History courses

This course acquaints students with the major periods and contours of Western Civilization from its roots in the ancient Near East through its development in the 18th century Enlightenment. Among the topics treated are the medieval centuries and the eras of the Renaissance and the Reformation.(4 credits)

The sections of this companion course to HIS101 provide students with thematic investigations of issues prominent in Western Civilization since the 18th century (e.g., political, intellectual, popular culture, technological, military, colonial/imperial, racial/ethnic, gender, environmental, etc.).Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits)

An introduction to the principles and techniques involved in the study of history. This course will include both reflection and practice, consideration of ideas and actual application, through exercises drawing on primary and secondary materials.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits)

This is a study of the early history of our national existence, from colonial beginnings through the Civil War. The emphasis is on those influences which have been most formative in shaping American society.(4 credits)

This surveys developments from 1865 to the present with the focus being upon the transformation of the U.S. into a modern urban-industrial society and its emergence as a 20th century world power.(4 credits)

A survey of the major events, characters and ideas of the history of Greece from the rise of the Minoans and Mycenaeans through the Roman conquest.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A survey of the major events, characters and ideas of the history of Rome from the origins of the city itself to the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A survey of the major events, characters and ideas of the European Renaissance, focusing on the political, social, economic, philosophical, literary and artistic themes of the period. Special attention will be given to Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Machiavelli, Erasmus and more.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A survey of the major events, characters and ideas of the Reformation, with special attention to Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, the Anabaptists, the English Reformation and the Catholic Reformation.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits, alternate years, consult department)

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A topical and selective study in American history providing the opportunity to focus on a particular era or issue important to the understanding of the American past. Topics will vary according to professor and student interest. Sample topics have included Cold War America, The Sixties, and History of American Women.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits)

Through a study of the historical development of the varied peoples who have lived in Iowa, and through consideration of the impact the people of Iowa have had on each other (social and cultural environment) and on the land (natural environment), this course seeks to engage in place-based education. In light of a postmodern world in which place matters little, a historical understanding of Iowa--social, cultural and environmental--will contribute to providing connections to a place. (2 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A study of selected, issue-oriented topics in both European and world history more generally. Sample topics have included: The Early Middle Ages, The Scottish Highlands and The Millennium in Historic Perspective.Prerequisite: HIS101.(2 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

This course surveys the historical development of American Indian peoples, particularly during the period of contact and conquest by Euro-Americans and particularly in the trans-Mississippi West region of what became the U.S. Topics include pre-contact life, oral literature, Indian accommodation and selective adaptation to Euro-American societies, Spanish, French and U.S. Indian policies, Native American religion, Christian mission work among American Indians, activism by and on behalf of American Indians, and reservation life. Prerequisite: General education writing requirement. (4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A reading and research seminar focusing on selected topics in European history. The time period and the topic under consideration will vary.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102 or permission of instructor.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A survey of the historical development of American political thought with attention to significant American political thinkers from the colonial period to the present. Special emphasis will be given to the uneasy relationship between liberalism and democracy and the interaction between American political institutions and culture. (4 credits, non-yearly, consult department) (American history)

This course focuses on the history of Europe from 1848 to the present. Special attention is given to the cultural and intellectual developments of the modern era. In particular, key themes include nationalism, imperialism, the World Wars, the Holocaust, the rise and fall of Marxism, and the various challenges facing Europe today.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102 or permission of instructor.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

This course takes up German history on the eve of the Great War, and follows the effect of the war on Imperial German society. Special attention will be paid to the historiographic debates surrounding Hitler's role in the Nazi party, the reasons for the party's electoral success, the nature of Nazi government and rule, and the gradual marginalization of Jews and political opponents from the center of civil society. Roughly the last half of the course takes up the Final Solution or Shoah in the context of Germany's war in Europe. Attention is given to the Jewish experience in the ghettos and camps, the question of resistance, theology and moral issues after genocide, and the effect of the Shoah on contemporary theology, art and fiction.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

Beginning with late antiquity, this course will focus on the development of new social and political realities as imperial Rome declined in western Europe. Among the issues to be covered are the advent and domination of Christianity, the ascendancy of Constantinople and the East, and the establishment of Germanic politics in the West. The course will focus in its latter half on the civilization of the Latin West, with special attention on the Church's efforts to shape that society through reform, anathemas and support for a Christian knighthood. Concurrently, the dynamics of secular society will readily appear in such issues as economic revival, urban growth, dynastic politics and related developments. The course will conclude by following such issues and developments through the 14th century.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

A topical and selective study of issues and/or people or trends in American history of special significance to our national development.Prerequisites: HIS201 and 202, or permission of instructor.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

This course examines the nature of the antebellum North and South, slavery in the Old South, the growth of sectional tension, the nature and course of the war, the process of reconstructing the Union, and the impact of this era on the course of American history.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102, HIS201 or 202 is recommended, or permission of instructor.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

The course focuses on the historical development of that portion of the continental United States west of the Mississippi River. Themes considered will include the frontier thesis, regionalism, Indian and white relations, social and economic patterns of western development, women, ethnic and racial minorities, religion and the West as cultural myth.Prerequisites: HIS101 and 150 or permission of instructor.(4 credits, alternate years, consult department)

(2 or 4 credits may apply toward the major)

This course provides an introduction to the field of archives and their management. It is available only as a part of the Gerald and Jeanne De Jong Internship at the Reformed Church Archives in New Brunswick, NJ.(4 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

This course provides guided reading, research and writing in the history of the Reformed Church in America. It is available only as a part of the Gerald and Jeanne De Jong Internship at the Reformed Church Archives in New Brunswick, NJ.(4 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

A study of problems relevant to history as a scientific and humanistic discipline. Among the questions considered are the following: What sorts of meaning have philosophers of history ascribed to the overall process of history? What approaches have historians taken to questions of objectivity, causation, and moral values in the study of history? How does philosophy of history relate to the Christian faith?Prerequisites: HIS101 and 102, or a philosophy general education course 100-level.(4 credits)