164 courses with the subject HST, 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.
HST 101History of the United States to the Civil War1.0
Course Political, economic, and social developments in the colonial and early national periods. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course This course explores the history of Africa from the beginnings of humanity through the period of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. In it, we will examine political, social, economic and cultural changes in Africa, with particular focus on the relationships between local communities and the political elites who sought to rule them. This perspective will enable us to focus on the social dynamics of African communities and the daily activities of ordinary Africans, as well as on the political intrigues and roles of kings, chiefs, and merchants. CC: LCC, SOCS
Course This course is a survey of the African continent from 1800 to present. In this course, we will examine the political, social, economic and cultural changes in Africa during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Focus will be on key themes that span much of African history during this period including: slavery and the slave trade, European conquest and African resistance, the expansion of world religions (Islam and Christianity) in Africa, colonialism, the growth of nationalism, decolonization and the emergence of independent postcolonial states, and the challenges facing contemporary African states related to political instability and economic development. Given the enormous breadth and diversity of Africa, this course explores these themes by focusing on certain case study regions and countries, such as Francophone West Africa, Nigeria, the Congo region (Zaire), the East African coast and Arabic-speaking North Africa. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR
Course Sustainability. You now find the word just about everywhere. For more than a few people it has become the defining mission of their generation, an existential challenge that must be met for the survival of humanity. This is a course in thematic global history that explores the concept of sustainability from an historical perspective. Sustainability is not a new thing in human history or just a consequence of our environmentally-challenged present. Sustainability is part of our cultural inheritance with deep roots in the histories of Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Africa. Also, sustainability is not simply synonymous with environmentalism or climate change. It has always encompassed social realities like power, trade and commerce, cultural identities, human relationships to science and technology, and much more. Sustainability is a history of the societies we create and the values that define them, for good or ill. Ultimately, the history of sustainability is an opportunity to reflect on the nature of our humanity and the ideals that empower a just future. We will explore sustainability's history through primary texts, analyses of the concept across time and space, the study of sustainability challenges - successes and failures - in past societies, and contemporary realties faced by peoples across the globe, whether in the megacities of China and Latin America or the urban gardens of Detroit and the green housing cooperatives of Berlin. CC: LCC, SOCS, GCHF ISP: ENS
Course An examination of the United States in the turbulent period from 1815-1845, surveying the second party system, various utopian and reform movements, the cult of domesticity, and other wrenching transformations instigated by the market revolution. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course An examination of the causes of the deepening sectional crisis; the political, economic, and social reasons for Southern secession; the move toward emancipation as a Northern war aim; the impact of the war on women and men, with special attention to geographic location, race, and class; and the experience of Reconstruction in the South. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course The years between the end of World War I and the beginning of World War II witnessed not only a dramatic contrast between the prosperity of the 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s, but also a fundamental reordering of America's political system forged during Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. This course will examine the crisis and transformation of the American economy and political system during the 1920s and 1930s, and their impact on Americans of all walks of life. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course This class examines period dress as a foundation of the designer's creation of costumes for the stage. We will be analyzing cultural influences of the exterior world, the psychology of dress, period movement, and the expression of self through choice of dress. Required study sessions will develop investigative methodology through hands-on work with vintage clothing and textiles. Throughout the term in-depth writing will be expected of the student to expand their understanding of the topic of historic dress as presented through the medium of professional research papers. Cross-Listed: ATH-123 CC: SOCS
HST 123Postwar America and the Origins of the Cold War1.0
Course The stand-off between the United States and the Soviet Union permeated the politics and culture of the United States from the end of the Second World War through the early 1960s. This course will explore the origins of the Cold War, the terms on which it was fought, and the degree to which it imposed a political and cultural "consensus" on the United States. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS, REE
HST 124Monuments, Museums, and Movies: Introduction to Public History1.0
Course This course will provide an overview of public history, defined as the presentation of history to a general public audience. Students will learn the theory, methods, and practice of public history in its various dimensions, including museums, monuments, historic sites, and films; they will explore the controversies that emerge in public history settings, including the battle over the Enola Gay, the Holocaust Museum, and commemorations of September 11th; and they will engage in a public history project in the Schenectady area. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course A study of the breakdown of political and cultural consensus between 1956 and 1974. We will examine the degree to which counter-cultural and racial politics of the period successfully challenged the dominant political culture on issues of war, race, and gender. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
HST 126Since Yesterday: United States History, 1974-20001.0
Course If the United States "came apart" in the 1960s, did it come back together in the 1970s and 1980s, or something else? This course looks at the emergence of new social movements (e.g., the women's and environmentalist movements), the rise of the "new right," the Reagan "revolution" in domestic policy, and American foreign policy from the fall of Saigon to the collapse of the Soviet Bloc. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS
Course Jews arrived in Britain's American colonies in 1654. In the space of 350 years their numbers increased dramatically and they made significant contributions to a plethora of areas in American society. Jews and Judaism also experienced significant changes through the encounter with the United States. But for all the gains in status and achievement, there are those who speak of a problematic future for American Jewry. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS,
Course What does U.S. history look like if we consider it a Latin American nation? This course explores the history of El Norte through the eyes of border-crossing, indigenous communities, Spanish settlers in the South and West, and the Latin American and Caribbean immigrant populations that have made their homes across the country since its founding. We end with a particular focus on Latin American and Latinx communities in 21st-century New York. CC: SOCS ISP: AFR, AMS, GSW, LAS
Course An exploration of the past from the big bang to the present, dividing the history of the universe, earth, life, and humanity into periods using very large scales of time. CC: SOCS, GCHF ISP: ENS, STS
Course This class takes you on a journey through the global medieval world examining connections and comparisons among societies across political boundaries and geographies, boundaries of language and religion, and at the intersection of various economic systems. Over a period of 1000 years, we will explore peoples of Mesoamerica, North and sub-Saharan Africa, the Mediterranean basin, western and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent (and Indian Ocean), East Asia and Oceania. CC: SOCS ISP: AFR, AIS, REL
Course This course will survey major themes in modern European history, including: the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution; the French Revolution; the Russian Revolution and Soviet Communism; and the National Socialist Revolution, World War II, and the Holocaust. CC: SOCS ISP: REE
Course Authoritarian movements in Europe and Asia during the Depression decade, the origins of World War II, the alliance against the Axis, the consequences of the war, and the emergence of new social and political structures during the postwar era. CC: SOCS ISP: REE
Course This course will cover World War I, at the time called the "Great War," beginning before 1914 with the run-up to war and ending after the war, including the postwar settlement, the early period of the Russian Revolution, and the origins of fascism in Italy and Germany. This is an international history, including the conflict on the western and eastern fronts as well as conditions on the home fronts of the various countries. The course lectures and readings will be accompanied by several films. CC: SOCS ISP: REE
HST 171Europe, Africa, and the Americas in the Era of Columbus1.0
Course A study of the relationship of Spain and Portugal with Africa, Asia, and the Americas from the early fifteenth through the late eighteenth centuries. The course examines the early civilizations of Africa, Europe, and the Americas in the era before the voyage of Columbus and the interaction among these three worlds in the centuries after the Encounter. It concludes with an examination of the cultural legacy of Africa and Europe on the indigenous societies of the Americas and the subsequent development of multicultural and multiracial independent nations. The central role of gender relations between the civilizations, the gendered conflict that characterized the era of exploration, and the role of masculinity are all examined. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: GSWS, LAS, REL
HST 172Reform and Revolution in Latin America and the Caribbean1.0
Course Examines the political and social changes in Latin America as a result of the nineteenth and twentieth century reform and revolutionary movements, including the Unidad Popular government in Chile under Salvador Allende and its overthrow by General Pinochet and the subsequent dictatorial rule. The effect of the 1959 Cuban Revolution on Latin America; the revolutionary uprisings in Central America, in Chiapas, Mexico, and against the military government of Argentina form other key areas of examination. The course places special emphasis on the intersection of gender, race and class conflicts and movements, with particular attention to the role of emerging feminist movements. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR, GSW, LAS
HST 173History of the Caribbean and Central America1.0
Course This course covers the history of the Caribbean and Central America from pre-colonial times to the present. It includes a survey of the impact of both extinct and enduring indigenous cultures, the rivalries among Spanish, Dutch, French, and British powers for control of the Caribbean, and the history of slavery, the plantation system, rebellions and revolutions against enslavement, colonialism, and modern imperialism. The course ends with the early 21st-century struggles for self-determinism among the nations of the region. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR, LAS
HST 181Confucians and Conquerors: East Asian Traditions1.0
Course An overview of the traditional civilizations of China, Japan, and Korea, focusing on the emergence and development of ideologies, institutions, and social patterns up to 1800. Special emphasis on fostering an appreciation for the richness and complexity of each individual society. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS
HST 182Rebels, Reds, and Regular Folks: The Turbulent History of Modern Asia1.0
Course An analytical overview of the major themes and historical processes that shaped China, Japan, and Korea from the nineteenth century to the present. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS
Course This course examines the history of Africa since 1950 with an emphasis on politics and culture. Through readings of novels, memoirs and historical accounts, combined with lectures, discussions and films, this course will explore the last fifty years of African history. Much of the course will focus on case studies in such countries or regions as West Africa, East Africa, the Congo, Nigeria, Algeria and Egypt. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR
HST 209Race, Gender, and Nationalism in American Sports1.0
Course This course examines the development and the history of US sports from the 19th through the 21st centuries with special focus on sports' bond with nationalism, race, and gender. Modern sports cannot escape its association with US emergence in international affairs at the end of the 19th century. Intertwined with the process of establishing national identity were muscular Christian notions about masculine prowess and belief in women's natural physical limitations accompanied by a persistent belief in the fundamental superiority of the white race and its obligation to dominate over "inferior" races and cultures. As surely as sport became associated with American identity, nationalism, gender, and race became integral defining characteristics of sport. This course will be driven primarily by reading and discussion. Lectures will be used to supplement and place the readings in historical perspective, but the focus will be on reading, comprehension, and analysis. Students are encouraged to bring a variety of pre-occupations,
HST 212"Remember the Ladies": American Women to 19001.0
Course An examination of changing gender roles from 1600 to 1890. Topics include work, family, civil and legal identity, and the impact of race, class, and geographic location on women's experiences. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS,
HST 229The Adirondacks and American Environmental History1.0
Course The Adirondack region of northern New York Slate has been a proving ground for shifting American attitudes toward the environment, from early colonial (ears of wilderness, to intensive resource exploitation, and to efforts to conserve natural resources and preserve distinctive wilderness areas. This course will examine Adirondack environmental history and place it in the context of broader American environmental history. It will leverage Union College's proximity to the region, and the resources of the Union College Kelly Adirondack Center, to offer students both intellectual and experiential engagement with the history of this distinctive place. CC: SOCS ISP: AMS, ENS,
Course A survey of the civil rights movement, assessing the early campaigns of the 1940s, the development of black grassroots organizations in the 1950s and 1960s, and the impact of black nationalist consciousness in the late 1960s and early 70s. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR, AMS
Course This class examines the history of New Orleans from its founding in 1718 to the present day. The course will proceed chronologically and will focus on the recurring and interrelated themes of Race, Geography, and Culture. In the process we will unravel the extent to which the crescent city is or is not representative of the history of urban America in general. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR, AMS
Course In this course, we will examine the political, social, economic and cultural history of modem France and its empire since 1789. We will explore the history of France within wider transnational and imperial contexts, as well as in its post-colonial era, when immigration and cultural difference have emerged as central issues within France itself. Through lectures, discussions, novels, memoirs, and films, we will seek to understand the history of modern France as both a nation-state and empire. In particular, we will also look at the colonial and post-colonial histories of francophone West and North African countries. CC: SOCS, LCC ISP: AFR
HST 270History of Latin American Popular Culture1.0
Course This course examines the history of Latin America and the Caribbean in the 19th and 20th centuries. Our "texts" for this course are novels, political cartoons, movies, TV shows and music, along with traditional history books. The course seeks to examine the way that Latin American societies have depicted themselves in the popular media, the way that the United States has viewed and absorbed Latin American culture, and the ways that historians have sought to explain the transformations in various countries by examining popular culture. Since Latin American and Caribbean cultures are so closely linked to the United States, and because an increasing number of U.S. citizens are of Latino descent, this course offers valuable insights into the transformations occurring in US culture. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AFR, LAS
Course Mexican civilization from its origins to the present - ancient Maya and Aztec cultures; the Spanish conquest; colonial society; the independence wars; Mexico in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, especially the Mexican Revolution; and current cultural, social, and economic issues, including the Zapatista rebellion, NAFTA, and the changing nature of the borderlands region between Mexico and the USA. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: LAS
Course This is a survey interpretation of Brazilian history from the days of Portuguese expansion to the present, including the contrast between the urban and rural areas, the Atlantic slave trade, slavery and the resistance to it, the plantation system and post-abolition race relations, the destruction of the rainforest, the emergence of democratic structures in modern Brazil, and the rise of Brazil as a 21st century economic powerhouse. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP:
HST 281Samurai to Salarymen: Modern Japanese History1.0
Course Analysis of the social, economic and political changes that have characterized Japan's emergence as a world power from the Meiji restoration to the present. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS
HST 282The Mongols: Terror, Trade and Tolerance1.0
Course This course explores the rise, fall, and memory of the great Mongol empire. Students will read not only about the Mongols themselves, but also about the many cultures and countries that the Mongols conquered, and we will analyze those fraught cross-cultural encounters through primary and secondary source materials. We will also look at how the overwhelmingly negative portrayal of the Mongols has evolved over time, and students will look at the way Genghis Khan is depicted in films and monuments. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS, REE
Course This course explores the phenomenal changes and catastrophic consequences of Mao Zedong's domination of China. Although the bulk of the class focuses on events following the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949 to Mao's death in 1976, we will begin by looking at the China into which Mao was born in 1893 and trace his rise to power. We will also examine the legacy of the Mao years on contemporary Chinese politics and
HST 284Hobbled and Heroic: Women in China and Japan1.0
Course A comparative look at how the societies of China and Japan shaped the various roles assumed by women in these two cultures, as well as the evolution of those roles over time. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS, GSWS
Course This course explores the evolution of the samurai as a caste, their military and family lives, their passions, and their symbolic meaning to Japanese and to others. We will be reading first-hand accounts written by samurai men and women, viewing a number of well-known and lesser-known samurai films, and looking at how the realities of samurai life compare with the many meanings the samurai have acquired over the centuries. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS
Course This course examines the history of the intersection of race, sex and gender in Latin America from the pre-colonial period to the present, especially as evidenced in the changing status of women and the patriarchal order. This history traces the effect of broader societal transformations such as colonialism, imperialism, and economic and political developments on the gender division of labor and the construction of class, race and national identity. Prerequisite(s): Any 100-level or 200-level history course or permission of the instructor. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP:
HST 383The Last Dynasty: The Glory and Fall of the Qing Empire, 1644-19111.0
Course For 250 years, the Qing Dynasty ruled China, but when it fell in the dramatic 1911 Revolution, the entire imperial system fell with it. This course will focus on the enormous social, political, and economic changes that shaped China during the reign of the Manchu dynasty and changed China forever. Prerequisite(s): any 100-level or 200-level history course or permission of the instructor. CC: LCC, SOCS ISP: AIS
Any 100-level or 200-level history course or permission of the instructor. CQ: LCC, SOCS, WAC, WAC-R ISP: LAS
HST 481Seminar in East Asian History: Remembering World War II in Asia1.0
Course World War II was the most destructive conflict of the twentieth century, but many students in America are unfamiliar with the toll it took on Asia and why residual tensions between Japan, China, and Korea remain so real and so raw today. This course examines how the war came about, how it is remembered, and how its complex legacy still affects the region. Prerequisite(s): Any 100-level or 200-level history course or permission of the instructor. CC: LCC, SOCS, WAC, WAC-R ISP: AIS
