Department of History and Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts

HIST 500 Early Africa. (3 Hours) A study of pre-colonial African History.  The course emphasizes African civilizations before the coming of Europeans.

HIST 501 Colonial Africa. (3 Hours) The study of the European scramble for Africa and the subsequent division of the continent’s societies into colonies.  The course explores as well the emergence of nationalism in Africa and the struggle for independence that it wrought.

HIST 502 Contemporary Africa. (3 Hours) A study of the emergence of Africa since 1945 with emphasis on the role of nations of the continent in both regional and world affairs.

HIST 505 Introduction to Public and Applied Historical Studies. (3 Hours) An introduction to selected subjects and skills related to the use of history in the public and private sectors.

HIST 506 Introduction to Museology. (3 Hours) A survey of the history of American museums and the principles of museum management.

HIST 507 Archives and Records Management. (3 Hours) A survey of the principles of archive and resource management with an emphasis on the study of material culture.

HIST 509 Historical Archaeology. (3 Hours) Introduction to archaeology with an emphasis on material culture.

HIST 510 Discovery and Preservation of Local, State, and National History. (3 Hours) Survey of techniques and methodologies for researching and writing the histories of various political and cultural subdivisions. The subdivisions that will serve as venues for the historical studies include and range from local municipalities, small towns and counties to the state, region and nation.

HIST 513 Birth of the American Republic. (3 Hours) The course chronicles the founding and development of the colonies that became the United States and analyzes the origins of the American Revolution and establishment of the American Republic.

HIST 514 Antebellum America. (3 Hours) A survey of America’s Antebellum era.  The course emphasizes the major historical developments of the period, which included social reform movements, the growing sectional divide, the expansion of slavery, the pursuit of manifest destiny, and the nation’s drift toward Civil War.

HIST 515 Civil War and Reconstruction. (3 Hours) The course provides a broad and yet penetrating overview of many developments, social, economic, and political, that defined what was surely the most tumultuous era in American History.

Hist 519 History of Black Women I. (3 Hours) An intense exploration of the historical experience of Black women between settlement and the Civil War.

Hist 520 History of Black Women II. (3 Hours) An intense exploration of the historical experience of Black women between Reconstruction and the present.

HIST 521 History of Women in America. (3 Hours) An examination of the problems, challenges and experiences of American women from the colonial period to the 21st century.

HIST 522 Early African-American History. (3 Hours) An examination of African-descended people’s historical participation in American life from the Atlantic slave trade through Reconstruction.

HIST 523 Modern African-American History. (3 Hours) An examination of African descended people’s historical participation in modern American life since Reconstruction.

HIST 524 Sexuality in the United States. (3 Hours)  Students will examine the changes in sexual morals, the regulation of sexual behavior, and the construction of sexual identities from the colonial period to the present.

HIST 525 History of the Frontier. (3 Hours) The concept of the Frontier is arguably one of the most contentious interpretation U.S. History. Is the Frontier a process, a place, or perhaps both? As a source of endless debate, the Frontier will be examined along with the American West. The Frontier and the West each have a long complex history that is often difficult to separate from myth.  It is a history that this course will explore from many different angles.

HIST 527 Emergence of Modern America, 1875-1917. (3 Hours) An analysis of American society emphasizing political, economic, and social changes between the end of Reconstruction and our entry into World War I.

HIST 528  War, Depression, and Recovery, 1917-1941.  (3 hours) The period of the 1920s and 1930s was an age of extremes in U.S. History. Situated between two World Wars, the United States experienced an era of economic growth and prosperity followed by the worst depression in the nation’s history. These extremes dramatically shaped the social, cultural, and political events of these decades.

HIST 529 Contemporary United States, 1941 to the Present. (3 hours)  The Postwar Era in the United States has been marked by social upheaval. Marginalized people, including African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, women, and homosexuals, fought for their civil rights. The Cold War pushed the world to the brink of annihilation. Vietnam divided the nation. The Counterculture challenged the status quo. The contrast between the Rust Belt and the Sun Belt signified economic, demographic, and political changes. Liberals launched a political revolution and Conservatives a counterrevolution in response. This course will address these social, cultural, and political developments, and others, that have taken place over the last 75 years.

HIST 530 History of the South. (3 Hours) An examination of the social, political, and economic development of the American South from Jamestown to the present with a particular focus on the history of race relations.

HIST 531 History of the Caribbean. (3 Hours) A study of Caribbean historical development from the 17th century to the end of the 20th century.  Socio-cultural, economic and political developments in the region will be emphasized.

HIST 532 Seminar in Latin American History. (3 Hours) A readings and research centered course focusing on the historical development of Latin America in the Western Hemisphere.  Primary emphasis will be given to the impact of Spanish culture in the region, patterns of political, economic, social and intellectual ferment as well as historic and enduring problems specific to Latin America.

HIST 533  Advanced Historical Research. (3 Hours) A research intensive course devoted to the study of special topics.

HIST 543 Seminar in European Imperialism. (3 Hours) A course offering reading and research intensive study of 19th and 20th century European imperialism, beginning with the scramble for Africa.

HIST  544 World War II.   (3 Hours) An examination of World War II from its origins in a policy of appeasement to wartime events and the dropping of the atomic bomb.

HIST 545 Historical Criticism and Historiography. (3 Hours) A course devoted to the studies of theories of historical criticism and their application in the analysis and writing of history.  Selected works of historical scholarship are used for analysis, illustration and comparison.

HIST 546 Historical Research for the Thesis. (3 Hours) A course designed to assist students completing a thesis in honing both their research and writing competencies.

HIST 547 Historical Research for the Project. (3 Hours) A course designed to assist students completing a project in honing both their research and writing competencies.

HIST 550 Oral History. (3 Hours) Designed to expose students to the techniques, methodologies and preparation of advanced projects in oral history.

HIST 551 Special Topics in World History. (3 Hours) Designed to provide coverage of specialized topics in Latin American, European, African, or Asian history.

HIST 552 Problems in American History. (3 Hours) Designed to allow students to perform creative research in strategic areas and on topics such as women, reform movements, history of ideas, urban and regional planning, African-American experience, and American economic history.

HIST 554 Renaissance and Reformation Eras (3 Hours) A survey of the political, economic, social, scientific, intellectual, and ecclesiastical developments in Europe during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, culminating with the Reformation and counter-Reformation movements of the sixteenth century.

HIST 556 Contemporary Middle East. (3 Hours) Surveys of the modern near east beginning with the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of Zionism and Arab Nationalism, the pre-World War II Palestine conflict, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent Arab-Palestinian wars of the past half century.

HIST 560 United States Media History.  (3 Hours) This course examines the history of media in the United States and its relationship to American society and culture.  It will trace the role media has played in portraying historical events, developments in technology and the creation of new forms of media, the uses of media, and the connection between media and American culture.

HIST 561 Film and History Seminar: Filmmakers’ Responses to Political Debates and Policies in the United States, 1900-Present.  (3 Hours) Students will examine the ways in which films engaged with selected political debates and policies in the United States between 1900 and the present.  Topics may include the World Wars, Cold War, War on Terror, Great Depression, immigration, Prohibition, the Red Scares, and urban development.

HIST 562 Film and History Seminar: Filmmakers’ Responses to Social Change and Conflict in the United States, 1900-Present.  (3 Hours) Students will examine the ways in which films reflected and engaged with selected social issues in the United States from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present.  Topics may include African American, Mexican American, and Native American civil rights; the Feminist Movement; Gay and Lesbian civil rights; sexual revolutions of the 1920s and postwar era; and class conflict.

HIST 563 Film and History Seminar: Film Makers’ Interpretations of World War II.  (3 Hours) Students will examine the ways in which films from around the world reflected and engaged with selected political, social, and military issues of World War II during and since the war.

Hist 570 History of Childhood and Youth. (3 Hours) An exploration of the historical experiences of children and youth.  The class examines how race, gender, class, religion, and disability shaped the lives of children and youth.  Other topics to be discussed include the role of the community and state in child-rearing and evolving concepts of childhood and adulthood.

Hist 571 History of Public Health. (3 Hours) A critical study of the history of public health, including the changing role of epidemic disease, the development of government public health programs, lay health care practices, the rise of the modern medical professions, the growing influence of technology in health care, and the persistence of racial, ethnic, and class differences in health care, morbidity, and mortality.

Hist 572 History of Disability. (3 Hours) An exploration of the historical experience of people with mental and physical disabilities, including a critical survey of the shifting cultural conceptions of mental and physical disabilities.  Emphasis will be placed on the lives of people with disabilities in the community, the development of residential institutions, the growth of social welfare programs, and the disability rights movement of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

HIST 590 Thesis Writing. (3 Hours) The research and writing of a thesis under the direction of a faculty advisor.

HIST 591 Project Writing. (3 Hours) The research and writing of a project under the direction of a faculty advisor.

HIST 592 History Internship. (3 Hours) Provide History majors the opportunity to intern with a public or private agency or organization which may result in job placement possibilities.

HIST 593 Independent Study. (3 Hours) Students will work independently with a faculty member of their choosing (with consent) on a topic agreed to by the student and faculty member and complete assignments jointly developed by the student and faculty member. This course can be taken twice for different topics and with different faculty.