What courses do history majors take at Hope College?

The History Department offers a series of basic survey courses. In addition to these, the Department contributes to and accepts courses from the Cultural Heritage interdisicplinary sequence (IDS 171 and IDS 172). A wide variety of upper-level courses are offered every semester.

• Major and Minor Requirements are listed in The College's Course Catalog.
  
  
• You can download a guide to Navigating the History Major here.
  
  

Below is a list of descriptions of the courses that faculty in the Department will offer in the spring.

Fall 2012

History 140-01A: History Workshop: London Histories
Professor Baer
What does it mean to be a historian? The objective of London Histories is to introduce students to doing history. We will begin the course by reading together Roy Porter’s London: A Social History, a survey of the history of London from the Romans to the Thatcher era. The remainder of the course will be devoted to individual students conducting research in primary and secondary sources and writing a 10-page research paper on a topic of their choosing. Along the way the course will also address how to formulate research questions, how to find and use historical sources and how to document those sources. Students will also gain experience making oral presentations and reading and commenting on each other’s written work. Required for history majors, minors and open to other interested students. 2 credits.

History 160: U.S. History to 1877
Professor Johnson
This survey course examines the rise of the American nation from its colonial origins through the Civil War and Reconstruction. The approach is thematic and special emphasis is placed upon the impact of European contact with Native Americans, the establishment and abolition of slavery, the struggle for women's equality, the influence of industrialization, westward movement, the evolution of republican institutions, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the nation's gradual rise to prominence. 4 credits.

History 175-01B: Michigan History
Professor Hagood
This course is a survey of Michigan History to the present, including cultural, economic, political and social developments. An important feature is the special attention given to current events, as they relate to established history. 2 credits.

History 207: World Civilizations I: Prehistory - c. 1500 Professor M'bayo
This introductory world history course surveys developments in human civilization in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Europe from prehistory until about 1500. It employs comparative methods to investigate cultures and societies that developed in different parts of the world, and it examines the ways in which world societies have interacted in the past. It fulfills the Cultural Heritage I requirement and is flagged for cultural diversity. 4 credits.

History 209: History of Science
Professor Hagood
This course surveys the history of science from the Renaissance to the present day. In addition to mastering the historical content, students will re-create historic experiments in order to understand scientific theories and methodologies as well as the nature of science itself. The primary objectives of the course are to understand how scientific knowledge expanded and changed over time, individuals developed and practiced the role of “scientist,” science influenced social environments, and social and political changes affected science, as well as why science developed as a particular kind of cross-disciplinary exploration of the universe with certain types of questions and methodologies. Cross-listed with GEMS 159. 4 credits.

History 225: West African Economy and Society, 18th - 20th Centuries: Commerce, Colonialism and Christianity
Professor M'bayo
The course explores the major economic and social transformations in West Africa from the 18th to the 20th century. In so doing, it will locate West Africa within the wider Atlantic World and examine the interplay of internal and external forces that shaped the region’s history from the immediate pre-colonial period to the post-colonial era. The course will cover, among other topics, the slave trade and slavery, West African “slave states,” the founding of Sierra Leone and Liberia, the Abolitionist movement, Islamic revolutions and states, the spread of Christianity, West African Colonial intermediaries, the colonial economy, and women and economic development in post-colonial Africa. The course is flagged for cultural diversity. 4 credits.

History 252: Civil War America: Disruption and Destiny
Professor Johnson
This course spans the years from 1820 to 1877, starting with the Missouri Compromise and progressing through the Civil War and Reconstruction. During this period, as the United States expanded its territorial boundaries, forged a political identity, and further achieved a sense of national unity, sectional rivalries, industrialization, reform movements, and increasingly hostile confrontations over the language and interpretation of the Constitution led to crisis. This course will examine how those factors contributed toward the 1861-1865 Civil War, with subsequent special emphasis being placed upon how the conflict and post-war Reconstruction influenced American’s social, political, cultural and economic development as it prepared to enter the 20th century. 4 credits.

History 260: History of Latin American Since 1810
Professor Hagood
This course surveys Latin American history from independence to the present. It examines the social, cultural, economic, and political processes that shaped Latin America. The course pays particular attention to the roots of independence in the colonial order, the legacy of colonialism, the struggle for national identities, U.S.-Latin American relations, and the effects of industrialization, urbanization, and population growth in the 20th century. 4 credits

History 280: Colonizer and Colonized: Perspectives on Modern Imperialism
Professor Baer
The rise and fall of the British Empire provides the focus of this course. British colonial experience is set in a larger context, which traces European, and to a lesser degree, world imperialism from origins to the contemporary era. The purpose of the course is to examine modern imperialism simultaneously from the perspective of the colonizer and colonized, and to evaluate the impact of imperialism on European and Third World societies. Primary focus will be on the experience of Africa and India. This course is flagged for cultural diversity. 4 credits.

History 295: Europe in the Age of Religious Wars
Professor Gibbs
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Europeans fought over many things—religion, politics, territory, and wealth, just to name a few. The social and political landscape of the continent was shaped by conflict. In this course, we will examine the varieties of conflict in European society, and analyze their causes and effects. In addition to considering actual wars (including the Thirty Years’ War, the French wars of religion, the Ottoman invasions of Europe and the English Civil War), we will look at conflicts that did not involve actual warfare, and see how Europeans resolved--or failed to resolve—their differences. Students should expect to complete at least twenty pages of polished writing for this class. 4 credits.

History 352: U.S. Women and Social Change
Professor Petit
What role have women had in making social change happen in the United States? In this course, we will answer this question by examining how women sought to shape their society during periods of transformation in United States history. Topics include women in Revolutionary America; women and anti-slavery campaigns; Progressive women; women during times of war; and the rise of feminism during the 20th century. We will also explore how issues such as race, class, region, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation affected women’s historical experience. This course is flagged for cultural diversity. 4 credits.

History 371: Paris and Shanghai: A Tale of Two Cities Professor Tseng

This course explores the national histories of France and China from the nineteenth century to our time by following the historical developments of two important urban centers, namely, Paris and Shanghai. Special emphasis will be placed upon diplomatic and cultural relations between France and China in the context of nineteenth-century imperialism, the wars and revolutions of the twentieth century, and the process of globalization that continues to our day. Attention will also be given to expatriate and immigrant communities in these two cities that reflect the relations between France and China as well as important historical developments of the modern world. 4 credits.

History 490: Independent Studies in History
Staff
Designed to provide students majoring in history, and others, with an opportunity to do advanced work in a field in which they have a special interest. Prerequisite: Formal application and departmental approval of proposed study. This desitgnation, with appropriate descriptive title, may be used for Washington Honors Semester and study abraod credits. Click here for more information. -variable credits

History 495: History Seminar
Professor Baer
This course is required of all history majors and is also open to non-majors with a serious interest in learning how to do scholarly research. The course is designed to help students develop advanced skills in historical research and writing. Major emphasis is given to the development of sound research methods and to the use of primary source materials. Each student will be expected to produce a lengthy research paper of scholarly merit and literary quality. 4 credits.