51 courses with the subject HI, 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.
HI 101Introduction to History and Methods3
Providing a foundation for concepts and skills to students interested in learning about college-level History, this course aims to answer three fundamental questions: what is history, why study history, and how do historians write about the past? Students will explore theories of History, survey different forms of Historical writing, develop critical reading skills, analyze primary and secondary sources, practice research and writing techniques, and survey the professional opportunities open to those who have an understanding of History. The course is open to anyone interested in History, not just History majors.
HI 109Introduction to American History, 1900-Present3
A broad overview of the major historical events of 20th-century American History, examining such topics as the Progressive Era, the New Deal and the welfare state, World War I, World War II, the Cold War, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, political and social change since 1945, and the development of contemporary popular culture.
An introductory study of major historical issues such as American in- volvement in two world wars, the development and effects of the Cold War, and the causes and consequences of American entry into the Korean and Vietnam wars. Other areas examined are the evolu- tion of Federal social welfare policies, the rise of the Civil Rights movement, and the continuing quest for social justice spawned by the movement, and the splintering of political and social consensus since 1960.
This course explores the past by studying the aspirations and struggles of a broad mix of people and relating their lives to the social and cul- tural diversity of the American experience. Biography will also be used to enhance the understanding of major historical themes.
Examines the history of Europe from the fall of the Western Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance through an analysis of the Byzantine Empire and its Western European political and cultural rivals. The lingering influence of the Roman tradition, the rise of Christendom, Church schism, social transformation through feudal- ism, and the shift of political, economic, and cultural perceptions of Europe from East to West are explored.
Advanced study of Nazi Germany and Europe during the period of the Second World War. The historical and ideological origins of German fascism, the rise of the National Socialist Party, the collapse of the Weimar Republic, as well as the Nazi regime, institutions, and state policies are examined. Germany’s diplomacy, war effort, occu- pation policies, and defeat are analyzed within the context of Nazi ideological goals and the international conflict in Europe.
The social, intellectual, and cultural forces that shaped American so- ciety from the colonial period to the formation of the new nation. Topics will include the causes of the Revolution, the debate over in- dependence, the war itself, the Confederation, and the Constitution.
This course analyzes changing social mores and values between 1960 and 1974. Particular attention is given to the New Frontier, the Civil Rights Movement, the Great Society and the War on Poverty, the Women’s Movement, and the rise of a youth and counterculture. Additional emphasis is placed on American military intervention in the Vietnam War and the resulting backlash, the Nixon presidency, Watergate, and the unraveling of political and social consensus.
Examines the exploration, conquest, and settlement of the American West between 1800 and the present. Special attention is given to ethnic diversity, cooperation, and conflict, and the role that the West plays as part of a national myth.
This course examines the history of the Eastern Roman Empire from its emergence in the third century to its collapse with the fall of Con- stantinople in 1453. The central theme is the contribution of the Classical Greco-Roman tradition and Christian thought to the devel- opment of medieval Christendom and its lasting influences on the contemporary world. Topics include the formulation of Christian or- thodoxy, iconoclasm, relations with Western Europe, the Great Schism, the conversion of the Slavic populations of Eastern Europe, the emergence of imperial Russia, and Byzantium’s centuries-long internal and external struggles for survival.
This course examines the history of Renaissance humanism and ex- plores its connections to the modern world. Through primary and secondary sources and the dynamic medium of film, students will study the emergence and flowering of Renaissance humanism, par- ticularly in Florence, and examine its influence on modernism. As an age defined by revolutionary developments in art, education, reli- gion, politics, and economics, this vibrant period in history will be studied using an interdisciplinary approach with a particular emphasis on art, literature, and religion. The course will also consider the unique contributions as well as limitations film provides in under- standing history.
This course examines the dynamic role sports have played in society from the ancient world to the present with special emphasis given to the modern American sports experience. Far from being mere recre- ational diversions, sports have reflected as well as influenced social, cultural, and political dimensions of the human experience through- out time. Through primary and secondary sources students will trace important developments in the practice of sports and will analyze their intersection with such themes as religion, nationalism, race, gender, class, urbanization, and economics. The course will also in- troduce students to some of the great moments in modern sports his- tory. HI 330, 440, 450 Advanced Study (3) Required for majors who will pursue independent study at an ad- vanced level. Under faculty supervision, students will engage in a re- search project and an intense guided reading program. In consulta- tion with a faculty member, the student will develop a contract to be filed in the offices of the Dean and Registrar.
HI 283Conflict and Crisis in Modern American History3
Coupled with HI 114 and designed for lower classmen students, this course is multi-purposed. One, it intends to assist students in the de- velopment of basic academic skills in reading, writing, and thinking critically. Two, by taking both a chronological and a relational ap- proach to significant issues and events in American history from 1900 to the present, it aims to provide students with a general understand- ing of modern American history (narrative and analysis will be used in tandem to engage students in course material). And three, it seeks to enhance student retention by encouraging individual academic success.
This course explores the many roles and contributions of women in American history beginning with the Gilded Age and ending in the post-feminist contemporary period. Among the topics that will be discussed, students will examine women’s critical contributions to such important historical movements as Suffrage, Temperance, Set- tlement House, Progressivism, and the Feminist Movement itself. The course will conclude with an examination on how individual- ism, material culture, and self-interest have transformed feminism be- tween 1980 and the present and with reflection about other changes in the place that women now occupy in American society.
This course explores the unique roles and contributions made by women during the Middle Ages, an age that profoundly altered west- ern civilization. Although operating in a society bounded in many ways by traditional roles, creative and powerful women provided sig- nificant contributions in the areas of religion, politics, literature, and business which helped to shape this pivotal period in history. This course explores these accomplishments as well as the larger medieval society in which these talented women operated. Topics include Matilda of Tuscany, Eleanor of Aquitaine, Blanche of Castile, Marie de France, Catherine of Sienna, and Joan of Arc.
This course explores how the United States has become the most ethnically diverse nation in the world through a process that has forced the country continually to accommodate various ethnic groups who have often been viewed as unassimilable and thereby to broaden the meaning of the American identity. Beginning with Supreme Court decision in the Plessy v. Ferguson case of 1896, students will explore how a racially divided society has transformed itself while also continuing to experience lingering economic and social problems for African Americans and for other ethnic groups arriving in later periods of immigration.
This course explores chivalry and its lasting legacy in the Western experience. The central focus is to understand the martial, aristo- cratic, and religious influences that came together during the central Middle Ages to form this unique way of life among a particular social class. A combination of primary and secondary sources are used to examine the degree to which the ideals of chivalry were practiced in real life and what led to the eventual decline of this cultural world. Topics include the medieval knight, tournaments, crusades, and courtly love.
HI 333Sectionalism, Civil War, and Reconstruction3
A study of the political, economic, and social forces which contrib- uted to American sectionalism and the Civil War; examines Recon- struction and its consequences.
HI 336America: Transformation and Reaction, 1920-19453
This course explores the sweeping cultural, political, and social changes that occurred in American society from the 1920s through the Great Depression of the 1930s, concluding with the World War II period.
This course emphasizes the major ideological conflicts engendered by nationalism, fascism, and communism to identify the central currents shaping the European experience in the twentieth century. Attention is given to the destruction of the European Old Order through the First World War, the Russian Revolution, interwar instability, the rise of authoritarianism, the tumult of the Second World War, the division of the continent in the Cold War, the collapse of the East Bloc and Soviet systems, and the process of European integration in the postwar period.
A survey of the history of the region now known as New York State from its earliest habitation by native Americans through its Dutch and English colonial heritage to its development as a distinctive state in a new nation, a commercial link between the East and the West- ern Frontier, and a world cosmopolitan center. Attention is given to New York’s recent experience; to important personalities and issues which have shaped its commercial, artistic, and political image; and to encounters among Native Americans, European, and West African cultures in the context of New York history.
Considers the ethnic minorities (African-Americans, Hispanic-Amer- icans, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans) as well as white eth- nic groups in relation to their history, values, and characteristics; problems of assimilation and racism; and the effects of ethnic identifi- cation on politics, society, and the schools in America and New York State.
HI 340From Berlin to Baghdad: America, 1980 to the Present3
Covering the period between the Reagan and Obama presidencies, this course examines the rise of cultural and political conservatism, the waning of liberalism and the welfare state, technological change, immigration, the globalization of the American economy and social policy, war in the Middle East, terrorism, and economic crises.
A study that uses significant literary works to explore the major ideas and values of Western thought and to examine how those ideas and values have shaped institutions, ideologies, and technology and in- spired the quest for civil rights and social justice in modern society.
HI 349Disease & History: Pathogens, Parasites, & Pandemics3
An interdisciplinary approach to the study of social, political, economic, and cultural changes that have taken place throughout history in re- sponse to plagues and pandemics. Topics include the Great Plague of Athens, the Antonine Plagues of the 2nd-3rd centuries, Justinian’s Plague, the Black Death, the great smallpox pandemic in the Americas, the influenza pandemic of 1918, and the AIDS pandemic in modern Africa.
A global survey that examines the cultural, political, and social forces that have shaped the patterns of human diet and the role that food has played in the course of history. Particular attention is paid to culi- nary exchange, integration, and modification. Related topics include the causes and impact of famine and disease, the interplay of religion and food, and the relationships between diet and culturally driven f views of the body.
This course examines the origins, implementation, and aftermath of the Holocaust which remains as one of the most horrific events in recorded human history. The systematic murder of millions by one of Western civilization’s most sophisticated nations was a radical break from the notion of the inevitability of progress; some of the el- ements of modernity that we consider vital to our own civilization were instrumental in implementing the Holocaust. Topics covered include racial anti-Semitism, the Nazi state, the creation and admin- istration of concentration camps, survival testimony, the Nuremberg Trials, and remembrance of the Holocaust and its victims.
The African-American Experience explores the history of America’s oldest minority, excepting the Indians. It includes a study of their "roots," their struggle for existence during slavery, and their contin- ued striving for full and equal representation in America, including 115
Study introduces students to the cultural diversity of the North American Indians. Indian-White relations will be examined with em- phasis on cultural conflict, adaptation, and change. Historical, socio- logical, psychological, and economic factors will be used to investi- gate contemporary Indian problems.
Diplomacy (3) In examining the historical debate surrounding American foreign policy issues since 1890, this course provides students with various frames of reference for evaluating American diplomacy, past and pre- sent. The impact of the policy-making process, group interests, and values on decision-making will be explored. (See PO 443.)
HI 444American Social Thought: Continuity and Change3
Examines ideologies that have shaped the moral systems, attitudes, and values of the typical American and shows how these views have influenced popular reaction to social concerns and issues. Ideas that have persisted and factors that have brought about changes will also be analyzed.
This course explores the questions of what is war, what are its causes, why do societies make the decision to go to war, and what impact in turn does war have upon the individual and upon society itself. Be- ginning with an exploration of the origins of war in the prehistoric era, the course ponders these developments using selected topics in European and American history and incorporating an interdiscipli- nary approach that considers the social, psychological, technological, political, ideological, and ethical dimensions of war.
A survey history of the Middle East since the Early Modern Period. Through an exploration emphasizing the growth and decline of the Ottoman Empire, this course analyzes Islamic ideas and institutions as the foundations for state and social organization, cultural patterns of continuity and change, the origins and record of Great Power in- volvement in the region, the rise of Arab and other nationalist move- ments, and the emergence of successor states in the 19th and 20th centuries.
This course examines the major political, economic, cultural, and so- cial developments underlying the emergence of modern China and Japan. Examination of imperial decline and fragmentation, in the case of China, and the rise of a centralized nationalist state, in the case o Japan, before the Second World War, are followed by the subsequent emergence of unitary communist authoritarianism and capitalist modernism, respectively.
Examines the political, economic, and social problems faced by de- veloping nations of Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East in the 20th century. Topics to be discussed include colonialism, na- tionalism, communism, social conflict, population pressures, and the impact of technology.
A study of the political, cultural, economic, and social development of the peoples and states of Central and South America from pre-Co- lumbian times to the present. Examination of civilizational forms in ancient America is followed by a review of European conquest, pat- terns of social and ethnic transformation, liberation movements, the establishment of nation-states, political progress, decline through de- pendence and neo-colonialism, and trends toward democratization. Advanced, Applied, & Special Topics
This course is designed to give students an opportunity to develop & apply history-related marketable skills such as editing, archival and record management, preparation of documentaries, docudramas, ex- hibits and radio broadcasts, preservation (park services), genealogy, museology, oral history, and corporate research. Depending on stu- dent interest, several of these aspects will be developed using campus and off-campus facilities. Implicit in the practice of public history is strong ability in writing and research. Course may be taken on an in- dividual or small-group basis with permission of the Division Direc- tor and is open to upper level History majors and concentrators.
No grade below a C is accepted for credit toward the History minor. Summary of Requirements: Humanities Humanities Core (24 semester hours): 1. HU 252 Topics in Humanities 3 cr. 2. HU 362 Readings in Humanities 3 cr. 3. HU 472 Writing & Research in
The internship in history provides students with a supervised experi- ence in public history in order to broaden and deepen their under- standing of the historical profession. Students typically are eligible to undertake an internship in their junior or senior year. Prior coordi- nation with and approval from the academic advisor or program co- ordinator are required.
No grade below a C is accepted for credit toward the History major. The B.A. in History provides students with a solid foundation in his- torical studies while also allowing them to explore across the Univer- sity curriculum through free electives. Alternatively, these free elec- tives may be organized in a more focused manner, enabling students to complete a minor or even a second major in another academic field. History may also be selected as an area of emphasis by students pur- suing a major in the social sciences. Consult Social Sciences section for the complete degree requirements. Summary of Requirements: History with Preparation for Childhood Education 30 semester hours in History including one History course each in the Classical and Medieval/Renaissance time periods (6); American History (6); European History (3); non-Western regional studies (3); Seminar (3); 9 semester hours in History electives, chosen under program ad- visement.
