University Catalog 2024-2025

History - Ancient & Medieval Europe (HISA)

HISA 1020  After Rome: The Early Medieval World  (3)  

A survey of major developments in the political, religious, and social history of Europe from the 5th through the 10th century. Topics to be explored include the transformation of the Mediterranean world in late Antiquity; the development of the institutions and forms of religious expression of European Christianity; the emergence of kingdoms in Europe; the Rise of Islam; the Carolingian Renaissance; and the Viking invasions.

HISA 1030  Medieval Europe 1100-1450  (3)  

A survey of the period in which Western Europe became the center of medieval civilization.

HISA 1500  Special Topics  (3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Notes: For special offering, see the Schedule of Classes.

HISA 1910  Special Topics  (3)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Notes: For special offering, see the Schedule of Classes. Course may be repeated unlimited times for credit.

Course Limit: 99

HISA 2000  Cities Empires and Gods  (3)  

This survey course introduces the early civilizations and religious traditions of the Near East and India that are the institutional and cultural basis of the Middle East today. The course begins with the first, literate, urban civilizations of the Tigris-Euphrates, Nile, and Indus. Stress is on the institutions of ancient kingships and the religious traditions of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Hebrews, Persia (Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism), and Early India (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism).

HISA 2001  Warring States of Greece  (3)  

This lecture course introduces the achievements of Greek civilization from its origins on Crete in the Bronze Age (2800-1400 B.C.) down to the conquest of the Greek world by the Romans. Greek civilization is the foundation of Western civilization. The intense inter-city rivalries shaped political thought with its stress on the consent of citizens and rule of law, artistic and literary achievements stressing the human condition, and inquiry based on scientific reasoning and analysis of cause and effect. Stress is on the Archaic (750-480 B.C.), Classical (480-323 B.C.), and Early Hellenistic Ages (323-200 B.C.)

HISA 2002  Rome the Imperial Republic  (3)  

This lecture course introduces the political and cultural achievements of the Roman Republic, and Rome's enduring legacy to Western political thought. Emphasis is on the evolution of the Roman Republic's political institutions, the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean world, the Hellenization of Roman society, the emergence of a Mediterranean economy, the demise of the Republic in the Roman Revolution, and the legacy of the Republic to the Western tradition.

HISA 2020  The High Roman Empire  (3)  

This lecture course explains the political, institutional, and cultural achievements of the Roman Empire that are the foundations of Western civilization. Emphasis is on transformation of he Roman Republic into the monarchy of the Principate by Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.), the imperial army and frontier policies, economic growth and social mobility under the Roman peace, the crisis of the third century (235-305), the rise of Christianity, and the creation of the Christian monarchy by Constantine (306-337)

HISA 2030  Byz & Early Med Civilization  (3)  

This course covers the transformation of the late Roman world into the Christian civilization of the Byzantine Empire and early Medieval West. Emphasis is on changes in late Roman state and society, the barbarian invasions and fall of the Western Roman Empire, the failure to restore the Roman order by Justinian (527-565), the emergence of the Middle Byzantine state and Orthodox tradition, the inversion of Eastern Europe, the impact of the Crusades, and the Byzantine transmission of the Classical heritage to Western Europe.

HISA 2310  Medieval England  (3)  

A survey of the political, social, and intellectual development of England from the Anglo-Saxon period to 1485.

HISA 2350  Medieval Italy  (3)  

A survey of the political, social, and cultural developments in Italy from the eleventh century to the early fifteenth century, with special attention to the development of institutions and culture in the city-states of central and northern Italy.

HISA 2360  History of Christianity, From the Jesus Movement to the Reformation  (3)  

A historical overview of the Church and society in Western Europe from the origins of Christianity through the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. This course will examine the development of early Christianities in the period following the birth of the Jesus movement; the emergence of normative or "Catholic" Christian belief and practice; and the institutions and culture of Christianity as it developed in Western Europe in the Middle Ages. Themes will include the varieties of monasticism; relationships with Judaism and Islam; the development of Roman primacy and Papal government; scholasticism and other intellectual movements; and late-medieval attempts at institutional and intellectual reform. The course will introduce students to major themes and ideas through the reading of survey texts, and to historical interpretation through the analysis of primary sources.

HISA 2910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

Courses offered by visiting faculty or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 3000  Historical Methods:  (1)  

Historical Methods Lab. For description, consult the department.

HISA 3020  Anatolian Civilization  (3)  

Interdisciplinary seminar on the study of the history, historical geology, and cultural achievements of Anatolia (modern Turkey). Anatolia has acted as the cultural bridge between Europe and the Near East. Stress is on the achievements of Hittite civilization, the Iron Age civilizations, the impact of Hellenic civilization, the Roman and Byzantine empires, Turkish Muslim civilization under the Seljuks and Ottomans, and the Turkish Republic.

HISA 3070  Topics Medieval & Renais Hist  (3)  

A reading seminar designed to explore in depth some aspect of late medieval history that is of interest to students and instructor.

HISA 3100  Spec Topics Greek Hist  (3)  

Readings and discussion of select topics in classical Greek history: Homer and the Trojan War; The Birth of City-States in Greece and the Near East (1000-500 B.C.E.); Athenian Empire (480-404 B.C.E.); Sparta and Macedon in the Age of Hegemonies (404-323 B.C.E.); or Greek Cities Leagues, and Macedonian Kings (323-133 B.C.E.). Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 3110  Spec Topics Roman Hist  (3)  

Readings and discussion of select topics in Roman history: The Making of Roman Italy (509-264 B.C.E.); The Punic Wars (264-146 B.C.E.); Roman Revolution (133-27 B.C.E.); Rome and the Jews (167 B.C.E.- 135 C.E.), or Money, Market, and Trade from Antiquity to the Middle Ages. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 3170  Medieval Spain  (3)  

Readings, discussion, and essays examine the sweep of Iberian history from the late Roman empire until the early 16th century, with particular attention to the Visigothic monarchy, the society and culture of Islamic al-Andalus, the reconquest and development of the Christian kingdoms of Castile-León, Portugal, and Aragon, and the interaction of Christians, Jews, and Muslims in peninsular society. The development of a distinctive Castilian culture, later transplanted in large part to Spanish America, will be studied through close attention to legal codes, domestic arrangements, military organization, the Inquisition, and the classics of medieval Castilian literature.

HISA 3230  Great Capts Alexander-Patton  (3)  

Interdisciplinary colloquium on how the careers of great commanders have altered warfare and society. Stress is on changes in political, economic, and social institutions that stood behind these careers as well as the impact of innovations in technology, tactics, and strategy. Commanders include Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Scipio Africanus, Belisarius, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick the Great, and Napoleon.

HISA 3250  Jews, Christians, Muslims  (3,4)  

This seminar explores the relationships between the three Abrahamic religions during the Middle Ages. It examines the experience of Jews as minorities in both Christian and Muslim territories, encounters between Christians and Muslims both violent and peaceful in the Mediterranean and in Europe, and the ways in which each community was shaped by its encounters with the others.

HISA 3910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

Courses offered by visiting faculty or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 3970  Spec offr: Ancient Med  (3)  

For specific offering, see the Schedule of Classes. For description, consult department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 4140  The Crusades 1095-1291  (3)  

This course traces the origins of crusading in Western Europe and events that led to the launching of Crusades to recover Jerusalem for the next two centuries. Emphasis is on how the Crusades shifted the political and economic axis in the Medieval world as well as led to innovations in arts and letters for Western Europe, the Byzantine world and the Muslim Near East.

HISA 4150  The Age of the Vikings  (3,4)  

This course deals with the evolution of a distinct civilization in Scandinavia on the eve of the Viking Age (790-1100) and its impact on early Medieval civilization. Through archaeology, coins, and the sagas and verse of Iceland, the course examines how Viking raids transformed states and societies across Europe and how the Scandinavians were assimilated into Latin Christendom from the eleventh through thirteenth centuries.

HISA 4200  Dante's Worlds: The Divine Comedy and History  (4)  

This mixed lecture/seminar will explore the world Dante created in his masterwork, the Comedy. and the world that created Dante: the vibrant intellectual. political. and religious culture of medieval Italy. The course will combine a close reading of the Comedy with exploration of important issues engaged by Dante in politics and government; religion and morality; economic theory and social order; gender and social relations; and creativity and the arts.

HISA 4910  Special Topics  (1-4)  

Courses offered by visiting professors or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 5380  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 5390  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  

Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 6000  Select Topics Greek History  (3,4)  

Research seminar on select topics of Greek History: Archaic Greece (750-480 B.C.E); Athenian Constitutional History; Alexander the Great; Greeks, Macedonians, and Persians: Birth of the Hellenistic World (600-250 B.C.E.); or Greeks in Iran and India (500 B.C.E.- 200 C.E.) Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 6010  Sem Sel Topic Roman Hist  (3,4)  

Research seminar on select topics in Roman History: Roman Imperialism and Transmarine Expansion (264-30 B.C.E.); Roman Principate; Later Roman Empire; Peloponnesian and Punic Wars; Rome and the Raj: Imperial Armies, Frontiers, and Societies; Imperial Rome and Imperial China (200 B.C.E.- 200 C.E.); Rome and Iran (100 B.C.E -650 C.E.); The Conflict of Pagans and Christians in the Roman Empire (30-565), Rome's Mediterranean Economy or Rome and the Northern Barbarians. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 6050  The Italian Renaissance  (3)  

An examination of cultural, religious, and political developments in Renaissance Italy and their impact on the rest of Europe.

HISA 6060  Later Medieval Spain  (3,4)  

Examines the political, religious, social, and cultural history of the Iberian Peninsula from the rise of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the tenth century through the reign of the Catholic Monarchs Isabel of Castile (1479-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (1479-1516). Among other topics, readings and discussion will address: the evolution of Islamic and Christian polities, and their centuries-long military confrontation (the 'Reconquest'); convivencia, or the interaction of Christians, Muslims, and Jews within medieval peninsular societies, and the reflections of this coexistence in culture, commerce and law; the partial political unification of Spain under the Catholic Monarchs; mounting religious and ethnic tensions within the Christian states, the rise of the Spanish Inquisition, expulsions of Jews and Muslims, and the imposition of Christian orthodoxy.

HISA 6090  Sem Sel Topics Byzan Hist  (3,4)  

Research seminar on select topics in Byzantine history: The Age of Justinian (518-565); The Byzantine Dark Age (610-1025); or Byzantium and the Crusades (1025-1204). Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HISA 6190  Special Topics: Mediev+Ancient  (3)  

Courses offered by visiting faculty or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department.

HISA 6230  Medieval Cities  (3)  

This seminar explores the cities of medieval Europe, particularly in the high and late medieval period (roughly 1100-1500), and the ways in which urban space shaped the social, political, and cultural experience of medieval city-dwellers. Themes for readings and discussions include the idea of the city; sacred space and civic religious culture; governments, their institutions and physical sites; commerce and guilds; the gendering of urban space; and poverty and disease.

HISA 6250  Medieval Religious Culture  (3-4)  

This seminar explores a variety of aspects of medieval religious beliefs and practices, raising questions about the specific character of medieval religious culture and about how historians study it. Themes addressed include the cult of the saints; monastic life and intellectual culture; gender and models of sanctity; art and religious meaning; relations between majorities and minorities; and popular religion.

HISA 6270  Women&Gender Middle Ages  (3)  

This seminar addresses the construction of gendered identities in the Middle Ages, and the experience of medieval women and men in relation to those identities. Seminar readings and discussions explore topics such as changes in attitudes towards women's authority during the Middle Ages; the experience of religious women and the meaning of female imagery in religious writings; women's opportunities and experiences in politics and the economy; the lives and writings of illustrious medieval women; and the relationship between medieval conceptions of femininity and masculinity, and their articulation of gender differences in medieval literature and science.

HISA 6910  Special Topics  (1-4)  

Courses offered by visiting faculty or permanent faculty. For description, consult the department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99