Program & Courses

HIS 619: US Diplomatic History Since WWI – Dr. Margaret Manchester, Wednesday 4:30-6:50pm
This course examines the emergence of the U.S. as a world power in the twentieth century. Topics will include the rise of the imperial presidency, the U.S. involvement in the two world wars, the origins, course, and conclusion of the Cold War, and America’s role in the War on Terror.

HIS 629: Modern Middle East – Dr. Vefa Erginbas, Monday 4:30-6:50pm
This course covers the Middle East through the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, the rise of nationalism, the impact of World War I, the struggle for Palestine, World War II and after, Israel and the Arab world, and the Middle East in contemporary world affairs.

HIS 700: Queens of the High and Late Middle Ages – Dr. Thomas Grzebien, Tuesday 4:30-6:50pm
A look at a few of the most powerful women of the High and Late Middle Ages, influences on their own times, and larger legacies. Major Figures include: Matilda, Empress of Germany; Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitaine; Margaret of Scotland, Blanche of Castil, Elenor of Castile, Isabella of France, Margaret of Anjou, and Isabella Queen of Castile. The course will use these women’s lives as windows into the defining political structures and formative crises of their own nations. It will also treat how gender has shaped the ways which each has been honored and/or vilified in larger historical and cultural memory. Some are remembered as valiant warriors or brilliant patrons of culture, others as tragic victims of weak or ruthless royal husbands, still others as bloodthirsty and ruthless harlots, and a few as Catholic heroines and saints. Many remain controversial and enigmatic to this day.

HIS 770: The New Histories – Dr. Jeff Johnson, Monday 7:00-9:30pm
Since the late 1970s the historical discipline has seen dramatic shifts. The so-called “New Histories,” while perhaps not so “new” in the modern context, have nevertheless left their mark on the field as historians moved from political and institutional narratives. A discussion-based course envisioned as a “historiographical mixtape,” this course endeavors to revisit the rise and influence of key post-1970s scholarship by leading historians in (but not limited to) the sub-fields of American Indian, regional, women’s, comparative, labor, cultural, and postmodern history. Particular attention will be paid to the discipline’s important and welcomed new emphases on social history, agency, previously marginalized groups, and more.

Summer I: May 28th – June 28th

HIS 500: Historical Methodology – Dr. Jeff Johnson, Monday/Wednesday 4:30-8:00pm
This course is a broad introduction to research methods and academic writing. Students will learn to think critically about, and participate in, the art of the professional historian. It will expose them to how the discipline developed professionally, to the many interpretations of the past developed by historians, as well as the many disagreements that emerge from these interpretations. Students will conduct research using primary and secondary sources that will culminate in an original research paper. In the process, students will learn new and easy-to-use research aids, such as bibliographic software. The class will work with archives and may use local research libraries. In the end, students will have been afforded the opportunity to work and think like a historian.

HIS 770: Early Black Biographies – Dr. Ted Andrews, Tuesday/Thursday 4:30-8:00pm
This course explores early American history through the lens of “black biographies,” narrative histories that focus on noteworthy people of color from the eighteenth century. In this class we’ll learn about Phillis Wheatley, the famous poet, as well as Ona Judge, an enslaved woman who ran away from George Washington. We’ll also explore how lesser known figures – like Charleston, South Carolina’s Thomas Jeremiah – can reveal some of the central issues related to race and slavery in early America.

Summer II: July 1st – August 2nd

HIS 770: The West in the American Imagination – Dr. Margaret Manchester, Monday/Wednesday 4:30-8:00pm
The history of the American West and its place in American culture and imagination will be examined. Some of the following themes will be covered: the significance of the frontier; the impact of conquest on Native American societies in the West; and the impact of race, gender, and ethnicity on one’s historical experience of the West. The class will also use Western films, literature, and art to analyze the ways in which the West has inspired the American imagination.

HIS 500: Historical Methodology – Dr. Jeff Johnson, Tuesday 4:30-6:50pm
This course is a broad introduction to research methods and academic writing. Students will learn to think critically about, and participate in, the art of the professional historian. It will expose them to how the discipline developed professionally, to the many interpretations of the past developed by historians, as well as the many disagreements that emerge from these interpretations. Students will conduct research using primary and secondary sources that will culminate in an original research paper. In the process, students will learn new and easy-to-use research aids, such as bibliographic software. The class will work with archives and may use local research libraries. In the end, students will have been afforded the opportunity to work and think like a historian.

HIS 591: Europe 1914-1933 – Dr. Matthew Dowling, Wednesday 7:00-9:30pm
The period from 1914 to 1933 was critical in shaping the remainder of the twentieth century as Europeans became deeply disillusioned with the direction of their civilization. This course will explore the Great War, the Spanish Flu Epidemic, the Paris Peace Settlement, the Russian Revolutions, the new diplomacy of the 1920s, the rise of dictatorships, and the Great Depression. We will use a combination of written primary sources, film, and historiography to explore this pivotal period.

HIS 770: History of Islam in America – Dr. Vefa Erginbas, Monday 4:30-6:50pm
Did the Americans develop meaningful ways of engagement with Islam and the Muslims? What did account for their special relationship with Islam? What do these questions tell us about American history? From the very early days of American history, Muslims and Islam have played a peculiar role. The American engagement with Islam began when the Muslim slaves were carried from Africa to the Atlantic shores. In the next century, the founding fathers engaged with the Muslim states of North Africa through Barbary Wars. Islam also played a significant role as a discursive tool to criticize and sometimes demonize specific practices associated with absolutist monarchy or defend certain interpretations of Christianity. Since the horrendous events of 9/11, Muslims in the US and abroad have been under constant scrutiny and suspicion. This course will survey the American engagement with Islam and the Muslims from colonial times to the present. No knowledge of Islam or Muslims is necessary to take this class.