* Please Note: All HIS courses fulfill the Social Change in Historical Perspective. Only additional Liberal Learning requirements are listed below.
Region, pre-modern, and liberal learning are currently being updated on this site.
History Education Courses
HED 390: Methods Teaching Secondary School Social Studies
Selecting and organizing content, materials, and activities consistent with current educational goals. Focus on handling of controversial issues, current affairs, developing critical thinking; evaluating progress in understanding and skills.
Co-requisite: This course must be completed concurrently with SED 399 and SPE 323.
HED 490: Student Teaching
Candidates will be assigned to work in public schools under the supervision of approved teachers. Faculty from the college will visit and observe on seven different occasions.
Prerequisite: Senior standing; 2.75 GPA overall; completion of all other professional courses required for certification.
Co-requisite: This course must be completed concurrently with SED 498.
Gateway Courses in History
HIS 100: Topics – Ancient/Medieval World
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with Ancient history or Medieval European history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
HIS 107: Jews, Christians, and Muslims
This course examines of the interaction of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim peoples and politics in the West from the development of the Jesus movement within the milieu of 1st-century Judaism, through the rise of Islam, and down to the post-French Revolutionary religious settlement.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
HIS 108/CLS 108: Late Antiquity
This course traces the breakdown of Mediterranean unity and the emergence of the multicultural-religious world of the 5th to 10th centuries as the European, West Asian, and North African hinterlands interact.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
HIS 109: Ancient Egypt and Neighbors
This course surveys of the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Phoenicia, Assyria, and Persia. The course will focus on critical elements such as religion, writing and literature, agriculture and trade, weaponry and warfare, government, and advances in knowledge. Special attention will be given to the role of archaeology in understanding ancient history.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
HIS 111/CLS 111: Rome and the Barbarians
This course is the first installment of a two-course sequence. HIS 111 examines western Eurasia and the Mediterranean from the third to the ninth century C.E. Topics include the “fall” of Rome; the impact of contacts between Roman and “Barbarian” populations (Huns, Vandals, Goths, etc.); Barbarian society and culture; artistic developments; relations among Christians, Jews, Muslims, and Pagans.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
This course is the second installment of a two-course sequence. HIS 112 examines the transformation of western Eurasia and the Mediterranean in the ninth through 13th centuries C.E. Topics include the evolution of European social, political, religious, and cultural institutions; artistic developments; the Vikings; Crusades; the rise of the university
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
HIS 113: Medieval Saints and Sinners
This course investigates the transformation of Christian culture and institutions, in western Eurasia and the Mediterranean, from the sixth century C.E. to the end of the Middle Ages. Topics include the growth of papal power; relations between church and state; Christian relations with non-Christian populations; the cult of saints; the Crusades; and mysticism. Attention is given to Christianity’s impact on marginal groups such as the poor, women, children, Jews, and homosexuals.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | — |
This course examines the changing situations of European women from late Antiquity to the Renaissance, a period when Europe changed from a unified, polytheistic society which focused on the Mediterranean. Then transformed to a group of incipient nation-states, overwhelmingly Christian, characterized by a rise in urbanism, by looser social bonds, and the need to respond to the challenges presented by Islam in the Middle East. This course also explores how the social, political, and legal structures that evolved in this period affected European women’s lives and relations between the sexes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | Gender |
The course examines European history from the 15th through the 18th centuries. Cultural and social history are emphasized.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Global |
This course examines “The Long 19th Century” from 1789-1914. This course provides special emphasis on the development of nationalism, capitalism, socialism, and imperialism.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 119: Topics – 20th Century Europe
This course explores issues in European history from the fin-de-siècle period, through both World Wars and into the present-day. We will discuss how Europeans, broadly conceived, experienced two world wars, depression, civil wars, Fascism, Communism, Reconstruction, Decolonization, and the complex social and cultural changes that occurred throughout the century. Some of the questions we will ask are: What similarities exist between the Eastern and Western European historical experience in the 20th century? What fissures divide them still and why? And what is the viability of a supranational entity like the European Union in an era of resurgent nationalism?
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | No | — |
HIS 120: Topics – Modern Europe
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance regarding Early Modern or Modern European history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 130: Topics – Asia/Eurasia/Middle East
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance regarding Eurasia and the Middle East. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depending on topic | — |
This course provides the history of China from its origin until the 17th century.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | Global |
HIS 135: Civilization of India
This course discusses the historical development of South Asia from the third millennium B.C.E. to the 10th century C.E.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Yes | Global |
HIS 138: Lands Below the Winds – Southeast Asia
This course surveys the history of Southeast Asia from the period shortly before the arrival of Europeans to the present. The course will consider both regional and national issues.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Global |
HIS 141: Topics – Modern Iranian Film and History
This course examines aspects of Iranian culture in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as manifested in film and literature, with special attention to the aesthetics of the visual and verbal mediums of communication. Depictions of life in contemporary Iran in carefully selected short and feature films, and texts provide a gateway to more general discussions about Iran’s political system, social structures and cultural specificity, including familial, social, artistic and political cultures.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| – | No | — |
HIS 149: Topics – History of Russian Film
This course provides understanding of the richness of Russian cinema, including its innovations that have become critical for modern world film, such as vertical montage, and will demonstrate appreciation for the leading filmmakers, landmark films, and aesthetic trends in the history of Russian film. Special attention will be paid to the geniuses of Russian film, including Eisenstein and Tarkovsky, as well as films that had a significant impact on the development of the broader canvas of Russian culture. Students will develop critical analysis skills to evaluate films as cinematographic and cultural texts. No knowledge of Russian is required, although students with Russian-language expertise can opt to take the course for LAC credit.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| – | No | — |
HIS 150: Topics – Africa/Latin America
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with African or Latin American history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depending on topic | — |
This course explores the ways that African novelists, musicians, and filmmakers have memorialized Africa’s past. In the films of Mweze Ngangura, in the songs of Lomwe plantation workers, in the creative writing of African novelists, students will learn how trained artists and ordinary people alike use the arts to think through history. How art comments on political relations in the present is also an enduring theme.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 158: Colonial Latin America
This course spans from the Spanish and Portuguese conquests of the 16th century through to the achievement of Latin American independence in the early 19th century.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
This course concisely surveys Indian, Mexico and the Spanish legacy followed by an intensive study of Mexico’s quest for independence—political, economic, and cultural—with particular attention to the Revolution of 1910–1920.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 165: Topics – North America/United States
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with North America and the United States. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 166: North American Encounters
This course recounts and analyzes the patterns of interaction among the Spanish, English, French, and Dutch colonists and the native peoples of North America from first contact to independence.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 167: United States – Indian/White Relations
The course introduces the patterns of Indian-European interaction followed by a more comprehensive survey of the relations between the Indians and the rising United States.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 168: America’s Moving Frontier
This course introduces you to the historical study of frontiers and of the North American West as a place that shifted over time. After all, in 1800, “the West” meant Ohio, which raises the question: Is the American West best understood as a fixed geographical place or as the frontier process itself? What effect has the frontier had on American culture and history more generally? And how can we make sense of the messy historical realities produced by different cultures coming into contact? We will read some classic works by historians, including Frederick Jackson Turner’s frontier thesis, and a number of primary sources, including the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville and Mark Twain and the works of American artists. We will look at the encounters of Native Americans and Euro-Americans, the expansion of slavery, women and men on the overland trails, the lives of Black Hawk and Daniel Boone, the role of water, and the lives of bandits, miners, and prostitutes. Along the way, you will be introduced not only to interesting slices of American history, but also to different ways of understanding the past, including the study of gender, space, social history, and cultural history.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
This course surveys the European (primarily Spanish, English, and French) colonization of North America with a special emphasis on the concatenation of Indian, African, and European cultures from Columbus through the various wars of independence.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 173: 19th Century United States
This course examines the history of the United States between 1815 and 1896. Topics covered will include the growth of industry and wage labor, changing patterns of family life and gender roles, the rise of mass-based political parties, the collision between North and South that resulted in civil war, and the unfulfilled promise of emancipation.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
This course discusses the evolution of technological development and change in America from the pre-industrial society of the colonial era to the “technological society” of the present. The course studies the impact of American cultural values and ideas on the history of technology, and the role that technology has had in shaping life in the United States.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 177: 20th Century United States
This course offers an overview of the United States in the 20th century. It examines the social and economic forces that define America culture and politics, as well as the nation’s increasing engagement with the wider world.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Global |
HIS 178: History of New Jersey
This course surveys New Jersey history from the first settlement to the present, covering the development of political and cultural institutions as well as the growth of agriculture and industry.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 179/AAS205: African-Americans to 1865
This course examines African-American history from the great empires of West Africa to the Civil War. The course uses African slavery to explore the nuances of America’s economic, cultural, ideological, and political development.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 180/AAS206: African-Americans 1865 to Present
This course examines African-American history from the end of the Civil War to the present. The course explores the nuances of economic, cultural, ideological, and political transformation in the United States through the African American struggle to define gender roles, build viable institutions, negotiate difference, eradicate oppression, and securing the rights of citizenship.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
This course explores the forms in which Americans have received, manipulated and created meanings in the increasingly complicated cultural environment they inhabit; “texts” under consideration will include the works of high, mass and popular culture, as well as theoretical works on the study of cultural history. A significant goal of the course is equipping students with the tools they need to decode the cultural messages that surround them, to make the familiar world of culture strange by applying the methods of historical analysis.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
This course examines the changing urban pattern in the United States. The increasing influence of the city on the social, political, and cultural life of the nation.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 187: Topics – World History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with world history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depending on topic | — |
HIS 188: Environmental History
This course offers the thematic assessment of human interaction with nature over time. Comparative case studies will examine differing land-use practices and the intensifying environmental pressures of the 20th century.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
HIS 190/AAS282/US Race Relations
History of race relations in the United States, placing the concept of race within the context of America’s economic, cultural, social, and political development. The course treats the concept of race as an open-ended question and traces it across class, ethnic, geographic, and temporal boundaries in the US.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Race and Ethnicity |
This course investigates topics in the history of sexuality and sexual variance in the Western world from the classical to the modern period. Broad overviews of sexual behavior and attitudes in given historical periods will be supplemented by detailed examinations of specific topics within those periods, e.g., Homosexuality in the Classical World; Witchcraft and Sexuality in the Early Modern World; Libertinage in the Age of Absolution in France, etc.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Gender |
Foundation Courses in History
Required course for history majors. Must be completed in the first semester.
This course introduces students to history as an academic discipline. By reading historical works from different eras and geographic regions, we will discover how the interpretations and writing of history have changed over time. We will study and apply various methods used by historians to gather information and draw conclusions. Rather than understanding history merely as “what happened,” we will come to understand history as a dynamic relationship between the present and the past, in which people debate and disagree over the meanings and interpretations of historic events.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
This course provides an introduction to the history of human societies from 1500 to the present. Topics vary for each section offered. Check the topic selected for each section to determine the focus of the course.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depending on topic | — |
HIS 230: Themes in World History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with world history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depending on topic | — |
HIS 265: Themes in American History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with North America and the United States. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | — |
Lecture and Discussion Courses
HIS 300: Topics – Ancient/Medieval World
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with Ancient history or Medieval European history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | Yes | — |
HIS 301/CLS301: Classical Greek Civilization
This course investigates into the development of Classical Greek civilization, beginning with Homer and going through the Peloponnesian Wars.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | Yes | — |
HIS 302/CLS302: Hellenistic World
This course discusses the series of inquiries into the world created by the conquests and failures of Alexander of Macedon. Among the issues considered will be the successor states and the spread of Hellenistic across West and Central Asia; the entry of Rome and the establishment of a Graeco-Roman cultural world.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Europe | Yes | — |
HIS 303/CLS303: History of the Roman Republic
This course discusses the development of Rome from one of the ancient Italian city states to a position of mastery over Italy and the Mediterranean World.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | Yes | — |
HIS 304/CLS304: History of the Roman Empire
This course focuses on the Roman imperial system at its height and its ultimate decline and/or transformation after the third century C.E.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | Yes | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 305/CLS 305/REL 305: Ancient Christianity
This course examines the origins and expansion of Christianity from the first through the end of the fifth century C.E. Topics include the historical Jesus; the Christianizing of the Roman Empire; the cult of saints; artistic developments; Christianity in India and East Asia; Christian relations with non-Christian populations; and Christianity’s impact on marginal groups such as the poor, women, children, Jews, and homosexuals.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Europe, Middle East | Yes | World Views and Ways of Knowing |
HIS 306/CLS 306: History of the Byzantine World
This course investigates the late Roman Empire and its evolution into the Byzantine world from the 4th
to the 12th centuries.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Europe | Yes | Global |
This course examines the history of early Russia from the formation of the first medieval states in eastern Europe beginning in ca. 500 CE, through the Kievan Rus’ (ca. 850-1240), Mongol-Appanage (ca. 1240-1380), and early Muscovite (ca. 1380-1500) eras to the death of Ivan the Terrible in 1584.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Europe | Yes | — |
HIS 316: Topics – Modern Europe
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with Early Modern or Modern European history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | Global |
This course investigates the relationship between the European and non-European World in the classical and medieval periods. There is emphasis on the medieval expansion of Europe, the development of geographic knowledge, crusading and the beginnings of Europe’s overseas expansion.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | — |
HIS 319: Hapsburgs and Ottomans
This course examines the politics, cultures, and conflicts of two dynastic polities: the Catholic Hapsburgs and the Muslim Ottomans during the 16th and 17th centuries.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Europe | — | Global |
HIS 321: History of the World Economy
This course discusses ways in which globalization has shifted the focus away from the established interpretations of the rise of the Western world as a progressive, linear path of development that started in the north Atlantic and spread throughout the “rest” of the world. Increasing economic competition from China and India fostered scholars’ interest in comparing the economic performance and divergent trajectories within Eurasia. In opposition to traditional euro-centrist interpretations, this course explores the history and historiography of the development of the world -“the west and the rest”- economy since 1750.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | — | Global |
HIS 322: Europe’s Imperial Era
This course examines the so-called “Neo-Imperialism” of the 19th and 20th centuries. Emphasis on the cultural foundations of European domination.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | — |
HIS 323: Eastern Europe since 1939
This course focuses on a political and cultural examination of “the other Europe,” the small states bordered by Germany and Russia. Topics include the emergence of nation-states, world war and genocide, the rise and fall of Communism, and ethnic tension in the region.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | — |
HIS 324/WGS 310/HON 337: Women in Eastern Europe since 1848
This course focuses on women’s history in the region to understand how the dual forces of nationalism and communism were largely constructed around gendered concerns such as reproduction, family structure, and access to power.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | Gender, Global |
This course examines German history from Unification in 1871 through Reunification in 1990. Emphasis is placed on the development of German nationalism and imperialism; the World Wars and the Holocaust; postwar division and reconstruction; and the cultural trends of each period.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | Global |
HIS 327/WGS 327: European Society since 1789
This course examines the social changes that have occurred in Europe since the French Revolution. Topics include the history of families, gender roles, class divisions, racial ideologies, religion, work, and leisure.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe | — | Gender, Global, Behavior/Social/Cultural Perspectives, Writing Intensive |
HIS 330: Topics – Asian/Eurasia/Middle East
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with Eurasia and the Middle East. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia OR Asia OR Middle East – depending on topic | Depending on topic | Global |
The course explores material transactions and the thought of peoples who followed various religious paths from the beginning of the Common Era to the 12 century CE. When Buddhism, Christianity and Islam carved out their domains of dominance on the Afro-Eurasia landmass, their religious institutions became hubs of communication and transaction between those regions. Using silk trade as a clue, the course will examine how the three major religions applied their values in international and intercultural commerce and interacted with regional cultural systems.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | Yes | Global, Behavior/Social/Cultural Perspectives |
HIS 333/REL 333: Scripture in Context
This course investigates the books of the Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament) using contemporary historical critical, cultural, archeological, literary and other academic tools of analysis in order to provide students with a deeper appreciation of the meaning of these texts. We examine the possible meanings which these texts had in their original written or oral forms, and how they were reinterpreted and re-edited to reflect new meanings they took on as time went on, and finally how their meanings changed when they were formed into the canons of Holy Scriptures for Jews and Christians. The course challenges traditionally held views in the Judeo-Christian tradition that these writings are always inerrant, applicable to daily living, easy to understand, and the direct words of God.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Middle East | Yes | World Views and Ways of Knowing |
The course focuses on the interrelated modern histories of China and Japan.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Middle East | Yes | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
The course examines the social, political, and economic development of modern Japan from 1800 to the present.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Asia | — | Global |
This course explores the history of China from the 17th century to the early 20th century.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Asia | — | — |
The course examines Chinese history from 1911 to the present, focusing on social and political movements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Asia | — | Global |
HIS 339: History of Modern India
This course discusses the formation of modern India nation state, from the Delhi Sultanate (13th century C.E.) to the present.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Asia | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
This course focuses on the development of social, political, and religious institutions in Islamic societies from Muhammad up to the Ottoman Empire. Special attention will be placed on understanding the development of political systems, the military-patronage state, the relationship between religion and politics, and the problem of political legitimacy in the medieval period.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Middle East | Yes | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
This course provides an introduction to the history of the modern Middle East. The first half of the course focuses on the social, religious, and political foundations of the modern states of the Middle East, the impact of the West on the development of nationalism, and the colonial experience. The second half of the course examines the post-colonial experience and the character of the modern Middle Eastern states with special attention paid to contemporary political and social issues in a local as well as international context.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Middle East | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
The course examines the Iranian pastoral nomads, the formation of the Greater Iranian World stretching from the western borders of China and southern Siberia to Spain, and its role in shaping outside societies in pre-modern history (from the Neolithic Period through the early Middle Ages). The formation of the Iranian language and religion, pastoral economy, material culture, social organization, and political structure will be of particular importance to the course. The class will also focus on the interaction between the Iranian nomadic world and other nomadic, sedentary, and hunting-gathering peoples.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia, Middle East | Yes | — |
HIS 344: Commerce and Exchange of Ideas
The course focuses on how, when, and why Inner Eurasia (the northern section) came to be connected with Outer Eurasia (the southern section) during the Middle Ages through expanding commercial connections, which, in turn, led to intellectual, cultural, epidemiological, religious, and technological borrowings between the two regions.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | Yes | — |
The course covers the history of Siberia from the initial human settlement of this part of Inner Eurasia in the Ice Age to the modern period. Specific emphases will be given to the diverse cultures, economies, and religions of the Native Siberian peoples and their contacts with the outside world. About half of the course will examine the fate of the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia after their incorporation into the Russian state.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Asia | Yes | — |
HIS 348: Imperial Russia, 1584-1917
This course examines the history of the Russian state as it was transformed from the European Grand Principality of Muscovy to the trans-Eurasian Russian Empire. Among the key issues considered in this course are: the territorial expansion of Russia, the development and growth of bureaucracy and autocracy, the entrenchment of serfdom as an institution, Russia’s attempts to reform and modernize, and the many fates of Russia’s national minorities.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | — | Global |
HIS 349: The Soviet Union, 1917-1991
This course traces the history of the Soviet Union from last years of the old tsarist regime and the developments that led to the Russian Revolution of 1917, through the Russian Civil War, the Stalin era and World War II, the Cold War, to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. in 1991.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Eurasia | — | Global |
HIS 350: Topics in African or Latin American History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance related to African or Latin American history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa OR Latin America – depending on topic | Depending on topic | Depending on topic |
HIS 351/AAS 207: Ancient and Medieval Africa
This introductory course surveys ancient and medieval African history through the eyes of princesses, archaeologists, peasants, religious leaders, storytellers, and women. While the course reconstructs the great civilizations of ancient Africa—Egypt, Zimbabwe, Mali, and others—it is not primarily focused on kings and leaders. Rather, the course explore how ordinary Africans ate, relaxed, worshiped, and organized their personal and political lives.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | Yes | Global |
HIS 352/AAS 208: Colonial and Modern Africa
This course explores African history from 1800 up to the present. Using case studies, it will examine how wide-ranging social, political, and economic processes—the slave trade, colonial rule, African nationalism, independence, and new understandings of women’s rights—changed local people’s lives.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 354: South African History
This survey course explores the politics of culture in colonial-era and apartheid South Africa. It begins by studying the legal, religious, sexual and political history of colonialism, then delves into the history of African popular culture. How miners, beer brewers, women, musicians, gangsters, and journalists created cultures of resistance is an enduring theme. In the second half of the semester, students will create research papers about topics in South African history.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
This course explores East Africa as probably the most politically, ecologically, and religiously diverse place on earth. This topical course compares different East African histories. It explores three thematic questions: 1) Faced with East Africa’s inherent diversity of thought, how did African innovators create wider political communities? 2) How far did Arab elites dominate political life in the towns along the Indian Ocean coast, and how did African slaves, workmen, and other non-elites challenge their Arab overlords? 3) How did rural peasant communities reformulate their own political thought to deal with a changing world? Students will create research papers about topics in East African history.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 356: State and Slavery in West Africa
This topical course studies West African history through the lens of slavery. It studies the impact of the Atlantic slave trade on African political life during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. It also explores indigenous forms of inequality, documenting how African social and political hierarchies were transformed out of their interaction with the Atlantic commerce.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | — | — |
HIS 357: Religion and Politics in Africa
This course explores aspects of Africa’s religious and political history. Topics include: Africans and the making of African Christianity; African Traditional Religion and its history; sorcery and political critique in post-colonial Africa; and Islam in Africa. Students will create research papers about Africa’s history of religion.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Africa | — | — |
This course examines social, economic, cultural and political history of Latin America during the last two centuries.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Latin America | — | Global |
HIS 364/INT 364: History of the Caribbean
This course takes a long historical, sociological, economic, and political view of the Caribbean Basin. It examines the origins of the region as a unique cultural and political space defined by the interplay between the indigenous inhabitants, African Slaves, Asian immigrants, European empires (Spanish, Dutch, French, and English), and American hegemony. The course explains the Caribbean Basin as a dynamic historical space defined by the diversity of its inhabitants, tensions between cultures, relationship to its past, and efforts to fit into an expanding culture of global capitalism.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Latin America | — | Global, Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 365: Topics in North American and United States History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with North America and the United States. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North American | — | — |
HIS 366/POL 365: Origins of the US Constitution
This course examines the political theories, people, social and economic forces, events, and political context that influenced the framing and ratification of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
This course provides an introduction to the United States in world history from the 17th century to the present. The course deals with major forces in American development with an emphasis on encounters among Amerindians, Africans, Europeans, and Asians that created a distinct society linked to an increasingly interdependent world. Along with basic knowledge of the period, students learn skills that pertain to analysis of one major society interacting with others over time.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | Global |
HIS 372: United States – The Coming of the Civil War
This course focuses on the interplay between partisan politics and North-South sectional antagonism that ultimately led to the American Civil War. It will cover in close detail the 15 year period starting with the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, and ending with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for troops.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
HIS 374: United States – Civil War and Reconstruction
This course begins with the sectional crisis and the coming of the war. Its principal focus is the military struggle between the Union and the Confederacy. It concludes with an assessment of emancipation and Reconstruction. Social, political, economic, and diplomatic aspects of the era will be considered.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
The course introduces students to the history of the most divergent region of the United States. It will focus on the slave South of the mid-19th century, when North/South differences and perceptions of difference sharpened and finally led to civil war. The course will conclude with an assessment of emancipation and Reconstruction.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | Race and Ethnicity |
HIS 382: United States, 1877-1945
This course examines the evolution of urban-industrial society, the impact of labor and social reform movements on political structures during the Progressive Era and the New Deal, and the rise of the U.S. to imperial and world power.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
HIS 383: United States since 1945
This course examines the Cold War and United States hegemony; Civil Rights; the women’s movement; the promise and problems of liberalism; American conservatism; the end of the Cold War; and the consequences of September 11, 2001.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
HIS 384/WGS 303: Women in 20th Century US
This course examines the history of women in the United States in the 20 century, with special emphasis on their roles in political and social movements. We will explore the diverse ways in which women have lived, worked and contributed to the history of the US in the 20 century. While we will be looking at some of the “great women” of U.S. history, the course will focus more on the aspects of the general experiences of women and their political, social, cultural and familial relationships.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | Gender |
HIS 385/WGS 302: Women in the United States to 1900
This course examines the history of women in the United States prior to European contact until the present. We will explore the diverse ways in which women have lived, worked and contributed to the history of the US. While we will be looking at some of the “great women” of U.S. history, the course will focus more on the aspects of the general experiences of women and their political, social, cultural and familial relationships.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | Gender |
HIS 386: United States Diplomacy in the American Century
The course provides a concise overview of the economic, political, military, cultural, and ideological aspects of American foreign affairs from 1898 to the present.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| North America | — | — |
HIS 387: Topics in World History
This course focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with world history. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | Depends on topic | Global |
HIS 389: War in Western Society
This course investigates the role of war in the development of Western civilization.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| Europe, North America | — | — |
HIS 397/WGS 340: Gay and Lesbian History
This course examines the history of gay men and lesbians. It also considers the unique ways in which gays and lesbians have contributed to the history and culture of their region and national identity while maintaining a diverse subculture. The course explores the different historical and social roles of gays and lesbians and how they survived under oppressions that ranged from the denial of civic and civil rights to execution. At the completion of this course, students will have expanded the traditional historical narrative by recognizing the presence and agency of gays and lesbians.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Gender |
HIS 398: 20th Century World History
This course provides a broad comparative assessment of major world regions during the 20th century. In addition to surveying political and military developments, the course will attempt to identify differences and similarities in social organization and the harnessing of human energies.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
| — | — | Global |
Specialized and Capstone Courses in History
HIS 391: Independent Study in History
Prerequisites: Four course units in history completed with an overall GPA in history above 3.00 and Instructor and Department Chair Consent.
An intense study of a problem or area of history through consultation and a close working relationship between student and instructor. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Depending on topic |
Depending on topic |
— |
HIS 393: Group Independent Research
Instructor Consent Required.
Students conduct research as part of a team assisting faculty in their own research. The professor determines topic, problem, research design, and relevant sources. Students unearth, analyze, and report on findings. Open to majors and non-majors alike with permission of the instructor.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Depends on topic |
Depends on topic |
— |
HIS 394/Honors Independent Study in History
Instructor and Department Chair Consent
This course enables a student to research, develop and write an in-depth senior thesis on a topic chosen by the student and his/her advisor. Working with a faculty member in the student’s field of interest, the student will create a substantial piece of original historical research using primary and secondary sources. Students may apply to pursue the honors thesis.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Depending on topic |
Depending on topic |
— |
HIS 399: Internship in History
Prerequisite: Four course units in history completed with an overall GPA of 3.00. Instructor and Department Chair consent required.
Application of historical principles and methods through placement in a paid or non-paid work setting such as a museum, archive, or living history site. All placements must be approved by the department chair.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
HIS 450: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Asia
An intensive study of modern Asian history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Asia |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 451: Reading Seminar in History – Early Asia
An intensive study of early Asian history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Asia |
Yes |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 452: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Middle East
An intensive study of modern Middle Eastern history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Middle East |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 453: Reading Seminar in History – Early Middle East
An intensive study of early Middle Eastern history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Middle East |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 454: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Eurasia
An intensive study of modern Eurasian history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Eurasia |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 455: Reading Seminar in History – Early Eurasia
An intensive study of early Eurasian history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Eurasia |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 456: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Africa
An intensive study of modern African history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Africa |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 457: Reading Seminar in History – Early Africa
An intensive study of early African history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Africa |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 458: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Latin America
An intensive study of modern Latin American history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Latin America |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 459: Reading Seminar in History – Early Latin America
An intensive study of early Latin American history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Latin America |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 460: Reading Seminar in History – Modern North America
An intensive study of modern North American history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
North America |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 461: Reading Seminar in History – Modern Europe
An intensive study of modern European history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Europe |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 462: Reading Seminar in History – Early Europe
An intensive study of early European history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
Europe |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 463: Reading Seminar in History – Early World
An intensive study of early world history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 464: Reading Seminar in History – Modern World
An intensive study of modern world history through extensive readings by the student, and a series of oral and written reports. Open to students starting in the sophomore year. Two semesters required for all History majors. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
Writing Intensive |
HIS 498: Senior Capstone Research Seminar
Small classes that focus on specific topics in history. Formal seminar reports and completion of major research paper. One semester required for all history majors. To be taken in the senior year.
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
Writing Intensive |
U.S. Studies Minor
USA 101: Introduction to US Studies
This course serves an introduction to United States Studies minor. The interdisciplinary minor in US Studies explores the United States and its place in the world. Without losing sight of the inner workings of American society, the emphasis in on connections between Americans and other peoples. This section of US Studies 101 focuses on the study of “American” literatures through a central lens of what makes a literature, an individual, or a culture “American.” This course will approach a variety of works in their aesthetic, cultural, and political contexts. Through the central question, “What is American Literature?” we will focus on literary representations of exile, immigration, revolution, renaissance and other shaping forces on cultural and national identities. Chief among our goals for the course will be to dedicate attention to literary devices, traditions, and approaches to the writing of both “culture” and “Self.”
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
USA 102: Introduction to US Studies
This course serves an introduction to United States Studies minor. The interdisciplinary minor in US Studies explores the United States and its place in the world. Without losing sight of the inner workings of American society, the emphasis is on connections between Americans and other peoples.
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
USA 301: Core Seminar on Global America
An interdisciplinary examination of American society and culture in historical and international perspective. Admission by permission of the instructor. Topics vary by instructor.
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
USA 370: US Studies Topic Course
This course serves as a topic class for the United States Studies minor. The interdisciplinary minor in US Studies explores the United States and its place in the world. Without losing sight of the inner workings of American society, the emphasis is on connections between Americans and other peoples. US 370 provides instructors with a course in which to explore different aspects of the discipline, fulfilling the goal of interdisciplinarity that defines TCNJ’s US Studies minor. Since the disciplinary home of the instructor will vary, the course content for each section will also differ. However, each section will incorporate some or all of the goals of the US Studies minor.
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
An interdisciplinary examination of America society and culture for students who qualify for the Honors Program.
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |
Second semester of an interdisciplinary examination of America society and culture for students who qualify for the Honors Program.
1 course unit
|
Region |
Pre-modern |
Liberal Learning |
|
— |
— |
— |