History (HIST)

Examines world history from the 15th century to the present, covering key themes like globalization, migration, empire, global wars, slavery, genocide, (de)colonization, and technological changes across different eras. Explores multiple, global perspectives on these processes and the origins of recent issues like late capitalism, environmental crises, and populist authoritarianism.

From ancient Near Eastern origins through classical Greece and Rome, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and Reformation Era to the seventeenth century.

From the seventeenth century through the Age of Absolutism, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution to the era of nationalism and industrialism and the modernism of the twentieth century.

The Age of Discovery and the Colonial Era through the American Revolution, nation building, the rise of the party system, slavery, and the Civil War.

Reconstruction, the emergence of industrialism, the development of world power status through the World Wars, and post-1945 trends.

Asian civilization from its origins in India, China, Japan, and other societies through 1500 AD. Emphasis on social, intellectual, and technological change in the development of the culture and history of the area.

Asia in the modern era, 1500 AD to present, the age of Western expansion and penetration and the social, political, economic, and intellectual transformation of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Listed in the Schedule of Courses, chosen according to timely interest.

Prerequisite: HIST 121 and HIST 122 OR HIST 131 and HIST 132 OR HIST 141 and HIST 142 and major status. In HIST 299, students learn how to “think like historians." They practice the essential skills of historians as they undertake the research and writing of a history research paper and its related projects. The course prepares students for the research, writing, and thinking required in upper-division history courses.

Listed in the Schedule of Courses, chosen according to timely interest.

Development of Southern nationalism and the Confederacy; emphasis on social, economic, and political as well as military aspects of the war.

Exploration of interactions among various peoples who have lived along the American frontier and/or the American "West."

Overview of Native American experiences in North America, with a focus on the pre-contact era to the Battle of Wounded Knee in 1890; also addresses 20th-century and contemporary Native American experiences and issues.

Study of work and labor in the United States; emphasis on economic, political, social, and cultural changes in work and the labor movement.

History of cities and urban life in the United States from the colonial period to twentieth century.

A survey of the African American experience in the British colonies of North America and in the early United States from African roots through the Civil War, with a focus on the experience of both slaves and free blacks.

A survey of the African American experience since emancipation in 1865; covers segregation and lynching, black nationalism, the Great Migration, and the civil rights movement.

This course explores the experiences of immigrants in the United States and the creation of ethnic identity from the colonial period to the present.

Overview of the cultural, economic, political, and social factors that fueled the American colonies movement toward rebellion and independence.

Cultural, social, political, and economic history of the period between the American Revolution and the Civil War.

This course considers interactions between human populations and their physical environments from early arrivals in North America through the 20th century, addressing the impacts of this exchange on both culture and nature.

This course considers how people of Native American, European, and African descent shaped and were shaped by colonial America's environmental, social, cultural, and economic realms, and how those experiences changed between the 16th and 18th centuries.

This course explores the intersection of Chinese history and cinema during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Themes of exploration include revolution, gender, sexuality, socio-economic class, as well as the dynamics of globalization, among others (e.g., humor, violence.) Students will also build skills in analysis, speaking, writing, and digital fluencies.

Development of American technology and its relation to U.S. culture from the colonial period to the present.

Gendered history of men and masculinity in the United States from the colonial period to the present.

This course examines historically oriented motion pictures as both primary and secondary sources of information about the history of the U.S. The course examines the relative successes or failures that major films have had in portraying the past, and analyzes how present events, cultures, and attitudes shape our view of the past.

This course is designed to provide students with an introduction to public history and community engagement. Students explore career opportunities in the field, meet with working professionals, and develop marketable job skills by participating in hands-on projects that have an impact on campus and in the community.

This course traces the articulation and development of Islamic Civilization from the appearance of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula in the 7th century CE to the spread of this civilization impulse throughout much of Eurasia and Africa by the 13th century CE.

This course traces the major developments that shaped the Nile to Oxus region from roughly the 13th to the 18th centuries. This period witnessed several transitions which shaped the background to the modern world in Eurasia, following the Mongol Irruption and closing with the stabilization of the “classical” Ottoman state.

This course traces the major cultural, political, and economic developments that have shaped the modern Middle East from the 19th century to the present time.

Late Imperial, Soviet, and post-Soviet eras of Russian history. Key topics include emancipation of enserfed peasants and the Great Reforms, radical intelligentsia, empire and nationalism, industrialization and urbanization, Russian Revolution, Stalinism, World War II, space race and the Cold War, Soviet collapse, and the Putin era.

This course explores Japanese history from pre-modern times to the present. We focus on specific topics, including the rise of new state forms, nationalism and democracy, as well as industrialization, colonialism, the Asia Pacific War and its consequences, and finally post-war changes, “lost decades,” and current-day dynamics.

Examines China’s political, social, and cultural history from the Age of Division through the rise of the Qing empire (3rd c. -17th c. CE), with a focus on the nature of empire, notions of ethnicity and difference in a pre-modern era, as well as gender, power, and ideology.

Explores the history of China from the high Qing period (18th c.) through to the present day, with an emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries and today's shifts. Key topics include revolution (from Marxism to Maoism), nationalism, colonialism, and the Asia-Pacific War (1937-1945).

An exploration of the role of gender and family in Chinese history, from imperial times to present.

Prerequisite: None. What did the past look like? How were living, working, and ritual spaces built, used, and experienced? Students will work together in groups to build Minecraft models while exploring these questions for different regions of East Asia each semester. Skills-building foci: research, design, presentation, digital tools, and collaborative teamwork.

Global history of socialist ideas, movements, and countries from the 19th century to the present.

Global history of the conflict spanning its origins, conduct, and consequences. Specific topics and geographic focus will vary depending on the instructor teaching the course.

Emphasis on major issues of the postwar era, including the Cold War, McCarthyism, civil rights movement, Vietnam, black militancy, and feminism.

Surveys the development and evolution of what is commonly referred to as the "Arab-Israeli conflict" from the mid-19th century to the present.

This course covers the history of Modern Turkey and its transition as a society and political unit from an imperial Ottoman to a republican Turkish reality. While political, cultural, and religious topics are covered, the primary focus is historical, interrogating how Turkish society evolved in response to a series of domestic, regional, and international challenges in the past century and a half.

Political, diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural study of Vietnam and of the United States' role in Indochina.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status. Guidance and activities to help students think about and plan their post-UMW lives and careers and for finding and choosing the path or paths that best suit their interests and needs. Does not count in the history major.

Prerequisite: HIST 298 or HIST 299. This seminar examines the history and multiple legacies of World War I for the Middle East. As such, the class explores the diplomatic background, imperial goals, military imperatives, personal experiences, negotiated settlement legacies, and evolving historiography of the conflict.

Prerequisite: HIST 298 or 299 and junior or senior status. An in-depth look at the war's origins, political and military strategies, various land and sea campaigns, roles of women and marginalized populations, and diplomatic legacies.

Prerequisite: AMST 306 or ARTH 315A or HISP 200 or HIST 298 or HIST 299. Course familiarizes students with best practices in public history as practiced in United States and the principles of public history interpretation. Students participate in research and exhibit preparation in cooperation with a community partner.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. The digital humanities, history and new media, and the creation of online historical resources. Generally based in the history of the US, but it ranges more widely as appropriate.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. The digital humanities, history and new media, and the creation of online historical resources.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. Examines the global history of aviation and space exploration from the Wright Brothers’ first flight to the future of space tourism with special emphasis on the space race in the Cold War, aviation and modern warfare, and commercial air travel in the Jet Age.

Prerequisite: HIST 298 or HIST 299 or Permission of Instructor. Study of oral history methodology; explores how oral history and narration of the past generations' distinctive information about people's lives and political, social and cultural change; students receive training in oral history methods for conducting and analyzing interviews.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or POI. Slavery in America from its African origins to its demise during the Civil War.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. Research and reading seminar exploring the history of childhood and youth through social, cultural, and economic history, race & ethnicity, gender, queer studies, and global/postcolonial critiques. Exploration of primary sources and research methodologies with direct application in students’ own self-designed projects.

Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. A study of the People's Republic of China since 1949 through the lens of cultural production (e.g. cinema, literature, and art). Key themes: revolution, identity, memory, and global capitalism.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. Examines Soviet state and society under Stalin with particular attention to Communist ideology, collectivization and industrialization, popular culture, the Great Terror, everyday life, and World War II.

Prerequisite: Junior or senior status or permission of instructor. Topical seminars. See Schedule of Courses each semester.

Prerequisites: HIST 298 or HIST 299, senior status and faculty approval of research topic. Capstone research and writing course involving the in-depth investigation of a subject under close supervision by a member of the department.

Prerequisites: HIST 298 or HIST 299 and junior or senior status and faculty approval of research topic. Alternative capstone research and writing course involving in-depth investigation of a subject in foreign archives under close supervision by a member of the department.

Individual investigation of a subject of historical significance, directed by a member of the department.

Supervised off-campus experience, developed in consultation with the department. No more than 3 credits may be counted in the major.