Course Descriptions

Department of History

R. J. Q. Adams, A. C. Alonzo, S. Alpern, T. H. Anderson, R. J. Baber, D. Baum, R. A. Beaumont, T. O. Bickham, J. K. Blackwelder, C. K. Blanton, D. E. Bornstein, C. A. Bouton, J. C. Bradford, H. W. Brands, C. E. Brooks, A. S. Broussard, B. C. Brower, W. L. Buenger (Head), L. R. Clay, J. C. Coopersmith, J. G. Dawson, H. C. Dethloff, L. DeVun, O. Dror, T. R. Dunlap, C. S. L. Dunning, K. C. Engel, L. Halevi, A. L. Hatfield, L. D. Hill, S. Hoffert, W. D. Kamphoefner*, A. J. Kirkendall, A. P. Krammer, J. H. Lenihan, B. M. Linn, H. C. Livesay, A. P. Mora, E. M. B. Obadele-Starks, R. R. Reese, R. P. Resch, J. M. Rosenheim, R. H. Schloss, H. C. Schmidt, A. R. Seipp, A. N. Stranges, B. M. Unterberger, D. Vaught, D. Wang, L. W. Yarak

* Graduate Advisor

Graduate study in history leads to the degrees of Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. The graduate program is designed to prepare students for careers in teaching, business, government and social service. Studies toward the PhD are also designed to produce research scholars.

Prerequisites: For a major in history at the master’s level, the student must present a minimum of 24 semester hours (including 12 advanced hours) of acceptable undergraduate courses in history. A doctoral student will normally be expected to hold the MA degree. For further information concerning the requirements for the MA or PhD, contact the departmental graduate advisor.

Thesis option: The standard MA degree requires a minimum of 30 semester hours, including 24 hours of course work and 6 hours (of History 691-Research) for the thesis. Of the 24 hours of course work, 15 shall be taken in the major area of concentration and 9 in the minor field. The non-thesis MA degree option includes 36 semester hours of course work. The PhD requires a minimum of 64 semester hours, including at least 30 semester hours of formal course work divided into 3 areas of concentration: 1) a major area, 18 hours; 2) a minor area, 6 hours; 3) one field outside history, 6 hours.

MA students must demonstrate a reading knowledge of one foreign language. PhD candidates will normally demonstrate a reading knowledge of two foreign languages. Subject to the approval of the PhD student’s advisory committee, a minimum of 6 semester hours of graduate work outside the major and minor fields, completed after filing a degree plan, may be substituted for one language. Courses in statistics or HIST 630 (Quantitative Methods in Historical Research), plus an additional computer methods research course, are especially appropriate for this purpose.

History (HIST)

601. Colonial North America. (3-0). Credit 3.

The 17th– and 18th–century settlement of European North American colonies; slavery; comparisons of colonial administrations; interactions of Native Americans, Europeans, and African Americans across racial, ethnic, and cultural borders. May be taken two times for credit as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

604. The Early Republic. (3-0). Credit 3.

War for Independence; organizing the new government; the Constitutions; Federalists and Jeffersonians; Wars of 1812 and 1846; race, class, and gender in Jacksonian society; political, social, cultural, economic and territorial changes. May be taken two times for credit as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

613. Twentieth Century United States Diplomacy. (3-0). Credit 3.

U.S. foreign policies from end of Spanish-American War to present; scope, principles, practices, objectives, dangers and lessons learned. Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

615. Colonial Latin America. (3-0). Credit 3.

Social, ethnic, political, economic, religious, military, and cultural institutions in colonial Latin America, including attention to ethnohistory, women, and comparative colonial systems. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

617. Latin America: The National Period. (3-0). Credit 3.

Social, ethnic, cultural, religious, political, and economic history of Latin America. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

620. Sectionalism, Civil War and Reconstruction. (3-0). Credit 3.

Antebellum sectional divisions; causes of the Civil War; military campaigns and political and military leadership; the changing status of African Americans; social, political, economic, cultural and diplomatic developments; Reconstruction. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

621. The Emergence of Modern America. (3-0). Credit 3.

Social, political, economic and cultural developments in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; industrialization; labor and farmer unrest; immigration; frontier transitions, imperialism. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

622. War, Prosperity, and Depression. (3-0). Credit 3.

The United States from the early 20th century to 1945; World War I; changes in the 1920s; depression and the New Deal; military campaigns and political and military leadership in World War II; social, political, economic, cultural and diplomatic transitions. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

623. America since World War II. (3-0). Credit 3.

The Cold War; wars in Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf; the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights Movements; immigration; social, cultural, and gender controversies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

626. American Cultural and Intellectual History. (3-0). Credit 3.

Major themes, issues, and interpretations in the history of thought and culture in the United States. May be taken for credit two times as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

628. Historiography. (3-0). Credit 3.

Analysis of historical writing and philosophy of history; works of important historians from Herodotus to present; schools, theories and function of history. Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

630. Quantitative Methods in Historical Research. (3-0). Credit 3.

Introduction to formal methods of analysis in historical research using computers; and applying quantitative methods to research problems. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

631. Reading Seminar in United States History to 1877. (3-0). Credit 3.

Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

632. Reading Seminar in United States History after 1876. (3-0). Credit 3.

Prerequisite: Approval of department head.

633. The American West. (3-0). Credit 3.

Immigrants and settlement patterns; international conflicts; social, racial, ethnic and cultural interactions across frontiers and borders; economic developments; politics and admission of new states into the United States; women’s and gender issues; environmental concerns. May be taken two times as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

634. Maritime History and Sea Power. (3-0). Credit 3.

Examines the maritime and naval history of the world with emphasis on the Western World since 1600; trade and communication, exploration, technology, maritime communities and naval warfare. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

636. History of the American South. (3-0). Credit 3.

Economic developments, including cotton, other crops and industrialization; influence of slavery; social, racial, ethnic and cultural developments; women’s and gender issues; environmental concerns. May be taken two times for credit as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

637. Early Middle Ages. (3-0). Credit 3.

Beginnings of Medieval Europe; barbarian migrations; early Christianity; social, political, religious, and cultural interaction across frontiers and borders. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

638. Medieval Europe. (3-0). Credit 3.

Institutional, social, cultural, and political developments; conflicts between Christianity and Islam across frontiers and borders; leadership of Charlemagne. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

643. Reading Seminar in European History from Renaissance to French Revolution. (3-0) Credit 3.

Reading seminar in European history from the Renaissance to the French Revolution, classic and current themes, debates and methodologies in European history from the Renaissance to the French Revolution. Prerequisite: Approval of Department Head.

644. Reading Seminar in European History from French Revolution to Present. (3-0) Credit 3.

Reading seminar in European history from the French Revolution to the present; classic and current themes, debates and methodologies in European history from the French Revolution to the present. Prerequisite: Approval of Department Head.

645. Modern Military History. (3-0). Credit 3.

Topics and issues in modern military history. May be taken two times for credit as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

677. Modern Britain. (3-0). Credit 3.

Political, social, cultural, economic and diplomatic development of the United Kingdom in the 20th Century. May be taken for credit two times as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

678. Comparative Border Studies. (3-0). Credit 3.

Questions how groups create, articulate, enforce, and challenge difference; brings together disparate historiographies to consider a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches used in understanding borders; examines contact, conflict, and change across various kinds of historical and cultural boundaries. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

679. Topics in Comparative Border Studies. (3-0). Credit 3.

Selected topics and themes in an identified area of Comparative Border Studies. May be taken two times for credit as content varies. Prerequisite: Graduate classification.

685. Directed Studies. Credit 1 to 6 each semester.

Individual problems of research or scholarly activity not pertaining to thesis or dissertation, or selected instruction not covered by other courses. Prerequisite: Approval of instructor.

689. Special Topics in... Credit 1 to 4.

Selected topics in an identified area of American or European history. May be repeated for credit.

691. Research. Credit 1 or more each semester.

Thesis research. Credit given only upon acceptance of completed thesis. Prerequisite: Approval of department head.