FIRST SEMESTER 2008-09
Consult BannerWeb for registration codes.
HST 111 Survey of American History I – MW 10:00-10:50
Weekly discussion sections scheduled at various times.
Dr. Andrew Cayton
HST 111 Survey of American History I – MWF 8:00-8:50 (Sec. BB)
Dr. Amanda McVety
HST 112 Survey of American History II
Dr. Kevin Armitage - MWF 8:00-8:50 (Sec. A)
Dr. Kevin Armitage – MWF 12:00-12:50 (Sec. B)
Dr. Nishani Frazier - T R 2:00-3:15 (Sec. C)
MP Humanities Foundation--Historical Perspective.
MP U.S. Cultures Foundation
History Major: Survey.
Together, HST 111 and 112 provide students with a basic introduction to the major issues and questions in the history of the geographical region covered by the present-day United States of America. Specifically, HST 111 deals with the American past between 1492, the year in which Spain "discovered" the Western Hemisphere, and the Era of Reconstruction (1865-1877). HST 112 covers the past century, during which time the United States industrialized and developed into a world power. While each course will ask you to learn about specific people, places and events, the major concern will be to ask you to think about why we are what we are today. While we will focus on the central events of our collective past--in HST 111 the founding of the colonies, the establishment of black slavery, the American Revolution, the Civil War and Reconstruction; in HST 112 immigration, industrialization, urban growth, 20th century reform, and the impact of World Wars I and II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War--we will do so from the perspectives of recent scholarship by historians concerned with questions of gender, race, environmentalism, class and region. Although the basic structure of this course will be traditional, the content will be more unusual. HST 111 and 112 may be taken singly, in sequence or out of sequence.
HST 121 Western Civilization I – MW 11:00-11:50
Weekly discussion sections scheduled at various times.
Dr. Charlotte Goldy
HST 122 Western Civilization II – T R 12:30-1:45
Dr. D.S. Chandler
MP Humanities Foundation--Historical Perspective.
MP World Cultures Foundation.
History Major: Survey.
In a world of growing specialization and compartmentalization, students face increasing difficulty relating various areas of knowledge to one another and to themselves. HST 121 and 122 cannot provide a complete answer to this problem, but they are a good start. These courses present a broad, multi-faceted approach to the study of western civilization over the course of nearly three millennia. Their purpose is to survey the major societal issues and cultural themes that have defined the concepts of humanity and society in the western world. In aiming at this objective, these courses afford a degree of perspective which assists the student in both relating diverse information to central themes and in understanding his or her relationship to a culture and an age. Texts and techniques will vary with the individual instructor. HST 121 and HST 122 may be taken singly, in sequence or out of sequence.
HST 197 World History to 1500 – M W 1:00-1:50
Weekly discussion sections scheduled at various times.
Dr. Matthew Gordon
HST 197 World History to 1500 -- MWF 2:00-2:50 (Sec. BB)
Dr. Todd Uhlman
HST 197.H World History to 1500 (Honors) – T R 12:30-1:45
Dr. Kevin Osterloh - T R 12:30-1:45 (Sec. A)
Dr. Tatiana Seijas - T R 2:00-3:15 (Sec. B)
HST 197.I World History to 1500 – T R 3:30-4:45
Section for International Students
Dr. Wenxi Liu
MP World Cultures or Humanities Foundation--Historical Perspective
History Major: Survey
This course offers an introduction to the origins and early development of individual civilizations prior to the period of Western European hegemony. It stresses the interdependency and interrelations among cultures and compares social, political, and religious experiences of peoples with one another.
HST 198 World History since 1500
Dr. Erik Jensen - MWF 9:00-9:50 (Sec. A)
Dr. Sam Chandler - T R 9:30-10:45 (Sec. B)
MP Humanities or World Cultures Foundation--Historical Perspective
History Major: Survey.
Emphasizes the growing interrelatedness of the regions of the world since the time of the European voyages of exploration and accelerating since the industrial and ideological revolutions of the late eighteenth century.
HST 206 Introduction to Historical Inquiry
Dr. Renée Baernstein – T R 11:00-12:15 (Sec. A)
Dr. Erik Jensen – W 7:00-9:40 pm (Sec. B)
Introduction to essential skills in investigating and interpreting the past. Course stresses active participation, writing, and intensive reading of primary documents and secondary literature. Required of History Majors who entered the university in 2005-06 or subsequent years.
AMS/HST 214 History of Miami University – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Curtis Ellison
History Major: U.S. Advanced
How did Miami evolve from a nineteenth century midwestern college for men to a twenty-first century international university where a majority of students are women? This course explores that experience since 1809 from the perspectives of local culture, national social and economic forces, and the history of American higher education.
AMS/HST 216 Introduction to Public History – T R 2:00-3:15
Dr. Helen Sheumaker
History Major: U.S. Advanced
An introduction to the major issues addressed by historians who work in the public sphere, with emphasis on the creation of shared public past and the disciplines that comprise the field of public history. This course includes a collaborative project exploring the history of Miami University's campus, and how current MU students, staff, and faculty experience and understand the buildings and built environment of the University. This project is presented as part of the Getty Foundation's Campus Heritage Grant, and students will, through their research and data collecting, contribute directly to a report whose aim is to assess and reconsider the role of historic buildings on this campus. (Formerly numbered AMS/HST 204.)
HST 219 U.S. Diplomatic History to 1914 – MWF 11:00-11:50
Dr. Amanda McVety
History Major: U.S. Advanced
Thematic Sequence (NSC 2): War–An Extension of Politics.
A history of foreign relations between different groups of peoples on the North American continent and between the United States of America and the rest of the world up to 1914. Emphasis is placed upon identifying, analyzing, and correcting historical myths about selected major events, issues, and themes that have influenced our memory of the past and our lives in the present.
BWS/HST 221 African-American History – MWF 9:00-9:50
Dr. Sherman Jackson
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
Thematic Sequence (ENG 8): African American History and Literature.
HST 221 is a survey of the African-American experience in the United States, from African origins to the present. The course emphasizes biographical profiles; constitutional, political and social contributions to the nation; and race relations.
BWS/HST 224 Africa to 1884 – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Osaak Olumwullah
MP Humanities or World Cultures Foundation--Historical Perspective
History Majors: Africa; Non-Western Advanced; Pre-Modern.
This course is a general survey of the history of Africa, south of the Sahara, from the earliest times to the end of the nineteenth century. Through a rough chronological order, it concentrates on the examination of six broad themes: ancient and medieval African civilizations; Bantu and Luo migrations; African cultures; East Africa and the Orient; South Africa to 1870; and disorder and readjustment between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries. Time will also be spent on sources of Africa history so that students can effectively evaluate the methods and approaches used in understanding Africa’s past.
HST/ATH/POL/REL/RUS 254 Introduction to Russian and Eurasian Studies – T R 9:30-10:45
Dr. Stephen Norris
History Major: European Advanced
This course examines the major developments that have shaped Russian and Eurasian culture, society and politics over the last millennium. The course incorporates perspectives from the social sciences, humanities and the fine arts.
HST/LAS 260 Latin America in the United States
Dr. Jose Amador - T R 9:30-10:45 (Sec. A)
Dr. Jose Amador - T R 11:00-12:15 (Sec. B)
History Major: U.S. Advanced
Interdisciplinary examination of historical, social, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the experience of peoples of Latin, Hispanic, Latino/a background in the United States.
HST 307 Latin American Civilization: Colonial Period – T R 9:30-10:45
Dr. Tatiana Seijas
History Major: Latin America; Non-Western Advanced; Pre-Modern.
HST 307 begins with the Native American and Hispanic backgrounds of Latin America. During the semester we consider the post-1492 invasions, the emergence and growth of colonial society and institutions in the 16th and 17th centuries, and the nature of the relationship between Europeans and non-whites in America. Also, the impact of the Enlightenment and 18th-century reforms are discussed, leading to the eve of the Era of Independence.
HST/LAS 319 Revolution in Latin America - T R 2:00-3:15
Dr. Elena Albarran
History Major: Latin America; Non-Western Advanced
History of modern Latin America through the experience of revolution in the 20th century. Focus on revolutionary experiences in four countries that had an enormous impact far beyond their borders: Mexico, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua.
HST 321 Introduction to Islamic History – MWF 11:00-11:50
Dr. Matthew Gordon
History Major: Middle East; Non-Western Advanced; Pre-Modern
The objective of the course is to examine the history of the Islamic community in the early and medieval periods (6 th to the 12 th century) and the development of the Islamic religious tradition. Among the topics we will consider is the life of the Prophet Muhammad, the themes of the Qur’an, the development of the law (Shari’a), the rise and decline of the early Islamic empire, the emergence of the Sunni and Shi’i branches of Islam and the early period of the Crusades.
HST 328 Italy: Machiavelli to Mussolini – T R 11:00-12:15
Dr. Wietse de Boer
History Major: European Advanced
Explores Italian history from the end of the Renaissance, through the Baroque, the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and on to modernity. Addresses questions about culture and society, identity and nationality, art and politics, and about Italy’s influence world-wide.
HST 345 Survey of Medieval History – MWF 2:00-2:50
Dr. Charlotte Goldy
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern.
Thematic Sequence (HST 1): Medieval Studies.
Medieval Studies Minor
There is more to the Middle Ages than just being “in the middle.” HST 345 examines both the High and Later Middle Ages (ca. 1000-ca. 1500) with the expansion of Europe and its encounters with other cultures; the development of the papal and feudal monarchies, representational and authoritarian governments, and national identity; a pan-European culture and a national culture; modern law and persecutions; the Black Death and transition to “modern” Europe. Lectures are integrated with informal discussion and visual images of the time. Your grade will be based on at-home essay exams and short reading responses.
HST 349 France in the Age of the Enlightenment – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Judith P. Zinsser
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern
The “Age of the Enlightenment” in France coincides with the reigns of King Louis XV and Louis XVI. It represents one of the richest and most controversial eras of European history. Through reading of monographs and articles on the functioning of the monarchy, on the world of everyday peoples in Paris and the countryside, and the intellectual climate of the era, students will be able to reconstruct the time known as “the ancien regime.” The class will also analyze primary readings by authors such as Diderot, Voltaire, Du Châtelet, and Rousseau to gain a sense of the intellectual excitement of the “Enlightenment,” and of how the French could begin to imagine change in the dramatic sense of a “revolution.”
HST 354 Modern Chinese History – MWF 10:00-10:50
Dr. Todd Uhlman
History Major: Asia; Non-Western Advanced
Survey of changes in institutions, ideas, economy and society in China's search for modernity from late imperial times (17th to 19th centuries) to the present.
HST 356 Modern Japanese History -- MWF 12:00-12:50
Dr. Todd Uhlman
History Major: Asia; Non-Western Advanced
Major issues in the history of Japan from mid-19th century to recent times such as the Meiji Restoration, the impact of the West, tradition and modernity, industrialization, social and cultural development, and wars and democracy.
HST 360.V History of the American West since the Civil War – MWF 10:00-10:50
Dr. Kevin Armitage
History Major: U.S. Advanced
This course examines the history of the U.S. West since the Civil War. We will not try to be comprehensive, but rather focus upon a set of issues that we will examine historically: ethnic conflict, the role of federal power in the making of the West, the transformation of western landscapes, and the role of the West in the national and global economies. Last, we will think about the impact of how the West is imagined in popular culture, and what that means for our understanding of national identity and its relationship to the West today.
HST 360.Z Sports, National Identity, and Globalization – T 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Sheldon Anderson
History Major: European Advanced
Some of the most compelling sports competitions in the 20th century have involved athletes from different countries, cultures, ethnic groups, or political systems. In the 21st century, sporting events still enthrall the masses; whole peoples and nations often identify with their sports heroes – they bask in their reflected glory and commiserate with them through triumph and defeat. Sport does not full “explain the world,” as one scholar put it, but it is a lens through which to understand it.
This course will study international sporting contests in the last hundred years to examine political, social, cultural, and diplomatic themes. For example, has sport furthered understanding and goodwill between peoples, as most sports federations profess, or has it in fact maintained or even increased ethnic and national divisions? What is the function of sports in developing ethnic and national identities, and what role has sports played in societal change and international relations? Has the rapid globalization of sport in the last several decades muted its chauvinist and nationalist character in the developed world?
HST 367 The United States in the 1960s – T R 9:30-10:45
Dr. Allan Winkler
History Major: U.S. Advanced .
Thematic Sequence (ENG 3): American Life and Culture Since World War II.
This course examines political, social, and cultural changes in the United States in the turbulent decade of the 1960s. It will begin by describing the consensus that existed in the 1950s, and will then explore such topics as the civil rights movement, the women's movement, the expansion of the welfare state, the war in Vietnam, and the growth of a counter-culture. It will conclude by assessing the long-term impact of this turbulent decade.
HST 371 Native America to 1840 – MWF 1:00-1:50
Dr. Daniel Cobb
History Major: U.S. Advanced
The varieties of historical experience among the Indian peoples of the Americas over three centuries of European colonialism.
HST 374 Russia to 1855 – MWF 9:00-9:50
Dr. Robert Thurston
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern
How was it that in an inhospitable place and climate, surrounded by highly aggressive and sometimes effective enemies, the Russians managed to survive as an independent people, let alone to build a powerful country and a rich culture? Russia into the 18th century was often described as barbaric, the people as loving their own slavery; to what extent are such images, which have continued into our times, based on reality? To what extent were they manufactured for Western self-satisfaction? We will explore the nature of Russian political life, or whether politics even existed in early Russia. We will examine peasant existence (and the question "what is a peasant?"), how and why the lives of upper class Russian women developed as they did, the connections between Russian life and the Orthodox religion, and the impact of constant warfare on Russian history. How do Russians today look back on the many centuries that formed their country and brought it, but only partially, into the broad course of European development?
AMS/HST/WMS 382 Women in American History – T R 12:30-1:45
Dr. Mary Frederickson
History Major: U.S. Advanced .
Thematic Sequence (HST 2): Women and Gender in History.
This course focuses on the history of women in the United States from the colonial period to the present. We will be surveying the field of American women’s history in order to understand how specific political, social and economic transformations in the nation’s past have affected the female half of the population. Throughout, we will remain attuned to ethnic and racial diversity and to regional differences and class distinctions in the lives of U.S. women. We will look at women’s culture, as distinct from the dominant male culture, and analyze women’s writings, art, lifecycles and sexuality. We will work to understand the collective lives of women as workers, family members, reformers, and political activists as well as the individual experiences of women in the U.S. from the colonial era to the present. Class meetings will include a mix of lecture and discussion.
HST 387 U.S. Constitutional Development to 1865 – MWF 11:00-11:50
Dr. Sherman Jackson
History Major: U.S. Advanced.
This course examines the development of American constitutional law from the American Revolution to the Civil War/Reconstruction era. Two centuries of Supreme Court decisions are analyzed and discussed. Courses in American history and/or Political Science are suggested as prerequisites.
HST 400.1 Senior Capstone: Gilded Age Entrepreneurs – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Mary Cayton
History Major: Senior Capstone
Explores the life and times of so-called “robber barons” or “captains of industry” – e.g., John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon – and their impact on their times.
HST 400.7 Senior Capstone: History Honors – T 6:00-8:40 pm
Dr. Allan Winkler
History Major: Senior Capstone
Capstone for students in the History Departmental Honors program, who have completed HST 359, Junior Honors Colloquium.
HST 400.Q Senior Capstone: Social Change in 20th C. Africa – T 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Osaak Olumwullah
History Major: Senior Capstone
HST 400.R Senior Capstone: History of Commodities – M 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Robert Thurston
History Major: Senior Capstone
Commodities–anything from food to oil to wood products and way beyond–have made the global economy go around for a long time. We will look at the history of various commodities in the first weeks of class and will discuss questions of taste, politics, and power in making some items popular. We will discuss the effects of the introduction of new commodities into Europe and America on taste, style, diet, social interaction, and politics. Each student will then choose a commodity to research and to write about. Paper topics can be flexible; someone might study the images of the Turks that accompanied spices and coffee, another might look into the changes in the structure of the oil industry, for example.
HST 400.T Senior Capstone: African-American Women's History and Feminist Thought - R 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Nishani Frazier
History Major: Senior Capstone
Since the early 1970s, the discipline of African American history has experienced a surge in the examination of black women’s struggles and contributions to American life and feminist/womanist studies. Since this period, voluminous essays and manuscripts have detailed the unique interests of black women as related to issues of race, gender, sexuality. This course utilizes a variety of sources to study the historical experiences–individual and collective - of African American women and their development of black feminist thought. Particular attention is given to developing knowledge and understanding of African American women through: (1) religious, sexual, reproductive, racial, and gender experiences, (2) efforts to achieve self-definition and self-sufficiency, (3) social and political activism, and (4) the production of African American/ multicultural/womanist/feminist thought.
HST 400.V Senior Capstone: Life and Times of Machiavelli – T R 2:00-3:15
Dr. Renée Baernstein
History Major: Senior Capstone
A fresh look at one of the world’s most famous and misunderstood authors. Machiavelli’s life, times, and work are studied mainly through close reading of his letters, comedies, political writings (The Prince and The Discourses), and histories. Topics of republicanism, state power, military tactics, religion, gender, sexuality, the role of classical antiquity, and theater in the Italian Renaissance will all be considered as part of the background to Machiavelli’s thought. Recommended: At least one advanced course in pre-1700 European history.
HST 400.Z Senior Capstone: 18th Century Atlantic Slave Trade – T R 11:00-12:15
Dr. Andrew Cayton
History Major: Senior Capstone
We will spend the first half of the semester reading and discussing recent books and articles about the Atlantic slave trade in the eighteenth century. We will also examine primary sources, including visual representations and material objects. Students will then write a major research paper using class readings and their own research in primary sources. Papers should address an historical question related to some aspect of the slave trade in the eighteenth century. Students will choose a topic that interests them and for which sources are readily available.
HST 436/536 Havighurst Colloquium: Islam in Central Eurasia (4 credits) – M W 12:00-1:50
Dr. Daniel Prior
History Major: Asia; Non-Western Advanced
In this course we will study varieties of religious thought and practice among Muslims in Central Eurasia from the 8th century to the present day. A background unit will provide basic information on the land and peoples of Central Eurasia and the Islamic religion. For the bulk of the course, our attention will focus on a series of invited presentations by leading scholars who will share and discuss their current work on problems of interpreting Central Eurasian Islam. No prior knowledge of Islam or Central Eurasia is required.
HST 442/542 Ancient Jewish History – T R 3:30-4:45
Dr. Kevin Osterloh
History Major: Middle East; Non-Western Advanced; Pre-Modern
What does it mean to be Jewish in the ancient world? Where, and under what social conditions, did Judaism come into being? This course deals with the ancient history of the Jewish people from the Persian through the Greco-Roman periods (539 BCE-200 CE), during which time Judaism – the “way of life” of the Jewish people – first emerged within the broader sociopolitical and cultural context of the ancient Near East. This is a story of how the Jewish people began to define their identity, as Jews, and find their place in a world as politically and culturally complex as our own. In this course we will study how Jews preserved their communal traditions and Israelite legacy through a variety of approaches to foreign cultures and rulers, such as the Persians, Greeks and Romans. Jews survived and flourished in a majority non-Jewish world through a process of “creative communal reinvention” revealed in the architecture, coins, inscriptions and literature of the period, which we will study throughout this course. In sum, this course provides a basic knowledge of ancient Jewish history, essential for understanding both the origins of Judaism and the great significance of the ancient Jewish cultural legacy for later Judaism, Christianity, Islam and western society as a whole.
HST 453/553 Italian Counter-Reformation – W 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Wietse de Boer
History Major: European Advanced; Pre-Modern
The religious reformations of the 16th century revolutionized social and cultural life across Europe and affected many other parts of the world as well. Italy was a protagonist in this transformation. As the heartland of Roman Catholicism, it was the scene for the transformation of the Catholic world. The papacy, severely attacked during the Protestant Reformation, played a critical role in the repression of heresy; the reform of European church life, society and culture; and the creation of a new worldwide religion. It was also in Italy that the reforming Council of Trent was held, the Roman Inquisition was introduced, and new religious orders such as the Jesuits were based. The course has a twofold purpose. The first half introduces students to the history of the Italian Counter-Reformation and the ways in which it has been studied; in the second, the class will work in common on the study, edition, and interpretation of a vital, unedited source on the history of the Counter-Reformation–the private diaries of a devout Milanese carpenter Giovan Battista Casale who witnessed and described the sweeping reforms in Milan from the perspective of a common citizen.
HST 710 Colloquium in American History – W 7:00-9:40
HST 770 Colloquium in Gender and Comparative Women’s History
Dr. Mary Frederickson
Globalization and Gender in the United States and the World ---A global view of our nation's social history that examines America’s changing place among the nations of the world through a gendered lens. We will examine the historical development of US economic and political systems from a global perspective as we analyze the impact of American-style colonialism, the influence of American culture, and domestic and international responses to U.S. industrial and military power.
HST 720 Colloquium in European History – T 2:00-4:40
Dr. Stephen Norris
“Picturing the Past: History and Imagery in Russia and Europe.” This colloquium will focus on the relationship between visual sources and the study of the past. We will discuss the ways in which images allow us to “picture the past” more clearly and how prints, posters, and paintings shaped modern European economic, political, and cultural movements. Although our focus will be on Europe and Russia, the course should be of interest for any graduate student interested in writing about images or using them in their classes. Assigned readings will include Peter Burke’s Eyewitnessing, Simon Schama’s The Power of Art, Timothy Brooks’s Vermeer’s Hat, Joan Landes’ Visualizing the Nation, Victoria Bonnell’s Iconography of Power, and Eric Michaud’s The Cult of Art in Nazi Germany.
HST 760 World History: An Introduction to Authors and Approaches – T 7:00-9:40 pm
Dr. Judith P. Zinsser
An introduction to world history with emphasis on those writers who posed new questions and identified new ways of thinking about history as comparative across regions, through global themes, and by studying a particular phenomenon over many centuries. Students will have the opportunity to do presentations on particular historians and will be encouraged to experiment with the different approaches in relation to their own research interests. The overall goal is to enable prospective historians and teachers to give a comparative and global context to their knowledge.
HST 793 Historical Methods – R 9:00-11:40 am
Dr. Daniel Cobb
An introduction to the practice and the discipline of history, for beginning graduate students. Required of all first-year students, this course will develop practice skills needed by history graduate students as well as addressing problems of evidence and interpretation. The course will also serve as an introduction to the history department and to the approaches to history that historians in it typically practice.
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