Western New England College

HIST HISTORY

School of Arts and Sciences


HIST 101 WESTERN CIVILIZATION I: PREHISTORY TO 1715

A survey of prehistoric archeology, ancient Near Eastern civilizations, the Greek achievement, the Roman Republic and Empire, the development of Christian Europe, the rival cultures of Byzantium and Islam. Study of Medieval culture in its many forms is followed by an analysis of the Renaissance, the Reformation, and 17th century absolutism. Credit for HIST 101 and HIST 105 is not permissible. 3 s.h.

HIST 102 WESTERN CIVILIZATION II: SINCE 1648

A survey of the rise of capitalism, colonial expansion, evolution of modern science, and the Enlightenment, followed by a study of the French Revolution, and the Industrial Revolution, including urbanization, liberalism, socialism, nationalism, and the new imperialism, World War I, fascism, World War II, and the Cold War. Analysis of major trends since 1945 concludes the course. Credit for HIST 102 and HIST 106 is not permissible. 3 s.h.

HIST 105 WORLD CIVILIZATION I

An introductory survey of world history to 1500. The course focuses on the rise of the world's major civilizations and religions. The emphasis is on the social and political history of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Credit for HIST 101 and HIST 105 is not permissible. 3 s.h.

HIST 106 WORLD CIVILIZATION II

A survey of world history from 1500 to the present. Major themes explored include the rise to dominance of Western society, colonialism, industrialism, decline of colonial empires and the rise of new states in the Third World. Credit for HIST 102 and HIST 106 is not permissible. 3 s.h.

HIST 111 UNITED STATES HISTORY TO 1877

An introduction to U.S. history with special emphasis on the colonial period, the American Revolution, the New Nation, Westward Expansion, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. 3 s.h.

HIST 112 UNITED STATES HISTORY, 1878 TO THE PRESENT

A survey of U.S. history with special emphasis on economic revolution, U.S. involvement in World War I, the Great Depression, the New Deal, World War II, the Cold War, and contemporary America. 3 s.h.

HIST 120 PREHISTORY: ORIGINS OF HUMANKIND AND SOCIETY

An introduction to the biological and cultural origins of the human race and human society. Major topics include physical evolution, hunting and gathering societies, the development of agriculture, and the rise of complex societies. 3 s.h.

HIST 190 SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY

Topics in history which are not carried in the catalogue on a regular basis. The course may be repeated for credit if the topic varies. 1-3 s.h.

HIST 210 MEN'S WORK/WOMEN'S WORK: EVERYDAY LIFE IN PRE- INDUSTRIAL EUROPE

A comparative survey of daily life in classical Athens, Augustan Rome, a medieval village/castle community, and Renaissance Florence. The course focuses on the forces that shaped the daily lives of ordinary men and women, including work, family, social life, and religious belief. 3 s.h.

HIST 218 U.S. SOCIAL HISTORY, 1607-1877

An examination of significant themes in American social history with special emphasis on work, family life, education, culture, religion, social order, social mobility and diverse population groups including native Americans, African-Americans, and immigrants. 3 s.h.

HIST 219 U.S. SOCIAL HISTORY, 1877 TO THE PRESENT

A continuing examination of American social history with special emphasis on family, class, ethnicity, immigration, internal migration, urbanization, and the mass media. 3 s.h.

HIST 230 MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ENGLAND, C.400-1688

An exploration of the various forces - political, economic, cultural, religious - which acted to change England from a world of knights and kings to one of merchants, land-owners, and parliamentary government. 3 s.h.

HIST 231 EVOLUTION OF MODERN ENGLAND, 1688 TO THE PRESENT

A tracing of England's rise and fall as the world's first industrialized nation in order to study the origins, patterns, and possibilities of modern society. 3 s.h.

HIST 290 SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY

Topics in history which are not carried in the catalogue on a regular basis. The course may be repeated for credit if the topic varies. 1-3 s.h.

HIST 307 ROMANS AND BARBARIANS: 31BC-800AD

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A survey of culture and society from the Golden Age of Rome through the Germanic invasions to the Carolingian Renaissance, with an emphasis on the interpretation of surviving evidence (archeology, literature, laws, etc.) 3 s.h.

HIST 309 KNIGHTS, MONKS, AND PEASANTS: AD 800-1350

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A survey of medieval culture and society in which students examine a wide variety of surviving evidence (poetry, architecture, memoirs, etc.) with the goal of better understanding how medieval people lived, worked and thought. 3 s.h.

HIST 312 RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION, 1350-1650

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. An examination of the Italian Renaissance and the German Reformation in their broad European context. The focus is on art, literature, and music within the political, social, and religious environment which laid the foundation for the humanist values imbedded in Western culture. 3 s.h.

HIST 320 THE TWENTIETH CENTURY WORLD

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. An in-depth survey of the forces and conditions that led to two world wars, the devastation of those wars, and the changes they wrought. The focus is on issues and problems and their world-wide impact. A consideration of the potential for a third world war and the global peace movement conclude the course. 3 s.h.

HIST 326 SUGAR, SLAVES, AND CLOTH: THE RISE OF THE ATLANTIC SOCIETY: 1500-1900

Prerequisites: sophomore standing. An exploration of the rise of the plantation complex in the Americas. The course discusses the growing social, economic, and political connections between Africa, the Americas, and Europe. 3 s.h.

HIST 332 THE HISTORY OF RUSSIA

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Brief reviews of the earliest Indo-European settlements followed by study through the Kievan state to the emancipation of the serfs. The course covers the achievements and problems of late Czarist Russia, the Revolutions of 1917, the history of Soviet Russia, and the present. 3 s.h.

HIST 333-334 INDEPENDENT STUDY IN HISTORY

See "Independent Study" on page 29. 1-3 s.h.

HIST 341 HISTORY OF MODERN GERMANY: 1848 TO THE PRESENT

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A systematic examination of constitutional, economic, social, cultural and political issues at work as Germany moved from a collection of monarchies to empire, to republic, to dictatorship, and back to republic again. German contributions to music, literature, art, and philosophy are examined in their social and political contexts. 3 s.h.

HIST 345 WORLD WAR II

Prerequisites: sophomore standing. An approach to this world conflict from the perspective of total war and its impact on modern history. Topics include the politics and diplomacy leading to the war, the military conflict, and the human and material costs. 3 s.h.

HIST 354 CIVIL WAR AND RECONSTRUCTION

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. An examination of the Peculiar Institution, the anti- slavery movement, the intensification of sectionalism, the secession crisis, why and how war came, the course and conduct of the war, and the reconstruction of the nation. 3 s.h.

HIST 359 THE UNITED STATES IN VIETNAM

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. An examination of U.S. policy in Vietnam within the context of Vietnamese history and culture with special emphasis on Vietnamese nationalism, the French colonial period, both Indochina Wars, and the evolution of U.S. policy from the Truman presidency through the Nixon administration. 3 s.h.

HIST 360 THE HISTORY OF PRE-COLONIAL AFRICA

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A thematic survey of the history of Africa up to the late 1890s with special emphasis on the Neolithic revolution, the rise of African states, the Transatlantic slave trade, and the prelude to colonialism. 3 s.h.

HIST 361 AFRICA IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. An examination of the origins of colonialism and the conquest in Africa. The development of the colonial society and economy is explored on a regional basis. The course ends with the rise of new independent African states. 3 s.h.

HIST 371 THE HISTORY OF LATIN AMERICA

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A brief survey of pre-Columbian American cultures and colonial Latin America, followed by study of the Wars of Independence and the creation of the independent countries of Latin America. The social, economic and political dynamics of these societies in the 19th and 20th centuries is discussed. 3 s.h.

HIST 380 THE DEVELOPMENT OF MODERN MEDICINE

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. A tracing from the late 18th century to the present of three inter-related themes: the intellectual history of our current system of medicine, the social history of the medical profession, and changing patterns of health and disease. 3 s.h.

HIST 390-94 SPECIAL TOPICS IN HISTORY

Prerequisite: sophomore standing. Topics of this course vary from year to year depending on faculty time and faculty and student interests. This course may be repeated if topic differs. 3 s.h.

HIST 480-81 INTERNSHIP IN HISTORY

See "Internships," page 30. HIST 490 SEMINAR IN HISTORY Prerequisites: nine semester hours of history and junior standing or permission of instructor. A study of past and present methods of historiography and writing combines with an in-depth examination of a particular phase of history in which the student undertakes research on a topic of choice. This course may be repeated if the topic differs. All junior history majors must register for this class. 3 s.h.

HIST 495-96 SENIOR THESIS

Prerequisites: fifteen semester hours of history, senior standing, and permission of instructor. This two course sequence represents the capstone course of the history major. Senior students select a topic and in the first semester carry out supervised research. In the second semester, the students write up their projects under a faculty member's direction and defend the final project before the history faculty. 2 s.h. each.


This page is maintained by Linda M. Chojnicki,
Western New England College's Academic Schedule Controller