University Catalog 2024-2025

History (HIST)

HIST 1500  Special Topics  (3)  

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

HIST 1520  Pain & Torture Through History  (3)  

A seminar course for first year students designed to introduce college level reading, discussion and writing. The UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1987 unequivocally banned the use of torture. Nevertheless torture still occurs, even in the 130 countries that ratified the agreement.There is a great deal of controversy about what constitutes torture and some claim that it is justified in special situations like the War on Terror.This course will examine the goals and methods of torture through history, as it moved from a focus of inflicting pain to the use of psychological torture and sensory deprivation. We will explore how to study pain in history - does pain exist as an entity; unravel the changing relationships between the state, law, and torture; look at the torturers themselves - who they are, how they learn the techniques, and the effects on them. We will also consider what it says about us when we pursue "enhanced" quasi-torture interrogation techniques.

HIST 1750  Disasters in History  (3)  

Disasters have taken many forms in human history, from earthquakes, fires, tsunamis and hurricanes to famine and epidemic disease. Nor should we forget manmade tragedies such as the terrorist attacks on 9/11 or the devastation produced by a combination of human and technological failures, such as the explosions at Chernobyl and Bhopal or the more recent BP oil spill just off of our own coast. Disasters are an important focus for historical inquiry for quite varied reasons. This is a unique course. It will be team-taught by 12 professors. Each professor will teach a 1-week unit on a historical disaster related to their area of specialization. In addition to an excellent learning experience, you will get to sample the teaching of more than half of the faculty members in the History Department.

HIST 1760  Eating & Drinking in History  (3)  

Eating and Drinking are part of our everyday lives and experiences, and in that respect, these processes can seem natural rather than historical. However, if we stop and think about it, the politics, economics, and culture of food production and consumption have shaped communities and cultures in specific, and often divergent, ways. In this course, we will take the overarching rubric of eating and drinking to explore the multiple ways in which studying food can illuminate our understanding of the past. This course will include units on food, war, and hunger; commodity chains and trade; cultural relationships with alcohol; and labor and food production in the pre-industrial, industrial and post-industrial era. This is a team taught class taught by the History faculty. Each professor will teach a 1-week unit on eating and drinking related to their area of specialization.

HIST 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 up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 1911  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 up to unlimited credit hours.

Course Limit: 99

HIST 1912  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 up to unlimited credit hours.

Course Limit: 99

HIST 2910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

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 up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 2940  Transfer Coursework  (0-20)  

Transfer Coursework at the 2000 level. Department approval may be required.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 3000  Historical Methods  (1)  

Historical Methods Lab. For description, consult the department.

HIST 3210  Visual History & Filmmaking  (3)  

In this course students will explore the relationship between history and documentary filmmaking through parallel practices: the critical analysis of historical documentaries and the creation of short historical documentaries as members of small production teams. We will explore questions of narrative form, visual and aural evidence, expertise and authority, and the ethics of representation. Collaboration will also be a central theme of this course since students will have to work together to determine their research subject, carry out research, shoot video, and edit together the final cut.

HIST 3230  Art and Craft of History  (3)  

Introduction to researching and writing history. We will develop these skills by studying scholars' investigations of the past, conducting archived research, and writing original essays.

HIST 3240  Public History Lab: Exhibits  (3)  

Most students have visited a historical museum and/or exhibit at some point, perhaps on a school field trip or a family trip. However, what goes into making an exhibit? What are the politics involved? Who decides what is included and what is not? And what is at stake in these decisions?

HIST 3890  Service Learning  (0-1)  

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 3910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

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 up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 3911  Special Topics  (1-3)  

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 up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 3920  Special Offerings: History  (3)  

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

HIST 4004  Mkts Money Trde PreIndust Econ  (3)  

This course takes a comparative approach to major issues in the economies of imperial Rome, and the Early Modern European overseas empires. The topics include an introduction to the main features of the these two pre-industrial macro-economies, and then a series of topics that are of interest to both students of history and business majors. Students will also gain knowledge of the sources and historical methods for the study of these economies, many of which differ from those of the modern era. Stress is on analysis and writing, and so the ability of a student to assimilate and synthesize data into coherent essays.

HIST 4560  Internship and Independent Study  (1-3)  

Students will complete a 60-70 hour internship with a community partner. In addition, the student will work with a faculty member in the History Department who will advise the student and provide pertinent academic course work to complement the student's experiential learning. Pre-requistites: Approval of instructor. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 4570  Internship and Public History Seminar  (4)  

What is public history? What do public historians do? What does history look like outside of the classroom? What are the public debates about the telling of history, and what are the consequences? This is a hands-on course which requires both an internship and seminar participation. Students will have an internship with a community partner and intern for 60-70 hours for the course of the semester. In addition, we will have regular seminar meetings as well as guest lectures and field trips. This course does have a Co-Requisite for service learning -- it is SRVC 4890. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 4890  Service Learning  (1)  

Students complete a service activity in the community in conjunction with the content of a three-credit co-requisite course. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.

Corequisite(s): HIST 4910.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 4910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

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 up to unlimited credit hours.

Corequisite(s): HIST 4890.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 4920  Independent Study  (1-4)  

Qualified students may arrange for independent study with approval of an instructor (dependent upon area of study) and their faculty adviser. Details of each student's program will vary, but all will involve some combination of readings, oral reports, and written work. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 4990  Honors Thesis  (3)  

Intensive reading, research, and writing in a selected field of history. Students should discuss their honors thesis with a prospective director during the semester prior to that in which they take 4990.

HIST 5000  Honors Thesis  (3-4)  

For especially qualified seniors with approval of the faculty director and the Office of Academic Enrichment. Students must have a minimum of a 3.400 overall grade-point average and a 3.500 grade-point average in the major.

Prerequisite(s): HIST 4990.

HIST 5380  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  

Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 5390  Junior Year Abroad  (1-20)  

Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 6660  Photography & Historical Persp  (3)  

This class aims to explore the relationship between historical memory and photographic practice.

HIST 6910  Special Offerings: History  (3-4)  

For specific offering, see the Schedule of Classes. For description, consult department. Course may be repeated unlimited times for credit.

Course Limit: 99

HIST 7001  Seminar in Historical Practice  (3)  

This course serves as an introduction for History graduate students to historical practice and the Department of History.

HIST 7003  Historiography & Methods I  (3)  

Historiography tutorial in the major field of study for M.A. and Ph.D. students in History.

HIST 7005  Historiography & Methods II  (3)  

Historiography tutorial in the minor field of study for M.A. and Ph.D. students in History.

HIST 7006  Intermediate Historical Writing  (3)  

Required writing course for doctoral students leading to a substantive research paper of publishable quality.

HIST 7007  Advanced Hist. Writing  (3)  

Required writing course for doctoral students leading to a substantive dissertation prospectus.

HIST 7008  Prof. Deve. and Documentation  (3)  

Required course for doctoral students leading to the creation of a successful doctoral portfolio.

HIST 7210  Visual History & Filmmaking  (3)  

In this course students will explore the relationship between history and documentary filmmaking through parallel practices: the critical analysis of historical documentaries and the creation of short historical documentaries as members of small production teams. 

HIST 7900  Directed Readings  (1-3)  

Focused readings and weekly meetings with a qualified instructor, tutorial-style. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 7901  Directed Readings  (1-3)  

Focused readings and weekly meetings with a qualified instructor, tutorial-style.

HIST 7910  Special Topics  (1-3)  

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


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 7920  Independent Study  (3)  

Qualified students may arrange for independent study with approval of an instructor (dependent upon area of study) and their faculty adviser. Details of each student's program will vary, but all will involve some combination of readings, oral reports, and written work.

HIST 7921  Independent Study  (3)  

Qualified students may arrange for independent study with approval of an instructor (dependent upon area of study) and their faculty adviser. Details of each student's program will vary, but all will involve some combination of readings, oral reports, and written work.

HIST 7930  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 up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 9980  Master's Research  (0)  

Master's Research. Consult Department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99

HIST 9990  Dissertation Research  (0)  

Dissertation Research. Consult Department. Course may be repeated up to unlimited credit hours.


Maximum Hours: 99