This course examines significant concepts in the letters and sciences, especially around the topics of civilization, progress, and the inequities associated with the rise of modern consumer society. Students will read seminal works and contemporary commentary. The interdisciplinary emphasis invites students to reflect upon the timelessness of these ideas throughout history and in their own life and times. SJE, HA
This course will focus on the Atlantic Ocean and the four continents surrounding it - Africa, South America, Europe, and North America - to compare the connections, discontinuities, and possible trends from the late 1600s to the present. The central part of the course will focus on the systems of race and racism which transformed the Atlantic world. SJE, HA
This course examines the main themes of the European Enlightenment, the conceptual and cultural revolution that transformed Europe between 1680 and 1800. Among the results of this upheaval are the birth of modern science, the development of representative democracy, a series of wars, and the birth of modern commercial society. The Scottish Enlightenment and eighteenth-century America will receive special attention. The principal objective is to understand the birth of the modern mind in the dilemmas and debates of this remarkable era. HA
This course explores topics in early American history from 1492 to the conclusion of the French and Indian War. Areas include European exploration in North America, the Atlantic exchange, free and forced migration, political, religious, and military relationships among American Indians, Europeans, and Africans, patterns of settlement, strategies of cultural adaptation, and the development of a uniquely American culture within the British Empire. HA
This course describes and analyzes the causes, character, and consequences of America's 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.
Courses on topics of interest to history students offered on the basis of need, interest, or timeliness. Restricted to students with freshman or sophomore standing. May be repeated for credit. For specific section description, click to the Section Details in VitNet.
Independent reading and/or research under the guidance of a history faculty member. Refer to the academic policy section for independent study policy. Independent study contract is required. May be repeated for credit.
A study of the development and implementation of the genocide known as the Holocaust. The course considers events in post-WWI Europe, investigates the roles of specific nations during the inter- war period and WWII, and concludes with the liberations of "the camps" and the creation of Israel in 1947-48. HA
The story of civilization in the West from about 1600 to the present, including the Enlightenment; the social, political, and industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries; and the two great wars of the 20th century. Restricted to students with freshman and sophomore standing. HA
This thematic and comparative course surveys broad patterns of human development across cultures, the ways in which civilizations interacted, and recurring processes and problems encountered in global history up to 1500 C.E. Central themes are agricultural revolution, development of global trade networks, and the significance of disease in world history. Students will investigate social, cultural, religious, and political aspects of the different periods covered. Restricted to students with freshman and sophomore standing. HA