39 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 110Introduction to Environmental History3
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 10. In this course, students will receive a broad introduction to the field of environmental history. Important concepts and methods associated with the field will be presented in the context of American history, though the course realizes global inter-connections of themes and material over time. Units in the course will range chronologically from the pre-Columbian world to the modern, industrial United States. Since the early 1970s, the field of environmental history has emerged as an important sub-field of history, or way of analyzing the past. Though practitioners offer different definitions of the field, they agree that at its base level, environmental history is the study of the relationship between humans and their physical environments. This relationship will be explored through dialogues between humans and the natural world over time. Topics include, but not limited to, the role of germs, (for instance, in the colonization of North America); the ways in which human envisioned and molded the natural world (through agriculture, industrialization, and urbanization), and the emergence of conservation and reform movements, including park and land preservation, environmental regulation, and resource management. Grade or P/NC. Offered annually. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 8. This course will examine several thematic topics in Word History throughout the long 20th century. Themes include imperialism, nationalism, ideologies, war and peace, livelihood and identity, immigration and labor migration, de-colonization, the demise of communism, and the realignment of the post-Cold War world. Major turning points include World War I, the rise of totalitarianism, World War II, the Cold War, the rise of the Third World, and the modern tension between McWorld and the local. This survey will examine the history of change and continuity in world cultures and societies, with an emphasis on the responses of the peoples of the world and the dynamic process entailed. Students will learn to think critically about historical events and processes and assess the impact of these upon the peoples of the world today. Grade or P/NC. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 6 (Humanities). A survey of Western traditions and institutions from their beginnings in Egypt and Mesopotamia through Greece, Rome and the Middle Ages. Grade only. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 6 (Humanities). A survey of the European Renaissance, Protestant Reformation, development of the nation state, the Enlightenment, Commercial and Industrial Revolution, the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era. Grade only. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 6 (Humanities). A survey of European traditions and institutions from the fall of Napoleon to the present, stressing the Industrial Revolution, nationalism, imperialism, the rise of totalitarianism, World War II, the Cold War and post-Cold War problems. Grade only. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 8. A survey of China, Korea, and Japan from the pre-modern era to the present. The course analyzes traditional institutions and values and responses to Western imperialism. Topics include Japan’s Meiji Restoration and expansionism, Japanese colonial rule in Korea, traditional China’s collapse and revolutionary movements, World War II, the Korean War, China’s Communist reconstruction and post-communist economy, the continued partition of the Korean Peninsula, North Korean nuclear ambitions, and Japan’s re-emergence as a world power. Grade only. Offered annually. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 9. The history of Greece from the Homeric time of Plato to the Roman Republic. Grade only. Offered alternate years (usually spring semester). Course Registration
This course studies the emergence of the Modern Middle East, focusing on the Ottoman Empire, European empires in the region, and the development of nation-states in the 20th century. Among the topics to be covered will be the emergence of Islam, the inter-laced worlds of Jews, Christians, and Muslims in the Arab world, nationalism and pan-Arabism, the establishment of the state of Israel and the Israel-Palestine conflict, and the Islamic revolution and its aftermath. Grade only. Course Registration
HIST 140History of Medicine, Drugs and Life Sciences3
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 10. This course introduces students to important developments in the history of medicine, drugs and the life sciences, covering the period between antiquity and the present. It examines how past thinkers and world cultures understood the human body and its relationship to its living environment. It pursues how such ideas and relationships changed over time leading to the development of modern medicine and the life sciences. Grade only. Offered annually. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 6 (Humanities). A survey of United States history from prehistoric times to the American Civil War. Special emphasis is placed on political developments and public policy as well as the origins and consequences of slavery and ethnic, cultural, and regional diversity and conflict. Also emphasized is the transformation of social and economic systems. Grade only. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 7. A survey of United States history since the American Civil War with special emphasis on post-Civil War Reconstruction, late 19th-century economic and social developments and 20th-century reform movements. Additionally, foreign policy and the overseas expansion of the U.S. economy receive attention, as do Cold War and post-Cold War developments. Grade only. Offered each semester. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 8. A survey of Latin American history from pre-Columbian times to present including the colonial period, the struggle for independence and the rise of modern Latin American nations. Special emphasis is placed on Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. Grade only. Offered annually. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 5 and GOAL 10. A survey of the significance of the Mississippi River in U.S. history. The course emphasizes the role of the river in Native American life and early European exploration of the Midwest, and the efforts of European powers and the newly created U.S. to control the river. The course also studies the role of the river in economic change, slavery, pre-Civil War immigration, and federal policy. The course will also consider the western theater of the Civil War; the post-war bridging of the river and industrial development along it; and its 20th century flooding, damning, and related controversies. Grade only. Offered summer session when demand warrants. Course Registration
History of the land and people of Minnesota. Emphasis is on social, cultural, economic, and political history of indigenous and immigrant groups in Minnesota during the 19th and 20th centuries. Grade only. Offered when demand warrants. Course Registration
Meets GOAL 6 (Humanities) and GOAL 7. This course will introduce students to African American history. It examines the full breadth of African American history, starting with Africa in the years before the international slave trade and concluding with the Civil Rights movement and more recent developments in the United States. History majors and minors may count this class among their history electives. Grade only. Offered when demand warrants. Course Registration
ENG 111 - College Reading and Writing or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered when demand warrants. Course Registration
HIST 295Sophomore Seminar3
This course introduces students to historical thinking and research skills through an in-depth study of a theme selected by the professor. Themes are variable by semester. The course includes hands-on field and research experiences, along with presentation opportunities in an academic setting. Grade only. Offered annually (usually fall semester). Course Registration
This course explores the history of childhood and youth in the Americas (Latin America, the United States, the Caribbean, and Canada) from roughly 1500 to the present. Organized thematically, the course examines how children and young people experienced and shaped major historical transformations, including encounters between Indigenous peoples and Europeans, colonization, revolution, nation-building, Progressive reform, the post-World War II baby boom, the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and the contemporary era. Across regions and time periods, students analyze age as a social, cultural, and legal category and examine how societies constructed and contested the meanings of “childhood” and “youth.” By centering young people as historical actors, the course highlights how ideas about dependency, innocence, labor, education, and citizenship influenced broader patterns of power, reform, and social change. Students engage with historical scholarship and primary sources to develop comparative perspectives and strengthen their skills in historical analysis and interpretation.
college-level history course. Grade or P/NC. Offered alternate years (usually fall semester). Course Registration
HIST 309Crime and Punishment in Latin American History3
This course examines the history of crime and punishment in Latin America from the colonial period to the present. Using a thematic approach, the course explores how societies defined crime, enforced order, and justified punishment, and how those definitions reflected changing ideas about morality, authority, race, gender, class, and citizenship. Topics may include colonial legal systems, policing and prisons, slavery and coercion, revolution and state formation, urbanization and crime, political violence, and contemporary debates over justice and human rights. Rather than treating crime as simply deviant behavior, the course approaches it as a historical lens for understanding power, social control, and resistance. Students analyze how legal institutions operated in practice, how ordinary people experienced the justice system, and how crime and punishment shaped everyday life as well as broader political change. Through engagement with historical scholarship and primary sources, the course develops students’ ability to interpret evidence, evaluate historical arguments, and think critically about the relationship between law, violence, and society.
HIST 150 - United States History to 1865 , HIST 151 - United States History Since 1865 , or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered when demand warrants. Course Registration
HIST 335The Holocaust3
An historical study and analysis of the Nazi Holocaust from 1933 to 1945. Grade only. Offered every two or three years. Course Registration
HIST 123 - East Asian Civilization and ENG 111 - College Reading and Writing or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered alternate years. Course Registration
HIST 343Modern China3
This course permits in-depth study of the major events and issues in China’s dynamic transformation from the world’s oldest and largest bureaucracy to a revolutionary state and its subsequent evolution to the contemporary political and economic phenomenon we know today. Tracing pre-modern legacies that have helped shape China, the course covers the decline and fall of the Qing dynasty through the creation of Communist China and the unfolding of the post-Mao, so-called “reform era.” The course will also address the lesser-known areas of Tibet and Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as well as Hong Kong and Taiwan. Grade only. Offered alternate years. Course Registration
HIST 150 - United States History to 1865 and HIST 151 - United States History Since 1865 . Grade only. Offered every two or three years. Course Registration
HIST 390Historical Internship3-15
Historical Internship is a specialized class where students enrich their historical education through experiential learning at a historical institution, museum, archive, library, civil, judicial, legislative or public service organization, or a site approved by the Department of History. Students must complete forty hours of work with organization (either in person or remote) for each credit hour.
Instructor permission. P/NC only. Offered when demand warrants.
HIST 397Topics in History3
In-depth study of current topics in society and the historical profession. Grade only. Offered at least once annually. Repeatable as topics change. Course Registration
HIST 120 - Western Civilization to 1500 and HIST 121 - Western Civilization 1500-1815 or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered every two or three years. Course Registration
HIST 412French Revolution and Napoleon3
Intellectual, cultural, economic, and political origins of the French Revolution; a decade of revolution; the Napoleon Era; and the legacy of the revolution. Grade only. Offered every two or three years. Course Registration
HIST 431Social Science/History Teaching Professional Capstone3
History 431 is a “capstone” course taught by a history professor that addresses numerous topics and themes important to aspiring social science/history teachers. The course will cover recent debates about the teaching of American, European, and world history. Additional topics include curriculum development, methods of historical inquiry, the use of primary and secondary sources in the classroom, creating active learning opportunities based on primary sources, the use of technology in student teaching and research, assignment design and evaluation, and the use of local history in Unit Plans. In addition, the course reviews state and national standards in the teaching of the social sciences. Grade only. Course Registration
HIST 122 - Western Civilization 1815 to Present and HIST 151 - United States History Since 1865 or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered spring semester alternate years. Course Registration
HIST 461Latin American Social Revolution3
An analysis of Latin American’s major revolutionary movements of the 20th century and their differing ideologies. Special emphasis on revolutionary movements in Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, and Central America. Grade only. Offered alternate years. Course Registration
HIST 150 - United States History to 1865 and HIST 151 - United States History Since 1865 or instructor permission. Grade only. Offered when demand warrants. Course Registration
