History courses

HIS120HP offers students an introduction to the study of history. The topicsof individual sections vary by instructor and semester. After completingthis writing-intensive course, students will be able to describe howhistorical context shapes events and our understanding of events; evaluatethe nature and reliability of historical evidence; develop a thesis-basedargument using properly cited evidence; demonstrate familiarity with a bodyof historical knowledge; articulate how faith obliges Christians to pursuehistorical truth while acknowledging preconceptions, ideologies, and myths;and describe an approach to history based on the belief that God actedthrough the incarnation to redeem people made in God's image. Topicsinclude: City, Empire, and Church explores the intersection of religion, politicalorganization, cultural expression, and human community through a historicalinvestigation of the ancient Greek city-state (the polis), the Roman Empireand early Christianity, and medieval society. We begin with the culture,politics, and history of the Greek polis. From there, we move to theculture, politics, and history of the Roman Empire, attending to how Romeappropriated the ideas of the Greeks and the development of Christianity asa deviant religious subculture within the empire. The course concludes withthe medieval society: a world of developing cities, political empires, andthe Christian church. Following Jesus in America: This course is a historical exploration ofbeliefs and practices of Americans concerning Jesus. Within an overview ofmajor developments, important institutions, and key events, the course willfocus on several individuals as case studies. Key themes in the course willinclude religion as a major thread in American history, Christianity as botha set of social institutions and structures and also as lived religion, andthe varied appropriations of Jesus throughout America's historicalexperience. The Search for a Useful Past: Students in this course will learn to ask andanswer basic questions about the past creation of 'useful pasts'. Thecourse's main question, "Why do people make and hand on histories?",organizes our discussion, reading and writing. We will read primary sourcesfrom medieval through modern European history where an author has recalled apast significant to (mostly) his people and revised it to answer questionsfacing them in their age. We will evaluate how Europeans sought a past whichinterpreted properly would provide them with moral guidance (understoodbroadly) for the crises of our own generation. War and the American Experience: This course aims to provide students with abroad survey of American history by looking at the military conflicts thathave been an all too frequent part of the nation's narrative. The AmericanRevolution, Civil War, World War II and the Cold War (including the Vietnamconflict) will be studied in depth but other American wars will be examinedas well. The course will look at the causes, course and consequences ofthese conflicts. Beyond the battlefield, the course will examine war's rootsin politics and diplomacy and will emphasize the profound effects that warhas on the nations and people who wage it. The course will examine the"American way of war" and test the assertion that the country was made bywar. (4 credits) (Fulfills NWCore Historical Perspectives requirement)

(American history) 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: HIS120HP. (2 credits)

(American history) The History of the United States introduces students to the broad contours of American civilization, from native societies and colonial founding to the present and in the context of global events. The course focuses on political, social, economic, religious, and cultural continuity and change in U.S. history. Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives course or permission of instructor.(4 credits)

European/world history) This course traces a basic outline ofEuropean history from the EuropeanMiddle Ages to the modern West. Topics covered include the breakup ofChristendom, the development of modern science, Europe's colonizationoutside its borders, the Atlantic revolutions, and the evolution ofmodern society through the 20th century. Students will learn to work withbasic documents in European history as well as a few significantarguments from historians. The student's primary work will be documentstudies and essays using such documents to test explanations byhistorians. In this way students should be able to express theirunderstanding of primary documents and relevant historian's arguments.Prerequisites: Historical Perspectives course or permission of instructor.(4 credits) (Writing Intensive)

(American history) This course is designed to introduce students to the theory, methods, and practice of history outside the classroom. Students will explore the ways historians research, preserve, and present historical topics to public audiences through museums, archives, interpreters, documentaries, and through electronic media.Prerequisite: HIS150 or permission of instructor. (2 credits)

(European/world history) 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: HIS120HP. (2 credits, non-yearly, consultdepartment)

(European/world history) 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: HIS120HP. (2 credits, non-yearly, consultdepartment)

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: HIS120HP.(2 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

(European/world history) 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: HIS120HP.(2 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

(American history) 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 AmericanWomen. Note: May be taken more than once provided a different topic isstudied. Prerequisite: HIS120HP. (2 credits)

(European/world history) 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.Note: May be taken more than once provided a different topic is studied. Prerequisite:HIS120HP. (2 credits, non-yearly, consult department)

(American History) This course allows students to investigate broadly a period of history or a historical issue or problem in American history. Students will develop skills necessary to recognize and evaluate the arguments contemporary historians deploy when discussing the topic of the colloquium and to read critically the primary sources related to the topic of the colloquium.Note: May be taken more than once provided a different topic is studied.Prerequisites: Historical Perspectives course or permission of instructor.(4 credits)

(European/world history) This course allows students toinvestigate broadly a period of history or a historical issue or problemin European or world history. Students will develop skills necessary torecognize and evaluate the arguments contemporary historians deploy whendiscussing the topic of the colloquium and to read critically the primarysources related to the topic of the colloquium.Note: May be taken more than once provided a different topic is studied.Prerequisite: Historical Perspectives course or permission of instructor.(4 credits)

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.(4 credits, non-yearly, consult department)(NWCore option under Cross-Cultural Engagement)Cross-Referenced in sociology.

(American History) 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, consultdepartment) Cross-Referenced in political science.

(American history) Building on the skills studentsdeveloped in the Colloquium in American history, the Seminar in Americanhistory invites students to do the work of a historian. Seminars focusmore deeply on some period or issue or question, and students will writea significant research paper related to the seminar topic thatdemonstrates advanced familiarity with the historiography and advancedskills at analyzing and using primary sources.Note: This course may be taken more than once provided a different topicis studied. Prerequisite: HIS206 or permission of instructor. (4 credits)

(European/world history) Building on the skills studentsdeveloped in the Colloquium in European / World history, the Seminar inEuropean/World history invites students to do the work of a historian.Seminars focus more deeply on some period or issue or question, andstudents will write a significant research paper related to the seminartopic that demonstrates advanced familiarity with the historiography andadvanced skills at analyzing and using primary sources. Note: This coursemay be taken more than once provided a different topic is studied.Prerequisite: HIS207WI or permission of instructor. (4 credits)

(2 or 4 credits may apply toward the major)

(European/world history) 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:HIS120HP or a NWCore Belief and Reason (BR) course. (4 credits)

(American or European/world history) The Research Seminar permits students to develop, research, write and defend a major essay of original historical research on a topic of their choice. This course is the culmination of their major and builds on training and writing completed in the earlier history courses. They will work closely with one member of the history department, but the others will contribute to their work by reading and commenting on drafts. The student will defend and discuss their thesis in a public setting.Prerequisite: HIS435. (2 credits)