Fall 2004 Course Descriptions
200-400 Level
HIS 203 - History of Africa to 1870
TR 3:30-4:45
Colleen Kriger
What is civilization? This course
examines the variety of African civilizations throughout the continent, from
ancient times up to the 19th century, and how closer study of African history
has prompted scholars to revise the way "civilization" is defined. We
will focus on ancient civilizations in Africa, the empires and city-states of
the Islamic period, and the rise of trade with Europe, especially the Atlantic
slave trade and its effects on African societies.
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HIS 211 - United States History to 1865General survey of American history from colonization through the Civil War. 211-01 Robert Calhoon MWF 10:00-10:50
(Writing Intensive) |
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HIS 212 - United States History since 1865General survey of American history from Reconstruction to the present. 212-02 Christine Flood TR 11:00-12:15 |
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HIS 215-01 - Civilizations of Asia
TR 2:00-3:15
James A. Anderson
This course is an introduction to the pre-modern history of Asia, and will focus
on the following countries: China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Most students
in the West may only be familiar with these nations in the context of the traumatic
episodes of war and violence and revolution that swept the region throughout
the twentieth century. However, these countries are heirs to long histories
of cultural brilliance and diversity. In this class we will first explore
how the history of this region has shaped the common bonds that bring this part
of the world together as a whole. Secondly, we will consider how the literary
traditions of these various societies depict the social and political conditions
from which modern Asian nations would later emerge.
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HIS 218 - The World of the Twentieth CenturyMWF 12:00-12:50 |
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HIS 221 - Medieval Legacy
221-01 Richard E. Barton TR 11:00-12:15 (Writing Intensive)
221-02 Anne C. Barton MWF 10:00-10:50
Survey of Western European history from the end of the Roman Empire to the fifteenth century exploring such varied aspects of the medieval experience as pilgrimage, crusade, peasant life, the emergence of nation states, and the rise of the university.
HIS 222 - Europe 1400-1789
222-01 Frank T. Melton TR 12:30-1:45
222-02 Frank T. Melton TR 9:30-10:45
222-03 Jodi Bilinkoff TR 2:00-3:15
Survey of major socio-economic, political, and cultural trends in Europe from the Renaissance to the French Revolution.
HIS 223 - Modern Europe
223-01 Jeff Jones MW 3:30-4:45
223-02 Kaarin Michaelsen
MWF 11:00-11:50
A survey of the political, social and cultural history of Europe from the time of the French Revolution to the present. Emphasis will be placed on the political culture and the emergence of the great ideological systems of the West (e.g., liberalism, conservatism, socialism, communism, nationalism, and fascism).
HIS 301 - Race and Slavery
MW 3:30-4:45
Jeffrey Kerr-Ritchie
This course will examine the African American experience from Africa to the New World, including early civilizations in West Africa, the Atlantic Slave Trade, slavery and freedom in the Caribbean, South and Central America, British North America, and African Americans during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the United States.
HIS 309 - Unity and Unrest in Medieval Towns
TR 9:30-10:45
Richard E. Barton
Examines the ways in which the towns of Medieval Europe constructed social unity and the ways in which that unity was threatened by cultural change and social unrest.
HIS 311 - Darwin and the Theory of Evolution
TR 11:00-12:15
Ken Caneva
Writing and Research Intensive
Study of the background, genesis, and the reception of Darwin's theory in its scientific and social context as the basis for an examination of the nature and scope of scientific explanations.
HIS 320 - Central American History
TR 5:00-6:15
Mary
Floyd
The political structure and economies of the Central American republics from independence in 1821 to the beginning of the twenty-first century and the possibilities of a Central American Free Trade Association. Emphasis on political competition of "a nation divided" under the strain of social and economic inequality, United States scrutiny, and the dynamics of agrarian cultures. Although this course carries a lecture designation, discussion and student participation are integral to its success.
HIS 328 - Women in American History, Part I
MWF 10:00-10:50
Lisa Levenstein
Speaking Intensive
This course looks at the history of women and gender hierarchy in the area that is now the United States. We will begin with Native American women's lives before and during contact with Europeans, including different nations of Native Americans' relationships with French, British and Spanish colonizers in the midwest, east and southwest. We will also look at diverse topics such as colonial midwives and early medical practices, education in the early republic, the role of women in families, women and slavery, black and white women active in the abolition movement, feminism in the 1830s and the first women factory workers.
HIS 340-01 - United States since World War IIMW 2:00-3:15 | |
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An in-depth examination of several important social, political and international trends and events that have shaped the contemporary U.S.: atomic weapons, the Cold War and Vietnam; the black freedom movement, radicalism and Great Society liberalism; feminism; conservative movements from McCarthyism to the New Right; mass immigration from Latin America and Asia and the nativist reaction. This semester will be speaking intensive. Accordingly, we will organize our inquiry and discussions around three main themes: the Cold War and Vietnam; the Black Freedom Movement; The New "New" Immigration and Multi-racial America. We will examine an abundance of public discourse, speech rhetoric, testimony and oral history as a way of bringing the past to life and bringing the arts of writing and speaking into simultaneous development. We will have debates, press conferences, discussions, oral reports, dramatic readings, etc. |
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HIS 347 - History of North Carolina
TR 11:00-12:15
Laurinda deBeck
This is a survey course. It spans more than 400 years of state history - from colonization to the present. It is American history with the spotlight on North Carolina. Objectives of the course include an examination of:
- when, how, and why North Carolina developed as it did.
- How its actions and reactions were similar or different from the other states.
- How the development of its economic, social, and political structure determines present-day North Carolina with special emphasis on such topics as: a) the economy b) politics c) race relations.
HIS 365 - Modern France
TR 12:30-1:45
Paul Mazgaj
Writing and Research Intensive
Social, political, and cultural forces that shaped France through the Third Republic, World Wars, rise of communism and fascism, Occupation and Resistance, postwar Fourth and Fifth Republics.
HIS 369 - History of Spain
TR 11:00-12:15
Jodi E. Bilinkoff
In the period between 1450 and 1700 a previously poor and isolated region of Europe emerged as a dominant political, military and cultural force. In this, its "Golden Age," Spain conquered and colonized the largest empire since the days of the Romans, dominated much of Europe, declared itself the leader of the Catholic faith, and dazzled the world with its accomplishments in art, music, literature and spiritual expression. It also grappled with intense problems of poverty, urban sprawl, racism, religious intolerance and seemingly endless wars, on both sides of the Atlantic. In this course we examine primary texts (in English translation) from the Hispanic world in the Age of Empire, and listen to the voices of people caught up in the triumphs and struggles of this complex and fascinating society.
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HIS 373-01 - English History to 1660TR 3:30-4:45 From 55 BC to the restoration of Charles II in 1660, this course surveys all the major developments- Roman, Britain, the Anglo-Saxons, Normans, and Medieval England, the Reformation and the Puritan Revolution. Within each period the main political, intellectual, religious, social, and economic themes are examined. |
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HIS 374-01 - English History since 1660
MWF 2:00-2:50
Kaarin Michaelsen
HIS 377 - Russian History to 1900
MWF 9:00-9:50
Jeff Jones
This course surveys Russian history from its beginning around 800 AD through the Kievan Rus period, the Mongol invasion, and the rise of Muscovy. The course focuses on the turbulent reigns of Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Nicholas I, and Russia's reformist tsar Alexander II. We will deal with Russia's ever-changing social, economic, and cultural development and end on the eve of revolutionary turmoil in the 20th century.
HIS 381 - The Near and Middle East
T 7:00-9:50
Ann P. Saab
This course deals with the history of the Israel and the Muslim Middle East in the twentieth century. After a background of events before and during the two world wars, we will examine a series of continuing controversial issues, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, the revolution in Iran, and the use of oil. Student reading and discussion will be emphasized.
HIS 383-01 - Chinese History to 1800
TR 9:30-10:45
James A. Anderson
The Western world's interest in China has long followed two paths, one material and one spiritual. While Western traders and government leaders debated various routes to the elusive "China Market," artists and philosophers deliberated tenets of Confucianism, Daoism (Taoism) and Buddhism, the schools of thought that flourished in traditional Chinese society. The end result was a representation of China still popular in the West, as full of Western dreams and ambitions as it is of Chinese realities. The current debates regarding Chinese trading privileges and human rights abuses are clearly shaped by this Western profile of China. Our course will hold up this picture to scrutiny, while introducing and illuminating both the remarkable and the commonplace from China's past.
HIS 389 - West Africa during the Atlantic Slave Trade
MW 3:30-4:45
Colleen Kriger
Examines how trade between European and African countries developed into a trans-Atlantic slave trade. Focus on origins of slaves and effects of slave trade on Africa, ca. 1450-1850.
HIS 390 - History Internship
Field learning experience in public or applied history. Academic supervision provided by job supervisor. Assigned reading and written reports. May be repeated. Prerequisite: Consent of Department Head.
HIS 401, 402 - Independent Study
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