History
(Program Homepage)
Faculty: C. Andrews, D. Bohmer, J. Bruggemann, Y. Chiang, R. Dewey, M. Dixon-Fyle, N. Fancy, D. Gellman, G. Kuecker, J. Schlotterbeck, B. Steinson, B. Whitehead
History, a discipline that belongs to both the humanities and the social sciences, is the study of change over time. By exploring the complexities of peoples and societies in the past, the present becomes more comprehensible. As a core discipline of the liberal arts, history encourages students to think critically, to argue logically and to examine the values of their society and those of other societies.
By developing research, analytical, writing, oral communication and problem solving skills, the undergraduate major in History is valuable preparation for a broad range of occupations, for graduate and professional schools and for the responsibilities of informed citizenship. Recent history majors have pursued careers in education, law, government service, journalism, public history, social agencies, business and finance.
The History department brings historians and history makers to campus, encourages off-campus study and travel, shows films and documentaries, sponsors field trips to historical sites and assists students in finding history-related internships.
The History department offers introductory and advanced work in the following geographic fields: Africa, East Asia, Europe, Latin America and the United States.
Students wishing to count courses taken off-campus toward a major or minor in history should note that approval is not automatic and that they must obtain prior approval from their academic advisors and the department chair.
Students preparing for social studies certification in secondary education are required to take HIST 400SS, normally during the spring semester of the junior year. They should review Section V, Teacher Education, and confer with the chair of the Education department about requirements for admission and certification.
Requirements for a major in History
| Total courses required | Nine |
| Core courses |
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| Other required courses | In consultation with their advisors, students define a field of concentration consisting of at least four courses. Fields can be chronological, thematic and/or geographic. Students planning graduate work in history should note that graduate schools usually require a reading knowledge of one or more languages appropriate to the students' fields of study. |
| # 300 and 400 level courses | Three 300-level discussion |
| Senior requirement | Successful completion by giving a public presentation of research or compiling a portfolio of written work in history together with a self-reflective essay or undertaking a group project approved by a member of the department. |
| Additional information | |
| Recent changes in major |
Requirements for a minor in History
| Total courses required | Five |
| Core courses | One course at the 100-level, one at the 200-level and one at the 300-level |
| Other courses | The department encourages students completing the minor to have a geographic concentration in one of five areas and encourages students with a U.S. or a European emphasis to take one course in African, Asian or Latin American history. |
| # 300 and 400 level courses | One |
| Recent changes in minor |
Courses in History
| HIST 105. The American Experience | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An introduction to American history through study of a special topic. Regularly offered American Experience courses include: The West, Slavery and Reform Movements. HIST 105 may be repeated for credit with different topics. | ||
| HIST 107. Introduction to China and Japan | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An interdisciplinary introduction to Chinese and Japanese civilizations from their beginning through the mid-19th century, stressing cultural ideals and the social relations of families and classes, including peasants and townsmen, bureaucrats, beggars and bandits, warlords and women. | ||
| HIST 108. Modern China and Japan | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An introductory examination of East Asia in the modern world, beginning with the Western impact in the mid-19th century and focusing on Japanese industrialization and empire, Chinese revolution, World War II in Asia and trends to the present. | ||
| HIST 109. African Civilizations | Group 4 | 1 course |
| The precolonial and colonial history of Africa from 1500 to 1945: the early socioeconomic and political organization of African society; problems of state formation; organization of an acephalous society and African production and trade; the impact of capital on the African formation as seen in the slave trade; and the era of legitimate commerce and early capitalist penetration. | ||
| HIST 110. Modern Africa | Group 2 | 1 course |
| Africa since 1945: the diverse socioeconomic and political concerns of a mature colonialism on the eve of decolonization; the many contradictions of a colonialism caught up in a wind of change, concession-prone in some areas, stolidly uncompromising in others; political independence and the policies it produced; and the path to Africa's present state of dependency and political instability. | ||
| HIST 111. European Civilization I--1300-1800 | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A history of Europe from about 1300 to 1789, including the end of the medieval world, the Renaissance and Reformation, Scientific Revolution, the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution. | ||
| HIST 112. European Civilization II--1789-Present | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A history of Europe from 1789 to the present, including French Revolution and Napolean, Industrialization, the Age of the Nation States, the struggle among liberal, communist and fascist ideologies, World Wars I and II, postwar reconstruction, decolonization and European integration. | ||
| HIST 113. Introduction to Central Europe | Group 4 | 1 course |
| In this course we examine the historical and cultural developments of Central Europe with special attention to the dramatic events of the 20th century. The course will include an analysis of the Reformation, Religious Warfare including the Thiry Years war, the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the divisions of Poland etc. In the 20th century, we examine the legacy of World War II, German Occupation and the Holocaust, the emergence and experience of Communism and the influence of the Soviet Union, as well as the revolutions of 1989 and post-communist Eastern Europe. Moreover, we will pursue transnational issues such as the role of women and religious and ethnic minorities (Gypsies and Jews) in the region. | ||
| HIST 115. Colonial Latin America | Group 4 | 1 course |
| The societies and cultures of Latin America from pre-Hispanic times to the early 19th century. Topics include indigenous societies, period of contact and conquest, resistance and accommodation in the emerging colonial regimes and the revolutions for independence. Emphasis on social relations and cultural practices of the diverse Latin American peoples. | ||
| HIST 116. Modern Latin America | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The legacies of independence, modernization processes, revolutionary upheaval, nationalisms and the populist movements that marked the history of Latin America from 1825 to the present. Emphasis on social relations and cultural practices of the diverse Latin American peoples. | ||
| HIST 121. Introduction to the Middle East | Group 4 | 1 course |
| The course surveys the various factors that shaped the political, religious, cultural and social features of Classical Islamic civilization and Middle Eastern/Islamic history from the sixth century to 1500 AD. Its geographic scope comprises Al-Andalus (Muslim Spain), Central Asia and the territories of the former Ottoman and Safavid empires: Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, Arabia, the Caucuses and Iran. Where appropriate, audio-visual material will be utilized. | ||
| HIST 122. Modern Middle East | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The course surveys the various factors that have shaped the political, religious, cultural and social features of the modern Middle East from 1500 to 2005. Its geographic scope comprises the central provinces and territories of the former Ottoman and Safavid empires: Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Arabia and Iran. It will emphasize the historical evolution of Middle Eastern politics from dynastic and religious empires in the 16th century to modern nation-states in the 20th century; the impact of industrial capitalism and European imperial expansion on local societies; and third, the religious, socio-cultural and ideological dimensions of these large-scale transformations. | ||
| HIST 156. Advanced Placement in History | 1 course | |
| Advanced placement credit for entering first-year students. A. United States History; B. European History. | ||
| HIST 197. First-Year Seminar | 1 course | |
| The first-year seminars focus on different historical topics, but all introduce students to the interdisciplinary nature of historical inquiry and include emphasis on discussion, writing and reading a variety of primary sources. Recent seminar topics include: Americans and War, Myth, Memory and History, Declarations of Independence, Rise and Fall of the Nuclear Family and (De)Constructing Race in the U.S. HIST 197 is open only to first-year students. | ||
| HIST 206. History of Mexico | Group 2 | 1 course |
| A social history of Mexico from pre-Hispanic times to the present. Emphasizing processes of resistance, rebellion and accommodation, this course examines the social and cultural dynamics of the major Mesoamerican societies (Aztecs and Maya), the colonial period and the process of nation formation. Attention will be given to gender and ethnic issues. | ||
| HIST 221. France from Charlemagne to Napoleon | Group 4 | 1 course |
| The history of France from the Merovingians of Gaul to the Napoleonic era with an emphasis on intellectual, cultural and social movements of this early period. Major topics: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire; the Hundred Years' War; rise of absolutism; the Wars of Religion; the Fronde; the Age of Louis XIV; the Enlightenment; the French Revolution. | ||
| HIST 222. The Crusades | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course will examine the 10th- to 14th-century movement of Western European Christians to the lands of the eastern Mediterranean. Why did they go? What were the expected outcomes of this movement? Was it successful, and how should success be determined? How did the crusades change both European and Middle Eastern culture? These questions and more will be the focus of this course. | ||
| HIST 223. The Vikings | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course will examine Scandinavian and early medieval European society before, during, and after the Viking raids of the eighth through eleventh centuries in order to assess the impact of those raids on the development of European civilization. We will work to come to an understanding of this period through the close analysis of a variety of sources, including law codes, epic poems, artwork, and archaeological excavations. | ||
| HIST 225. European Women's History | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An examination of the cultural and intellectual roles of women in Early Modern Western Europe. In addition to surveying the women's traditional place in European society, this course also considers the work of exceptional women who argued against that role. Topics include the debate on the nature of women, women in power, witchcraft, women and science, women in revolutions and the education of women. | ||
| HIST 232. 19th and 20th Century Britain | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course surveys Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries, a period that both affirmed and questioned the "greatness" of Great Britain in political, economic and social terms. Central course themes include the transformation of Britain's economic standing, from the "workshop of the world" to perceptions of "declinism". The contrasting political fortunes of the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties are highlighted; from "Tory paternalism" to Thatcherite Revolution, from socialist trade unionism to "Blairism". Class, immigration and Anglo-Irish affairs are explored as well as the effects of war and peace, depression and prosperity upon British society. The course also includes a consideration of the growth of the British Empire and its comparatively rapid dissolution in the post-war era. | ||
| HIST 241. Russian History to the 19th Century | Group 4 | 1 course |
| Development of Russian state, society and culture from the ninth to the 19th centuries, with particular attention to the Kievan, Mongol, Muscovite and Imperial periods. | ||
| HIST 242. Modern Russia | Group 4 | 1 course |
| Culture and society in the last years of the Empire; the growth of the revolutionary movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the establishment of the Soviet Union, its development, decline and collapse; and the beginnings of post-Soviet Russia. | ||
| HIST 244. Germany from Unification to Unification, 1870-1989 | Group 4 | 1 course |
| Germany has played a central and disruptive role in the recent history of Europe. The domestic and foreign conflicts that have dominated the country's history with such far-reaching consequences will provide the focus of the course. The course covers the political, social and cultural developments that shaped the course of German history from the creation of a unified Germany in 1871 to the reunification of Germany in 1990. It examines the Imperial period, World War I, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi experience, the division of postwar Germany and its reunification in our own times. | ||
| HIST 256. African Cultures | Group 2 | 1 course |
| A review of cultural change in various African societies from earliest times to present. African society is first examined in the primordial state and then reviewed against the coming of Islam, Christianity and Western cultural penetration; a discussion of the current prevalence of cultural syncretism and plurality in African cultures. | ||
| HIST 257. Ethnicity and Conflict in South Africa | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The history of South Africa from the 17th century to the present; its relations with neighboring communities; the coming of white settlers; African subjugation and the rise of apartheid; local and foreign reaction to the apartheid state; the process of decolonization; and ethnic and class cleavages in post-Apartheid society. | ||
| HIST 263. The Founding of United States Civilization | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A survey of North American history from Columbus through the War of 1812, emphasizing territories that ultimately became part of the United States. Course includes such subjects as European-Indian interaction, African slavery in early America, the development of English colonies, the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution and politics in the early republic. | ||
| HIST 264. Nineteenth-Century United States | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The United States between 1815 and 1900: development of a market economy and industrial society; political parties and presidential leadership; westward expansion; reform movements; slavery and emancipation; sectional crisis and Civil War; ethnic and class conflicts; and roles of women, African Americans and Native Americans. | ||
| HIST 265. Twentieth-Century United States | Group 2 | 1 course |
| United States social, economic, political and diplomatic history from 1900 to the present. | ||
| HIST 275. African American History | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A survey of the black experience in the United States focusing on ways African Americans reacted individually and collectively to their condition and how they have contributed to the development of the United States. | ||
| HIST 277. US Women's History: 1700-1900 | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The impact of settlement, colonization, revolution and independence, industrialization, urbanization, slavery, the Civil War, westward expansion, education and immigration on women. Readings will be drawn from journals, diary excerpts, short stories, novels and letters and from scholarly essays and monographs by historians and other social scientists. Class, race and ethnic differences will be examined throughout the semester. | ||
| HIST 278. Women in the United States, 1890-Present | Group 2 | 1 course |
| A chronological survey of U.S. women's history from 1890 to the present. It considers experiences of women of different classes, races and ethnic backgrounds. Among the topics covered are changes in women's paid employment, women's participation in selected social and political movements, women and popular culture and the impact of the Great Depression and wars on women. | ||
| HIST 281. Africa and the Black Diaspora | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An exploration of the historical foundations and the development of Black life in Africa and its later diffusion in the Black Diaspora. Its purview will range from pre-colonial dynamics to the more contemporary manifestations of global Black history in North America, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, Latin America and Melanesia. Topics include: African cultures before European contact, the slave trade and its impact on Africa and the Atlantic economy, the middle passage, internal migration in Africa and case studies of the creation of Diasporic communities and cultures. | ||
| HIST 285. History of Science I | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course surveys the history of the human endeavor to understand the natural world around them. It particularly problematizes the notion that the rise of modern science, as practiced in Western societies, was inevitable or pre-ordained. Instead, with the help of primary and secondary sources, the course examines the various trajectories of science from the Greek, to the Islamic to the Western medieval context. | ||
| HIST 290. Topics | 1 course | |
| A study of a special topic with an emphasis on discussion and participation. Descriptions of HIST 290 courses offered in a given semester are available on the History department Website or in the History department office prior to registration for that semester. May be repeated for credit with different topics. | ||
| HIST 295. History Today: Debates and Practices | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An introduction to history as a discipline, including why historians interpret the past in different and often contested ways; problems of historical method, including use of evidence, objectivity, causation, periodization and categories of historical analysis (such as, nation-state, gender, race and class); and current approaches and methodologies in the history profession. | ||
| HIST 300. Topics | 1/2-1 course | |
| A study of a special topic at an advanced level. This and all 300-level courses are small discussion classes. Descriptions of HIST 300 courses offered in a given semester are available on the History department Website or in the History department office prior to registration for that semester. May be repeated for credit with different topics. | ||
| HIST 332. European Union | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The seminar surveys European integration in its historic context and emphasizes the project for European unity since the Second World War. Topics for consideration include historic conceptualizations of East and West and the 'Idea of Europe', integration as a response to the World Wars experience and its evolution in a divided Cold War Europe. Theoretical assessments of integration and the comparative significance of both international and domestic factors are discussed as well as controversies over supra-nationalism, 'European identity' and the expansion of membership. | ||
| HIST 334. History Beyond the Classroom | Group 2 | 1 course |
| Most Americans learn about the past not in college classrooms but from visiting historical museums and sites, through reading 'popular' historical works and from hobbies, like genealogy and living history re-enactments. Visual markers of past eras-historical landscapes, buildings, and artifacts-are powerful places for learning about the past. But who decides which "pasts" are worth preserving and whose stories are retold? What is the relationship between history learned in the classroom and history learned at public sites? This course examines these questions from three perspectives: material culture, the objects that are the primary historical documents for interpreting the past at historical sites and museums; history museums and their role in determining how the past is displayes; and public member, or popular uses of the past for commemoration or for heritage purposes. | ||
| HIST 335. The History of History | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A study of selected problems and texts in the critical history and philosophy of history. Major questions addressed by the course: Is objective history possible? What is the role of the historian? How is history politicized through selection of subject matter? And, how has the idea of progress influenced the writing of history? | ||
| HIST 336. The Witchcraze in Early Modern Europe | Group 4 | 1 course |
| Why did Europe suddenly erupt in a fury of witch trials in the sixteenth century? Why did these trials just as suddenly die out in the eighteenth? What was the role of religion in the pursuit of witches? Was misogyny at the heart of the witchcraze? These questions and more will be addressed in this course as we try to understand the nature of the European witchcraze. Through a close and careful analysis of primary documents, we will try to develop our own conclusions on this troubling episode of European history. | ||
| HIST 337. The Age of Louis XIV | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A study of life in France during the reign of the Sun King. A deeper understanding of 17th-century French life is attempted through a study of French history, politics, society, literature, philosophy and art. | ||
| HIST 338. The Enlightenment | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This 18th-century European intellectual movement is approached through the works of the major thinkers of the period. Writers such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, and de Sade are examined. | ||
| HIST 339. Imperial Europe | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course will look at Western Europe at its height of power and influence and in the decades leading up to and including WWI (c.1870-1918). The class will approach Imperial Europe through a series of thematic clusters, such as empire, imperialism and militarism, nations and nationalism, gender and generation, culture, technology, politics and political organization, intellectual developments, mortality, sexuality, etc. | ||
| HIST 340. Modern European Women's History | Group 4 | 1 course |
| In this course we will use women's experiences as the key to understanding European history over the past two centuries. Some of the issues tthat shaped the 19th century, such as gender relations in modern society are still being discussed today; others that we now take for granted such a universal suffrage, were by no means normal a hundred years ago. The course will address topics concerning women's experiences and will encourage students to explore issues in women's history and the influences that women had on the development of modern Europe. | ||
| HIST 342. Europe of Dictators | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An examination of the social, economic, political and ideological conditions and processes that led to the establishment of single-party dictatorships in Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union. | ||
| HIST 350. The Samurai in Feudal Japan | Group 4 | 1 course |
| An exploration of feudal Japanese society (1185-1800) through an in-depth study of its major actors - the samurai. The topics that are explored in this course include the mores, ethos and valor of the samurai, on the one hand, and the changing as well as enduring social, economic and political structure of this period on the other hand. | ||
| HIST 351. Women and Family in Modern China | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The role and status of women and the evolution of the Chinese family from the late imperial period to the present. It draws on materials from novels and biographical case studies. | ||
| HIST 353. Industrial East Asia | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An examination of the emergence of East Asia from a pre-industrialized backwater in the 19th century to a vibrant economic region by the 1980s. | ||
| HIST 355. African Nationalism, 1890-1985 | Group 4 | 1 course |
| A survey of African resistance to European imperialism with emphasis on the national peculiarities of the European penetration, the experience of Settler and non-Settler Africa, the personnel and methodology of proto-nationalist and nationalist resistance, and the general outcome of these efforts. | ||
| HIST 356. African Slavery | Group 2 | 1 course |
| A review of the processes of incorporation into slavery; slaves in production and exchange; the resistance history of slavery; the gender implications of the slave state; slaves and social mobility, interdependence and the manipulations of class; and the dynamics of manumission and abolition. | ||
| HIST 358. Gender and Sexuality in the Middle East | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This course seeks to explore the evolution of gendered and sexual identities in the Middle East from the rise of Islam to the present. We shall explore ways in which people in the Middle East have shaped and redefined gender and sexual identities from the earliest days of Islam to the present. Although the primary focus of the course will be the Muslim populations in the Middle East, the course will also examine conceptions of gender and sexuality amongst non-Muslim populations in the Middle East, before and after the rise of Islam. | ||
| HIST 362. Voices of a Revolutionary Age | Group 4 | 1 course |
| The American Revolution in the context of revolutionary upheaval throughout the Atlantic world from 1775-1815. Topics include alternative visions of political society, the challenge of slavery, Native American responses to U.S. independence and the case for women's rights. We will encounter famous and ordinary people, often in their own words. | ||
| HIST 364. Civil War and Reconstruction | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The causes, impact and consequences of the Civil War: origins of sectional conflict, the secession crisis, emancipation, Reconstruction policies, political and military leadership, the impact of events on civilians and soldiers and long-term effects of this period on American society and political institutions. | ||
| HIST 367. The Civil Rights Movement | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The black-led freedom movement in the South from the end of World War II to the late 1960s. Prerequisites: HIST 265, HIST 275 or permission of instructor. | ||
| HIST 368. United States in the Sixties | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The decade of the 1960s was a tumultuous and often bewildering period in recent United States history. The course assesses the presidencies of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. Causes and manifestations of social, political and cultural change are examined. The Civil Rights, Black Power, New Left, Anti-War and Women's Liberation movements are studied, as well as the war in Southeast Asia. | ||
| HIST 371. Family and Community in America | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An interdisciplinary study of the history of the family and community in the United States from colonial times until the present. | ||
| HIST 373. Chicago and New York | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An investigation of the life and times of two of America's greatest metropolises, from their founding until approximately 1980. The course emphasizes the following themes: popular culture, poverty, politics, race, ethnicity and social reform. Historical narratives, literature and social criticism will be used as a springboard for discussing the variety of ways in which ordinary people constructed lives on a human scale and sometimes thrived in fast-changing urban environments. | ||
| HIST 375. Women's Social and Political Movements | Group 2 | 1 course |
| The varieties of female activism in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the topics covered are benevolence, abolitionism, women's rights, the movement for reproductive freedom, the social settlement movement, temperance, suffragism and anti-suffragism, labor organizing, civil rights, women's liberation and radical feminism. | ||
| HIST 382. US/Latin American Relations | Group 2 | 1 course |
| An examination of the political and economic contours of the relationship between the United States and Latin America. This course surveys the historical period from the late 1700s to the present. Special focus is on reading and using primary documents. | ||
| HIST 385. Latin American Revolutions | Group 4 | 1 course |
| This discussion course examines the revolutionary movements which swept Latin America after World War Two. These include: Guatamal in 1940-1954, Bolivia 1952, Cuba 1959, Chile 1970, Nicaragua 1979 and Chiapas 1994. Our analysis will cover a range of social, political, economic, and cultural frameworks for understanding these revolutions, why they happened, did they sucdeed, or why they failed. Analysis will focus on theories of revolution, why they happen, what thier process is, and the thorny issue of how to evaluate their success or failure. We will learn about peasant and urban working class movements, as well as issues of consciousness as it pertains to the formation of counter-hegemonic movements. Guerilla warfare, the 'foco' strategy, and organizing tactics will be examianed. We will develop an understanding of the role of US foreign policy in each revoluation. the course will have a gender component by exploring how the role of women changed over time in the revolutionary movements. We develop an understanding of how and why the pre-1994 Chiapas revolutions were 'modern' responses to social, political, economic and cultural problems and how the Zapatista rebellion can be understood as the first postmodern revolution. Students will learn about why the autonomous movement is a more powerful tool of revolution than the 'traditional' revolutionary movements of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The course will hae approximately 7 monographs. Reading will be at the pace of a book every two weeks (150 pages a week+/-). Students will write multiple thesis drive essays responding to the reading. There will also be a term paper. | ||
| HIST 399. Internship in Public History | 1/2 course | |
| Exploration of current practices in public history through readins and hans-on experience at a historical museum or historical site. History 334 is recommended for HIST 399 but not a formal requirement. | ||
| HIST 490. Seminar | 1 course | |
| The practice of history as a discipline through research, interpretation and writing a major paper. Students are expected to take the seminar in their major area of concentration. Descriptions of seminar topics offered in a given semester will be made available prior to registration. | ||
| HIST 491. Reading Course | 1/2-1 course | |
| A study of either a geographical area (East Asia, Russia, France, etc.), a period (Europe since 1789, early America, etc.) or a movement, division of history or institution (socialism, military history, feudalism, etc.). Reading and/or research. Prerequisite: permission of instructor. May be repeated for credit with different topics. | ||
| HIST 495. Senior Thesis | 1 course | |
| Intensive research on a topic approved by the instructor and resulting in a thesis prepared under the instructor's supervision. During the first semester, the student will undertake reading and research and may participate in either a section of HIST 490 or a seminar group limited to students enrolled in HIST 495; during the second semester the student will complete the thesis and defend it before a committee of history department faculty. Prerequisite: a major in history with a GPA in the major of at least 3.3 and permission of the department. | ||
| HIST 496. Senior Thesis | 1 course | |
| Intensive research on a topic approved by the instructor and resulting in a thesis prepared under the instructor's supervision. During the first semester, the student will undertake reading and research and may participate in either a section of HIST 490 or a seminar group limited to students enrolled in HIST 495; during the second semester the student will complete the thesis and defend it before a committee of history department faculty. Prerequisite: a major in history with a GPA in the major of at least 3.3 and permission of the department. | ||
| HIST EXPb. History of the Caribbean | Group 2 | 1 course |
| This 100-level survey course will focus on the political, economic, and cultural history of the Caribbean region from the age of European discovery to the decolonization movements of the twentieth-century. Drawing heavily on the institutions of slavery and colonialism, a major aspect of the course will be the establishment of the links between the development of plantation economies and societies, and the repercussions of these institutions in modern labor and revolutionary movements of the region. One objective is to situate the history of the Caribbean and its people within the broader history of empire in the Atlantic world. In order to promote a further understanding of the multi-cultural aspects of Caribbean societies and to demonstrate the complexities of the varying colonial and post-colonial systems in the region, the course will focus on the English, French, and Spanish- speaking islands. However, some emphasis will be given to the Danish and Dutch Caribbean experiences. | ||
