A study of human civilization from its origins to about 1500 A.D. The story of the human spirit arising from the primitive environs of the earliest societies to develop the ideas, institutions and tools that assured all humanity a meaningful existence will be told. The trials and triumphs of humanity everywhere will be highlighted through detailed discussions and audiovisual presentations about the great civilizations of the past. While lectures and discussions will be within a chronological framework, emphasis will be on the rise and fulfillment of cultures and the people who created them.

A study of the modern world from about 1500 A.D. to the present. The great civilizations of Europe, America, Asia and Africa will be discussed with detailed descriptions and audio-visual presentations on the vast empires under which they thrived and the energetic leaders who created them. While lectures and discussions will be within a chronological framework, emphasis will be on the new developments in philosophy, religion, politics, arts, literature, ethics, society, and science and technology—all of which resulted in the creation of the world we live in today.

What would it have been like to live in ancient Athens, medieval Paris, or Shakespearean London? What would it have been like to live in Michelangelo's Rome or Botticelli's Florence? This course will tell the story of the great cities of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance Europe, focusing on their social, cultural, intellectual, and women's history. One important learning outcome for the class will be a thorough knowledge of the geography of these cities. By the end of the course, students should know how these cities were shaped over time, as well as understand how their great monuments and artistic achievements reflected European culture. They should also know about daily life in the city. What would a woman making her way through these streets have seen, and how would she have felt about her world? How would it have shaped her identity and opportunities? Dr. Hamilton will use her own photographs to create a visual journey through our cities. The course will satisfy the pre 1648 Division II requirement in the history major and the European requirement of the Women's History Concentration. Also listed as HIST 368.

The primary focus of this course will be the history of London and Paris in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries; with a special emphasis on women's history. Can not get credit for both HIST 171 and 371.

This course will trace America from multiple beginnings—Native American, African, and European—through the major developments and events that led to the Civil War. It focuses on conquest, slavery, the development of colonial economies and societies, politics, culture, and the lived experiences of everyday women and men.

What does it mean to be American? Whatever your answer to this question, chances are it is deeply connected to the themes and events we will discuss in this class. Starting with Reconstruction and ending in the late 20th century, the course will explore major political, social, and cultural transformations. Important themes include urbanization, immigration, consumerism, warfare and America’s rise to global power, civil rights and other social movements, and political culture.

This course presents selected topics chosen by the professor which are not included in the regular departmental offerings. May be repeated.

A study of the events, crises, and developments in American history from the turbulent sixties to our own day. The transformation of an ebullient superpower to a nation struggling to recognize and cope with its own limitations.

How is the black feminist movement in the United States related to Buddhism from Southeast Asia? What roles did Indian migrant workers play in the anticolonial resistance in Southeast Asia during the First and Second World Wars? These are two of the many questions this course will address in order to explore the intimate yet oft-overlooked connections between Southeast Asia and other parts of the world. Moving chronologically from the 18th century onwards, this course explores significant events and issues that have confronted Southeast Asia and the rest of the world up to the present.

This course uses four colonies in the British Empire—Malaya (Southeast Asia), India (South Asia), Palestine (Middle East), and Kenya (Africa)—as an entry point to answer the above questions. Since empires worked with each other and anti-imperialists did the same, by studying the decolonization of the British colonies, we will also learn how the formal empires of France, Portugal, and the Netherlands collapsed. Throughout the course, we will analyze and discuss scholarly sources as well as readings by imperialists and anti-imperialists. In doing so, we can understand how concepts like domination, freedom, equality, and liberation, shaped anti-colonial and (post-)colonial politics across the world.

Americans are fascinated by their Western heritage, and cowboys and Indians are among our mythic heroes. Emphasis in this course is on the settlement and development of the American West and the role of the West in shaping the American character.

A study of how race, class, and gender come together to shape the identities of American women from Colonial times to the present.

This course studies the history and culture of the southern region of the United States from its colonial origins through the late 20th century, and covers the broader categories of southern history such as economics, politics, slavery and race relations, and society. In addition, various expressions of southern culture, such as literature, music, religion, and folklore will be explored.

This class will examine histories of sexuality, race, politics and power in the United States. Students will study themes such as histories of courtship and marriage, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender histories, histories of the body, and histories of contraception, reproduction and prostitution. We will discuss the varied debates that have shaped our national understanding of sexuality, and our use of texts, primary sources, fiction and nonfiction will help familiarize students with the process of historical interpretation and also help them gain a deeper understanding of the United States today. Our discussions will draw on critical race theory and feminist theory, and the course will enhance students’ critical writing and speaking skills.

This course examines African-American history since emancipation. We will read nonfiction and several fictive works on the Reconstruction, the Great War, the Great Migration, the feminist movements, Garveyism, the Harlem Renaissance, and the Civil Rights movement, among other topics. We will discuss the intersections of race with citizenship, gender, class, and sexuality, and we will draw on critical race theory and feminist theory. We will also examine what kinds of archival sources exist for writing African-American history, and we will discuss the varied debates that have shaped our national understanding of African-American history. Through the use of texts, primary sources, and documentaries, the course aims to familiarize students with the process of historical interpretation and to help students gain a deeper understanding of the United States today.

The story of ancient Greece from Minos to Alexander the Great with emphasis on the rivalry between Athens and Sparta. The class is a blend of social, political and military history with particular attention paid to the Golden Age of Pericles, the role of women in Greece, and Greek influence in Asia and Africa.

A critical analysis of the rise of Rome from an agricultural city-state to the urban center of the classical world. The purpose of the course is to show the influence of Rome, not only in laying the basis of Western civilization, but as the progenitor of the Byzantine Empire and the civilization to which it gave birth. In a word, the course deals with the origins of much of the world we live in.

The study and interpretation of the nature and contributions of medieval civilization to Western culture with a focus on social, religious, and cultural history.

The intellectual, cultural and artistic ferment of the 15th-century Europe that launched the modern era will be discussed, along with the deep religious divisions that occurred in the 16th century.

European intellectual history from the 13th through the 18th centuries, considered through the lives and works of important thinkers.

European intellectual history from the 18th through the 20th centuries, considered through the lives and works of important thinkers.

This course will explore major events and themes in South Asian history from the “decline” of the Mughal Empire to the emergence of the post-colonial states of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Prominent themes in the course include the transformation of the English East India Company from a trading enterprise into a territorial power in the 18th century; the discourses of race, science and civilizational reform that legitimized imperialism; gender and imperialism; the impact of colonial knowledge gathering on communities and history; the emergence of nationalism and global anticolonial movements; independence and the Partition of India; the making of the world’s largest democracy; and contemporary challenges confronting South Asian states. This course also covers aspects of Afghanistan’s histories, as it is a region intertwined with South Asia. Throughout the course, we will critically engage with the ways in which the history/histories of South Asia is/are constructed, memorialized and contested. We will engage with a variety of sources including primary texts written by key historical figures, films, autobiographies, census reports, and literary fiction. We will also discuss how particular understandings of the past continue to shape our present. Prior knowledge of South Asian history not required, but intellectual engagement is expected.

This course covers United States queer history, from early United States history to present day. You will learn how to assess primary sources from archives, in addition to films. You will also be introduced to basic terminology in gender and queer theory. The course asks you to be an active learner, present for class discussion, and the class is a critical thinking and writing course.

Development and effects of nationalism, liberalism, industrialization, imperialism and socialism on forms of government and currents of thought.

The two World Wars and subsequent efforts at achieving a just peace; the rise of the dictators; colonialism and its decline in Asia and Africa; the Cold War; the United States as a world power.

A survey of the early history of Great Britain, covering its Celtic origins to the Renaissance, focusing primarily on the cultural, social, political, and religious development of medieval Britain.

A survey of Great Britain from the Stuart period to the present, this course integrates the social, political, religious, and cultural history of Great Britain as it becomes a dominant world power.

The history of Ireland beginning with the medieval background and the English domination to the modern period. Special emphasis will be given to the movements toward independence and the creation of Northern Ireland.

What would it have been like to live in ancient Athens, medieval Paris, or Shakespearean London? What would it have been like to live in Michelangelo's Rome or Botticelli's Florence? This course will tell the story of the great cities of ancient, medieval, and Renaissance Europe, focusing on their social, cultural, intellectual, and women's history. One important learning outcome for the class will be a thorough knowledge of the geography of these cities. By the end of the course, students should know how these cities were shaped over time, as well as understand how their great monuments and artistic achievements reflected European culture. They should also know about daily life in the city. What would a woman making her way through these streets have seen, and how would she have felt about her world? How would it have shaped her identity and opportunities? Dr. Hamilton will use her own photographs to create a visual journey through our cities. The course will satisfy the pre 1648 Division II requirement in the history major and the European requirement of the Women's History Concentration.

Revolutionary France from 1750 to 1871. Political, social and cultural history of the Enlightenment, early attempts at reform, the middle class revolution, the Terror, Napoleon, the Restoration, revolutions in 1830 and 1848, Napoleon III, and the Second Republic.

A study of how ethnicity, class, nationality, religion, and gender come together to shape the identities of modern European women.

The primary focus of this course will be the history of London and Paris in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries; with a special emphasis on women's history. Can not get credit for both HIST 171 and 371.

The U.S. women’s history course will examine themes in America in the 1970s such as national anxieties about family decline/concern over the nuclear family, backlash against social movements, nationalism and Democracy, environmental consciousness and racism, and sexual politics and feminism. Selected readings will provide students with historical review of the ‘70s that will help students understand the American past, in addition to current 21st century divides. Students will examine Saint Mary’s College secondary scholarship and primary documents, write several books reviews, and write an article for Wikipedia they will also present before the class during finals week. Through the use of texts, primary sources, and documentaries, the course aims to familiarize students with the process of historical interpretation and to help students gain a deeper understanding of the United States today.

This course introduces the herstory of Chinese women and current social issues in China. Students will gain knowledge about Chinese culture, and skills to compare the development and cross-cultural issues of Chinese and American women as well as global/transnational/international feminism. Topics covered include race, gender and class issues in China as well as concerns for social justice for women in the world.

The emergence of Russia as a state and a nation in the Middle Ages, Christianization of the country, its rise as a Western power in the 17th century, its role in the age of imperialism, the glory of the czars and their decline, the rise of Communist power in Russia, its emergence as a super-power, and its role in the Cold War and after.

From the rise of Islam to the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and 20th centuries and the emergence of the modern Middle Eastern states.

The course primarily covers the history of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary from the French Revolution and Napoleon to the transition from communism at the end of the twentieth century. Other countries of the region are considered but less extensively. Topics included are the rise of nationalism, the struggles for independence, and the problem of inter-regional relations.

A study of the history and culture of Latin America.

This course presents selected topics chosen by the professor which are not included in the regular departmental offerings. May be repeated.

The research methods course will prepare you for the Senior Seminar, which will be the capstone of your career as a history major. The Advanced Writing and Senior Comprehensive requirements in the history major are designed to give majors experience with the two most important professional activities required of academic historians: writing research articles and presenting that research at professional conferences. In the research methods course you will work as apprentice historians, and our most important objective will be for you to learn to write an excellent research paper.

Provides an opportunity for properly qualified students to do independent study. Content dependent on student background and interests. Approval of the department chair is required. May be repeated.

Practical off-campus experience with an approved history-related institution. Jointly supervised by a faculty member and a representative of the sponsor. Graded S/U. Prerequisites: Junior standing and permission of the department chair. May be repeated.

(For description see HUST 321, 322)

(For description see HUST 321, 322)

(For description see HUST 461, 462)

(For description see HUST 461, 462)

This course examines the impact that religion has had on American history and culture. The course emphasizes the role that religious subcultures have played and continue to play in shaping the lives of individuals and communities in this country.

How did Europeans respond to fascism? What would your response have been to live in Hitler?s Europe? Who resisted? Who collaborated? What were their reasons, and what did they do? This course will be concerned with the European response to fascism. We will study the establishment, triumph, and failure of the natural rights tradition of Classical Liberalism in the West, and the major focus of the course will be on resistance, rescue, and collaboration in Occupied Europe and the Holocaust.

This course offers an historical perspective on women in the natural, social, applied, and formal sciences, as well as in medicine. We will look at the ways in which women have pursued scientific knowledge, the domestic circumstances and personal relationships that either aided or inhibited their work, and the social and cultural factors that established an environment sometimes hostile to women in science.

This course presents selected topics chosen by the professor which are not included in the regular departmental offerings. May be repeated.

In the Senior Seminar, majors completing their Advanced Writing Requirement in the History Department will complete an original research paper based on primary and secondary source interpretation. Students may write on a subject of their choice and are encouraged to identify a potential topic before the beginning of the semester.

Provides an opportunity for properly qualified students to do independent study. Content dependent on student background and interests. Approval of the department chair is required. May be repeated.