History

This course introduces students to the traditional and modern cultures of Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and to the forms of their development with a variety of social and natural geographies. The fall term emphasizes the comparative study of East Asia. The spring term concentrates on India, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.

This course introduces students to the traditional and modern cultures of Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, and to the forms of their development with a variety of social and natural geographies. The fall term emphasizes the comparative study of East Asia. The spring term concentrates on India, the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Survey of political and social history as it unfolded within the diverse geography of the United States from colonization to the Civil War. 

Survey of political and social history as it unfolded within the diverse geography of the United States from Reconstruction to the present.

An introduction to the early history of Latin America set in the complex geography of South, Central, and North America, and of the Caribbean. This course surveys pre-Columbian native American societies, the European discovery and conquest, the colonial period and the growth of settler-ruled societies, and the anti-colonial independence struggles of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

An introduction to the recent history of Latin America set in the complex geography of South, Central, and North America, and of the Caribbean. This course surveys the period from independence to the present, emphasizing such topics as slavery and abolition, ethnicity and race, women and gender, the working class and the labor movement, relations with the US, and modern revolutions.

This is the first semester of a one-year course in the history of Western Civilization. The first term will emphasize Classical Greek and Roman Civilization and the development of Medieval Europe through the drama of the Renaissance and Reformation. Emphasis will be placed on political, intellectual, and religious developments during eras, and on the experiences of the lower classes, women and minorities, all within the context of the natural and social geography of the area.

A continuation of Western Civilization I, this course surveys the rise of Western Europe since the 17th century. Principal topics covered include the French, Russian, and other great revolutions; the rise of democracy, communism and fascism; and the origins and impacts of the World Wars during the 20th century. The relationship between geographic space and historical process will be emphasized. HST 109 is not a prerequisite.

This is a study of the nature and functions of international law, diplomacy, power, politics, human rights and international organizations, with special emphasis upon their worldwide operation since 1945. The relationship of these phenomena to social and natural geography is examined. 

An introductory economics course (cross-listed with Economics and Sociology) that prepares students with the concepts, tools, and methods of analysis that economists employ to address historical and contemporary  social issues and problems facing the U.S. Topics included are: economics of crime, poverty, discrimination, income inequality, pollution problems, inflation and unemployment, deficit and the national debt, Social Security, and globalization.

Introduction to the science and impact of anthropogenic climate change and the politics and engineering associated with converting to greener energy sources.

The ultimate general education course, this course covers the evolution of existence itself from the Big Bang to the challenges of Artificial Intelligence in the 21st century.

A study of local governments and their history as seen through the lens of the political process. The biases and extent of influence of ethnic, racial, civic, public employee, and neighborhood groups upon urban political parties, elections, and governmental bodies are examined, along with factors underlying the emergence and effectiveness of such institutional forms as the mayor-council, council-manager, and neighborhood government. 

Rather than emphasizing a particular geographic region, i.e., the Americas, Asia, or Africa, this course concentrates on the common experiences of the 20th century global community. Major themes of the course are the impact of decolonization in the Third World, emergence of modern urban industrial society, and the power of such isms as nationalism and communism in forming the 20th century world. Students cannot receive credit for both HST-209 and HIS-309.

This course examines the participation and leadership of women in a wide variety of social movements in the United States and in the colonial societies that preceded it, from the earliest European colonial encounters to the present. An important focus of the course is the creation by women of the "official" women's and feminist movements. However, the course also focuses on the roles of women in other movements-those of the poor, of the working class, of African Americans and other ethnic groups peoples, and of the middle and upper classes. Women in movements promoting both progressive and conservative causes are studied. This course may be taken with an optional cultural lab (HST 212L) for one additional credit. This lab extends the focus of this course beyond the history of women and U.S. social movements strictly understood, into the realm of popular cultural understandings of that history. In this lab, students will study the ways that this history has been represented and "taught" in the popular media and in public discourse, and the ways that these representations themselves have impacted broader historical processes. Particular attention will be paid to depictions of this history in movies, television, print media,  museums, musical productions, and various other types of performance. This lab will also attend to the ways that these depictions have shaped popular understandings.

A survey of major developments in modern Russia and her East European neighbors, this course concentrates on the recent upheavals in the Soviet and East European socialist bloc. The geographic context will be examined and different types of Marxism will be analyzed. (Also POL 238)

A history of the Arabs during the Islamic era, the Ottoman Turks, Western imperialism, the growth of nationalism. Contemporary geographic, economic, political, and social conditions will be discussed.

Literature and film bring political themes to life. They explore themes -- of honor vs. duty, civic heroism and the pursuit of justice, the folly of pride and the corruption of power, the individual vs. the state -- that are timeless yet intimate. Literature and film invite us to suspend believe and exercise our imagination. They also pull us in two opposite directions -- escape and engagement. In this course, we will explore these themes in pairs of great literary and cinematic works such as Antigone and Hunger Games, Casablanca and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Citizen Kane and All the King's Men, Animal Farm and Lord of the Flies, and selections from the Victorian novelist George Eliot and Anthony Trollope and the Russian hedgehog and fox, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy.

A course examining the history and policies of protection of the individual from governmental intrusions. Freedom of expression, rights to privacy, rights of the defendant, and issues of equal rights are all considered.  Course is cross-listed with POL 229.

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, democratic notions of freedom, privacy, justice, and liberty have been increasingly challenged by the necessity to ensure domestic security and wage war. The tension between liberty and security has come to the forefront in public policy debates. Students in this course will discuss the meaning of liberty as it has emerged in our nation. They will explore the current security threats to our nation. Then, using readings selected for the course, students will evaluate the public policies being promulgated, using a liberty lens. The inquiry will include examples from history, legal and political analysis, as well as current critiques.

This course will give students an opportunity to learn history directly from voices of the past while studying the theory, methodology and techniques of oral history. Fieldwork will be central to the course: students will conduct and evaluate an oral history interview with a person of their choice.

An intensive study of the rise of modern China since the Opium Wars of the 1840s, this course emphasizes the decline of the Qing Dynasty and the pressures of Western imperialism. A considerable portion of the course deals with the rise of the Chinese Nationalists and Communists, and developments since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. The geographic context will be examined.

The genocidal Holocaust of World War II remains a familiar topic, but a philosophically evaluative study of that tragedy becomes a challenge for students. In this course students will examine their values systems as applied to an effort to understand the course of the Nazi Holocaust as well as other efforts at genocide in the 20th century.

The history of western medicine and health care from the earliest times to the present is covered.  Topics include medical ideas, techniques, institutions, practitioners, and the social context in which these functioned.

This course is a survey of the history of slavery in Africa, North America, the Caribbean, and South America, with a particular focus on the relationship between slavery, freedom, and emancipation. Topics include: the origins of slavery in the Atlantic world; the development of
slave societies across various regions of the Western hemisphere; gender and power; resistance and rebellion; and meanings of freedom  and citizenship. The objective of the course is to understand the complex structures and cultures of slavery in the Americas within an Atlantic context. This course may  be taken with an optional lab (HST 240L) for one additional credit. Lab work puts to practice creative and analytical thinking through the analysis of visual representation. During weekly one hour lab session, students observe visual narratives (e.g., film, photography)  portraying the culture of slavery (additional materials will be on reserve in the library), and then make connections to class material (readings, lecture) in an electronic journal (i.e., blog, Mahara Page) that allows for the development of written text and uploading of images.

This course surveys the history of South Africa over the last two thousand years.  It examines the long evolution of African societies in the region; the transformations wrought by several phases of European colonialism; the emergence of a White-ruled state and the eventual imposition of apartheid; the struggles of liberation movements and their ultimate victory; and the contentious process of constructing a New South Africa on a nonracial basis. A central objective will be an understanding the complexity of the racial and ethnic history of South Africa, of the many social groups and cultures that make up the country today, and of the key role of women within those ethnicities and groups. This course may be taken with an optional cultural lab (HST 243L) for one additional credit. This lab extends the focus of this course beyond the history of South Africa strictly understood, into the realm of popular cultural understandings of that history.  In this lab, students will study the ways that this history has been represented and "taught" in the international English-language popular media and public discourse, and the ways that these representations themselves have impacted broader historical processes. Particular attention will be paid to depictions of this history in movies, television, print media, museums, musical productions, and various other types of performance. This lab will also attend to the ways that these depictions have shaped popular understandings.
 

A study of the African-American people from African origins to the present. African cultural heritage, the Atlantic slave trade, resistance to slavery and its conditions, reconstruction and segregation, urban migration, and the post-slavery freedom struggle are studied. Emphasis is placed on the development of Africa American culture through social struggle, and the impact on US political institutions.

The department occasionally offers special courses in history dealing with areas and topics not otherwise included in the curriculum.

This course examines the basic principles of historical methodology, the use of newer technologies in historical work, and the many ways in which history is presented to the general public. The emphasis will be on understanding and critiquing the role of communications and informational technology - from the museum emplacements, to the web, to radio, to film - in public history. Additionally, students in the course will have the opportunity to create their own historical presentations by means of audio, video, and/or computer-based technology.

The department occasionally offers special courses in public history dealing with areas and topics not otherwise included in the curriculum.

Independent study course to be arranged with faculty.  Permission of department chair required.

(Also WST 305)This course studies women in developing societies - societies experiencing social, political, and economic change -from a multidisciplinary perspective. It highlights the role and effects of cultural imperatives, historical transformations, and geographical conditions on the experiences of women. The contribution of women to the growth and development of their cultures, as well as to their own changing roles and status, is stressed.

A study of economic aspects of transition from centrally planned economy to a capitalist mixed economy. Topics include: problems of transition; different approaches to economic transition; sequence of reform; consequences of the economic transformation for the global economy. Relevant experience and sequence of transition of several countries will be examined.  (Cross-listed with ECO 218)

This course studies Native American history and culture from the first appearance of people in North America to the present day The first section of the course will explore the origins of Native American people and the wide variety of societies that they created, from Mesoamerica to the Arctic Circle. The second section will trace European conquest and Native resistance over the three and a half centuries after 1492. The final section will examine post-conquest life and culture among Indian people.

Examines the deliberate, systematic and mechanized murder of six million Jews of Europe by Nazi Germany during World War II. The course will consider the history of anti-Semitism, the rise of the Nazis, anti-Jewish legislation like the Nuremberg Laws, efforts of Jews to adapt or flee, and the crisis of the Night of the Broken Glass. After 1939, we will look at the implementation of the Holocaust, the German plan to eliminate all the Jews of Europe. In addition, we will evaluate the perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. Students will look at other examples of genocide in the 20th Century, like the Turkish murder of Armenians, the German killings of the Herero and Nama in Southwest Africa, the Soviet Man-Made Famine in Ukraine, and the Genocides in Cambodia, Bosnia, Iraq, Rwanda, and Sudan. Discussing the Holocaust is a challenge to students. In this course students, will examine their values systems as applied to an effort to understand the Nazi Holocaust as well as other examples of genocide and ethnic cleansing in the 20th Century.

Students who complete this course, may not also take HIS 234 for credit due to content overlap.

This course will provide a survey of the experiences of ethnic immigrant and racial minorities. The common problems of adjustment, acceptance, and assimilation will be explored as well as the unique experience of the major ethnic and racial groups. Although the course will concentrate on the experiences of Afro-Americans, Jews, Irish, and Italians, the course will also cover Poles, Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans, and other ethnic groups. Also the course will cover the cultural geography of American ethnicity.

This course surveys Caribbean peoples, society, and cultures from the period of Plantation Experience to the contemporary period. It studies the Caribbean in historical change, US relations with Caribbean people, migrations and emigrations within and outside of the Caribbean, Caribbean lifestyles, and the Caribbean Diaspora. Further, the course examines the role of race, color, class, and gender in Caribbean society; distinct cultural values in Religion and the Arts; associations and empowerment of people; issues in Caribbean identities, ideology, family life; urban and rural work. The focus of the course is on implications of historical change, significance of tourism in Caribbean society, implications of emigration on Caribbean development, and issues in everyday life. Finally, the course examines Haiti and Cuba as case studies. 

This course provides history students with the opportunity to participate in historically oriented work at museums, historical societies, historical monuments, media and journalistic related organizations, research institutes, and many other locations. This experience provides an opportunity to learn about applied historical work by doing it in many different possible venues.

This course examines the history of the 1960s in the United States, a period that actually lasted from about 1955 to 1975. The course focuses on two key aspects of this period. It addresses the social movements that arose and proliferated, from the civil rights movement to the student movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement, the women's movement, the gay and lesbian liberation movement, and the movements of oppressed ethnic groups. And it explores the artistic and cultural transformations of these years, especially in the form of popular music-that is, rock and roll, in all its forms and genres. Throughout the course, the varying interrelationships between social struggle and popular culture will be studied.

This is an in-depth course on the American experience from 1898-1945. We will explore the emergence of modern America in the first half of the 20th Century and changes created by urbanization, immigration, three wars, and the Depression.

The Sage-Troy Oral History Project (STOHP) is an ongoing effort to collect and archive oral history interviews of people with important and interesting experiences in Russell Sage College and Troy communities. Students will work independently preparing, conducting, and processing oral history interviews under the guidance of the instructor.
 

The course will survey the history of American film from the birth of film in the 1890s to the present and will look at film genres, like the war film, history film, comedies, crime films, etc. The course covers both the history of film and how film portrays historical issues and events.  We will focus on American film, but we will use a few examples of foreign films that clarify how film portrays history or are essential to understand the development of American film. This course will explore how films portray historical, political, social, and cultural issues and view film from the disciplines of history, political science, and film studies. 

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton modeled the Declaration of Sentiments exactly on Thomas Jefferson’s famous Declaration of l776. Why? What are the main currents and crosscurrents of political thought in America? How have ideas like freedom and equality been used and misused in American politics? How have these ideas shaped the actions of statesmen like Jefferson and Madison, abolitionists like Frederick Douglas, feminists like Anthony and Stanton, presidents like Lincoln and Wilson, and recent thinkers since Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X? Students answer these questions by reading and interpreting the writings and speeches of these and other famous thinkers.(Cross-listed with POL 334)

This course examines the processes by which social movements emerge, develop, and decline. Particular focus will be on social change theory; the history of selected movements; political strategies for change; individual versus collective approaches; and the relationship of institutions and ideologies to the success and failure of social change. (Equivalent to POL 335, HST 335, and WST 335).

American isolationism is a myth. Lean how the United States has engaged in the world from the Declaration of Independence to today. Explore the international challenges the U.S. has faced, the tools (diplomatic, economic, and military) it has used, and the approaches and strategies it has followed. Assess the partial successes U.S. foreign policy has achieved, and the partial failures it has endured. Investigate how American foreign policy is made in terms of the roles of the president, Congress, and other players. As a cross-cultural course, we will focus on American negotiating behavior in cultural perspective.

This course provides public history students with the opportunity to participate in historically oriented work at museums, historical societies, historical monuments, media and journalistic related organizations, and many other locations. This experience provides an opportunity to learn about applied historical work by doing it in many different possible venues.
 

This is an in-depth look at recent American history from World War II to 2001. Some of the topics covered will include: Cold War, Happy Days of the 1950s, McCarthyism, Beats and Hippies, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam Great Society, Civil Rights and Martin Luther King Jr., Watergate, Reaganism, New Immigration, etc. We will look at the major social, political, ethnic and foreign policy issues since World War II.

There is so much that can be said about the United States Constitution.  Most simply, it is our country's foundational document that serves as the supreme law of the land.  Beyond this, there is controversy.  Is it a living document - the product of a particular historical situation to be reinterpreted in later historical contexts - or is it limited to its text and its meaning as intended when written?  What the true limits of central government's power?  How do checks and balances really work?  When is there sufficient government involvement to implicate individual rights under the Bill of Rights?  In fact, nothing is simple or static when it comes to constitutional interpretation and ultimately it is up to the Supreme Court to determine what it means.  This course will explore various provisions of the Constitution and the Court's interpretation thereof.  (This course is often cross-listed with ENG 344, POL 344 and PSC 209.)  Prerequisites: ENG 101 or HUM 112 or WLD 101

This course will look at the history of American foreign policy from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the present and will explore the emergence of the United States as a major world power. We will look at the ongoing debates within the nation about what role we should play and how the country reacted to foreign crises, like the Holocaust, Cuban Missile Crisis, and the rise of Islamic terrorism. We will concentrate on some issues, like the debate over American expansion, the reaction to foreign genocides, the rise of Nazi Germany, the growth of communism and emerging Cold War, and the New World Order created by the collapse of communism.

A presidential speech reveals a great deal about the President, the nation and the politics and issues of the day and the general historical context.  What the President chooses to speak about tells us what issues s/he believes are important and what the Executive branch wants us to think is important.  What s/he excludes is equally revealing.  The audience is not just the voting public.  Congress, the federal bureaucracy, state governments, foreign leaders, interest groups and big money contributors, among others, are intended to get overt or covert messages from a speech.  Great care is taken when writing and delivering presidential speeches so that the phrasing, word selection, and rhythm reflect the desired image of the speaker and achieve his/her public policy and political goals.  In this course, students will read, hear and watch Presidential speeches from George Washington to the present and engage in in-depth written analysis of them.  Prerequisite: ENG 101 or HUM 112 or WLD 101

The department occasionally offers special courses in history dealing with areas and topics not otherwise included in the curriculum.

This course examines the history of the Great Depression in the United States (1929-1941); its causes, especially during the 1920s; its legacies, both immediate and current; and its place in world history.  The course emphasizes the economic course of the Depression, the political responses of the government (especially the New Deal), the development of social movements to defend the interests of various sectors of the society, and the cultural and artistic productions of the period.  Particular consideration is given to the realities of the Depression for communities of color and for women.  This course may be taken with an optional lab (HST 355L) for one additional credit.  This lab extends the focus of the course beyond the history of the Great Depression strictly understood, into the realm of popular cultural understandings of that history.  In this lab, students will study the ways that this history has been represented and "taught" in the popular media and in public discourse, and the ways that these representations themselves have impacted broader historical processes.  Particular attention will be paid to depictions of this history in movies, television, print media, museums, musical productions, and various other types of performance.  This lab will also attend to the ways that these depictions have shaped popular understandings. 

A study of the impact of war on American society since the colonial wars with Native Americans. The course will analyze the role of the military as an instrument of American foreign policy. What were the domestic consequences of war like rationing, and the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II? How did politics influence American military decisions and when did the United States opt not to use force and why, as in Bosnia and Rwanda in the 1990s?  The course will cover the diplomatic, social, military, political, economic and constitutional consequences of war. In addition, the course will explore the impact of war on popular culture and popular images of war.

This course is designed to introduce the student to the historical development and maturation of the movement for civil rights in the United States. It will examine the development of resistance movements and the philosophies of those involved within the movements during ante-bellum, post-Civil War and contemporary times.

We will look at the origins and development of the American Revolution from the French and Indian War to the ratification of the Constitution.  Then we will study the Civil War, the role of Abraham Lincoln, and the Second, American Revolution. We will compare how these two events transformed America and American values of liberty and replubicanism. How did the Civil War change the meaning of liberty, freedom and republicanism.

The course commemorates the 100th anniversary of, World War I, 70th anniversary of the end of World, War II and 75th anniversary of American entrance, into the war. The course concentrates on the two, world wars and the American experience, the, consequences of the wars, the impact of the, interwar years, aftermath of World War II and, developing Cold War. It looks at how war became, even more deadly, as the introduction of, submarine warfare, chemical agents, and, bombardment from the air during World War I, suggests. We will study how civilians became targets for genocide, Armenians, Greeks, and Assyrians during World War I and the Holocaust of World War II.

To be arranged with faculty.

The balance of the course involves researching and writing a substantial paper under the supervision of a member of the department. HST 401 is required of history and childhood education/history majors. It is designed to provide students with a common experience at the conclusion of their undergraduate studies and should be taken during the final semester of the senior year.

to be arranged with faculty