Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences · Courses
HIS
8 courses with the subject HIS, 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.
HIS 100History of Nursing
This course is a social and cultural history of nursing. We will examine the pivotal roles that nurses have played in shaping healthcare, especially for marginalized communities, while also addressing the systemic challenges they face, including sexism, racism, and poor working conditions. We will examine the unionization of nurses as a response to historical marginalization and poor wages and working conditions. We will examine the diverse histories
This introductory course is designed to familiarize students with the concepts, principles, procedures, institutions and conflicts essential to American government and politics. The course is divided into four parts: The first part focuses on the basic features of our constitutional structure: the separation of powers, federalism, checks and balances, and limited government. The second part concentrates on the political inputs: public opinion, political parties, and interest groups. The third deals with the three branches of government: Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. The fourth part focuses on the policy outputs of government, both domestic and foreign. The course will place an emphasis on health policy. In this course, students will be introduced to the core methods of historical research including the close analysis of primary source texts and historiography (the analysis of diverse interpretations of historical events).(3) HIS 115 American Frontier (formerly LAS 278) This course analyzes the concept of the frontier in French, Spanish and English colonial histories and how those merged into the United States frontier. Students will explore the mythological icon of the frontier in American history as well as specific political, environmental, and gender elements of the European, Euro-American and Native American frontiers. Last, students will explore water rights, urbanization, the Dustbowl and other elements of the American West, the region most associated with "the Frontier." (3) HIS 120 Native Americans Through Their Own Eyes (formerly LAS 275) This course addresses Native American history and literature from the perspective of native writers and historians. What are the major issues from their vantage? Has the native concept of “history” and “literature” changed since the advent of literacy? Can only natives write about their communities, and, if so, how does a member of one tribe gain consent to write about another tribe with a different culture? Lastly, what do these writers and historians see as the future of their people? (3) HIS 125 Southwestern American Indian History (formerly LAS 239) In this course, students study various elements of Southwestern Indian culture and history from prehistoric times to the modern era. This is a history rather than an anthropology class, but various elements of Native Southwestern culture and society will be incorporated within the historical narrative. (3) HIS 130 The Indian in American History (formerly LAS 913) This course examines how Native American peoples came to the continent(examined through their own myths and modern anthropological interpretations) and the cultures that developed before 1492.The bulk of the course examines chronological historical interaction between Europeans and natives after 1492 and the way this affected the cultures of both groups. (3)
The course examines the history of areas that came to compose the United States by 1840, using the East Coast, Southwest and Gulf Coast as areas of emphasis. The majority of the course will be devoted to the formation of the "United States of America" along the Atlantic coast and the westward progression of that country across the North American continent. As a class we will examine the major cultures, demographies, military conflicts, and political
The course examines the history of the United States from 1877 to the present. As a class we will examine the major cultures, demographic shifts, military conflicts, and political and religious structures that shaped the United States during that time. The course stresses historical content but, just as important, hones critical thinking skills concerning how we as Americans interpret history. We will utilize a history text but supplement that not only with primary documents that reflect how people of the time felt about the points we discuss, but also secondary articles interpreting historical events from a modern perspective. Since ACPHS emphasizes health care, a large part of our readings and class discussion will focus on health-related topics, such as the effect Spanish flu had on the United States and the world during the WWI era, or how American reaction to the polio epidemic reflects Cold War policies and attitudes. In this course, students will be introduced to the core methods of historical research including the close analysis of primary source texts and historiography (the analysis of diverse interpretations of historical events).(3) HIS 210 Hitler’s Empire (formerly LAS 134) This course examines Germany, Europe and the world as they were shaped or influenced by Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist movement. Among the issues examined: the historical and cultural factors that account for the rise of National Socialism; the extent to which Hitler’s personality shaped National Socialist policy and practice; Nazi racial policies and the Holocaust; the economy of and everyday life in the Third Reich; the foreign policy of National Socialism; the role of the S.S. in the Nazi state and the long-term impact of the National Socialist experience on German and world history. (3) HIS 215 Vietnam War (formerly LAS 891) This course examines America’s most controversial war: its background, course and conclusion; the war on the battlefield and the war at home; and the costs and consequences for both the United States and Vietnam. The course will examine fiction, journalism, historical analysis, political theory, film and popular music. In this course, students will be introduced to the core methods of historical research including the close analysis of primary source texts and historiography (the analysis of diverse interpretations of historical events). Also, students will be introduced to the concepts of causality, necessary and sufficient causes, teleology, historicism, and presentism. (3) HIS 220 Era of the Russian Revolution (formerly LAS 330) This course examines the rise, dominance and decline of Soviet Communism in the 20th century. Students study the economic, political and social conditions that led to revolution; the ideologies that spurred men and women to action; the personalities involved; the nature of the Communist state that resulted; the reaction of the rest of the world; the revolutions of the 1980s and 1990s and the future of Communism. The focus is on careful analysis and discussion of literature, films, music and art – vehicles for understanding communism and Russian life and culture. HIS 225 The American Civil War (formerly LAS 265) This course offers an introduction to the bloodiest war in American history: the Civil War. The course examines the differences that led to the conflict; the social, political and economic characteristics of the North and South; the nature of the war; emancipation and its consequences; conditions on the home front; the Reconstruction era after the war; and how American memory of the war over the past 140 years has helped to define and shape the nation
This course explores the relationships between the United States and such regions of the world as the Caribbean, South America, Africa, East Asia, the Pacific Rim, Europe, and North America. Emphasis is on social, cultural, political, and economic interactions over the past two centuries and in the contemporary world. The goal of the course is to illustrate how the United States has always been part of the world, and, at the same time, how the world has always been part of the United States. (3)
HIS 235Plagues in U.S. History: From Smallpox to COVID-19
The course examines the history of several plagues in U.S. history: the "virgin soil" epidemics of the Americas, the cholera and yellow fever epidemics of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries; the tuberculosis pandemic of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century; the influenza pandemic of 1918-1919; the polio epidemics in the early-to-mid twentieth century, HIV-AIDS from the 1980s to the present, and COVID-19. In this course, we will explore how the British North American Colonies and the United States has dealt with epidemic disease and how epidemic disease has shaped U.S. history and society. The United States has a unique political culture and system of government that has shaped its efforts to combat disease. We will look at physical causes of the diseases, immediate cultural responses, and the way these plagues produced long-lasting effects on local and national cultures, politics, and demographics. We will also examine the public health measures and medical treatments developed to combat these plagues. 3 credits. Corequisites: None. Major Restrictions: None HIS 310 International Relations (formerly LAS 127) This course examines the changing nature of power in world politics since the end of World War II. Topics include the causes of international conflict, the consequences of international economic competition, ecology, human rights and international law, the future of the individual nation-state and regional and global government, global ideologies of the future and the “hot spots” of the world – today and in the near future. Students are required to develop and maintain a working familiarity with current developments around the globe. (3) HIS 315 Modern American Foreign Policy (formerly LAS 131) This course examines the theory and practice of foreign policy as conducted in the United States in the post-World War II/post-Cold War eras. Topics include historical traditions of U.S. foreign relations, the role of the presidency, Congress and non-governmental organizations in making and influencing foreign policy, concepts of national security and national interest, war as an instrument of foreign policy, the constitutional and legal bases of U.S. foreign policy and contemporary problems in U.S. foreign policy. (3) HIS 320 American National Character (formerly LAS 333) In this course we look into some of the works, from Tocqueville’s Democracy in America to Bellah’s Habits of the Heart, in which travelers, novelists and social scientists have tried to describe, explore and explain the uniquely American character. (3)
The course examines the history and literature of four plagues: the bubonic plague, the "virgin soil" epidemics of the Americas, the Spanish flu, and AIDS. We will look at physical causes of the diseases, immediate cultural responses,
This course explores the history of public health and medicine in America from the early colonial period to the present. The course will address the key factors that have contributed to the decline in mortality and rise in life expectancy in the United States. Finally, the course will examine the impact that the United States has had upon public health across the globe. (3); Prerequisite: 3rd year standing or permission of the instructor Health Outcomes and Informatics
