Upper Division Courses

Spring 2026 - On Campus Course Descriptions

* = Honors section offered

HIST 3003
Black Revolutions
Dr. Brian Kwoba
TR 11:20-12:45           MI 209

This course explores the history of Black revolutions and revolutionaries. We will focus on the complex nature of racial relations across space and time that produced social transformation towards liberty and equality for people of African descent. We will survey a number of revolutionary events, movements, and figures that have contributed to the project of building far-reaching and transformative Black and African-centered political theories and practices. - Back.

HIST 3288*
Kingdoms and Empires in West African History
Dr. Dennis Laumann
MW  12:40-:14:05      MI 209

This course covers the history of West Africa from earliest times to the colonial period with an emphasis on kingdoms and empires. We will consider — in chronological order and within a global context —the major economic, political, social, and cultural themes and topics related to this history, including: early urbanized societies; the trans-Saharan trade network; the spread of Islam; Sudanic empires; forest kingdoms; the Atlantic World; African-European relations; the Atlantic Slave Trade; the beginnings of European colonial rule; and the legacies of kingdoms and empires today. Our class meetings will consist of lectures, discussions, and occasional viewing of films. - Back.

HIST 3304*
Europe in the Age of Total War, 1914-1945 
Dr. Daniel Unowsky
MW 12:40-14:05        MI 305

These volatile and violent decades transformed Europe and the world. The Great War, unprecedented in its brutality, swept away the Russian, Ottoman, and Habsburg empires and gave rise to new (and reborn) "nation-states". The interwar years witnessed some diplomatic, economic, and political successes; however, these short-lived triumphs did not prevent the outbreak of war in 1939. The horrors of World War II and the population transfers and massacres that followed set the stage for the Cold War.
We begin by exploring the causes of the First World War, the experience of war on the battlefield and at the home front, and the Bolshevik Revolution. We will then turn to consider interwar Europe: the Stalinization of the Soviet Union; the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany; economic and political crisis in East Central Europe; politics and society in Great Britain and France; European imperialism; art and culture. The final section of the course focuses on World War II and the Holocaust. - Back.

HIST 3372*
Crusade, Conquest, and Plague: Europe and the Mediterranean, 1000 to 1500 CE
Dr. Benjamin Graham
TR 11:20-12:45           MI 305

By the millennium, Europe and the Mediterranean had evolved into marshal societies whose elites lived in fortified castles and defended their property rights on armored horseback—the feudal era had begun. Simultaneously, new concepts of shared religiosity united Christians in Europe, compelling them to wage a holy war against Islamic states in the eastern Mediterranean, which spread to attacks on Jews and heretics within Christendom. This age of conquest was further punctuated by new philosophical ideas that hybridized classical and Islamic philosophy, the rise of prophetic female saints, and the deadliest epidemic in European and Mediterranean history—the Bubonic Plague. This course will teach you how to get medieval. - Back.

HIST 3881 001-5
African American History
001 – Dr. Monet Lewis-Timmons  TR  9 :40-11 :05 MI 315
003 – Dr. Beverly Bond  TR 11:20-12:45 MI 203
004 – Dr. Elton Weaver III MWF  10:20-11:15 MI 305
005 – Dr. Elton Weaver IIII MWF 11:30-12:25 MI 305

History and culture of African Americans in light of their experiences; aspects of African American life and attitudes of dominant society within which African Americans lived; ways African American men and women shaped and nurtured their own lives, culture and history in U.S. - Back.

HIST 4102/6102
Modern Britain
Dr. Andrew Daily
MW 14:20-15:45

A history of modern Britain from the Act of Union (1707) to the present. Topics include: the British constitution; the Industrial Revolution; the British Empire; the formation of British identity; decolonization; the welfare state; devolution; immigration; and the postwar period. Particular attention will be placed on Britain’s imperial past and postcolonial present. - Back.

HIST 4325*/6325
Bronze Age Aegean
Dr. Amanda Gaggioli
TR 9:40-11:05  MI 305

This course spans the eastern Mediterranean from roughly 3000 to 800 BCE, focusing on interactions among the Aegean (Greece), Anatolia (Turkey), and Egypt. It traces the development and transformation of societies from the Early Bronze Age through the rise and fall of the Minoan and Mycenaean palaces to the Early Iron Age. Drawing on archaeology, art, and documentary evidence, the course explores the political, economic, and cultural interconnections among these communities. - Back.

HIST 4386
Intro to Museum Studies
Dr. Monet Lewis-Timmons
TR 13:00-14:25           MI 309

What is a museum, and who decides what belongs in it? How have museums evolved from private collections to public institutions, and how are they responding to today’s calls for inclusion, transparency, and social relevance? What futures can we imagine for museums in a rapidly changing world? This course is designed as an introductory undergraduate seminar and may serve as foundational preparation for students interested in pursuing the University’s Museum Studies Graduate Certificate Program. It provides a broad overview of the history, philosophy, and evolving functions of museums, with particular attention to the transformation of museum purposes and practices throughout the twentieth century and into the present day.
Students will explore the origins and development of museums across various cultures, examining how institutions have reflected, and shaped, social, political, and intellectual currents over time. The course will critically engage with the shifting roles of museums in contemporary society, including challenges and opportunities related to cultural representation, public engagement, inclusivity, digital innovation, and sustainability.
Through readings, discussion, site visits, case studies, and hands-on assignments, students will gain an understanding of core museum functions such as collections management, exhibition development, interpretation, education, and community outreach. Practical components of the course will prepare students for further academic work in museum studies and public history, as well as future employment or volunteer opportunities in museums and related cultural institutions.

*This course will require off-site class visits to local museums. Please reach out to me if you do not have a mode of transportation and we will make arrangements.- Back.

HIST 4630*/6630
North American Revolutions
Dr. Bradley Dixon
TR  9:40-11:05            MI 209

“This course introduces the political, economic, and social causes and outcomes of conflicts in North America from 1754-1815, learning what was revolutionary about the age of revolutions. Students will examine what it meant to be an American and a British subject and consider the motivations of a wide range of participants, including Native Americans, enslaved and free African Americans, and the fifth of the population who remained with Britain as Loyalists. The other great movements of the Age of Revolutions, notably the French, Haitian, and Latin American Revolutions will place the American Revolution in larger context.
Throughout this course, students will read relevant primary and secondary sources, think about what these sources tell us about life in the 18th and early 19th centuries, write critical evaluations of the material presented, and discuss their assumptions, conclusions, and concerns about this era of revolution and republicanism as a topic of historical inquiry. As students complete this course, they will develop an awareness of the wide range of experiences and the diversity of viewpoints represented. ” - Back.

Spring 2026 - Online Course Descriptions

Online courses are fully online and completely asynchronous.
* = Honors section offered

HIST 3282 M50
History of Africa since 1500
Dr. Selina Makana
WEB online

This course introduces students to key events, people, themes, and trajectories in the making of modern Africa.  One of the goals of this course will be to counter Western-centric ideas of Africa, both through the lens of the colonial encounter and the continent’s postcolonial relationship with the rest of the world. The course aims to guide students toward a more critical view of these depictions, drawing them towards African perspectives to explore the relationship between narratives of African history and the historical contexts in which they were produced. The course will take a chronological and thematic trajectory, addressing major themes in African history from the end of the slave trade to colonialism and nationalist movements, to independence and postcolonialism in the African context. Through weekly discussions of recorded lectures, readings, novels, films, and through the pursuit of in-depth individual research projects, this course will investigate how Africans in constructed their world and their future after the 1500s. - Back.

HIST 3863 – M50, M51*
History of American Ideas and Culture
Dr. Christine Eisel
WEB – Online

Ideas have a history, too! In this course, we will investigate the ways Americans have thought about essential features of social, economic, and political order. We will pay particular attention to the development of and debate over central ideas of equality, freedom, and individualism that have defined the order of common life, and how they contributed to the notion of an "American" identity. - Back.

HIST 3881 M50-51
African American History
Dr. Elton Weaver III
WEB-online

The HIST 3881 African American History course examines the African American experience from African origins to the present. Analyzing the “legacies of struggle,” Black Americans continue to fight for freedom, justice, and full citizenship despite facing discriminatory attitudes and practices that divide American society. The class covers key themes in African American social, cultural, and political history. It highlights major events and developments, including slavery, the Civil War, Reconstruction, modern civil rights movements, and the election of the first Black President. - Back.

HIST 3942 M50*
Queer American History
Dr. Cookie Woolner
WEB – Online

“This course will examine the changing meanings of same-sex behavior, gender transgression, and the emergence of modern LGBTQ identities and communities throughout early and modern American history. Students will learn about the shifting factors in American society that led to the formation of queer subcultures and modern gay identities, as well as the divergent experiences of same-sex loving and gender-transgressing people across race, gender, and class differences. Students will participate in weekly online discussions, write several short papers on topics such as the emergence of gay identity, the rise of trans communities, and AIDS activism, and will take two online exams analyzing primary sources and major issues in American LGBTQ+ history.” - Back.

HIST 3999 M50
Doing History: Historical Methods and Skills
Dr. Christine Eisel
WEB – Online

 “Historians are detectives: we dig through archives and examine artifacts. We use tools to help us analyze what we find. We present our findings in a multitude of ways, including in classrooms, books, presentations, museums, historical sites, and even digital spaces. This course will introduce you to the ways historians find and analyze sources, and present their findings to students, scholars, and the general public. In this course, you will learn about these methods and develop new skills as work as a historian, too.” - Back.

HIST 4160/6160 M50
Russia to 1917
Dr. Andrei Znamenski
WEB-Online

“This course explores history of Russia from early medieval times (the period of so-called Kievan Rus) to 1917, when, because of the Bolshevik revolution, a 300 years-old monarchy was toppled down. We are going to examine Russia as a "middle ground" Eurasian country, whose history, national identity, and political culture had been forged during intensive interactions between Eastern European and Asian cultures and civilizations. We will examine the rise of Russian autocratic tradition and serfdom, which heavily affected modern history of that country. We will also discuss the formation of the Russian Empire, attempts to modernize its rural peasant society, and, finally, the rise of nationalities and the development of the Russian revolutionary tradition by the turn of 1900.” - Back.

HIST 4272/6272 M50
Modern Middle East
Dr. Beverly Tsacoyianis
WEB online

This online History course examines the major political, social, and religious developments in the Middle East and North Africa from the late 18th century to the present through weekly video lectures, discussion boards, and student presentations on course readings among other written assignments. Topics include: Orientalism, the Ottoman struggle to resist nationalist movements and Western imperial advances, WWI, the British and French Mandates, WWII, decolonization, the formation and political mobilization of new social classes, changing gender relations, the rise of secularist, socialist, and Islamist movements, and debates about modernity. Students will work with a general history of the region as well as sources on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the Lebanese Civil War, the Iranian Revolution, and the Syrian civil war. Interdisciplinary components will include a film and readings in trauma studies and disability studies. - Back.

HIST 4292* / 6292 M50
Modern China
Dr. Yaowen Dong
WEB - Online

The course will explore the history of China from the start of the First Opium War in 1840 to the present day. It will examine political, economic, and intellectual transformations that contributed to the “rise of China” in the 21st century, with close attention to the relationship between wars, revolutions, and everyday life. - Back.

HIST 4330/6330 M50
Topics in Ancient History: A history of crafts in the ancient world
Dr. Suzanne Onstine
WEB online

In this class we will consider many aspects of crafting; the craftspeople, the materials, the technology, and the different contexts affected by crafts. I hope this will foster in you a deeper appreciation for material culture in the past, and will connect you with the human experience of creating things. - Back.

HIST 4823 M50
American Labor History
Dr. Susan O’Donovan
WEB – Online

Workers built America.  Literally.  You name it, and a worker was involved, whether it was the scientists and technicians who put Americans on the moon or the sweaty men who laid the nation’s railroad tracks.  Workers’ history is American History.  This course will introduce you to some of those who built the nation we live in today, and you’ll get to research and write about them too! - Back.

HIST 4831 M50
American Family History
Dr. Sarah Potter
WEB – Online

This course will interrogate the history of American families, paying particular attention to the social structures that shape family life. We will examine how power and authority have changed over time within families and the changing relationship between the family and the state. We will also consider how the emotional meaning ascribed to family relationships has changed over the course of United States history. - Back.

HIST 4851 M50
History of Women in America
Dr. Christine Eisel
WEB – Online

In this course, we consider women’s experiences throughout American history, from the colonial period to modern times, with an emphasis on changes in women’s working, family, personal, and political lives. We will re-imagine US history by centering women’s stories, not as merely contributors to big events, but as historical agents whose fears, concerns, and desires shaped the past and how we understand it as scholars. Using a variety of selected primary and secondary sources, including monographs, essays, literature, and film, you will explore the ways in which women’s public and private lives intersected with, and were often defined by, changing ideals of gender, race, and class. - Back.