History programs

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 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)

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)

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)