Civil War and Reconstruction, 1850-1877

This course describes and analyzes the causes, character, and consequences of Americas greatest crisis. The time period is from the sectional crisis of the late antebellum period of the 1840s to the end of Reconstruction in 1877. The class will examine the roots of sectional conflict, the course, conduct and consequences of war, and the efforts to reconstruct the nation. The goal will be to understand how and why events happened as they did, whether the fundamental conflicts of the war were solved by Reconstruction, and why the Civil War has occupied such an important place in American history and memory. HA

U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

This course examines the border, or boundary, between Mexico and the U.S. We will seek to connect the borders historical origins with contemporary border issues. The course will examine the forces, policies, people, and events that produced the border as a middle ground of contact, conflict, and accommodation that occurs when two or more cultures come into contact with one another. HA

The American West

An analysis of the American West as both place and processes. Topics include western myths and realities, Native American-Euroamerican relations, environmental, economic, and political transformations, and western social relations. HA

Women in American History to 1900

This course explores the ways in which women in American have experienced and given meaning to their history from 1500-1900. This thematic analysis of the cultural roles and the social realities of American women examines such topics as family and private life, work and the economy, and community and public life. HA

Women in American History Since 1900

This course explores recent U.S. history through the eyes of women. It analyzes how gender roles have changed over time by race, class, and culture. It examines womens experience in the family, religious, political, and social organizations. Topics of interest include the suffrage movement, settlement houses, prohibition, the labor movement, women in war and peace, and modern feminism. HA

American Environmental History

An analysis of the ways in which Americans have interacted with their natural environment over time: population pressures on the land, the impact of the market economy, technology, social structures and social relations involved in the use, exploitation, and conservation of a particular natural resource, and human attitudes toward the environment. HA

The 1960s: Liberation and Reaction

This course covers the social, political, and cultural history of 1960s America. The course examines the political consensus of the 1950s and its breakdown in the 1960s. It also examines the various cultural and social movements of the decade and concludes by analyzing the resurgence of conservatism in the early 1970s. HA

Building a New Europe

This course analyzes the political developments in Europe since World War II. After examining the Cold War, focus shifts to the process of political and economic integration that has created the European Union. Examples are drawn from the leading nation-states on the European continent with a focus of Great Britain. HA

Early Modern Europe, 1600-1815

Modern European civilization in its transformation from religious to more secular and material perpspectives: the birth of political absolutism and constitutionalism; the rise of science and the age of Enlightenment; the first great secular political revolution of modern times, the French Revolution. HA

Ideas in European Society

The history of Europe from the French Revolution to World War I (1789-1914), focusing on the role of ideas in the social and political changes of time, including the rise of industry; the spread of democracy; the development of liberalism, nationalism, socialism, Marxism, imperialism, and national competition leading to war. HA

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