HISTORY (HIST)
College of Arts and Sciences, Department of History
John Roach Center for the Liberal Arts (JRC) 413, (651) 962-5730
Ahmadi, Cavert, Hausmann, Nagy, Schrunk, Williard, Zimmerman (Chair)
The Department of History offers a wide variety of courses dealing with the principal periods and topics of American, European, and World history, as well as selected non-European/non-U.S. fields such as East Asia, Latin America, the Atlantic World, and the Middle East.
Courses in the Department of History teach students to investigate how the past produced the ever-changing present, rather than merely presenting a fixed chronicle of prior events. Students practice analyzing evidence from the past in context and using it to explain the sources of our world's possibilities and challenges. As a result, students learn that historical power relations, social conflicts, and intercultural exchanges created the diversity of the contemporary world. By promoting critical thinking, intellectual resourcefulness, interdisciplinary engagement, and intercultural awareness, historical study prepares students to be active and informed citizens of their communities in the world.
Courses at the 100 level introduce students to historical reasoning. The Department’s 100-level courses satisfy the Core Curriculum requirement in Historical Analysis.
The criteria for these courses are as follows:
- Each course is comprehensive rather than narrow in its subject matter. It engages a wide variety of themes, and surveys how they change over time within a broad regional and chronological sweep, in order to understand people and societies separated from us by space and time.
- Each course introduces basic methods of historical inquiry and analysis, including how to evaluate and interpret primary sources, and helps students to develop their skills in analytical writing.
- By investigating the development of structures of power, privilege, and identity— such as race and ethnicity, gender, nationality, religion, and class—each course illuminates the historical origins of contemporary society and culture. The course thus lays a foundation for the 200-level core-flagged course in Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Justice.
- Each course uses interdisciplinary tools to raise awareness of the historical importance of human diversity and intercultural exchange.
- Each course increases students’ knowledge of the history of the modern world and its origins by placing the history of specific regions into global historical context.
The History Department also offers a history major and a minor. Students may pursue the history major by itself or paired with another major or minor to prepare for careers in education, business, law, communications, government, and library, museum, or archival work. The history major also prepares students for graduate work in History or in other history-related academic disciplines. Interested students may also select individual history courses as electives that complement and enhance another major. History pairs especially well with majors or minors in Political Science, International Studies, Education, Justice and Society Studies, Art History, English, Modern and Classical Languages, American Culture and Difference, Communication Studies, Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Museum Studies, Family Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Legal Studies. Students who pursue liberal arts majors like History are also eligible for the Renaissance program.
The history major consists of a combination of 100-, 200-, and 300-level courses and a 400-level capstone seminar. Because the 100-level courses are survey courses, they provide our majors and minors with a broad base of knowledge in a relatively long period of history and in a large geographic area. Students also learn basic critical thinking skills and close reading of primary source materials and secondary texts.
Likewise, the 200-level courses are survey courses, but they are somewhat more narrowly defined and require more in-depth reading and writing assignments than the 100-level courses. Basic critical thinking skills and close reading of primary source materials and secondary texts are reinforced at this level, and students begin to acquire more skills in historical research, evaluating historical evidence, and crafting arguments in support of or against particular interpretations of historical events.
The 300-level history courses focus on a specific historical period or event or particular methodological approaches to doing history. In terms of skill development, these courses ask students not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability.
In the 400-level capstone seminar, students employ the knowledge they have acquired throughout their course of studies and the skills necessary to the discipline of History to research, write, and present a significant research project of their own. The 400-level capstone seminar is required for the history major but is optional for the history minor.
History Honor Society
A campus chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national honor society in history, was established at St. Thomas in 1950. Candidates must have completed at least four courses in history and maintained a GPA of at least 3.1 in their history courses and a GPA of 3.0 overall to qualify.
Major in History
Forty-four credits (11 courses) complete the major, no more than eight credits (2 courses) of which may be at the 100-level and at least sixteen credits (4 courses) of which must be numbered HIST 300 or above.
Transfer students: At least twenty-four (24) of the total credits needed for the history major must be taken at the University of St. Thomas or in a St. Thomas approved study abroad program. 200- and 300-level transfer courses require the approval of the department chair in order to be counted toward the major. The capstone seminar (HIST 463, 464, or 465) must be taken at St. Thomas.
1. Select 8 credits from two of the following areas:
Four credits (1 course) of World History:
- HIST 111 Origins of the Modern World to 1550 (4 credits)
- HIST 112 The History of the Modern World since 1550 (4 credits)
- HIST 115 The World Since 1900 (4 credits)
Four credits (1 course) of Regional History:
- HIST 113 Early America in Global Perspective (4 credits)
- HIST 114 The Modern U.S. in Global Perspective (4 credits)
- HIST 117 Latin America in Global Perspective (4 credits)
- HIST 118 The Middle East and North Africa in Global Perspective (4 credits)
- HIST 119 East Asian Civilizations in Global Perspective (4 credits)
No more than two 100-level History courses may be applied to the major.
2. Select at least four credits from the following courses that have a methodological focus:
- HIST 207 Slavery in the Americas (4 credits)
- HIST 211 Women and Families in the Americas (4 credits)
- HIST 216 African-American History (4 credits)
- HIST 228 Environmental History (4 credits)
- HIST 231 Empires and Nations of the Middle East (4 credits)
- HIST 263 United States Military History (4 credits)
- HIST 266 Topics in Minnesota History (4 credits)
3. Select at least four credits from each of the following areas:
Ancient and Medieval World:
- HIST 203 Ancient Egypt and the Near East (4 credits)
- HIST 205 The Ancient Greek World (4 credits)
- HIST 208 History of the Roman World (4 credits)
- HIST 209 Historical Archaeology (4 credits)
- HIST 310 The Making of Europe: Middle Ages to 1000 (4 credits)
- HIST 311 The Dawn of a New Era: Europe from 1000 to 1450 (4 credits)
Europe since 1450:
- HIST 222 Early Modern Europe, 1450-1750 (4 credits)
- HIST 223 Survey of Irish History: Celtic Ireland to 1972 (4 credits)
- HIST 225 The Making of Modern Europe, 1750 to 1914 (4 credits)
- HIST 226 Modern Europe since 1914 (4 credits)
- HIST 227 Global History of Genocide 1900- (4 credits)
- HIST 291 Topics in European History (4 credits)
- HIST 322 Tudor and Stuart Britain, 1485-1714 (4 credits)
- HIST 333 East-Central Europe: From Monarchy to the European Union (4 credits)
- HIST 335 Nazi Germany and the Holocaust (4 credits)
- HIST 336 History of the Soviet Union (4 credits)
- HIST 337 History of the First World War (4 credits)
- HIST 394 Topics in European History (4 credit)
American History:
- HIST 262 American Colonial History (4 credits)
- HIST 264 History of Medicine and Health Care (4 credits)
- HIST 292 Topics in U.S. History (4 credits)
- HIST 353 History of the American Revolution (4 credits)
- HIST 355 The Civil War Era (4 credits)
- HIST 358 Twentieth-Century United States (4 credits)
- HIST 365 U.S. Constitutional History (4 credits)
- HIST 396 Topics in History of the Americas (4 credits)
History of Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East:
- HIST 240 Foundations of Chinese Civilization (4 credits)
- HIST 241 The History of Modern China (4 credits)
- HIST 244 Modern East Asia (4 credits)
- HIST 293 Topics in History of Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East (4 credits)
- HIST 303 History of Modern Brazil (4 credits)
- HIST 309 History of Urban Latin America (4 credits)
- HIST 349 History of the Ottoman Empire (1300-1922) (4 credits)
- HIST 375 Non-State Actors in the Islamic World (4 credits)
- HIST 395: Topics in History of Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East (4 credits)
At least twelve credits (3 courses) must be numbered HIST 300-399 or above. A student may choose to take a second capstone seminar to complete four credits (1 course) of this requirement, but this should only be done in consultation with his/her major advisor.
4. Plus:
- HIST 466 Capstone Seminar in History (4 credits)
Minor in History
- Twenty credits (5 courses) in history
- no more than eight credits of which may be at the HIST 100-level
- and at least four credits of which must be numbered HIST 300 or above.
- Selection of the specific courses to fulfill the requirements should be done in consultation with a member of the department faculty.
Transfer students: At least twelve credits (3 courses) of the total needed for the history minor must be taken at the University of St. Thomas or in a St. Thomas approved study abroad program. 200- and 300-level transfer courses require the approval of the department chair in order to be counted toward the minor.
Certificate in the Study of War and Society
College of Arts and Sciences, Interdisciplinary Program
Scholars across disciplines have devised unique methods to study the causes of war and the consequences of violence on societies. This curriculum invites undergraduates from diverse backgrounds to rigorously study issues surrounding human conflict and global security. Students who earn this certificate may apply it toward graduate studies, government careers, teaching, non-profit work, and many other professions. The curriculum is grounded in the social sciences and humanities, inviting interdisciplinary learning to fully appreciate the consequences of conflict on subjects like technology, medicine, ethics, culture, activism, and public policy.
Students must take a total of three courses (12 credits) from the following to earn the certificate. No more than two courses (8 credits) are allowed from one academic discipline.
- HIST 263: U.S. Military History
- HIST 355: Civil War Era*
- HIST 263: U.S. Military History
- HIST 335: Nazi Germany and the Holocaust*
- HIST 337 First World War
- HIST 353: American Revolution*
- HIST 375 Non-state Actors in the Islamic World*
- POLS 328: International Security**
- POLS 320: American Foreign Policy**
*Prerequisite of one 100-level history course
**Prerequisite of POLS 225 World Politics
ROTC cadets may count up to four (4) credits of Aerospace Studies coursework, drawn from the following:
- AERO 421: National Security & Leadership Responsibility I
- AERO 422: National Security & Leadership Responsibility II
Military veterans and reservists may also receive four (4) credits of academic credit toward this certificate for prior military education. This will be done in consultation with the Director of the Veterans Resource Center.
Teacher Licensure
Co-major in Social Studies (5-12) and a Co-major in Secondary Education
See Education
History Undergraduate Courses
Course Number | Title | Credits | |
---|---|---|---|
HIST 111 | Origins: Mod World to 1550 | 4 | |
Description of course Origins: Mod World to 1550 : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course examines the development of and interconnections between religious, legal, economic, social, and political institutions around the world. It considers the rise and fall of various civilizations, the peaceful and destructive interactions between and within different societies, and the lasting impacts of the pre-modern world. | ||
HIST 112 | Hist Mod World Since 1550 | 4 | |
Description of course Hist Mod World Since 1550 : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course surveys the foundation and expansion of global networks from the sixteenth-century exploration to the contemporary world, and it examines the resulting breakthrough in communication and cultural exchanges between Europe and Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Key aspects of the modern world are explored, such as state power and citizenship, economic systems and human labor, ideas about belonging and community, and the relationships and activities that constitute daily life. | ||
HIST 113 | Early Am/Global Perspective | 4 | |
Description of course Early Am/Global Perspective : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course surveys the social, political, cultural, and economic history of North America in global context, from the European-American encounter through the aftermath of the U.S. Civil War. It examines relations among Native Americans, Africans, Europeans, and their descendants. Major themes include: empires and colonization, race and slavery, the American Revolution, nation building, territorial expansion, the origins of American capitalism and democracy, sectionalism, and the Civil War. | ||
HIST 114 | Mod Us/Global Perspective | 4 | |
Description of course Mod Us/Global Perspective : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. The course introduces students to social, political, cultural, and economic developments from the American Civil War to the present day. It not only traces how ideas and lived experiences within each of those categories of historical analysis changed over time, but also shows how developments in each realm of American life shaped the others. It pays special attention to how American politics, institutions, and cultural norms emerged from—and produced—a changing role for the United States in its global context. It also interrogates how efforts to define American identity have both provided the terrain for inclusion and been used to justify the exclusion of various people, including racial, ethnic, and immigrant groups, people of different genders and sexual identities, and people of diverse religious and political beliefs. | ||
HIST 115 | The World Since 1900 | 4 | |
Description of course The World Since 1900 : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course examines the origin, development, reception, alteration, and rejection of various ideologies—including, but not limited to, nationalism, imperialism, communism, liberalism, fascism and Nazism—and the political, social, economic, and cultural changes that they produced. Through a close examination of the twentieth century, students gain appreciation for the intricate nature of power and dependency that characterizes the modern world. | ||
HIST 117 | Latin Am/Global Perspective | 4 | |
Description of course Latin Am/Global Perspective : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course surveys the social, political, and economic history of Latin America in global context from the Independence movements to the present. Major topics include: democracy and dictatorship, economic development and dependence, slavery and race relations, political revolution, urban and rural societies, migration, militarism, the Church and the struggle for social justice. | ||
HIST 118 | Middle East and North Africa | 4 | |
Description of course Middle East and North Africa : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze historical evidence in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course introduces students to the history and cultures of the Middle East and North Africa, focusing on the region's interaction with global powers. With special attention placed on global developments and local responses, the course will highlight the origins and expansion of Islamic empires, modern interactions with the West through imperialism and oil concessions, responses to this interaction from nationalist, secularist, and Islamist movements, and the issues these responses generate in the present day, including questions of ethnic conflict and religious pluralism. | ||
HIST 119 | East Asian Civilizations | 4 | |
Description of course East Asian Civilizations : | Introduces students to historical reasoning. Students learn to analyze evidence from the past in context in order to explain how the past produced the ever-changing present. This course will look at the history of East Asia in regional and global contexts. Students will build a foundation by learning about the formative era of Chinese history in the first millennium BCE, focusing on the creation of Confucianism and the imperial system. They will follow East Asia’s emergence as a distinct historical region comprising China, Korea, and Japan, and the ties these countries maintained among themselves and with the rest of Asia. As they enter the early modern era, students will focus on connections between East Asia and the world, such as the silver economy. The class will conclude by looking at East Asia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, with a special emphasis on global historical themes of colonialism and industrialization. Through this class, students will learn to analyze changes and continuities over long periods of time. They will also learn to frame historical events in their local specificity as well as in their common humanity. | ||
HIST 203 | Ancient Egypt and Near East | 4 | |
Description of course Ancient Egypt and Near East : | A historical, comparative survey of the origins and diversity of human societies in northeastern Africa (Egypt, Nubia) and western Asia (Anatolia, Levant, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Persia), from the earliest organized political and religious communities to the Arab conquest (8000 B.C. to A.D. 750). Historical processes of special emphasis will include: transition to agriculture; urbanization; state and empire building; emergence of major religious traditions; migrations and cultural crosscurrents. Topics will be explored taking into account the latest textual and archaeological evidence. The course should provide historical understanding of the current ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity in the region. | ||
HIST 205 | The Ancient Greek World | 4 | |
Description of course The Ancient Greek World : | This course is a study of ancient Greek social structures, political processes, culture, beliefs, and moral values, from the Mycenaean society in the Bronze Age to the Hellenistic world of Alexander's legacy. The objective is to learn about major social, political, economic, and cultural change over time in the Greek world, with regard to the wider context of the surrounding cultures. We examine textual and material evidence in order to learn about the nature, value, and explication of primary sources and about historical, archaeological and anthropological methods of inquiry and analysis. Overall, we seek to understand the historic roots of modern issues and the relevance of past experiences, while keeping abreast of recent research and current scholarly debate. | ||
HIST 207 | Slavery in the Americas | 4 | |
Description of course Slavery in the Americas : | By examining slave societies in Brazil, Cuba, and the United States, this course considers the commonalities and differences in African slavery across the Americas during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We trace the history of slavery and society through such topics as the Atlantic Trade, plantation v. urban labor, family life, religion and culture, gender, resistance and rebellion, and post-emancipation race relations. Throughout the course, we consider how geographic location and social norms created parallel but distinct systems of slavery. Moreover, we will focus on the sources and methods employed for analyzing those groups that typically lack a historical voice. Focusing on the historiography of slavery, students will gain experience in effectively using evidence to develop an argument, thinking comparatively as a way to analyze information, and learning how to assess or evaluate arguments made by scholars. By the end of the course, students will recognize both the historical conditions of slavery in the Americas and the scholarly treatment of the subject. | ||
HIST 208 | History of the Roman World | 4 | |
Description of course History of the Roman World : | From Britain to Africa and from Spain to Iran, the Roman Empire seemingly united diverse peoples and cultures. All roads led to Rome, the City - Urbs, a cosmopolitan and overcrowded metropolis. In this course we study written records and material remains from the beginnings of Rome in the eight century BCE to the late Empire in the fourth century of our era. We follow political, social, economic, and cultural changes over time, examining a variety of evidence and voices and keeping abreast of current problematic areas and scholarly debate. The Roman material is supplemented with comparative evidence from non-Roman societies within and bordering the Empire, as we account for the relevance of past experiences to our current issues. | ||
HIST 209 | Historical Archeology | 4 | |
Description of course Historical Archeology : | The course deals with archaeological methods, theories and interpretations in discovering, reconstructing, and understanding past societies worldwide. As we address specific thematic units and case studies, we learn how archaeological evidence and interdisciplinary research reveal human responses and adaptations to their environments and climate change. Archaeology generally deals with material remains and is the primary discipline that systematically studies societies and time periods that lack written documents. Historical archaeology combines the methods of archaeology with analysis of written and oral sources. This holistic approach builds our knowledge of the human past, enables critical reappraisal of the interconnection between cultural and environmental change and accounts for the relevance of past experiences to our current issues. | ||
HIST 211 | Women/Families in the Americas | 4 | |
Description of course Women/Families in the Americas : | This course examines how seemingly impersonal forces are historically associated with personal changes for women and the family across the Americas. We will analyze how women and the family intersected with the economy, politics, and society. A comparative approach allows for consideration of national circumstances and social norms regarding race, ethnicity, and class. Examining the history or women and the family throughout the Americas also highlights similarities and differences within the reciprocal relationship between private lives and public policy. Topics include working women and the family economy, slavery, political rights and protective legislature, social movements, youth culture and immigration. Understanding the history of women and the family helps explain current contentions over women’s roles and modern family structure. | ||
HIST 216 | African-American History | 4 | |
Description of course African-American History : | An introductory social history survey of African-American experience in global perspective. This course will cover developments from the beginnings of the trans-Atlantic slave trade through the present. Topics include: West African cultures; origins of the international slave trade; African American life in the colonies and during the Revolution; development of slavery in global comparative perspective; resistance to slavery; and the role of African Americans in the Civil War and Reconstruction eras; Jim Crow culture and its challengers; migration; changes during the depression and WWII; black nationalism and independent Africa; the freedom movements of the North and South; and the post civil rights era. | ||
HIST 222 | Early Modern Europe: 1450-1750 | 4 | |
Description of course Early Modern Europe: 1450-1750 : | Political, religious, and cultural development of the early modern Europe: Late Renaissance; Religious Reformations; Age of Discovery and the rise of the Atlantic Economy; State building in Early Modern Europe; the New Science. | ||
HIST 223 | Irish Hist Survey: Celtic-1972 | 4 | |
Description of course Irish Hist Survey: Celtic-1972 : | As a survey of Irish History, the course covers early Irish history and society, the Viking and Norman invasions, and special attention is given to the early modern period and the origins of Ulster during the Tudor-Stuart Period in English History. In the 18th century the origins of Irish nationalism and the Rising of 1798 is highlighted. In the 19th century the course covers Catholic Emancipation, the Great Famine and emigration and the movement for Home Rule. Twentieth century Ireland includes the creation of the Irish Free State and the history of contemporary Ireland to the present. | ||
HIST 225 | Making of Mod Europe 1750-1914 | 4 | |
Description of course Making of Mod Europe 1750-1914 : | This course is a close examination of the cultural, social, economic, and political development of Europe from the Age of Enlightenment to the outbreak of WWI. The course will investigate Europe's transformation from pre-modern to modern and the continent's rise to hegemony throughout a very long nineteenth century. Topics include, but are not limited to, Enlightenment and enlightened absolutism, French Revolution, liberalism, Napoleonic Wars, nationalism and the rise of the nation-state, 1848 revolutions, origins of Communism, Crimean War, Colonialism, and the unification of Italy and Germany. | ||
HIST 226 | Modern Europe since 1914 | 4 | |
Description of course Modern Europe since 1914 : | This course is a close examination of twentieth century European history or, as some historians refer to it, the "short twentieth century" of the "dark continent." It follows the cultural, social, economic, and political development of Europe through wars and reconstruction. Topics include, but are not limited to, imperial and national rivalry, WW I and its aftermath, Russian Revolution, Fascism and Nazism, WW II and its aftermath, Cold War and the division of Europe, 1989, and the emergence of the European Union. | ||
HIST 227 | Global History Genocide 1900- | 4 | |
Description of course Global History Genocide 1900- : | The course surveys some of the most heinous mass murders that took place during the twentieth century: 1) The Herero and Nama in German South Africa 2) Armenian Genocide 3) Stalin’s Genocides 4) The Holocaust 5) Mass Killing in Cambodia 6) Rwandan Genocide 7) Ethnic Cleansing in Yugoslavia. The class will critically examine the concepts and terms associated with mass murder. Through careful reading of primary and secondary literature students will investigate why, under what circumstances and by whom these acts were carried out. Students will also seek to understand the responsibilities and responses of local, national, and international communities regarding mass killing. Finally, the course will depict the different ways that we remember these events and commemorate their victims. Prerequisite: One 100-level History course or permission of instructor. | ||
HIST 228 | Environmental History | 4 | |
Description of course Environmental History : | Humans are part of nature, and yet they have always changed and manipulated it. This course examines the entangled story of human/nature interactions, from the early history of our species up into the twenty-first century. Doing this draws on a range of methods, tools, and skills, including archaeology and anthropology, physical sciences like geology and biology, and the close reading of texts and objects as developed in humanistic disciplines like English, philosophy, and history. Key topics may include the co-evolution of people and other species; the ways that world religions have understood nature; the global mingling of people, plants, animals, and microbes after 1492; responses to pollution and toxicity in the modern world; and the development and politicization of climate science in the 20th-21st centuries. | ||
HIST 231 | Empires & Nations Middle East | 4 | |
Description of course Empires & Nations Middle East : | Since Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798, Europeans and Middle Easterners have been writing modern histories of the Islamic world. The colonizer and the colonized, however, asked fundamentally different historical questions. In this course students will learn about the methods of studying Middle Eastern history, or the techniques of analyzing primary sources to piece together an argument about the past, as well as the ways in which the privilege and historical context of researchers inflect their scholarship. By focusing on the methodologies that scholars engage in order to study the Middle East, like Marxist analysis, gender theory, microhistory, or postcolonialism, students learn about trends within the discipline of History, as well. | ||
HIST 240 | Found. of Chinese Civilization | 4 | |
Description of course Found. of Chinese Civilization : | This course introduces students to the formation and evolution of fundamental elements of Chinese civilization to about 1800. Topics include: major Chinese thought, Confucianism, Taoism and Legalism with special emphasis on how Confucianism became a prevailing influence on Chinese government, family and society; the development of the Chinese imperial government including the Civil Service Examination; the flourishing of Buddhism in a Confucian China; Chinese written characters, calligraphy and poetry; the cosmopolitan T'ang dynasty; the T'ang-Sung commercial transformation; the Mongol rule in China; and the state and society before encountering Western expansion. | ||
HIST 241 | History of Modern China | 4 | |
Description of course History of Modern China : | This course studies the impact of Imperialism on Chinese state and society and China's subsequent transformation from about 1800 to the 1980s. Topics include: early Chinese and Western contacts; the Canton System; the Opium War and unequal treaties; China's reforms and domestic tensions - the Taiping Rebellion, the Boxer Uprising and the 1911 Revolution; the May Fourth cultural iconoclasm; Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalist government; the Sino-Japanese War; the nature of Mao Zedong's Communism; the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution; Deng Xiaoping, revisionism and the democratic crackdown. | ||
HIST 243 | Individual Study | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Individual Study : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 244 | Modern East Asia | 4 | |
Description of course Modern East Asia : | In this course, we will read about and discuss the development of "modern" societies in China, Korea, and Japan from early modern times to the present. We will focus on problems such as empire, historical memory, and the formation of modern nation-states. Readings include memoirs and other personal writings as historical texts, as a way to understand the times. | ||
HIST 262 | American Colonial History | 4 | |
Description of course American Colonial History : | An examination of several aspects of colonial history including the European background to colonization, and the political, economic and social development of British North American colonies to the end of the Seven Years War. | ||
HIST 263 | United States Military History | 4 | |
Description of course United States Military History : | This course provides and overview of the military history of the United States from its revolutionary origins to its contemporary challenges. It examines the composition and employment of the United States military as a product of the larger political and cultural aims of American society while also paying attention to the reciprocal effect that wars have on the societies that engage in them. Special attention will be devoted to the human experience of warfare as an ethical, social, and intellectual problem. | ||
HIST 264 | Hist of Medicine & Health Care | 4 | |
Description of course Hist of Medicine & Health Care : | This course explores how people have thought about bodies, illness, and medical treatment over the last several centuries, both in the American context and in other parts of the world. Although the geographic and temporal coverage of this course might vary depending on the instructor’s expertise, we will investigate the history of several different medical epistemologies before narrowing in on the gradually developed hegemony that allopathic or Western medicine came to hold within the United States and Europe. In the American context, we will inquire about indigenous concepts of health and healing, pandemics and disease during the colonial era, the proliferation of medical disciplines during the nineteenth century, and the professionalization and privatization of health care in the twentieth and twenty first centuries that give rise to the disparities in access and outcomes that we see today. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 266 | Topics in Minnesota History | 4 | |
Description of course Topics in Minnesota History : | This course enables students to become historians of the community around them. Students will learn the techniques of local history by studying how Minnesotans participated in and responded to major moments of historical change. Specific course topics will vary, but they will be designed to foster in-depth research in local archives and to support collaboration with community resources such as the Minnesota History Center. Students will be encouraged to make their research findings accessible to the broader Twin Cities community through opportunities such as local conference presentations, collaborative exhibits, and building digital projects such as podcasts and websites. | ||
HIST 269 | Research | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Research : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 291 | Topics: European History | 4 | |
Description of course Topics: European History : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in European history. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. | ||
HIST 292 | Topics: U.S. History | 4 | |
Description of course Topics: U.S. History : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in U.S. history. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. | ||
HIST 293 | Topics: Africa, Asia, LA, ME | 4 | |
Description of course Topics: Africa, Asia, LA, ME : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in the history of Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Middle East. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. | ||
HIST 295 | Topics | 2 | |
Description of course Topics : | The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year, but will not duplicate existing courses. Descriptions of these courses are available in the Searchable Class Schedule on Murphy Online, View Searchable Class Schedule | ||
HIST 297 | Topics | 4 | |
Description of course Topics : | The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year, but will not duplicate existing courses. Descriptions of these courses are available in the Searchable Class Schedule on Murphy Online, View Searchable Class Schedule | ||
HIST 298 | Topics | 4 | |
Description of course Topics : | The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year, but will not duplicate existing courses. Descriptions of these courses are available in the Searchable Class Schedule, View Searchable Class Schedule | ||
HIST 303 | The History of Modern Brazil | 4 | |
Description of course The History of Modern Brazil : | This course surveys the history of modern Brazil from 1800-2000. Two centuries after independence, Brazil continues to straddle the first and third worlds. It has one the world’s largest economies and diverse populations and yet is also characterized by one of the worst distributions of wealth, political corruption and social marginalization. The course is divided by political regime and topics include the enduring importance of Brazil’s agricultural economies, slavery and abolition, transition from Empire to Republic, industrialization and urbanization, paternalism and patriarchy, immigration, ethnicity and race relations, religion, geographic diversity, regionalism and inequality. Primary and secondary research assignments are focused on the construction of national identity in order to formulate a historically sensitive appreciation of the complexity of Brazilian society. Exploring the major themes of Brazilian history, the course helps students understand current economic, political and social contradictions. Prerequisite: one 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 309 | History of Urban Latin America | 4 | |
Description of course History of Urban Latin America : | This course examines the causes and consequences of urban development in Latin America, where two of the ten largest cities in the world are located. Beginning with the colonial city that served as a political and religious center, the course explores the evolution of the Latin American city through nation-state formation, twentieth-century modernization projects, and up to contemporary megacities. The course considers the history of urbanization in Latin America as both an official project and a lived experience. Major themes such as market development, class conflict, labor and workers’ movements, migrations, gendered spaces, public health and social control, built environments, and urban culture are considered in a comparative framework. Prerequisites: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 310 | Europe: Middle Ages to 1000 | 4 | |
Description of course Europe: Middle Ages to 1000 : | Origins of the middles ages: the late Roman Empire; Germanic migrations and settlements; the Frankish Dynasties of the Merovingians and Carolingians; Anglo-Saxon England; development of the early Medieval Papacy and Western Church. Recovery of Byzantine Empire; Islamic World under Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 311 | Europe from 1000 to 1450 | 4 | |
Description of course Europe from 1000 to 1450 : | Rebirth of Europe in the high and late Middle Ages: the Feudal Revolution; the world of knights and chivalry; the emergence of Western Monarchies; the Crusades; the Renaissance of the 12th Century; the rise of Medieval Christendom in the 13th century: papacy; mendicant orders; universities; heresy; Inquisition. Political and economic crises of the 14th century. Ecclesiastical crises of the later middle ages. Recovery and renaissance in the 15th century. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 322 | Tudor and Stuart Britain | 4 | |
Description of course Tudor and Stuart Britain : | England from the accession of the Tudor dynasty down to the Glorious Revolution. Modernization of English society and government. The English Reformation. Anglicanism. The Elizabethan period. Puritanism. Crown and Parliament in Tudor and Early Stuart times. Civil War, Revolution and Restoration. The Revolution of 1688. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 333 | East-Centr Eur Monarchy to EU | 4 | |
Description of course East-Centr Eur Monarchy to EU : | This course is an examination of the history of East-Central Europe from 1848 to 2010. The subject of our study is one of the most fascinating places one can learn about. The "other Europe," as some people refer to it, is a multiethnic and multicultural region with a turbulent history. The geographical focus of our course will be Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and the former Yugoslavia. The course allows students to gain knowledge of the region's history and culture. It promises to be a captivating ride, for the "land between" often served as a laboratory for the various ideological and political movements of the nineteenth and twentieth century (liberalism, nationalism, fascism, socialism/communism, capitalism etc.). Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 335 | Nazi Germany and the Holocaust | 4 | |
Description of course Nazi Germany and the Holocaust : | This course examines the origins of modern anti-Semitism, the rise of the Nazi Party and the subsequent radicalization of its racial policy from persecution to genocide. The course conceptualizes the Holocaust in the European/global framework-beyond Germans and Jews. It investigates the relationship between the various segments of the continent’s population and complexities of such concepts as collaboration and resistance. Finally, it examines the legacy, influence, and contemporary understanding of the Holocaust. Prerequisite: One 100-level HIST course | ||
HIST 336 | History of the Soviet Union | 4 | |
Description of course History of the Soviet Union : | This course examines the history of the Soviet Union from its outset to its collapse. During the semester students engage with topics related to the “Soviet experiment” that transformed the world’s largest country in every aspect. Topics include, but certainly not limited to: origins of the Soviet ideology; the Bolshevik Revolution and the subsequent Civil War; Leninism; the Stalinist Revolution and the Great Purge; the Great Patriotic War; de-Stalinization, the Soviet Union and the Cold War in its global perspective; everyday history of the Soviet Union; collapse of the system; and the emergence of post-Soviet Russia. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 337 | History of the First World War | 4 | |
Description of course History of the First World War : | This course examines one of the most monumental and influential events of the twentieth century: The First World War (1914-1918). Itseeks to move beyond the trenches to investigate various issues that relate tothe war that was supposed to end all wars,includingthe complex origins of the war,the experiences of front-soldiers and those of the home front,the difficulty of the peace treaties that followed,the impacts of the conflict on the (geo-) political, social and intellectual landscapeandits legacy and its commemoration. Prerequisites: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 340 | The Long Emancipation | 4 | |
Description of course The Long Emancipation : | The African American freedom struggle occupies a critical place in the history of the United States. From roughly 1800, as the United States consolidated the meanings and limits of the American Revolution, to 1900, when emancipation’s promise dwindled during the nadir of American race relations, emancipation took on many valences. In this course, we will approach the relationship between slavery, freedom, and citizenship as a dynamic interplay between large-scale changes and lived experiences. To do so, we will explore questions about emancipation’s causes, course, and outcomes from multiple perspectives. Rather than celebrating or denigrating emancipation, this course will instead interrogate it to pose questions about its social, legal, and human consequences. In addition to its content-specific goals, this course also engages the process of reading, writing, and thinking about history. We will discuss how to identify historical questions in published works and how to pose our own, the nature of historical argumentation, and ways to discover and interpret various types of historical evidence. We will pay particular attention to the relationship between enslaved persons and the archive, both by studying how historians have worked with available sources and by choosing sources of our own to interpret. Prerequisite: One 100-level History course or instructor permission | ||
HIST 349 | History of Ottoman Empire | 4 | |
Description of course History of Ottoman Empire : | This course is a survey of the history of the Ottomans from its origins as a small medieval principality in Asia Minor to a major global power in the sixteenth century, and to its eventual disintegration by the end of World War I. The course will concentrate on the main political, social and cultural institutions of the Ottoman society, and how these changed over time. It will also introduce students to some of the major themes and recent trends in Ottoman historiography, including debates on the origins and decline of the Ottomans, the issue of Ottomans' legacy for the successor states, as well as the growing research on the formerly underrepresented groups such as women, minorities, etc. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 353 | Hist of American Revolution | 4 | |
Description of course Hist of American Revolution : | A study of the American Revolutionary Period from the end of the Seven Years' War through the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Emphasis will be placed on the changes wrought by the Revolution in American society, politics and constitutional arrangements. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 355 | Civil War Era | 4 | |
Description of course Civil War Era : | The American Civil War was a pivotal event, followed by incomplete efforts at changing the shape of the nation through Reconstruction. The causes of the war, its conduct on both sides, and the consequences of this "War of Rebellion," including Reconstruction, form the three parts of this course. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 358 | 20th Century U.S. | 4 | |
Description of course 20th Century U.S. : | An intensive study of 20th-century United States domestic history, with emphasis on social change and social thought. Topics include: reform movements, industrialization, urbanization, the economy, the homefront, consumer culture, suburbanization, liberation movements, and deindustrialization. Prerequisite: one 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 365 | U.S. Constitutional History | 4 | |
Description of course U.S. Constitutional History : | The origins and evolution of the American constitutional system from the colonial period to the present. Students explore the constitutional system created by Americans, and the way in which this system and its corresponding institutions have articulated Americans' constantly changing perception of the proper relationship between the people and their government. Prerequisite: One 100-level history course | ||
HIST 375 | Non-State Actors Islamic World | 4 | |
Description of course Non-State Actors Islamic World : | As the Ottoman and Qajar empires showed signs of collapse in the late nineteenth century, Middle Eastern and North African intellectuals eagerly adopted western systems of finance, education, and governance. In fact, some burgeoning nation-states even copied, word-for-word, European constitutions. By the mid-twentieth century, however, despots ruled the Middle East and North Africa. The two questions that animate this course are: (1) Why do we see autocracies, and destructive non-state actors, dominating the Islamic world? (2) What role do non-state actors play in producing volatility or maintaining stability? Students address these complex questions for an understanding of the region’s conflicts and the role of the international community in resolving (or exacerbating) humanitarian crises. Prerequisites: One 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 389 | Research | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Research : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 393 | Individual Study | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Individual Study : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 394 | Topics in European History | 0 TO 4 | |
Description of course Topics in European History : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in European history. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. Prerequisite: one 100-level history course | ||
HIST 395 | Topics:Africa/Asia/Lat/MidEast | 0 TO 4 | |
Description of course Topics:Africa/Asia/Lat/MidEast : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in the history of the Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence,to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. Prerequisite: one 100-level history course | ||
HIST 396 | Topics History of the Americas | 0 TO 4 | |
Description of course Topics History of the Americas : | The subject matter of this course will vary from year to year and will focus on a specific historical period or event and/or particular methodological approach(es) to doing history. It will not duplicate existing courses in the history of the Americas. Students will be asked not only to employ evidence in support of historical interpretations but also to think critically about the relationship between varying types of evidence, to engage in prevalent debates within fields of historical scholarship, and to evaluate historical questions themselves for their utility and manageability. Prerequisite: one 100-level history course. | ||
HIST 398 | History Internships | 4 | |
Description of course History Internships : | Students in this course will be placed in apprenticeships in private businesses, public agencies or nonprofit historical agencies and museums. The apprenticeship will require 10 hours per week and a weekly seminar session. Prerequisite: one history course or consent of the instructor. | ||
HIST 400 | History Signature Work | 2 | |
Description of course History Signature Work : | This course is intended to give History majors and those in related fields an opportunity to reflect on their academic career and plan for future career paths. Focusing on Historical fields, methods, and applied skills, students will synthesize the integrative experience of their HIST Major and liberal arts education. History faculty will discuss the opportunities and challenges in their respective fields as well as how these subfields address issues in the contemporary social, political, and economic landscapes students face upon graduation. With support from Career Services, students will also critically analyze Historical methods and their application to future paths as professionals and global citizens. Finally, class workshops will provide students with guidance and time to develop an interdisciplinary portfolio of work and accompanying integrative essay reflecting on the strengths of their History degree and liberal arts training at UST, which may provide the foundation for career and graduate school preparations. Prerequisites: Completion of at least two 300-level HIST courses and 80 completed credits, or permission of the instructor | ||
HIST 466 | Capstone Seminar in History | 4 | |
Description of course Capstone Seminar in History : | History seminars involve students (primarily, though not exclusively, majors and minors) with the methodological and historiographical dimensions of research in the seminar's topic. Students in the seminar will complete and present to other members of the class a significant research project. This course fulfills the Writing in the Disciplines requirement. Prerequisites: at least two 300-level History courses completed before registration for this seminar. | ||
HIST 489 | Topics | 4 | |
Description of course Topics : | The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year, but will not duplicate existing courses. Descriptions of these courses are available in the Searchable Class Schedule on Murphy Online, View Searchable Class Schedule | ||
HIST 490 | Topics | 4 | |
Description of course Topics : | The subject matter of these courses will vary from year to year, but will not duplicate existing courses. Descriptions of these courses are available in the Searchable Class Schedule on Murphy Online, View Searchable Class Schedule | ||
HIST 491 | Research | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Research : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 495 | Individual Study | 2 OR 4 | |
Description of course Individual Study : | No description is available. | ||
HIST 498 | Individual Study | 4 | |
Description of course Individual Study : | No description is available. |