History 365-386, North American and United States History

 

HIS 365/Topics in North American and United States History

(periodically)
Focuses on differing topics of historical significance having to do with North America and the United States. This course may be repeated for credit when the topic changes. May fulfill departmental distribution requirements.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 366/Europeans and Indians

(periodically)
Recounts and analyzes the patterns of interaction among the Spanish, English, French, and Dutch colonists and the native peoples of North America from first contact to independence.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY

 

HIS 367/United States: Indian-White Relations, 1800-1890

(periodically)
An introduction to the patterns of Indian-European interaction followed by a more comprehensive survey of the relations between the Indians and the rising United States.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY

 

HIS 368/The Moving Frontier in America

(periodically)
The conquest of a continental wilderness from the days of the early pioneers until the turn of the 20th century. Analysis of the influence of the frontier in shaping national character.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 369/Colonial North America

(periodically)
A survey of the European (primarily Spanish, English, and French) colonization of North America with a special emphasis on the concatenation of Indian, African, and European cultures from Columbus through the various wars of independence.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 370/ US and the World

(spring semester)
An introduction to the United States in world history from the 17th century to the present. The course deals with major forces in American development with an emphasis on encounters among Amerindians, Africans, Europeans, and Asians that created a distinct society linked to an increasingly interdependent world. Along with basic knowledge of the period, students learn skills that pertain to analysis of one major society interacting with others over time.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 372/United States: The Coming of the Civil War

(periodically)
This course will focus on the interplay between partisan politics and North-South sectional antagonism that ultimately led to the American Civil War. It will cover in close detail the 15 year period starting with the outbreak of the Mexican War in 1846, and ending with the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter and President Lincoln’s call for troops.

 

HIS 373/United States: The Nineteenth Century

(periodically)
This course will examine the history of the United States between 1815 and 1896. Topics covered will include the growth of industry and wage labor, changing patterns of family life and gender roles, the rise of mass-based political parties, the collision between North and South that resulted in civil war, and the unfulfilled promise of emancipation.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 374/United States: Civil War and Reconstruction

(periodically)
This course begins with the sectional crisis and the coming of the war. Its principal focus is the military struggle between the Union and the Confederacy. It concludes with an assessment of emancipation and Reconstruction. Social, political, economic, and diplomatic aspects of the era will be considered.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 375/The Old South

(periodically)
The course will introduce students to the history of the most divergent region of the United States. It will focus on the slave South of the mid-19th century, when North/South differences and perceptions of difference sharpened and finally led to civil war. The course will conclude with an assessment of emancipation and Reconstruction.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 376/Technology in the United States

(periodically)
The evolution of technological development and change in America from the pre-industrial society of the colonial era to the “technological society” of the present. The course studies the impact of American cultural values and ideas on the history of technology, and the role that technology has had in shaping life in the United States.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 377/United States: the Twentieth Century

(periodically)
This course offers a concise overview of the United States in the 20th century. It examines the social and economic forces that define America culture and politics, as well as the nation’s shift from a Eurocentric focus to globalism.

Liberal Learning:

• GLOBAL
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 378/History of New Jersey

(periodically)
Survey of New Jersey history from the first settlement to the present, covering the development of political and cultural institutions as well as the growth of agriculture and industry.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 379/African-American History to 1865

(annually)
This course examines African-American history from the great empires of West Africa to the Civil War. The course uses African slavery to explore the nuances of America’s economic, cultural, ideological, and political development.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 380/African-American History 1865 to Present

(annually)
This course examines African-American history from the end of the Civil War to the present. The course explores the nuances of economic, cultural, ideological, and political transformation in the United States through the African American struggle to define gender roles, build viable institutions, negotiate difference, eradicate oppression, and securing the rights of citizenship.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 381/American Cultural History

(periodically)
This course will explore the forms in which Americans have received, manipulated and created meanings in the increasingly complicated cultural environment they inhabit; “texts” under consideration will include the works of high, mass and popular culture, as well as theoretical works on the study of cultural history. A significant goal of the course is equipping students with the tools they need to decode the cultural messages that surround them, to make the familiar world of culture strange by applying the methods of historical analysis.

Liberal Learning:

• RACE & ETHNICITY
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 382/United States: 1877-1945

(periodically)
Examines the evolution of urban-industrial society, the impact of labor and social reform movements on political structures during the Progressive Era and the New Deal, and the rise of the U.S. to imperial and world power.

Liberal Learning:

• GLOBAL; RACE & ETHNICITY
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 383/United States since 1945

(periodically)
This course examines the Cold War and United States hegemony; civil rights; the women’s movement; the promise and problems of liberalism; American conservatism; the end of the Cold War; and the consequences of September 11, 2001.

 

HIS 384/History of Urban America

(periodically)
The changing urban pattern in the United States. The increasing influence of the city on the social, political, and cultural life of the nation.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

 

HIS 385/Women in the US to 1900

(periodically)
Examines the history of women in the United States from the colonial era to the present. Explores the diverse ways in which women have lived, worked, and contributed to the history of the U.S. While looking at some of the “great women” of American history, the course will focus more on the aspects of the general experiences of women and their political, social, cultural, and familial relationships.

Liberal Learning:

• GENDER
• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES & CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES

 

HIS 386/United States Diplomacy in the American Century

(periodically)
The course is a concise overview of the economic, political, military, cultural, and ideological aspects of American foreign affairs from 1898 to the present.

Liberal Learning:

• SOCIAL CHANGE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES