History

The course surveys the development of civilization in the western world from the beginning of Mesopotamian culture through the Protestant reformation of the 16th century. Social, political, economic, and spiritual forces and patterns that shaped the eras of western history will be discussed. History as the record of human struggle and achievement, change and continuity will be emphasized.

The course surveys the development of civilization in the western world from the 16th century to the present. Social, political, economic, and spiritual forces and patterns that shaped the eras of western history will be discussed. History as the record of human struggle and achievement, change and continuity will be emphasized.

This course surveys the development of world cultures and trends from the earliest settlements to the year 1500.  Students will compare various cultures to recognize their different, similar, and interconnected aspects.  Students will also examine the social, political, economic, military, and religious forces and trends that shaped the cultures collectively or independently, while exploring the methods of the discipline of history and critically analyzing both primary and secondary sources throughout the course. This course fulfills a social science or humanities elective.

This course surveys the development of world cultures and their interconnectedness from the year 1500 to modern times.  Students will compare various cultures to recognize their different, similar, and interconnected aspects across a period of increasing globalization and interaction through global empires, industrialization, world wars, cold wars, and the internet.   Students will also examine the social, political, economic, and religious forces and trends that shaped the cultures collectively or independently, while exploring the methods of the discipline of history and critically analyzing both primary and secondary sources throughout the course. This course fulfills a social science or humanities elective.

The political, social, and cultural development of the United States from settlement to 1870 is studied. Emphasis will be on the development of nationalism, political institutions, sectional rivalry, and slavery, and on the cultural development of the American people. The course will conclude with the period of Reconstruction.

This course will focus on scientific, philosophic, and political thought from the Renaissance to the 1800s. We will examine how attitudes and ideas within these disciplines evolved, and how those changes had effects across the disciplines and society, as in art, religion, and economics. The course will provide a sense of the wide-ranging and fundamental shifts that marked the end of the medieval period and the beginnings of modern ideas of society that are sometimes referred to as a ‘scientific revolution’. It will also introduce students to the methods and techniques of engaging with sources and writing history, and in particular intellectual history and the history of science.

This course is a survey of the history of China from the Opium Wars to the present. It explores the political, economic, social, and intellectual upheavals which constitute recurrent elements in Chinese history.

This course is a survey of the main political, economic, religious, and social currents in the region of the world known as the Middle East. The emphasis will be on events since World War II. Topics will include colonialism, the rise of nationalism, the creation of modern nation-states, and the role of the state in an Islamic society. The relationship of the Middle East to the rest of the world, the United States in particular, will be discussed. The geographic and historical roots of many current issues will be emphasized.

This course examines American History since World War II, with an emphasis on the social, political, and economic trends. reviewing major events and trends from different perspectives. The goals of the course include: a fundamental understanding of major events that shaped the period, a sense of the sources of contemporary issues and their interrelated circumstances within and without the United States, exposure to artistic and cultural developments and their historical context, the development of a chronological sense of the period, and an understanding how historiographical interpretations of events change over time. As a culminating project, students will develop a historiography on a topic relevant to the course.