History (HIST)

Information about experimental courses, when offered, can be found on the Department website and will be available at the Office of the Registrar late in the Spring Quarter preceding the academic year in which the courses are scheduled. Such courses are numbered 191, 291, 391 or 491.

HIST 110 THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE FROM THE COLONIAL ERA TO THE CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION - 5 hrs
This course surveys the history of the United States from the earliest days of contact and colonization through the era of the Civil War. Considering America in this formative period, the course investigates the ways in which the process of building an independent and unified America was neither steady nor assured. In exploring major social, political, and economic developments, the course considers sources of both unity and fragmentation among Americans including people�s competing visions of the nation, how and why those visions changed over time, and ultimately how those very tensions helped to define an American nation.

HIST 120 THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE FROM THE GILDED AGE TO THE PRESENT - 5 hrs
Beginning with the industrial revolution of the last half of the 19th century, this course traces the impact of urbanization, immigration, two world wars, depression, and the Cold War on America�s institutions, its people, and its ideas of freedom, opportunity, democracy, and diversity.

HIST 200 RELIGION, REVOLUTION, AND THE STATE: EUROPE 1500-1815 - 5 hrs
An exploration of the Reformation, European overseas expansion, the origins of the centralized state and capitalist economy, the Scientific Revolution and Enlightenment, the political and social revolutions of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the causes of the Industrial Revolution.

HIST 210 NATIONALISM AND INTERNATIONALISM: EUROPE 1815-1919 - 5 hrs
A study of European diplomacy after the French Revolution, the rise of conservative, liberal, and socialist movements, the spread of nationalism and industrialization, the new imperialism, the origins of contemporary warfare and breakdown of the European state system in the First World War, and the causes of the Russian Revolution.

HIST 220 CONFLICT AND CRISIS: EUROPE 1919-PRESENT - 5 hrs
Traces the European political and social crisis between the wars, the formation of the Soviet state, the rise of fascism in Europe, the emergence of antifascist resistance, the causes and nature of the Second World War, the evolution of the Cold War, and the problem of European unity.

HIST 245 SURVEY OF PREMODERN ASIA - 5 hrs
This course is a survey of the history of East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) from the sixth century B.C. through the end of the eighteenth century. Students will learn the national histories of each of these countries, as well as develop a comprehensive understanding of the broad and lasting cultural heritage of East Asian civilizations. As a lower-division survey this course is designed to provide a broad and complete general understanding of Asian history in itself, as well to serving as a foundation for subsequent upper-division study in the field.

HIST 246 SURVEY OF MODERN ASIA - 5 hrs
This course is a survey of the history of East Asia (China, Japan, Korea) from 1800-present day. Students will learn the national histories of each of these countries, as well as develop a comprehensive understanding of their interrelationships as a regional block. As a lower-division survey this course is designed to provide a broad and complete general understanding of Asian history in itself, as well to serving as a foundation for subsequent upper-division study in the field.

HIST 280 HISTORY SEMINAR - 5 hrs
A seminar required for majors in history, designed to acquaint students with basic procedures, materials and research tools used by historians. The course will also review the development of history as a discipline.

HIST 300 MODERN BRITISH HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
A study of British history from the 18th century to the present. The course examines the development of modern parliamentary government, changing class relations in industrial society, cultural change from the Victorian era to the present, and the rise and fall of the British Empire. The course is especially recommended to pre-law students and to majors in English.

HIST 305 ANCIENT GREECE AND ROME - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
An exploration of ancient politics, society, and culture from the dawn of classical Greece to the rise of the Roman Empire. The course examines the archaic origins of ancient Mediterranean culture, the creation of the Greek city-state, the emergence of Athenian democracy and Roman republicanism, the transformation of Rome into an imperial, cosmopolitan state, and the development of classicism in art, drama, and philosophy.

HIST 310 MEDIEVAL HISTORY - 5 hrs
This course examines the formation of Latin Christendom and the Western tradition between the fourth and fifteenth centuries. The course explores the transition between late antiquity and the early medieval era; the development of political, religious and social institutions during the early Middle Ages (500-900); and the flowering of Medieval culture during the High Middle Ages (1100-1350). Particular attention is focused on the intersection between classical, Christian and Germanic traditions, the geographic, social and economic development in Europe, the relation between the Church and political institutions, and the flowering of chivalry and of the arts.

HIST 315 RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION - 5 hrs
An exploration of the origins of the Renaissance and Reformation in Europe and the impact of these movements on European life and subsequent Western Culture. The course investigates the origins and aims of the Italian Renaissance and the impact of this movement on European culture, society and politics; the social and cultural background to the Reformation and the linkages between Renaissance humanism and leading reformers; and the relation of the Reformation and the Catholic Reformation to European politics and society.

HIST 325 DISCOVERING HISTORY IN KOREA - 5 hrs
This course will explore the emergence of Korea as a modern state from the collapse and overthrow of their traditional monarchy at the turn of the 20th century up through the present day. Our study will include such topics as � the conflict and combination of traditional Korean values and practices with Japanese colonial policy during the colonial occupation of 1905-1945; Korea�s search for a distinctive and modern national identity in the shadows of neighboring China and Japan; the origins and nature of the Korean civil war; the role of Korea in contemporary east Asian and international politics; current events concerning the continued division of the Korean peninsula and the threat of nuclear war.

HIST 330 MODERN CHINA - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
A history of China from the Manchu Qing dynasty (1640s) to the present. Emphasis on the events leading up to the Chinese Revolution, as well as the philosophy and policies of Mao Zedong following the Revolution. The course will examine the role China plays in the globalization of the world economy, as well as the efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to maintain domestic control in the post-Mao era.

HIST 335 THE RISE OF MODERN JAPAN - 5 hrs
This course will explore the emergence of Japan as a modern state from the collapse of the feudal government in the mid-19th century up until the present day. Our study will include such topics as � the social, political, and economic foundations of Japan�s constitutional monarchy; Japan�s responses to, and practice of, imperialism and colonialism in East Asia; the relationships between the development of mass society/culture and authoritarian government in the 1930s and 1940s; American post-war occupation.

HIST 340 RUSSIA AND THE SOVIET UNION FROM 1917 TO THE PRESENT - 5 hrs
Political, economic, social, cultural, and diplomatic history of Russia in the 20th century, with special emphasis on the roles of Lenin, Stalin, Khrushchev, Brezhnev, Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin.

HIST 345 OHIO HISTORY - 5 hrs
A survey of the economic, cultural, political and social history of Ohio.

HIST 351 AMERICAN WOMEN�S HISTORY - 5 hrs
This course provides an overview of the history of women in America from the colonial era through the present. It explores the lived experiences of a variety of women as well as changing definitions of gender roles. Particular attention is paid to both women�s common experiences and the critical factors like racial and class statuses that made their lives quite different.

HIST 355 AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt.yrs.)
A study of the political and social history of the African-American community, from its roots in Africa, through the period of slavery, to the struggle for civil rights in the present day.

HIST 361 EARLY AMERICAN HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course explores the dominant themes and events of American history between 1492 and 1763. Using the lens of comparative colonization, it examines the complexities of cultural contact that occurred between Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans in the early days of North American colonization, the kinds of communities that emerged from these contacts, and the major challenges facing these colonial communities as they matured over the eighteenth century. Throughout, the course focuses attention on the tensions that underlay the colonization of America related to key issues such as land, race relations, economic systems, class structures, and political ideologies.

HIST 371 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course explores antebellum America, the expansion of slavery in the South, the deepening social and ideological divisions between the North and the South, the Civil War, and the reintegration of the union. Special attention will be paid to the cultural values that divided the nation, the experiences of African-Americans, and the meaning of this event in America�s past.

HIST 381 REPUBLICANS v. DEMOCRATS : A HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course will investigate the impact that two world wars, the 1920s consumer revolution, the depression, the McCarthy Era and Cold War, the 1960s social revolution, and the post Cold War era had in creating the Republican and Democratic parties as we know them today. Special attention will be paid to the historic roots of the present-day divisions within each party and the influence of third parties.

HIST 390 INDEPENDENT STUDY - 1-5 hrs
Independent study. Prereq: Permission of instructor.

HIST 405 EUROPEAN INTELLECTUAL HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course examines twentieth-century European thought against the background of modern historical crises and change. Topics include the reactions of European thinkers and writers to expanding technological and bureaucratic culture, their responses to revolutionary and antirevolutionary movements, their analyses of the spread of war, and their concepts of human freedom and responsibility. Through sources in social and psychological theory, literature, drama, and film, the course explores contemporary intellectual movements, including cultural modernism, psychoanalysis, critical Marxism, and existentialism.

HIST 410 THE HOLOCAUST AND THE TWENTIETH CENTURY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
A study of the history of the Holocaust, and of the diverse cultural means of communicating that history and conveying its implications. The course examines conditions in Germany and Europe after the First World War, the life of European Jewish communities in the early 20th century, the rise of Nazism in Germany and the nature of European collaboration and resistance, and the phenomena of totalitarianism and anti-Semitism. It studies the place of the Holocaust in 20th-century consciousness through memoirs, literature, film, visual art, and memorials.

HIST 420 ECONOMIC HISTORY - 5 hrs
This course focuses on the development of pre-industrial European economies, the Industrial Revolution in Britain, the processes of Western industrialization, and social and political changes. Attention is focused on the changing role and place of households, businesses, and governments in the economy. Economic decision-making, both at the micro and macro-levels, is analyzed in its historical context.

HIST 425 AMERICAN ECONOMIC AND BUSINESS HISTORY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
Examines the growth and transformation of the economy and businesses from the colonial era through the 1990s. The course explores the development of the pre-industrial colonial economy in the context of the broader Atlantic economy and westward expansion; the transformation of agriculture, industry, and trade in the 19th century; the growth of large-scale business in the late 19th and early 20th century; the interrelations between labor, business, universities, and government in the mid-20th century; and, the creation of the multinational firm and global economy. Economic decision-making, both at the micro and macro-levels, is analyzed in its historical context.

HIST 430 THE ATLANTIC WORLD - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course examines the interconnections and interdependence that developed between the peoples of Europe, Africa, and the Americas between 1450 and 1800. Topics will include the development of trans-Atlantic slavery, the emergence of an integrated economy, the transmission of cultural ideas and artifacts, and comparative systems of colonization.

HIST 435 THE ERA OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
In a few short decades, eighteenth-century American colonists staged the modern world�s first successful colonial rebellion and created their own new political, economic, and social structures. This course examines the origins of their rebellion, the war that they waged to secure their independence, the new nation that they created, and the global ramifications of their actions.

HIST 440 AMERICAN DIPLOMACY AND THE COLD WAR - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course explores the origins and evolution of American policy in the Cold War within the broader context of America�s isolationist, imperialist, and internationalist traditions. Emphasis is given to the role of domestic as well as external factors in shaping American policy, including the contributions of such figures as Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, and Ronald Reagan.

HIST 445 SOCIAL PROTEST IN 20TH CENTURY AMERICA - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
This course explores the nature of social protest in twentieth-century America through a study of the origins and evolution of several grassroots social protest movements. Investigation focuses on a wide range of grassroots organizations that span the social and political spectrum, including, among others, the Anti-Saloon League, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the National Organization of Women, and the Ku Klux Klan. Emphasis is placed on the diversity of purpose and membership of such organizations, the role of prejudice, the causes for success or failure, and the long-term impact on American society.

HIST 450 VIETNAM IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY - 5 hrs (alt. yrs.)
A history of Vietnam from the period of French colonialism to the present. Topics include the French War, the American War, and the development of Vietnamese society following national independence.

HIST 455 DEMOCRACY IN ASIA - 5 hrs
This course is an in-depth examination of the theory and practice of democracy as a political system in Asia. The class will address such questions as � definitions of �democratic government�; the correlations between democracy and social/economic equity; between democracy and imperialism; what foundations exist in East Asia for the practice of modern democratic government; and is there any merit to the concept of an �Asian model� for democratic government.

HIST 480 RESEARCH SEMINAR - 5 hrs
The seminar provides an opportunity for independent historical research. Participants explore methodological approaches from history and related social sciences by directly applying these approaches to self-designed projects. Students familiarize themselves with classic and current directions of inquiry in their areas of concentration, and define their own research questions and strategies. Course develops skills of professional historical writing. Seminar is highly recommended to undergraduate students who intend to pursue graduate studies in history or related fields.

HIST 490 INTERNSHIP - 1-15 hrs
Internships are available to majors upon submission of a written proposal. They are arranged individually, usually with local organizations or agencies, such as the Ohio Historical Association. The number of credit hours varies with the program agreed upon. Proposals must be submitted no later than three weeks before the end of the term preceding the term in which the internship begins. Approval from the department must be granted before registering for the internship.