Religious revivals, reasoned discourses, and cultural change characterize America in the 18th century. These phenomena shaped colonial demand for independence. This course explores the issues, events, ideas, and people that changed Englishmen into Americans and English colonies into an independent American Republic.
This course traces the rise of the "American West" in American consciousness from the early 19th century until today. Understanding that American western expansion looks different for the indigenous cultures of the trans-Mississippi West, the course asks students to re-think the "myth of the West" with the reality of western development.
Did the Civil War occur because of slavery, or was it over economics? Perhaps it was over the proper positioning of political power? This seminar styled course examines the causes and consequences of the "War Between the States." In addition to trying to understand the causes of the war, this course also focuses on the war itself and the consequences this conflict created for those who lived through Reconstruction. It concludes with an examination of how the Civil War continues to shape our understanding of America today.
In Guatemala students will live humbly and simply with host families in a small village, with one or two students per home. Mornings will be spent at a Spanish language school, studying one on one with native instructors. Afternoons will include excursions to forest reserves and Maya ruins including Tikal where we study tropical ecology and examine the cultural history of the Maya. We will work on several service projects at a small health clinic and a medicinal plants garden. The course includes a rigorous 3-day, 40 mile trek through tropical forests and Maya ruins, hiking and camping along the way. In Belize, we will stay at a field research station on a small island twenty miles off the coast on the second largest barrier reef in the world. We will explore coral reefs, mangroves, and coastal lagoons, mostly via snorkeling. The course will involve some fairly rigorous physical activity as well as some potentially challenging living conditions. The first week of the course will be on campus at Augustana.
1 course from Science of Natural World (NS),
SPAN 111 or higher, OR permission of Instructor.
This course is a study of the history and theology of the Protestant Reformation. The primary focus is on the first generation of the Reformation, that is, the reform movements associated with Martin Luther and his contemporaries. We will also investigate how the Reformation unfolded within the social and political context of sixteenth-century Europe.
The study of economic concepts and doctrines within the social context of the past and their impact on the development of economic theory and methodology.
This course examines the political, social, and cultural history of modern Ireland. It begins with the 1798 Revolution which must be contextualized with late eighteenth century revolutions, including the American and French. We will move through the nineteenth century which is characterized by the worst famine in recorded history and ultimately culminate with Europe's most deadly guerilla war. Throughout we will pay special attention to the role of gender in Irish history.
This course focuses on two central aspects of the Nazi era in German history: the person of Adolf Hitler and the Holocaust. We will investigate Hitler's rise to power and the nature of Nazi rule and politics, especially the "final solution" or extermination of Europe's Jews. All of this will be set against the backdrop of the history of the Western anti-Semitism. The course will conclude with an investigation of the phenomenon of Holocaust denial and the place of the Holocaust in the history of modern genocide.
Special Topics in History.
See major advisor. Candidates must have completed exceptional Senior Seminar research project.
Permission of Instructor and Department Chair