This course surveys the great sweep of Western history from the rise of civilization in the Near East to the end of the Reformation. Students learn about the advent of writing, the flowering of Greek civilization, and the reasons for the decay of the Roman Empire. The course also explores the medieval world of knights and monks and how this mindset yielded to new ways of thinking in the Renaissance and Reformation. This examination of historical narrative and analysis of the West helps students better understand the patterns and diversity of complex societies.

Every Fall and Spring

Previously: HIST 110

This course surveys the momentous events in Western history from the bitter wars of religion in the sixteenth-century to the Cold War of the twentieth century. Students learn how kings created absolutist monarchies and why citizens destroyed them in the French Revolution. The course also examines how the Industrial Revolution shook the foundations of human society. Finally, the course asks students to think through the terrible consequences of WWI and WWII. This examination of historical narrative and analysis of the West helps students better understand the patterns and diversity of complex societies.

Every Fall and Spring, occasional Summers

Previously: HIST 111

An interpretive survey of the events, ideas, and personalities that shaped the United States prior to 1877. Emphasis is placed on colonial beginnings, the War for Independence, the evolution of national institutions and a uniquely American culture, the conflict between nationalism and sectionalism, territorial expansion, the Civil War, and Reconstruction.

Every Fall and Spring

Previously: HIST 120

An interpretive survey of the events, ideas, and personalities which have shaped the United States since 1877. Emphasis is placed on the rise of big business, immigration, the closing of the frontier, American expansionism, the 1920s, the New Deal, World War II, and post-1945 diplomatic and social problems.

Every Fall and Spring

Previously: HIST 121

This course focuses on how Native Americans, Europeans, and Africans created a unique society along the Atlantic coast of North America during the colonial period of American history. Specific attention is given to how certain events such as Bacon's Rebellion, Metacom's War, the Great Awakening, and the 1760s impacted the various groups comprising colonial America.

Occasional Interims

Previously: HIST 180

This course surveys the history of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East from the ancient era to the twentieth century. Students learn the innovations of technology and statecraft that allowed for brilliant advances in China and India. The course also shows how Islam revolutionized society in the Middle East. Students examine how geography set Africa on its own path. We also study some familiar events (imperialism and the world wars) but from the perspective of the peoples of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Overall, this course helps students better understand the world and gain new perspective on global issues.

Every Fall

Previously: HIST 130