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Explore popular history courses that fulfill gen-ed requirements
These aren't your high school history classes! In our courses we'll teach you that the past isn’t simply the present dressed up in costume; it’s a world of its own, full of intrigue, humanity, and difference. By exploring it, you’ll develop a profound understanding of life and society across time. The study of history empowers you to think analytically and critically, understand the foundations of the most pressing problems of the present, build empathy, and become an engaged citizen.
Whether you're majoring in a discipline in the humanities, social sciences or STEM, you'll find the study of history useful for long-term career success in fields which require the ability to communicate clearly, understand different points of view, and work with people from a wide range of backgrounds.
HIST 103: A History of Everything: The Big Bang to Big Data
Explore different scales of time and place human history in larger geological, ecological, and cosmic contexts. Topics include the big bang, planet formation, the origin and development of life, mass extinctions, the emergence of Homo sapiens, the development of agriculture and cities, wars, plagues, and natural disasters, the advent of religion and science, political revolutions, industrialization and globalization, and human impact on the environment.
Gen-Eds: Cultural Studies - Western; Humanities – Hist & Phil
HIST 104: Black Music
What is black music, and how do we know what we think we know about it? Explore musical creations pioneered by Africans and individuals of African descent over several centuries and across hemispheres to understand the unity of the African Diaspora and its music, but also examine internal differences and diversity.
Gen-Eds: Cultural Studies - US Minority; Humanities – Hist & Phil
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HIST 130: History of South Asia
Explore the history of modern South Asia from 1700 to the present day. Beginning with the Mughal Empire, you'll learn about early modern state formations, the rise of British colonial power, anti-colonial nationalisms, the partition of British India, and the creation of the post-colonial nation-states of India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. You'll also learn about democracy, development, and religion-based politics in contemporary South Asia.
Gen-Eds: Cultural Studies - Non-West; Humanities – Hist & Phil
HIST 135: History of Islamic Middle East
Explore fourteen centuries of Middle East history from the rise of Islam to modern times. You'll learn about the development of Islamic thought, religious, social, and political institution, as well as the transformations of the 19th and 20th centuries in the area consisting of Egypt, the Fertile Crescent, Arabia, Turkey, and Iran.
Gen-Eds: Cultural Studies - Non-West; Humanities – Hist & Phil
HIST 207: Digital Documentary Publishing
Learn the craft of publishing historical materials, with a special focus on how to publish the past in the digital age. Assignments will include historical and methodological readings, as well as hands-on instruction in digital publishing techniques. Skills taught include historical research, content development, project management, and copyright analysis.
Gen-Eds: Humanities – Hist & Phil
HIST 209: World War II: A Global History
Explore the political, military, social, and economic history of the Second World War. Key themes include the collapse of the Versailles system, the Interwar crisis of democracy, the rise of totalitarian regimes, the civilian experience of war, the intersection of ideology and violence, and the onset of the Nuclear Age. By the end of the course, you'll improve your ability to analyze primary sources and develop source-based historical arguments.
Gen-Eds: Cultural Studies - Western; Humanities – Hist & Phil
HIST 236: Madness and Modern Society
Learn how the diagnosis and treatment of "madness" in its many forms has been shaped through the interaction of social, political, economic, and cultural factors. This course provides a broad overview of the development of the mind sciences in modern Europe from the beginning of state-regulated asylums to the advent of pharmaceutical treatment and care in the community. Using a combination of primary sources and secondary texts, we will examine how the diagnosis and treatment of "madness" in its many forms has been shaped through the interaction of social, political, economic, and cultural factors from roughly 1750 to the 1990s. Same as PSYC 236.
Gen-Eds: Humanities - Hist & Phil; Cultural Studies - Western
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HIST 281: Constructing Race in America
Explore the complex and intricate pursuit of multiracial and multicultural democracy. This course is an interdisciplinary examination of the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of race and ethnicity in the United States. Same as AAS 281, AFRO 281, and LLS 281.
Gen-Eds: Humanities - Hist & Phil; Cultural Studies - US Minority
HIST 293: The President and the People
Gain a greater understanding of individual presidents and the times in which they lived. Chart the transformation of the presidency itself and of how Americans viewed their commanders-in-chief. Major themes include: The creation and development of the office of the president; the nature of presidential power; Americans' evolving relationship with presidents; the impact of party politics, campaigning, and the media on the office.
Gen-Eds: Humanities - Hist & Phil; Cultural Studies - Western