HIST 110: WESTERN CIVILIZATION TO 1500
This course surveys western history from the ancient Near East to the beginning of the modern world. It therefore covers both the ancient and medieval worlds and involves a wide geographic expanse, including Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Special attention will be given to the following themes:  gender; law and justice; faith and reason; multiculturalism; and the degree to which all peoples have experienced western civilization equally.

HIST 140: ASIA TO 1500
Political and cultural history of India, China, and Japan with discussion of the origins, development, and importance of major Asian religions.

HIST 170: WORLD HISTORY I
Thematic, comparative overview of major problems in human history before ca. 1500. Emphasis varies by instructor.

HIST 260: AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1865
Central developments in American history from Old World backgrounds through the Civil War.

HIST 295: HISTORICAL METHODS
Introduction of the basic tools required by all history majors in researching and analyzing historical materials and understanding historiographical trends.

HIST 348: AFRICAN HISTORY TO 1600
African history and civilization before European colonization. Emphasis on ancient kingdoms, kinship and social organization, religion and cosmology, intraregional trade and migration, oral tradition, and the cultural unity of precolonial Africa.

HIST 350: JAPAN TO 1600
Survey of ancient and medieval Japanese civilization. Beginnings of the imperial institution, early influences from the Asian continent, political transformations from aristocratic to warrior rule, and the development of what is now known as “Japanese tradition.”

HIST 357: BRITAIN TO 1688
Survey of British history from the Norman Conquest to the Glorious Revolution. Interaction between various nations in the British Isles, English state development and law, and the links between religion and popular culture.

HIST 369: WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY
Social, economic, and intellectual roles of women from the colonial period to modern times. Organization and function of the women’s rights movement, and the dynamics of change in the lives of “ordinary” women, particularly in familial and occupational settings.

HIST 379: AMERICAN MILITARY HISTORY
History of the American military experience from colonial times to the present.

HISTORY 400: STUDENT TEACHING (SECONDARY) IN HISTORY/SOCIAL SCIENCES
Student teaching for one semester. Assignments arranged with the department’s office of teacher certification. S/U grading.

HIST 421: CATHOLIC & PROTESTANT REFORMATION
Examination of the religious reforms and institutional breaks, Catholic and Protestant, official and heretical, which ended the medieval unity of Christendom.

HIST 425: WORLD WAR II
Analysis of the war in Europe and its colonies, with focus on the objectives and ideologies of Nazi Germany, and  attention to cultural, gender, and social developments on the fighting front and the home front.

HIST 435: STALIN AND STALINISM
This course offers an in-depth exploration of the Soviet Union under 1953. It will look at the evolution of Russia’s communist project from multiple perspectives and introduce students to historical debates about totalitarianism, terror, nationalities, subjectivity, etc.

HIST 445: CHINESE REVOLUTION
Intellectual and social backgrounds of the Nationalist revolutionary movement; political history of the revolutionary period to the present.

HIST 461: AMERICAN REVOLUTION
The causes of the Revolution and its impact on the political, economic, cultural, intellectual, and social aspects of American life.

HIST 467: U.S. IN DEPRESSION & WAR 1929-1960
The U.S. in the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Topics include Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, the road to Pearl Harbor, total war, social and political change in mid-century America, the Truman Doctrine and Stalinism, the Korean War, the Fifties, civil rights, the Eisenhower presidency, and the American response to revolutions in East Asia.

HIST 469: VIETNAM WAR

HIST 496: HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION IN GRADES 6-12
Crosslisted as ANTH 496X, ECON 496X, GEOG 496X, POLS 496X, PSYC 496X, and SOCI 496X. Organization and presentation of materials for history and social science courses at the middle school, junior high, and senior high school levels.

HIST 111: WESTERN CIVILIZATION: 1500-1815
Examination and interpretation of the major historical changes which took place in Europe between the time of the Renaissance and the Age of the French Revolution.

HIST 112: WESTERN CIVILIZATION SINCE 1815
Examination and interpretation of the European historical developments since the French Revolution which have molded the world as we know it today.

HIST 171: WORLD HISTORY II
Thematic, comparative overvew of major problems in human history since c. 1500. Emphasis varies by instructor.

HIST 261: AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865
Central developments in the history of the United States since the end of the Civil War.

HIST 270: AFRICAN AMERICAN TO 1865
Survey emphasizing the heritage, culture, and historical role of African-Americans and the problem of race relations in our national life to 1865.

HIST 315: SPAIN SINCE 1475
Emphasis on the rise of Spain as a great power and its decline in the 17th century, the Spanish struggle for liberalization, the Spanish Civil War, and the social, economic, and political problems of contemporary Spain.

HIST 345: CHINA SINCE T'ANG
Chinese civilization at its height and its crisis in the modern world under the impact of the West.

HIST 359: HISTORY OF ILLINOIS
Society, economy, and politics of Illinois from prehistory to the present. Topics start with Native Americans and the beginning of French exploration and colonization, and end with Illinois in the 21st century.

HIST 377: AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
History of the ecosystems of the United States, 1600 to the present, and of the 20th century conservation and environmental movements. Topics include Indian ecology, farming and ecology, and the urban environment.

HIST 381: COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires in America from their foundation through the wars for Latin American independence.

HIST 390: FILM AND HISTORY
Historical analysis of film as evidence and representation. Examination of documentary, propaganda, historical, and fictional feature films across cultures, to explore how films recreate history for public consumption, the value and implications of film representation for national histories, and recent debates about both the validity of film as public history and the impact of film on historical writing.

HIST 398: TOPICS: FRENCH OVERSEAS EMPIRE

HIST 399H: TOPICS: CIA IN THE WORLD (HONORS ONLY)

HIST 413: FAMILY, SEX SOCIETY SINCE 1400
History of the family in Western society as seen in household structures, marriage customs, childbirth and child rearing, sex roles, the life-cycle, and attitudes towards sexual difference.

HIST 441: AFRICAN DIASPORA
Major themes in the historical study of the African diaspora in the trans-Atlantic, trans-Saharan, and Indian Ocean regions. Development of African communities, cultures, ethnicities, religions, and identities under conditions of enslavement or forced migration, and processes of identification in the diaspora with the African homeland; New World developments such as creolization, the construction of multiple identities, and the positioning of enslaved Africans within the dynamics of the emergent Atlantic World. Geographic focus may vary depending on instructor.

HIST 472: TOPIC: BLACK MUSIC
Selected problems in interpretation relating to the history of people of African descent in the Americas. Emphasis on African-American populations of the United States and some attention is given to the question of race relations. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 semester hours when subject varies.

HIST 484: HISTORY OF BRAZIL
Survey of Brazilian history from first encounters between Europeans and Americans to the present; evolution of Brazil’s politics, economy, society, and culture.

HIST 490: TOPICS: CONQUEST OF MEXICO
Ancient, Medieval, Early Modern European (including British), Modern European (including British), Russian and Eastern European, African, Asian, United States, Latin American, General/Comparative, Global. Selected themes or problems. Topics announced. May be repeated when subject varies.

HIST 495: SENIOR THESIS
Capstone of the history major, involving advanced practice in the craft of the professional historian. All sections of course organized as seminars, and participants engage primarily in writing and presenting a paper based on their own research. Extensive library/ archival work. In addition, each student meets with his or her research advisor.