History

HIST 140 Europe and the Modern World I 4.0 Credits

Provides an introduction to the 18th and 19th centuries, including the Age of Enlightenment, the American Revolution, the French Revolution and Napoleonic era, transatlantic industrialization, liberalism and nationalism, the revolutions of 1848, the American Civil War, and the unifications of Italy and Germany.

HIST 141 Europe and the Modern World II 4.0 Credits

Examines imperialism; the rise of the United States and Japan as world powers; the spread of industrialization, democracy, and socialism; world wars; communism and fascism; and the rise of the non-West.

HIST 161 Themes in World Civilization I 3.0 Credits

Examines development of civilizations from antiquity to the 12th century. Views patterns of historical change through key themes and interpretive debates, including political structures; land tenure and social systems; commercial and trade relations; the development of cities, science, and technology; and religions.

HIST 162 Themes in World Civilization II 3.0 Credits

Provides an analysis of civilizations from the 12th century to 1815 viewed through key themes and interpretive debates, including the development of the nation-state, interaction between civilizations, the concept of cultural unity, religious upheaval, disease and science, the relationship between culture and politics, and the nature of revolutions.

HIST 163 Themes in World Civilization III 3.0 Credits

Explores the emergence of modern civilization through key themes and interpretive debates, including industrialization, imperialism, science and technology, ideological debate, the nature of modern warfare, the relationship between nationalism and the state, and the emergence of state-sponsored racism.

HIST 201 United States History to 1815 3.0 Credits

Examines the political, economic, and social forces that shaped America in the era of its founding.

HIST 202 United States History, 1815-1900 3.0 Credits

Examines the emergence of modern America to the close of the Spanish-American War.

HIST 203 United States History since 1900 3.0 Credits

Examines America as economic giant, world political power, and scene of social change.

HIST 209 The United States & Central America: From Monroe Doctrine to Cold War 3.0 Credits

Covers the history of relations between the United States and the nations of Central America.

HIST 212 Themes in African-American History 3.0 Credits

Explores the major issues in the development of Afro-American history through the 19th century, beginning with an overview of West and Central African societies in the 15th and 16th centuries and including the family, religion, forms of resistance, aesthetics, and patterns of white-black relationships.

HIST 214 United States Civil Rights Movement 3.0 Credits

Examines the origins, objectives, successes and failures of the Civil Rights movement in the United States between 1954 and 1972.

HIST 215 American Slavery 3.0 Credits

This course if a rigorous examination of slavery and its representation in the United States. Using primary and secondary resources, art, literature and film clips; the relationship between history and memory and the impact of the social, political, and gendered imagination are investigated.

HIST 216 Freedom in America 3.0 Credits

This course examines African-American history, 1865 to the present, and explores the impact of gender and sexuality in history. Specifically, comparing primary and secondary sources in order to critique how history itself is manufactured and to investigate the role that sexuality and gender play on that process.

HIST 218 Race and Film in United States History 3.0 Credits

This course examines the interplay between history, film and African American? pursuit of social justice and equality. Specifically, the use of films as cultural artifacts or prisms through which better understanding of the dynamics of race and racial inscription in America.

HIST 220 History of American Business 3.0 Credits

Examines the development of business in the United States from the 1870s to the present. Emphasizes the evolving structure of business enterprise, business/government relations, business in an international context, and business and American culture.

HIST 222 History of Work & Workers in America 3.0 Credits

Examines the changing nature of work and the lives of American workers, from the origins of wage labor in the 19th century to the transformation of the workplace in the 20th.

HIST 223 Women and Work in America 3.0 Credits

Examines the historical roots of women's work in the U.S. from the Colonial period to the present, including women and unions, occupational segregation, race and ethnicity, industrialization, depression, war, and the rise of a consumer economy.

HIST 224 Women in American History 3.0 Credits

Covers the history of American women from the 1890s to the present, with emphasis on women's rights, women and technology, women's role in war, and women in the labor force in the 20th century.

HIST 230 United States Military History I (before 1900) 3.0 Credits

Covers the origins and development of military institutions, traditions, and practices in the United States from the Revolution to the Spanish-American War, and the operational, intellectual, diplomatic, and social aspects of military history.

HIST 231 US Military History II (since 1900) 3.0 Credits

Examines the emergence of the United States as a major military power, including military/civil relationships; the impact of technological change; and the world, Korean, and Vietnam wars.

HIST 232 The American Revolution 3.0 Credits

Investigates why Americans rebelled against Great Britain, how they gained their independence against staggering odds, and the new problems created by independence. Looks at the Revolution as a model of the first successful struggle of colonial subjects against their European overlords.

HIST 234 The United States Civil War 3.0 Credits

Examines the causes, course, and results of the American Civil War.

HIST 235 The Great War, 1914-1918 3.0 Credits

Examines the global causes, conduct, and consequences of World War I, which fundamentally altered our century's political, social, economic, and cultural institutions.

HIST 236 World War II 3.0 Credits

Provides an in-depth study of World War II, with emphasis on Europe but also including the war in North Africa, Asia, and the Pacific. Discusses major military events in a broad political framework, with lectures on economic, social, and scientific developments.

HIST 237 Topics in the Cold War 3.0 Credits

Investigates various aspects of the History of the Cold War from 1947 to 1991. Topics will vary from U.S. domestic politics, the politics of the nuclear age, to other foreign policy aspects of the Cold War in its different stages.

HIST 238 The Vietnam War 3.0 Credits

Covers Southeast Asia before the French, the French imperium, the First Indochina War, entry of the United States, the Second Indochina War, and withdrawal of the United States.

HIST 241 Modern France 3.0 Credits

Discusses France since the Revolution, with emphasis on the Third and Fourth Republics. Seeks to reconcile the appearance of extreme political instability and intellectual ferment with evidence of strong economic and social conservatism.

HIST 242 Modern Italy 3.0 Credits

Covers Italy from Napoleon to the present, including risorgimento, unification, trasformismo, fascism, and the post-World War II period.

HIST 243 Germany & World of Hitler 3.0 Credits

Examines German history since 1815. Emphasizes the roots of national socialism, the world wars, and Hitler the man. Ends with the fall of East Germany, the reunification of 1990, and recent trends.

HIST 244 Twentieth Century Russia & the USSR 3.0 Credits

Examines the last years of imperial Russia, showing the background to the revolutions of 1917, followed by a study of the institutions and personalities of the USSR.

HIST 245 England to Elizabeth, to 1558 3.0 Credits

A survey of the formation of the English people and their growth to national independence and maturity.

HIST 246 England from Elizabeth to Waterloo, 1558-1815 3.0 Credits

Covers the crisis of the English constitution, the beginnings of modern society and the Industrial Revolution, and the formation of the British Empire.

HIST 247 Modern England, 1815 - present 3.0 Credits

Examines Victorian England as the first industrial society, the course of empire through two world wars, and the challenge of the present.

HIST 249 Modern Jewish History 3.0 Credits

Explores the social, cultural, political and religious forces that have shaped world Jewry from the 18th to the 20th centuries.

HIST 250 European Revolutionary Movements and Ideology, 1815-1914 3.0 Credits

Provides a comprehensive analysis of the development and influence of the principal revolutionary movements and ideologies that challenged the European status quo from 1815 to 1914.

HIST 251 Fascism 3.0 Credits

Provides a chronological/topical study of fascist movements and regimes in Europe between 1919 and 1945, with emphasis on Italian Fascism and German Nazism.

HIST 252 Europe between Wars, 1919-1939 3.0 Credits

Examines Europe in the 1920s and 1930s, with emphasis on totalitarianism and the causes of World War II. Analyzes the search for peace and stability following World War I; totalitarianism in Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union; the decline of Great Britain and France and their appeasement policies; and Nazi fascist aggression and the crises leading to World War II.

HIST 253 Jewish Life and Culture in the Middle Ages 3.0 Credits

This course is an introductory survey of the history of the Jewish people, their civilization, religion, and contacts with other cultures in medieval times. Topics will include the rise of Christianity and Islam, the Talmud, Jewish mysticism, and the growth of Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jewry.

HIST 254 Russian History Before 1900 3.0 Credits

Survey of Russian History from its origins to the end of the Tsarist period. This course covers both Russia's role in Western European history, and its interactions with Eastern Eurasian civilizations. Fulfills a non-Western distribution requirement.

HIST 258 History of Europe in the 19th Century 3.0 Credits

Analysis of the forces and events that define European civilization in the 19th century, from the Congress of Vienna to the origins of WW1.

HIST 259 History of Europe in the 20th Century 3.0 Credits

Analysis of the forces and events that define European civilization in the 20th century, from the outbreak of WW1 to the present.

HIST 263 The World and China 3.0 Credits

Examines China from its origins to the present day, with emphasis on social, political, and economic institutions. Describes the influences Chinese civilization has had on other societies of the world and the influences other societies have had on China.

HIST 264 East Asia in Modern Times 3.0 Credits

Deals primarily with China and Japan, including a description of their traditional societies and the changes they have undergone during the 20th century.

HIST 267 Twentieth Century World I 3.0 Credits

Examines movements, institutions, and personalities in the major regions of the world, from 1890 through 1939.

HIST 268 Twentieth Century World II 3.0 Credits

Studies events in the major regions of the world since 1945 in historical perspective.

HIST 270 [WI] Introduction to Latin American History 3.0 Credits

Takes a thematic approach to Latin American history, examining modernization and tradition, sex roles and family honor, love and lust, dictatorship and human rights abuses, poverty and crime, terrorism and revolutionary violence. This is a writing intensive course.

HIST 271 History of Mexico 3.0 Credits

Surveys themes in Mexican history from the ancient civilizations of the Mayans and Aztecs to the present, including Spanish conquest, Hapsburg and Bourbon colonial systems, independence wars, social conflict and political protest, the Reform, Maximilian's empire, economic expansion, the revolution of 1910, and revolutionary Mexico.

HIST 272 Ancient and Colonial Mexico 3.0 Credits

Surveys Mexico from the ancient Aztecs; their conquest by the spanish; and three hundred years of colonialism under the Habsburg and Bourban dynasties to the 1810s. Covers role of race, class, gender and family (marriage and food).

HIST 273 Modern Mexico 3.0 Credits

Surveys Mexico from the Wars of Independence (1810's) to the present. Pays attention to changing values evident in rituals, celebrations and food.

HIST 274 Conquest of Mexico 3.0 Credits

Students will analyze interpretations of "the conquest" and compare the roles of technology and culture. They will also examine carefully the variety of primary courses (including the letters written by Cortes, recollections by other conquistadors, and records of the Aztecs) that historians have used to support their contrasting conclusions.

HIST 276 The History of Philadelphia 3.0 Credits

This course surveys the history of Philadelphia through pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial eras to the present day. Philadelphia is investigated as an economic, social, cultural, and political center. Students read primary and secondary sources, and conduct original research into Philadelphia's history. Lectures and discussions are complemented by on-site historical investigations.

HIST 280 History of Science: Ancient to Medieval 3.0 Credits

Explores the history of Western science from the Ancient to Medieval period. Surveys the intellectual content of natural philosophy (science) especially Babylonian, Greek, Roman sciences and medicine, in their broader political, economic, social, cultural contexts.

HIST 281 History of Science: Enlightenment to Modernity 3.0 Credits

Explores the history of science in the Modern period from Newton to late 20th century. Surveys the major developments in the history of science including: Newtonianism, Chemical Revolution, Darwinian Evolution, Laboratory Revolution, Modern Genetics, Ecology, and Environmentalism in their broader historical contexts.

HIST 282 History of Science: Medieval to Enlightenment 3.0 Credits

Explores the history of Western science (broadly understood) from the end of the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment. Connects the changes in the content, methodology, and meaning of natural knowledge to the broader political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual trends of the time.

HIST 285 Technology in Historical Perspective 3.0 Credits

Examines the causal interrelations between technological progress and developments in economic, social, intellectual, and political aspects of Western civilization from the 18th century to the present.

HIST 286 Exploration in Technology and Gender 3.0 Credits

Examines how, when, and why science and technology have become masculinized since the 12th century, producing a world without women.

HIST 290 Technology and the World Community 3.0 Credits

Examines the effect on international relations of rapid technological change in the modern era, and technology as a tool of modernization, political integration, and national security among advanced and developing states.

HIST 292 Technology in American Life 3.0 Credits

Examines the role of technology as means of production, social force, and ideology in modern U.S. history.

HIST 296 Research Methods in History 3.0 Credits

Designed for history majors, this course introduces students to the fundamentals of historical research. The course focuses on methods, particularly in teaching students to locate and analyze evidence.

HIST 298 Special Studies in History 12.0 Credits

Provides supervised individual study of subjects in history. May be repeated for credit.

HIST 299 Historical Background of Current Issues 3.0 Credits

Examines a current policy issue in its historical context. See departmental brochure for topic scheduled for a particular term. May be repeated for credit.

HIST 301 The Study of History 3.0 Credits

Introduces the discipline of history and historical research. Examines philosophies of history, great historical debates, and the nature of historical evidence.

HIST 310 Women, Crime, and History 3.0 Credits

This class will examine gender, race and crime in US history. Specifically, we will explore the experience of female criminals from the colonial period to the present. We will conduct primary research into this subject at the Philadelphia City Archive (PCA), located at 3101 Market Street. Students will be responsible for a final research paper based on their research findings.

HIST 332 [WI] Junior Seminar 3.0 Credits

A research seminar directed by a historian. Requires students to write an extended paper on a topic selected in consultation with the instructor. This is a writing intensive course.

HIST 490 [WI] Senior Seminar I 3.0 Credits

Requires an in-depth research project supervised by a historian. This is a writing intensive course.

HIST 491 [WI] Senior Seminar II 3.0 Credits

Requires completion of the project begun in HIST 490. This is a writing intensive course.

HIST 492 Senior Seminar 3.0 Credits

The senior capstone course in history. Students complete an in-depth research project supervised by an historian.