HISTORY 205: HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1600 TO 1865
Contrary to popular lore, historians are not mainly encyclopedias of dates and names. Rather, we use the available sources from the past to understand the significance of historical events and to look for meaningful patterns and connections. In that spirit, this course will center on inquiry into the following key questions. These questions will doubtless suggest many other questions, few of which will have a single, simple answer.
- What do historians do? How do they approach the past? How do they learn about the past? Why might the study of history be valuable?
- How did America change between the height of the Anasazi and Mississippian civilizations (about one-thousand years ago) and the time of the American Civil War in the early 1860s? What major forces--demographic, biological, economic, technological, military, cultural, etc.--best help explain these tremendous changes?
- How was political, social, and economic power distributed in British North America and in the early United States, from the 1600s to the Civil War? Who exercised the most power, and how did the dominant groups justify and maintain their power? How did this power shift?
- What political ideals helped build support for the American Revolution and the founding of the United States? How did these ideals shape the governance, culture, and economy of the early United States, and how did they contribute to major conflicts, such as the Civil War? How did these ideals evolve over time?
The syllabus available below is for the fall of 2007 (section 1).
HISTORY 206: HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES FROM 1865 TO THE PRESENT
In this course, we will explore some of the major events and themes of United States history since the Civil War. We will follow the paths of certain American ideals, particularly the political and social ideals that both sides contested for in the Civil War--the most destructive war in history up to that time. During the half century after the war, Americans experienced tremendous social change because of continued industrialization, immigration, and westward expansion. By the turn of the century, too, the changing world role of the United States meant that foreign policy and global issues began to have a significant impact on the lives of Americans.
The syllabus available below is from the spring of 2008 (section 1).
HISTORY 302: PROBLEMS IN AMERICAN THOUGHT: PURITANISM TO PRAGMATISM
This course in intellectual history will address a set of problems within "American Thought," but problems with American thought may also arise. As "American Thought" did not think itself, we must give due consideration to the life experiences of the people who created what we call "thought." Influential American thinkers have included orators, political leaders, preachers, theologians, teachers, novelists, poets, physicians, scientists, lawyers, and others. Historians define intellectual history as a history of discourse--of discussions and debates that communities carry out through various means--rather than as a history of disembodied ideas. From a historical perspective, ideas are powerful, but they are not active agents in and of themselves. For ideas to gain influence, they must be created, manipulated, and circulated by human beings. Like everything else historical, then, ideas must be situated within a rich context.
By tracing the evolution of American thought from Puritanism to Pragmatism, we are charting only one of many possible courses. As we do so, we will focus on the following key questions:
- How have American thinkers from the seventeenth century to the present attempted to define the good life? What roles have religious, moral, economic, and social values played in their arguments and discussions?
- How have American thinkers tried to explain the proper relationship between the individual and society?
- How have American thinkers attempted to influence and shape society? To what extent have they succeeded?
The syllabus below is for the fall of 2007.
HUM STUD 382: PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN VALUES: FROM ROMANTICISM TO MODERNISM
This course will focus on Western discussions of the problems of human nature and society from Frankenstein to Freud. We will not so much trace a clear-cut transition from Romanticism to modernism as we will consider the continuing influence of the Enlightenment and Romanticism on developing modern thought and culture. Readings and discussions will focus on discourse about the nature of humanity, the capabilities of the human mind, and the relationship between the individual and society. Each of these topics points to an overarching question that seriously troubled 19th-century thinkers and writers: what role would spiritual interpretations of human life play within the context of modernity? Course readings will include literary, political, and philosophical works, which will be treated as elements of an interrelated cultural discourse rather than as specialized, unrelated texts.
The syllabus available below is for the fall of 2005.
HISTORY 310: AMERICAN COLONIAL HISTORY
The European colonization of North America created a complex jumble of societies. Not only did diverse indigenous peoples already occupy the continent, but colonists brought with them a plethora of languages, religions, and political institutions, as well as enslaved Africans who retained remnants of their own cultures. Given this complexity, no single course can adequately cover the colonization of America by Europeans. Furthermore, the notion of colonization obscures the extent to which contact among Indians, Africans, and Europeans (not to mention the American geography) led to mutual influences. In other words, the history of colonization is not a simply story of Europeans dominating Indians, slaves, and land. In this course, we are charting only one of many possible paths through early American history. We will focus primarily on the British colonial project, with close attention to American Indians, African slavery, and issues of identity, community, and memory. In addition to considering early American history on its own terms, we will discuss the continuing legacy of this history for modern Americans. The course will place a great deal of emphasis on the skills of critical reading, informed discussion, and analytical writing.
The syllabus available below is from the spring of 2008.
HISTORY 312: THE EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC, 1787-1848
Historians of the pre-Civil War United States often view the early national period as more revolutionary than the American Revolution itself. In this course, we will explore the political, economic, social, and religious tumult of the early republic, between the ratification of the Constitution in 1787 and the 1846 war with Mexico. The course will begin with a brief overview of the American Revolution and will focus on the problem of democracy during the following sixty years. Central questions will include: How did white, male democracy develop during the early 1800s? How did women, free and enslaved African Americans, and Native Americans fit into the early republic? What was the relationship between the "market revolution" and democracy? To conclude, we will briefly look forward to the coming of the Civil War.
The syllabus available below is from the spring of 2007.