College of Arts & Sciences 

HIS 1011-1021 Historical Introduction to Western Civilization

History 2001 Freshman Seminar

HIS 2691 American Ideas: From the Colonial Era to the Civil War
This course explores the history of American thought and culture from the Puritans to the Civil War, largely through primary source readings by major intellectual figures. The emphasis will be on social, political, and religious thought, but students will also discuss developments and trends in the arts, literature, and philosophy. Key topics include Puritanism and revivalism; liberalism, republicanism, and democracy; cultural nationalism and Transcendentalism; and abolitionism and antebellum reform.

HIS 2701 American Ideas: From the Gilded Age to the Present
This course explores the history of American thought and culture from the late nineteenth century to the present, largely through primary source readings by major intellectual figures. The emphasis will be on social and political thought, but students will also discuss developments and trends in philosophy, religion, the arts, and literature. Key topics include Victorianism and modernism; pragmatism and Progressivism; liberalism and conservatism; and postmodernism and multiculturalism.

HIS 2731 American Biography
An examination of the role of "great" men and women in American history, with special consideration of the nature of biography as a historical method.

HIS 2771 American Environmental History
This course will describe our historical place in the natural landscape. It will tell that story through the methods of "environmental history," examining ecological relationships between humans and nature, political and economic influences on the environment, and cultural conceptions of the natural world. Drawing on methods from the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities, the course will survey over 500 years of North American environmental history, with topics ranging from urban pollution and suburban sprawl to agricultural practices and wilderness protection.

HIS 2781 Popular Culture in the United States
This course will explore the production and consumption of commercialized leisure in the United States from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. Throughout the nation's history, American popular culture has both reflected and shaped society's values, often serving as an arena of conflict among classes, races, and genders. By investigating selected sites on this contested terrain--from novels, stage shows, and movies to radio, television, and popular music--students will learn to think seriously, critically, and historically about the mass-produced culture that surrounds them every day.