Bachelor of Arts
History
The mission of the History program is to produce students with a knowledge of American, European and World History; a knowledge of historical perspectives, thinking, and methods, including an awareness of ethical issues and human values in the study of history; and the ability to plan and complete historical research projects. Students must demonstrate their knowledge and methods in written and oral forms of presentation.
Goals and Career Preparation
History Program Goals are designed to measure content knowledge and skills; supporting the University’s mission to cultivate students who are well-rounded in the liberal arts, excellent scholars, and engaged, knowledgeable citizens respectful of diversity in the global environment.
The major in History provides students with the essential skills for a wide variety of careers. Among the careers pursued by recent graduates are teaching, archival and museum work, law, business, government service, journalism, and higher degrees in history and public history.
Together with History Program Learning Outcomes addressing Knowledge, Historical Perspectives, and Historical Research, the sequenced Public History concentration prepares students for careers in the field, integrating:
- Professional skills, ethics, and standards
- Familiarity with research and the production of professional historical narratives
- Public history methods and interpretation.
The History curriculum prioritizes the skills most desired by employers, including: written and oral communication, logical and analytical reasoning, information literacy and research skills, problem solving, and teamwork. Experiential learning and field-based internship opportunities complement this foundational skill-development in the History curriculum.
Students who intend to teach History (Social Studies) in high school should refer to the School of Education for information on the Secondary Teacher Certification program.
Majors, Minors and Certificates
Courses
HS132: Reel History:Amer Stories on Film
Credits 3How is history portrayed on film? How do Hollywood blockbusters, cult favorites and thought- provoking documentaries represent historical episodes and events? In this course, modern American history is explored through the media of film. Using constructions of race, class, gender, and sexuality, we examine cinematic depictions of topics such as slavery, the World Wars, the Counterculture, women’s rights and recent history through the fascinating world of film. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), and Intercultural Knowledge (IK).
HS199: Independent Study in History
Credits 1 3Independent Study in History (1-3 credits). Offers an opportunity to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of an Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and faculty sponsor, and must meet with the approval of the Dean or their designee
HS200: Who’s Who in American History
Credits 3This course takes a biographical approach to topics of power and influence in American history. Students will study leaders in activism/reform, politics, business, the military, popular culture and other spheres, to reveal constructions of power and diverse forms of national influence. From presidents to crusading change-agents, focuses could include President George Washington, Dolley Madison, Frederick Douglass, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, Ida Tarbell, J. Edgar Hoover, FDR, Marilyn Monroe, Malcolm X, Jackie Kennedy or Jay Z. As students explore the mystique of these historical game-changers, they will enhance their understanding of how power works to shape a nation, and who really is who in American history. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Critical Reading (CR), Intercultural Awareness (IK).
HS201: US History to the War of 1812
Credits 3A survey of the political and social development of the United States from colonial origins to the second war for independence against Great Britain. Topics include Puritan Massachusetts, relations with Native Americans, origins of slavery, independence and the Constitution, and the early Republic. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Critical Reading (CR), and Written Communication (WC). ).
HS202: American History Slavery/Civil War
Credits 3An examination of the critical period from 1815 to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. Topics include early industrialization, Jacksonian politics, slavery and abolition, women’s rights movement, territorial expansion, Civil War, and the Reconstruction of the South. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Critical Reading (CR), and Written Communication (WC).
HS203: War & Peace: America 1877-1945
Credits 3During the period from the end of Reconstruction through World War II the United States became an urbanized, industrialized nation and a global power. To understand this transformation, the course will examine the experience of African Americans in the South and Native Americans in the West, the struggles between labor and capital, the Progressive responses to industrial America, and the experience of women and immigrants. The paramount importance of World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II will also be explored along with the dynamic social and cultural impulses that marked the first half of the twentieth century.
HS204: U.S. History Since 1945
Credits 3Contemporary history of the United States. Particular attention will be paid to national politics (Truman to Nixon to Reagan), the Cold War and its domestic impact, along with movements to extend rights to women and minorities. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Critical Reading (CR), and Written Communication (WC).
HS206: Protest in America
Credits 3Exploration of popular protest movements from Colonial times to the present, including episodes of resistance against established legal, political and cultural codes and practices, and movements seeking social change and justice. Examples of cases include Revolutionary-era rebellion, Civil Rights movements, Abolitionism, women’s equality campaigns, antiwar protests, Native American rights struggles, gay rights, and labor-activism conflicts. The evolution of public demonstrations from radical roots to mainstream assimilation will also be addressed. Students gain understanding of tensions between enshrined rights and their controversial interpretations, and explore the cultural, political and legal contexts of popular protest movements. They also gain perspectives on protest movements we witness today.
HS210: Sports Cultures & American History
Credits 3Sports offer a unique and multi-hued window into American society, culture and history. In this course, we will survey the development of sports cultures in the US since 1850, examining issues and case studies on topics such as gambling, professionalism, and exploitation. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Critical Reading (CR), Ethical Reasoning (ER), and Written Communication (WC).
HS214: Popular History Today
Credits 3This course acquaints students with the field of public history. The course will examine the various ways in which stories of the past are presented to the general public—for the benefit of the citizenry and in a public venue. It is especially useful for students considering careers in public service, historical museums, historic sites, historical societies, archives, historic preservation, digital history, and filmmaking. By gaining a familiarity with the professional standards and skills applicable in field, the course will also assist students seeking professional internships.
HS222: Gods & Gladiators: Anc. Greece/Rome
Credits 3This course examines the history of Ancient Greece and Rome from 900 B.C.E. to the transformation of the Roman Empire in the fifth century C.E. We will explore the ways ancient Greeks and Romans lived and how they thought about themselves, their relations with one another, the gods, and the state. During these centuries Greece and Rome underwent a series of profound social, cultural, economic, and political changes as they made the transition from localized communities to global empires. To better understand this transition, the course will focus on several major topics, including the Greek city-state, Classical Greece, the rise of Macedonia and Alexander the Great, the Hellenistic world, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire. While charting larger historical developments, we will also examine everyday life in Western history and the central roles of religion and war. GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Written Communication (WC), and Intercultural Knowledge (IK).
HS223: Knight/Shining Armor: Middle Ages
Credits 3This course examines selected themes in European history from the early Middle Ages (600s) through the crisis of late medieval society (1400s). During this period Europe underwent a series of profound social, cultural, economic, and political changes as it made the transition from late Antiquity to the early Renaissance. To better understand this transition, the course will focus on several major topics, including Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire, England and the emergence of the medieval state, the Crusades, the Hundred Years’ War, and the Black Death. While charting larger historical developments, we will also examine everyday life in Western history and the central roles of religion and war.
HS224: Renaissance to Napoleon
Credits 3This course examines the history of Europe from the waning days of the Middle Ages through the early nineteenth century. During this period Europe underwent a series of profound changes as it made the transition from the medieval period to the modern era. To understand these changes, the course will focus on several major topics, including the Renaissance, the Reformation and Counter-Reformation, absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, European expansion, global warfare, and the emergence of the modern nation-state. Addresses GLE Outcomes Humanities (HM), Written Communication (WC), and Intercultural Knowledge (IK).
HS228: Witches: Witch Hunts/Early Mod Hist
Credits 3This course introduces Early Modern Transatlantic history through the lens of witch-hunts. Witchcraft persecutions and trials on both sides of the Atlantic are explored within evolving civic, cultural, religious, political, popular and folkloric and legal spheres. Topics include a series of witch-hunts from Scotland to New England, cunning folk, wise women, Malleus Maleficarum, Witches’ Sabbath and others, addressed within contemporary gender, class, and property-ownership norms and Early Modern European and Colonial American historical progressions. Students learn how targeting and punishing those accused of witchcraft shaped cultural attitudes and biases, some of which endure to this day. Addresses GLE Outcomes Humanities (HM), Written Communication (WC), and Intercultural Knowledge (IK).
HS229: Thrones/Drones: Mod European Hist
Credits 3Political, social, economic, and military developments in Europe since 1815. Topics range from the settlement of 1815, subsequent Great Power rivalries, the Industrial Revolution, the World Wars, Fascism, Communism and the development of the European Union (EU).
HS235: Topics in World History
Credits 3Study of a historical topic in World history chosen by the professor.
HS240: American Environmental History
Credits 3How have Americans altered the world around them and what have been the consequences of those alterations? This course explores the changing relationship between human beings and the natural world in the United States from the colonial to the present with an emphasis on modern America. Major themes include industrialization and urbanization, public health, conservation, the environmental movement, environmental justice, and ecofeminism. Addresses GLE Learning Outcomes Humanities (HM), Written Communication (WC), and Intercultural Knowledge (IK).
HS246: Multimedia History
Credits 3In this course, students use digital-literacy tools and platforms to engage in and deliver historical content in exciting new ways. and digital material by academic and popular historians, public-history leaders and social-media influencers guide students in new modes of historical documentation and presentation, with attention to purpose, bias, and data-usage. Students create applied historical knowledge using cloud-based, digital-timeline/mapping, virtual tours, audio and screencast-based tools, and other platforms. Incorporating experiment, inquiry and time for play, students train digital lenses on episodes from the past and historic sites. In the process, they build valuable digital-literacy skills and personal agency as creators of historical content.
HS275: History Workshop
Credits 3In this course, students study the foundations, principles and techniques of historical research and apply them in creating their own history projects. From the idea stage to final presentation, students explore, research, write, collaborate and present on a topic of their choosing, using appropriate traditional and digital platforms. The course affords students immersive experience with historical topics in imaginative and creative ways
HS299: Independent Study in History
Credits 1 3Independent Study in History (1-3 credits). Offers an opportunity to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of an Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and faculty sponsor, and must meet with the approval of the Dean or their designee.
HS308: Sea to Shining Sea: US Geography
Credits 3What are the forces that have shaped the geography of the United States and North America? Beginning with the physical environment of North America and Native American geography during the era of the European invasions, we will explore the spatial dimensions of the major processes that have shaped the United States and North America since the 1600s: European colonization and resettlement, demography and migration, agriculture, industrialization, urbanization, and the expansion of transportation systems. Additional topics include race and ethnicity, gender, consumerism, cultural and economic systems, and the environment.
HS310: Oral History
Credits 3This course offers students an introduction to both long-standing standards and practices in oral history, and innovations resulting from technological change. Through the examination of case studies, the course also allows students to explore the various ways oral testimony can be used in traditional academic historical interpretations, as well as a wide variety of public history enterprises, including community and local projects, institutional projects, television, radio, film, and museums.
HS313: The Civil War
Credits 3This course explores a seminal period in American history from the sectional crisis of the 1850s to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The Civil War lasted four years, 1861 to 1865, and it contributed to debates about nationalism, citizenship, the morality of violence, and the power and expanse of the federal government. The crisis of disunion resulted in a devastating war that saw death on a monumental scale, millions displaced, and the emancipation of four million enslaved Americans. The conflict also initiated profound transformations in American society and culture. The legacy of the Civil War continues to reverberate today in American history and memory.
HS314: Lady Liberty: Am. Immigrant History
Credits 3America has been described as a nation of immigrants, and connections between immigrant settlement and national identity have long endured. These themes are examined in this course, including the centuries of immigrant waves, conflicts over ethnic acceptability, restriction, and exclusion, the rise and durability of nativist hostilities, and major political actions taken to regulate immigrant arrival. Controversial topics of ethnic-identity, border-control, immigrant humanitarian crises, migrant-work, and the continued politicization of immigration illuminate a historical theme with enduring impact today.
HS319: History of New England
Credits 3This course explores the regional history of New England from the early modern era (1600s) through the twenty-first century. We will examine Native American history and culture, the Pilgrim and Puritan migrations, the role of New England in the American Revolution, industrialization in the nineteenth century, deindustrialization, and the modern evolution of the region. We will strive to connect the local with the regional and the regional with national and international events and developments. The course will consider issues of religion, race, class, gender, economics, and politics to explore the dynamics of New England's variegated past.
HS320: African-American History
Credits 3This course explores the history of African Americans from the colonial era (1600s) through the twenty-first century. Following the European colonization of North America and the enslavement and forced transportation of Africans across the Atlantic, Africans and their American-born descendants encountered a host of challenges in their quest to create homes, families, and vibrant cultures. We will explore this centuries-long journey of African Americans to create spaces and places of belonging as they also sought freedom and justice and a seat at the table. The course will consider issues of religion, race, class, gender, culture, economics, and politics to explore the many dimensions of the African American experience in the United States.
HS322: American Gender History
Credits 3Gender identity plays a role in how women and men negotiate their everyday lives, and in how meanings of femininity and masculinity have changed over time. This course explores American gendered historical experiences from the era of the North American colonies onward. Focuses on gender according to class, race, and sexual preference. From witchcraft to suffrage and revolution to LGBTQI+ identities today, this course explores gender identity in the American historical record.
HS323: Big Idea: Am. Intellectual History
Credits 3This course introduces students to great thinkers, powerful intellectual developments, progress in industry, government, education, the arts, and intellectual forces that have shaped the U.S. since its inception and constructed its national identity. The Great American Experiment will be probed from multiple perspectives, and student projects will explore aspects of American national identity based on one or more of its formative Big Ideas. The course will be useful for students considering careers in public service, cultural institutions, education, law, and non-profits.
HS329: The National Parks
Credits 3This course acquaints students with the history of national parks in the United States and opportunities for employment in the National Park Service. Students will gain familiarity with cultural and natural resource management in the national parks. Students will also explore the various challenges and opportunities in the National Park Service—ideally preparing them for an internship at an NPS site.
HS337: Nazi Germany
Credits 3In-depth study of Hitler’s rise to power, 1919–1933, and the totalitarian dictatorship established by the Nazi Party, 1933–1945. Role of ideology; use of terror and the secret police; control of economic and social life; propaganda and the manipulation of culture and art; racial policies and the Holocaust; military aggression and World War II.
HS340: Ireland Since 1500
Credits 3Students will become immersed in the Gaelic medieval world, the evolving relationship with England, native Irish culture and arts, the Irish language, the foundations of the present Republic, and the search for an end to long-established political divisions. Explores the popularity of Irish arts and literature in the later twentieth century.
HS341: American Women’s History
Credits 3The idea of equal rights for all is familiar today, but legal, cultural, political and economic restrictions separated women from men for much of America’s historical course. This course examines women as Americans who could not achieve full citizenship, and for whom the idea of “rights” proved long in coming. We explore how these ideas moved from the margins through 19th century private worlds, abolitionism, suffrage, wartime involvement, Women’s Lib campaigns, and ME Too activism; to understand why the voices of half the population were hushed and why the goal of equal rights is still not historical.
HS375: Topics in History: US
Credits 3Study of an American historical topic chosen by the professor.
HS376: Topics in History: European
Credits 3Study of an historical topic in European/World History chosen by the professor. .
HS377: Topics in Public History
Credits 3This course introduces students to a specialized field in public history chosen by the professor. Students will explore the various challenges and opportunities in the specialized field, thereby preparing them for a public history internship. Possible topics include: Archival Methods, Historic Preservation, History and the World Wide Web, and Public History and Museums.
HS395: Internship in Public History
Credits 3 6Internship in Public History (3-6 credits). A public history internship carrying variable credit depending on the length and the professional responsibilities of the experience. The credit value is determined at the time of registration and placement with completion of the standard internship contract. Prerequisite: recommendation of History Faculty.
HS396: Independent Study in Public History
Credits 3Offers an opportunity for students to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of the Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and the faculty sponsor, and must meet the approval of the College Dean.. Normally, the student will be expected to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 and possess the appropriate background and interest to pursue the proposed area of study. Independent Study courses are assigned the number of 396 or 496 depending on the level of the course.
HS399: Independent Study in History
Credits 1 3Independent Study in History (1-3 credits). Offers an opportunity to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of an Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and faculty sponsor, and must meet with the approval of the Dean or their designee.
HS410: History Research Seminar
Credits 3Required of all History majors. The seminar will be oriented around a broad topic chosen by the professor and fitted to the research needs of students in the History major concentrations. Prerequisite: limited to Junior and Senior History majors.
HS450: History Senior Portfolio Assessment
Credits 1Students will complete and present their History major portfolio for evaluation by the faculty. Required of all History majors. Prerequisite: Senior History major standing.
HS491: Field-Based Experience History
Credits 3 9Field-Based Experience in History (3-6 credits). An internship carrying variable credit depending on the length and intensity of the experience. The credit value is determined at the time of registration and placement, and the execution of contract. Prerequisite: recommendation of History Faculty.
HS495: Internship in Public History
Credits 3 6Internship in Public History (3-6 credits). A public history internship carrying variable credit depending on the length and the professional responsibilities of the experience. The credit value is determined at the time of registration and placement with completion of the standard internship contract. Prerequisite: recommendation of History Faculty.
HS496: Independent Study in Public History
Credits 3Offers an opportunity for students to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of the Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and the faculty sponsor, and must meet the approval of the College Dean. Normally, the student will be expected to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.00 and possess the appropriate background and interest to pursue the proposed area of study. Independent Study courses are assigned the number of 396 or 496 depending on the level of the course.
HS499: Independent Study in History
Credits 1 3Offers an opportunity to explore an area of study not included in the Catalog listing of approved courses. The topic of an Independent Study should be selected and carefully designed by the student and faculty sponsor, and must meet with the approval of the College Dean or their designee.