Hellenic College-Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology · Courses
HIST
17 courses with the subject HIST, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
HIST 1011World History I3
This course is a general introduction to world history covering the period from about 3500 BC to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Discussion and readings will cover the major civilizations of the ancient world, including Egypt, Sumeria, India, China, Greece, Rome, and the rise of the world’s great religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, etc. Our aim: to provide students with the opportunity to understand and appreciate the great achievements of these ancient lands
This course offers a survey of world history from the origins of civilization to the birth of Jesus Christ, with a focus on the ancient Mediterranean world. Students will be introduced to the major cultural and religious traditions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Persia, Israel, Greece, and Rome, and the role each played in the shaping of world civilization. Other world civilizations will be surveyed and will help serve as points of reference in the examination of the Mediterranean civilizations. Students will analyze primary sources and read specialized academic literature relating to each of these civilizations and, in the process, learn how to read sources critically, evaluate authors’ arguments, and develop their own claims based on concrete evidence. The course is aimed at providing a solid foundation of knowledge on the ancient world, as well as to develop the thinking, research, and writing skills necessary to succeed and excel in upper-level courses.
HIST 1014Byzantium, Holy Russia, and the Medieval World3
This course will cover major developments and achievements in the Byzantine Empire – from Constantine the Great to the decline and fall – and Rus’, or Russia, during the Kievan, Appanage (Mongol), and Muscovite periods, and the relationship and interaction of the two with other major states and civilizations of the time. In the process, students will gain insight into political, cultural, and religious dynamics in Medieval Europe and consider their implications for Byzantium and Russia. 59
This course is a general introduction to world history covering the period from the fall of Constantinople in 1453 to an analysis of the forces shaping the late twentieth century. Discussions and readings will cover, for example, such world historical events as the Protestant Reformation, the French Revolution, Europe’s interactions with the civilizations of Asia, the World Wars, as well as the many positive achievements of modern civilization. Our aim: to afford students a fuller understanding and appreciation of the world civilization they have inherited.
This course provides a topical and chronological survey of American history from the time of European settlement through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Topics covered include the Jamestown and Plymouth colonies, the Salem witch trials, the American Revolution, Federalists and Anti‐ Federalists, the Market Revolution, utopian societies, slavery and abolitionism, and the origins of the Civil War.
Environmental History explores interactions between people and their environments in historical context. The course provides an overview of major environmental developments since the dawn of civilization, but particular emphasis is placed on the last few centuries. Topics covered include the Columbian Exchange and its consequences, forestry and its relationship to colonialism, the evolution of agriculture, climate change and climatic vagaries, “high modernism” and the administrative ordering of nature, urbanization, and pollution. Students will also consider the moral and ethical dimensions of the human relationship with the natural environment.
American History II provides a survey of the United States from the Civil War to the recent past. The course emphasizes the growth of America as an industrial and world power and the increasing role of government in life. Following a chronological approach, the course 60
HIST 2165Struggle for Identity in the Modern World3
This course will invite students to probe the complexity of modern identity and approach more consciously their place in the modern world. Orthodox Christianity will be used as a reference point and students will be invited to offer comparative perspectives and reflect on their own identity. The course will explore the intellectual history and philosophical components of major modern ideologies and examine their impact and interplay in concrete contexts. Students will delve into the roots of modern Hellenism from the Ottoman yoke to the Greek diaspora. The course will culminate in a research paper on identity in the Modern Age, which will leave room for students to choose their specific focus in order to probe issues of intellectual or personal interest.
This course surveys major developments in European thought from ancient Greece to the postmodern period. Topics include ancient and classical Greece, the Hellenistic era and imperial Rome, Judaism and the rise of Christianity, the Catholic Church and the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Reformation, and Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, historical materialism, and postmodernism.
This course examines the Orthodox Church within the wider historical trajectory of the Byzantine Empire and the political, economic and social structures of Byzantine society. Particular attention will be given to popular religious expressions and movements both inside and outside of the official Church.
An intensive study of the Greek-American presence and experience in the New World from the time of Columbus to the present. This course covers the basic landmarks of the Greek evolution in the New World, with special reference to education, politics, the arts, and Church development in our century.
This course introduces students to the extraordinary richness and breadth of artistic achievement in Byzantium. Representative examples of Byzantine art and architecture will be examined on multiple levels: aesthetic, historical, religious, and social. The course will approach these forms of artistic expression in an integrated manner, in keeping with the Byzantine view that they are inextricably linked and equally worthy manifestations of the relationship between the human and the divine.
This course provides a narrative of Byzantine history from Constantine the Great (306‐337) to the fall of Constantinople in 1453, while also exploring the Byzantine legacy after the fall of the New Rome. While the political history of Byzantium will serve as the main framework for the course, students will regularly consider the social, economic, and cultural life of the civilization, as well as its interaction with and influence upon other states, societies, and cultures.
The course will consider male and female monasticism as a way of life, its development in concrete historical context, and its impact on social, cultural, and political developments in the Orthodox world.
An in‐depth examination of select topics in the history of the Greek people from the fall of Constantinople to the founding of the Modern Greek state. 62
The History of Modern Greece course provides a survey of Greek history from independence to recent times. While the course follows a chronological approach centered on political events, it also addresses economic development, cultural change, social transformation, and rival ideologies. Topics covered in the course include the Greek War of Independence, the Greek monarchy, the Megali Idea, Venizelism, the Balkan Wars, World War I, World War II, the Civil War, Reconstruction, PASOK, EU membership, and the Greek diaspora. Drawing on the analysis of both secondary and primary sources, students will explore broad themes, such as the relationship between reform and crisis, ethnicity and empire, and Orthodoxy and nationalism.
