History

African History and Civilization to 1885:
Focus on “Traditional Africa” or Africa from the dawn of humanoids to the Berlin Conference of 1885. The course employs a continental perspective, an interdisciplinary framework and a civilizational approach.

The Age of Augustus:
In 44 BC, at 19, the age of many college students today, Gaius Octavius was launched by the death of his great-uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar, into a political career during one of the most turbulent times in Roman History. This course will examine the political, military, social and religious programs that Octavius used to outmaneuver his rivals, establish the pax Romana that had eluded Rome for more than a century, and establish the framework of an imperial system that would last for the next three centuries.

The Cold War: History vs. Hollywood:
After World War II, the US and USSR led the world in a global standoff that was sometimes quiet, sometimes bloody, but always tense.  The Cold War dominated American foreign policy for over four decades, and it also impacted the American psyche, as seen through popular films of the era.  This course will look at the Cold War from both historical and pop culture perspectives.  We will examine the difference between the historical Cold War and Hollywood's portrayals of it, as well as the various viewpoints from both sides of the conflict.

Europe in the Long 19th Century:
The long nineteenth century (1789-1918) in Europe began and ended in gunfire. Indeed, there was a revolution or war of liberation in every decade, and sometimes several. In between, the changes--technological, social, political, spiritual, and economic--which took place were arguably the most momentous in the world's history. During the semester we will examine those changes and evaluate their consequences.

Modern Americans at Play:
Just before the beginning of the twentieth century, Americans of all backgrounds discovered “play.”  A number of factors combined to give Americans more free time and a keen desire for recreation.  Throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Americans defined, redefined, and contested abstract concepts such as race, gender, virtue, and patriotism through leisure activities.  In this class, we will take a cross-section of American cultural history and analyze it closely to better understand large social and political patterns and movements.  Major topics in the course will include: the development of commercialized leisure, the growth of sporting communities, the “Golden Age” of film and radio, the rise of television, and sports as public sites of protest and self-expression in the later twentieth century, among others.

European Lives:
In early modern Europe, less than 15% of the population owned most of the property and wealth. An even smaller percentage of people made most of the big decisions regarding religion, politics, and society.  Traditional political history reflects this focus on "big men" and "big events" and depicts the rest of the people as merely reacting to dictates passed down to them from on high.  In this course we will explore how most people lived their lives, how they were affected byb actions taken at the centers of power, and how they in turn had a profound impact on the way decisions were ultimately manifested in everyday life.

Modern Iraq:
History of Iraq since 1920, with an emphasis on the 1990s, the 2003 U.S. invasion, and recent events. This offering of HIST 100 fulfills the "Non-Western" Cross-Area Requirement.

"Westward the Course of Empire," North America, 1763-1863:
In 1763 the British expelled the French from the North American interior. British colonists took proud part in this triumphant imperial moment; yet, in successful rebellion against that same great Empire, they soon created a new nation with its own unimaginably vast western empire. In this class, we will follow the course of America’s "Empire of liberty" to a moment when the Union itself (largely over the issue of the western expansion of slavery) was torn asunder—even as the trans-continental imperial vision became reality. We will take a panoramic view of America’s western history, as interpreted by historians and as cherished, regretted, or reviled in the American imagination. We will consider and re-consider the central American themes of liberty, (frontier) democracy, and slavery.

African History and Civilization After 1885:
Second half of course described above as History 100. The experience of the continent of Africa under Imperialism, rise of nationalism and independence, Africa to the present.

Colonial Virginia:
This course explores the history of Virginia from its origins in English politics to the founding of Jamestown up to the beginning of the American Revolution.  Using primary sources, we will consider the colonists' struggle for survival, the Anglo-Powhatan War, the development of a slave economy, and the political and economic pressures that pushed the colony toward revolt.

The Golden Afternoon - Europe, 1880 to 1914:
After the First World War Europeans often looked back at the Edwardian period from 1890 to 1914 as "the golden afternoon," the last vestiges of the privileged and leisured bourgeois world before the War came and changed life irrevocably.  However, only a minority of Europeans had enjoyed much privilege or leisure during that period, which was also rocked by industrial violence, radical political action, and cultural disquiet.  We shall explore the drawing rooms, servants' quarters, and urban working-class neighborhoods to develop insights on this paradoxical period.

European Revolutions:
The centuries between 1600 and 2000 were punctuated by major revolutions in Western Europe. Changes in the way men and women approached God, each other, their governments, and work triggered social upheaval and war, as well as violent optimism and despair. In this course, we will examine four major European revolutions: the English Civil Wars/Revolution, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the Russian Revolution. Additionally we will study the so-called “Age of Revolutions.”

The 1960s:
Study of revolutionary changes in American life during the 1960s. Topics include rock music, new art & cinema, campus unrest, interest in eastern religions, civil rights & black power, emergence of feminism and environmentalism, as well as the Vietnam war and the hippie counterculture.

The Modern World since 1815:
This course analyzes the development of our modern global community, beginning with the ideological struggles in the early nineteenth century. Themes and topics covered in this world history course include: late nineteenth-century imperial and racial ideologies, rise of nationalism, roots and causes of the two World Wars, industrialization, decolonization and "third world" nationalism, the Cold War and its legacies, globalism, and the rise of terrorism.

Science and Society:
The human animal is a consummate tool maker . We observe nature and we apply our understanding; science and society are the result. Human evolution is both physical and cultural, this course looks at some of humanities breakthrough ideas, their historical contexts, and their consequences.

U.S. Media - The Creation of a Nation:
“Media” is a general term used to describe various means of communication that reach and/or influence people widely. U.S. Media: The Creation of a Nation will explore the evolving role of media in the United States from the Civil War to the digital age. We’ll investigate the development of telegraphs, photography, newspapers, film, and broadcasting technologies (among others), and their impact on American culture and life. We will cover many topics, but overarching historical inquiries include: What role do different forms of media play? How has media influenced and been influenced by the events that have shaped American history? What is the relationship between media and American political culture? And perhaps most importantly, to what extent has media shaped Americans’ visions of themselves or of the nation?

World War II:
This course investigates the causes and consequences of the Second World War.  In addition to offering a comprehensive military history of the war, the course explores the legacy of the First World War, the crisis of European Liberalism and the rise of Fascism and National Socialism, international politics during the 1920s and 1930s, the outbreak of war in Asia and Europe, the entry of the United States into the war, the Holocaust, and the contours of the post-war world.