WESTERN CIVILIZATION III
50:510:103:01
T/TH 9:35 am – 10:55 am
Professor Faurt
Gen Ed: GCM (Global Communities)
This course explores the development of modern politics, society, and culture in Europe and beyond from the mid-eighteenth century to the present (1750-2023). We will use a combination of lectures and primary texts as points of entry into the major historical events, themes, and trends of the modern era–the Enlightenment, the rise of capitalism, slavery and the Atlantic slave trade, the French Revolution, nationalism, imperialism, wars, decolonization, and social movements. We will examine how these historical developments shape both internal divisions among societies (race, gender, class, age) and the relationship between Europe and the world. Coursework includes attendance, participation in class discussions, completion of short assignments and readings, a midterm exam, and a final project.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNITED STATES II
50:512:202:01
M/W 9:35 am – 10:55 am
Professor Wood
Gen Ed: GCM (Global Communities), USW (US in the World)
This course is an introduction to the major topics in United States History from the collapse of Reconstruction in 1876 to the present day. We will cover the “Gilded Age,” World War I & II, Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, the Cold War, the turbulent 1960s, and “deindustrialization,” among many others. Emphasis will be placed on the following themes: the experience of immigrants and the centrality of immigration to American history; the prevalence and impact of protest movements; the relationship between the United States and the rest of the world; the profound significance of race, class, and gender; and the interconnections between political, cultural, social, and economic developments. You will gain experience analyzing primary sources, formulating arguments, and discussing complex academic topics.
AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY II
50:512:204:01
Cross-listed w/50:014:204:01 (Africana Studies)
M/W 12:30 pm – 1:50 pm
Professor Walker
Gen Ed: USW (US in the World), DIV (Diversity)
This introductory survey examines the history of African Americans from Emancipation to the present. At its essence, radical dreams of freedom have been the driving force of the African-American experience. This course will examine those “Freedom Dreams” through the periods of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, World War I, The Great Depression, The Red Scare, and World War II. The course then pivots to focus on the political, cultural, economic, and social agency of African Americans through the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power Movement, and the conservative backlash of the late 1960s through the 1980s. The course will close with the Obama years, the Black Lives Matter movement, and finally, budding future movements of liberation.
INTRODUCTORY TOPICS IN WORLD HISTORY:
DISEASE DEATH & HEALTH IN THE ATLANTIC WORLD
50:516:280:01
M/W 2:05 pm – 3:25 pm
Professor Finger
Gen Ed: HAC (Heritages and Civilizations)
This course explores the human experience of disease, and how it shaped the history of our modern world. Beginning with the European arrival in the Americas, we will trace how people, plagues, and ideas circulated through the Atlantic basin—uniting the four continents of Africa, Europe, North America, and South America. The consequences of that circulation transformed economies and societies on both sides of the ocean. We will be examining the relationship of humans with disease, and how that relationship defines what it means to be human.
PERSPECTIVES ON HISTORY
50:509:299:01
T/TH 11:10 am – 12:30 pm
Professor Mokhberi
This course will focus on the myth of Joan of Arc from the Middle Ages to the present. Students will analyze primary source materials, including her trial and retrial transcripts with a particular focus on her interrogation and confession, to discern whether these produced truth or alternative meanings and to determine how authority is both challenged and reasserted. Students will further examine representations of Joan of Arc using primary and secondary sources produced after her trial to question how she has been reinterpreted through the ages and used as a national, political, and religious symbol. Through the examination of Joan of Arc, students will sharpen their research and writing skills and learn how historians interpret and write history.
CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION
50:512:320:01
M/W 2:05 pm – 3:25 pm
Professor Wood
This course presents an in-depth analysis of the Civil War and its aftermath. We will spend the first part of the class coming to grips with why the war happened, concentrating on the growing importance of slavery to southern society, the relationship between westward expansionism and sectional animosity, the emergence of abolitionism, and the ascendancy of the Republican Party. Moving on to the war itself, we will study the military history of the conflict—the battles, weapons, and strategies—as well as the challenges involved in waging the war, the effects of the waron southern and northern societies, and key developments such as the Emancipation Proclamation. Finally, we will examine the fraught process of putting the country back together after the war and the enduring legacy of Reconstruction.
MODERN JAPAN
50:516:342:01
Professor Kapur
Gen Ed: HAC (Heritages and Civilizations), GCM (Global Communities)
This survey course examines the history of Japan from the collapse of the samurai government in the 1850s to the present time. We will examine the “opening” of Japan following centuries of self-imposed isolation, its rise to power and defeat in World War II, and its subsequent transformation into an economic and pop culture powerhouse, as well as more recent events such as the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster.
SPECIAL TOPICS IN EUROPEAN HISTORY
50:510:381:01
Cross-listed w/50:480:391:01 (Global Studies)
T/Th 3:35 pm – 4:55 pm
Professor Medawar
Gen Ed: HAC (Heritages and Civilizations)
This course examines the history of the Crusades, a series of historical events that radically altered and, in time, shaped the relationship between Christendom and the lands of Islam. While the Crusades were primarily a series of religious and military campaigns that took place mainly between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, later crusades were enacted until the sixteenth century with mixed success. These campaigns were initiated by Western European Christians in response to the call of the Church to reclaim the holy land, Jerusalem in particular, which had been under Muslim control for centuries. As we will see, these campaigns resulted in cultural exchange, the transfer of knowledge from the Orient to the West, and the development of a more sophisticated European military. However, they also led to instances of violence, conflict, and suffering, with lasting consequences for relations between Christian and Muslim communities. Although many of the most notable crusades sought to recover and maintain the holy land, many also took place on European soil. Therefore, over the course of the semester, we will also examine the cultural backdrop of the Crusades in medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the pre-modern Middle East. In the last part of the course, we will examine the long-lasting impacts of the Crusades in a global context and seek to understand how vestiges of the Crusades perpetuate both social discord and identity.