confucianism, Islam, Bushido, Shintoism, Jainism, imperialism (and Anti-Imperialism) and industrialization and their impact on Asian culture and politics.
HIS435 - History of Law
This course will trace the origins of Western law from the Roman Republic's Law of the Twelve Tables to the American Articles of the Confederation. Students will gain an understanding of Roman, feudal, Canon, English common, German, French and Spanish legal traditions.
HIS440 - U.S. at War: 19th century
This class examines the principal causes for U.S. foreign wars (declared and undeclared) in the 19th century and the lasting consequences of those engagements, including political, legal, social, cultural, and economic factors. Students will study competing historical explanations for America’s foreign wars, drawing their own conclusions about the efficacy of waging war. In addition to personal narratives of soldiers in combat, the class will focus on changes to society on the home front, racial or gender discrimination, war opposition, media portrayals, and the war’s effect on U.S. territorial expansion or foreign policy.
HIS441 - U.S. at War: 20th Century
This class examines the principal causes for U.S. foreign wars (declared and undeclared) in the 20th century and the lasting consequences of those engagements, including political, legal, social, cultural, and economic factors. Students will study competing historical explanations for America’s foreign wars, drawing their own conclusions about the efficacy of waging war. In addition to personal narratives of soldiers in combat, the class will focus on changes to society on the home front, racial or gender discrimination, war opposition, media portrayals, and the war’s effect on U.S. foreign relations.
HIS491 - Readings in History
This course presents a series of guided readings in history, with emphasis given to the significant trends in the writing of history and historical scholarship since the mid-twentieth century.
HIS495 - Seminar in History
This course is a study of historians and their writings; changing interpretations of major topics in history; and historical research and writing.