Course Offerings
Course Offerings
Fall 2023
HISTORY 1100/1100H. SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1865. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing).
Introduction to U.S. history through the Civil War, surveying the political, economic, social, and cultural development of the American people. No credit will be given to students who have received credit in HIST 1400 (AP credit for US History).
HISTORY 1200/1200H. SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing)
Introduction to U.S. history since 1865, surveying political, economic, social, and cultural development of the American people. No credit will be given to students who have received credit in HIST 1400 (AP credit for US History).
HISTORY 1500/1500H. ORIGINS OF EUROPEAN HISTORY. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing).
This course provides an introduction to European Civilization and its place in global history from its origins until the seventeenth century. Designed to provide a broad background for further study, this course provides an introduction to European Civilization and its place in global history from antiquity to the dawn of the Enlightenment. Students will come away with a general understanding of the major political, religious, cultural, and economic developments of this 2500-year time span. A major theme will be the effects of encounter and exchange as we see the repeated absorption of new peoples and new ideas into ancient, medieval and early-modern European culture.
Professor: L. Huneycutt
Time: 10:00-10:50 M/W
Readings: Textbook plus primary source readings varying from short extracts to short monographs.
Exams and papers: Students will take quizzes over textbook readings and lectures and will write five 500–600-word papers over assigned readings over the course of the semester. Honors students will have additional readings and three additional short papers.
HISTORY 1570. SURVEY OF EARLY MODERN EUROPE, 1350-1650. An overview of western and central European history from the Black Death to the end of the Thirty Years' War, including the major epochs of Renaissance and Reformation. Format: Lectures with occasional discussions of assigned readings.
Professor: J. Frymire
Time: 9:00-9:50 M/W/F
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: take-home midterm and final exams; four short essays
HISTORY 1800. HISTORY OF MODERN AFRICA. (Same as Black Studies 1800). This course introduces students to the history of Africa from European Imperialism to the Arab Spring. It provides an opportunity to understand major events in modern African history, such as colonialism, independence, and globalization, based on primary and secondary sources available in print, film, and online. By the end of the course, students will be familiarized with the recent history of Africa as well as complex concepts used across several disciplines, including race, gender, and class.
Professor: M. Fejzula
Time: 9:30-10:45 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2150. THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: A GLOBAL HISTORY.
In this class students will study the American Civil War from the perspective of global history. The familiar actors and events will be covered – the debate over slavery, the secession of the South, the rise of Abraham Lincoln, the great battles and generals, etc. But these familiar episodes will take on different meanings when viewed in relation to global structures of politics, economics, social relations, and ideology. The 1860s was at once a formative moment in the history of globalization and the key decade for the formation and consolidation of modern nations. There are two objectives to this class: first, to expose undergraduates to the historical, political, and moral education that the Civil War offers all of its students; and second, to introduce students to the enterprise of global history through a familiar and particularly illuminating historical event.
Professor: J. Sexton
Time: 2:00-3:15 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2240/2240H. FLIGHT IN AMERICA: FROM THE WRIGHT BROTHERS TO THE SPACE AGE. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing).
This course focuses on the history of flying in the U.S. from its beginnings to the Apollo moon missions. In a little over a century, aviation and space flight have transformed our world. We will focus on key innovations and the people behind them. This is an exciting story, full of fascinating men and women. There are a lot of great videos and films about flight, and we will use excerpts from these in class.
Professor: J. Wigger
Time: 10:00-10:50 M/W/F
Readings: Weekly reading assignments
Exams and papers: Grades will be based on weekly quizzes, assignments, and class discussion.
HISTORY 2400. SOCIAL HISTORY OF U.S. WOMEN. (Same as Women and Gender Studies 2400).
This course introduces students to the history of US women from the colonial period to the present. Lectures and readings will juxtapose the lives of individual women with larger cultural, scientific, and legal/political trends which helped to shape women’s lives. Although many aspects of women’s experiences are often assumed to be trans-historical, even the most seemingly essential do have a history. Students will explore the changing conceptions of what it means to be female as well as how understandings of female roles – e.g., mother, wife, worker – have changed over the past four hundred years. Students will also explore American’s women’s history in its more traditional legal and political contexts. Although this course will cover many events included in more conventional American history courses, students may find that seemingly familiar events and documents, from the American Revolution and the writing of the US Constitution to the counter-cultural movements of the twentieth century and beyond, look different when seen through the eyes of America’s women.
Professor: M. Morris
Time: 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Readings: Two books, other articles and primary sources as assigned
Exams and papers: Quizzes, midterm and final and two four-five-page papers.
HISTORY 2700. HISTORY OF PIRATES: MARITIME RAIDING FROM THE ANCIENT TO THE MODERN ERAS.
Pirates have taken on many different forms, from the heroic raider of ancient societies to the privateers who served as informal naval forces attacking enemy ships. In many of these guises, pirates have captured the popular imagination and today remain a romanticized staple of Hollywood. Beyond the romantic ideal exists a grim and violent reality. Men and women have turned to piracy when they had few other options, and often paying the price of a very brutal and short life. For the rest of society, piracy posed a significant economic threat as well as a threat to all those who traveled by sea - sailors, traders, pilgrims, settlers, merchants, and administrators. This is a broad survey of piracy around the globe from the ancient to the modern world, with a particular focus on the 15th through the 18th centuries. We will be examining the motivations for and effects of piracy in Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Professor: K. Bowers
Time: 9:30-10:45 T/Th
Readings: Wadsworth, Global Piracy: A Documentary History of Seaborne Banditry; Rediker, Outlaws of the Atlantic; additional articles on Canvas.
Exams and papers: Two exams, one short paper, weekly reading responses.
HISTORY 2820. TAIWAN: THE FIRST CHINESE DEMOCRACY.
The relationship between China and the United States has hit rock bottom since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The two most powerful nations in the world fundamentally disagree with each other on a number of issues. One of the most prominent and long-standing disagreements is on the status of Taiwan. Pundits have long predicted that if there is going to be an actual war between China and the United States, this war will most likely start with the dispute over Taiwan. The island of Taiwan (Formosa) lies about 100 miles off the southeastern coast of China. It is small, roughly the size of Maryland. However, the island state is an important strategic ally of the United States in the West Pacific. It is also a dynamic economic powerhouse that produces vital high-tech IT components for the global market, especially semiconductor chips. The Chinese Communist Party leaders see Taiwan not as an independent country, but a breakaway province to be recovered at all costs. Beijing authorities have also argued that a Western-style democratic system will never function properly in a Chinese society. Yet, positioned right next to China, Taiwan is known for being the world’s first Chinese democracy and one of the most prosperous, open, and socially progressive societies in the world. In 2019, the island state became the first country in the conservative Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Today, most Taiwanese, despite their Chinese cultural heritage, have constructed a new national identity, one that not only challenges Beijing’s brand of Chinese nationalism, but also some of the core ideas of being “Chinese.” How did the United States become entangled in “the Taiwan question”? When and how did Taiwan become a democracy? What exactly is the role played by the United States in the history of Taiwan and the history of Taiwan-China dispute? How will the dispute over Taiwan influence Sino-American relations in the future? This entry-level course provides a basis for students to think critically about these issues. Prior knowledge of Taiwan, China, or East Asia is neither expected nor required.
Professor: D. Yang
Time: 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Requirements for credit include class attendance/participation, short essay assignments, and exams
HISTORY 2950.1. SOPHOMORE SEMINAR: EUROPEAN HISTORY: LIVING IN MODERN EUROPE, FRENCH REVOLUTION TO WWI. (History Majors Only-Please email Brittony Hein-corneillierb@missouri.edu, Sr. Academic Advisor for Permission Number). What does it mean to research and write like a historian? In this seminar, we will explore this question through the study of five (5) key topics of Modern European History: The French Revolution, Industrialization, the Rise of Modern Science, Commodity Culture & Empire, and the First World War. Throughout the course, students will be exposed to a wide range of people living in this period in order to reflect upon the diversity of experience. Students will learn tools with which to analyze primary documents and scholarly sources in order to understand what life was like for people living in Europe and its empires between 1789 and 1918. This Sophomore Seminar seeks to prepare students for upper-level history courses that require research papers. Throughout the semester, students will gain skills in locating historical sources (both online and at Ellis Library), developing clear and persuasive arguments, and organizing research papers that are based on primary documents. Each student will take on a research project on a subject of their choosing pertaining to the scope of the course. They will undertake this project through a variety of steps: attending a library workshop, submitting an annotative bibliography, and developing a research proposal and a short research paper.
Professor: I. Karthas
Time: 3:00-5:20 M
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2950.2. SOPHOMORE SEMINAR: SLAVERY AND POLITICAL ECONOMY IN THE AGE OF ATLANTIC REVOLUTION. (History Majors Only-Please email Brittony Hein-corneillierb@missouri.edu, Sr. Academic Advisor for Permission Number).
This sophomore seminar engages a central question: what does it mean to research and write like an historian? In our seminar, we will generate a sustained discussion of this question organized around a complex historical topic: Slavery and Political Economy in the Age of Atlantic Revolutions. This seminar seeks to prepare students for upper-level history courses that require research papers. As such, the seminar has several main goals: 1.) to generate sustained discussion of key historical monograph and supporting secondary articles and primary sources; 2.) to introduce the work of the historian using primary sources; and 3.) to facilitate the start of a long-term project related to the topic at hand. To achieve these goals, our seminar will center on collective class discussions, in-class presentations, and written assignments that will culminate in a first-stage bibliography and research proposal. In accomplishing these aims, we will develop a range of ideas that we will, in turn, use to better understand the seminar theme, thereby becoming conversant with current trends in the field.
Professor: M. Nevius
Time: 2:00-3:15 TR
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 3510. THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD.
This course will explore the world of ancient Greece from the eighth century BC to the death of Alexander the Great. The course will include an examination of the prominent historical developments traditionally associated with ancient Greece, such as the emergence of the polis (city-state), the phenomenon of tyranny, the rise of Athens and Sparta, the birth of Athenian democracy, and the iconic military campaigns of the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars in the fifth century BC. In addition to these traditional topics, this course will also emphasize historical inquiry into popular conceptions of Greek identity and citizenship, Greek interactions with foreigners, the role of women in Greek society, as well as the debates over the nature of slavery, freedom, and equality.
Professor: J. Stevens
Time: 3:30-4:45 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 3590. THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES.
This course will cover the evolution of European culture from roughly 300 to 1100. Although its focus will primarily be on social, political, and economic developments, it will also take developments in religion, art, literature, and philosophy into account.
Professor: L. Huneycutt
Time: 1:00-1:50 M/W/F
Readings: Backman, The Worlds of Medieval Europe, Farmer (ed.), The Age of Bede, plus supplementary readings
Exams and papers: Final, in-class quizzes and several short writing assignments
HISTORY 3860. HISTORY OF MEXICO.
This course will explore the economic, social, political, and cultural history of Mexico from the pre-Columbia civilizations of Mesoamerica to contemporary concerns. Beginning with the Olmec civilization of Mexico's Gulf Coast and ending with current issues of violence and crime in the 2000s, we will employ a rigorous study of primary sources to get at the lived experiences of Mexico's residents. This course will generally adhere to a chronological organization of Mexican history and will focus on broad questions like colonialism, nationalism, and social justice.
Professor: R. Smale
Time: 10:00-10:50 M/W/F
Readings: Four texts
Exams and papers: One exam, two papers, ten short comments, and fifteen quizzes
HISTORY 4540/4540H. THE LATER ROMAN EMPIRE. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing). This course will explore the political, religious, and cultural life of the Later Roman Empire and the early period of Late Antiquity associated with the rise of the Byzantine Empire in the sixth century. The survey of topics will examine the evolution and transformation of the ‘classical’ Roman world from as early as the Severan Dynasty, the subsequent ‘Crisis of the Third Century’ and the rise of the soldier emperors, down through the emergence of the barbarian kingdoms and early Byzantium. Major themes also include the division of the empire, Rome’s transition from imperial capital to holy city, the construction and impact of Constantinople, the formation of Christian orthodoxy, the evolution of slavery, as well as the mass migrations and warfare of the period.
Professor: J. Stevens
Time: 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 4580.2. THE “MAKING” OF MODERN EUROPE: IDENTITY, CULTURE, EMPIRE.
This course will explore core aspects of modern Western civilization and thought, focusing on Britain and Europe between 1789 and 1989. It will also give attention to the West's relationship to the rest of the world. It will introduce topics such as the rise of nation-states and nationalism, colonialism, the industrialized city, the cult of science, occultism, scientific racism and sexism, consumer mass culture, the welfare state, changes in gender and sexuality, psychoanalysis, right-wing totalitarianism, the triumph of Americanism, and post-religious existentialism.
Instructor: C. Ochsner
Time: 9:00-10:30 M/W/F
Readings: No texts required for purchase. All content will be either downloadable or online.
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 4605/4605H. EARLY MODERN SPAIN, 1450-1750. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing).
Sitting at the crossroads of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, Spanish interests in trade and exploration led to enormous global power and influence. In this course, we begin with Fernando and Isabel, whose marriage brought together the two principle territories of Castile and Aragon, leading to the beginnings of a “united” Spain. As we trace the political and social history of Spain through the early modern era, we’ll also be examining many myths surrounding Spanish history including topics such as Columbus’ voyages, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Black Legend.
Professor: K. Bowers
Time: 3:30-4:45 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: Midterm and final exam, two short analytical papers, research paper
HISTORY 4800. MODERN CHINA AND JAPAN: WAR, IMPERIALISM AND MEMORY.
China and Japan, two of the oldest and richest civilizations in East Asia, had a traumatic and entangled modern history. That history eventually led to World War II in Asia and paved the way for the United States to play a pivotal role in the Asia-Pacific politics. History 4800 examines Japanese colonial expansion in China and its aftermath. The class focuses on issues such as wartime Japanese culture, Nanjing Massacre, comfort women, collaboration, Chinese Communist Revolution, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, etc., as well as Cold War politics and US involvement that shaped the different collective memories of war in both countries. We look at books, essays, films, comics, museum exhibitions, and other cultural representations of the Sino-Japanese War. In doing so, the course gradually builds a framework for students to think analytically about the underlying historical reasons for the current conflicts over memory between Tokyo and Beijing, and between Japan and most of its Asian neighbors. Prior knowledge of either Japan or China is not required. The course format consists mainly of discussion-based seminars. Requirements for credit include seminar attendance/participation, short in-class presentations, completion of a final research paper. There are no exams.
Professor: D. Yang
Time: 2:00-3:15 T/Th
HISTORY 4971W. WITCHCRAFT AND DEVIANCE IN PREMODERN EUROPE. (History Majors only and Require DepartmentConsent, Writing Intensive Capstone; Please email Brittony Hein-corneillierb@missouri.edu, Sr. Academic Advisor for Permission Number). Between 1400 and 1700, at least 50,000 people (most of them women) were executed for practicing witchcraft in Europe—comparatively, this makes the “Salem Witch Trials” a blip on the historical record. Even before 1400, however, Europeans tortured, imprisoned, and executed numerous people for their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, diseases (such as leprosy), or for the fact that they were Jews or suspected of sorcery. In this senior capstone seminar, we will read and discuss documents relevant to this history as well as books and articles that try to make sense of it.
Professor: J. Frymire
Time: 3:00-5:20 W
HISTORY 4972W. WAR AND SOCIETY. (History Majors only and Require Department Consent, Writing Intensive Capstone; Please email Brittony Hein-corneillierb@missouri.edu, Sr. Academic Advisor for Permission Number). This course will explore the complex relationship between the home front and the frontlines, as wars often serve as catalysts for social change and the reshaping of concepts such as nationalism, government, race, and gender. As a capstone research course, students will complete a substantial independent research paper on a topic within the bounds of war and society to be discussed with and approved by the instructor.
Instructor: K. McPartland
Time: 9:30-11:50 T
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2100. THE REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA. (Same as Constitutional Democracy 2100).
This course covers the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution. Our readings and discussion will push us to see the Revolution not as a straightforward march towards American independence, but rather as a complex series of interrelated political, military, social, economic, and cultural events that unfolded across the larger 18th century world. Students will engage with both primary sources and scholarly assessments as they reconstruct the origins and outcomes of the Revolution from wide-ranging perspectives.
Instructor: A. Stewart
Time: 12:00-12:50 M/W/F
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2100H. THE REVOLUTIONARY TRANSFORMATION OF AMERICA. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing; Same as Constitutional Democracy 2100H).
This course covers the causes, course, and consequences of the American Revolution. Our readings and discussion will push us to see the Revolution not as a straightforward march towards American independence, but rather as a complex series of interrelated political, military, social, economic, and cultural events that unfolded across the larger eighteenth-century world. Students will engage with both primary sources and scholarly assess-ments as they reconstruct the origins and outcomes of the Revolution from wide-ranging perspectives.
Professor: A. Stewart
Time: 12:30-1:45 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2120. THE YOUNG REPUBLIC. (Same as Constitutional Democracy 2120).
This seminar engages recent historiographic trends in the period of early American history that began in 1789 and extended into the 1840s. In our seminar, we will generate a sustained discussion of new scholarship that conveys new approaches to the history of the early United States. As such, the seminar has several main goals: 1.) to generate sustained reading in and discussion of key historical monographs and supporting secondary articles; 2.) to introduce research using primary sources; and 3.) to facilitate the start of a long-term research-based project grounded in histories of the "Young Republic." To achieve these goals, our seminar will center on collective class discussions, in-class presentations, and written assignments that will culminate in a first-stage bibliography and research proposal. In accomplishing these aims, we will develop a range of ideas that we will, in turn, use to better understand the seminar theme, thereby becoming conversant with current trends in the field.
Professor: M. Nevius
Time: 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2630W/2630HW. HISTORY OF CHRISTIAN TRADITION. (Honors Section-Must be eligible for Honors Standing; Same as Religious Studies 2630).
An overview of the origins and development of Christianities from the first century of the Common Era to the present day. Topic will include competing Christian theologies, colonialism, conversion narratives, globalization, religious violence, and heresy.
Professor: R. Gregory
Time: 11:00-12:15 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 2904. BLACK STUDIES IN SLAVERY AND FREEDOM. (Same as Black Studies 2904). This course provides study of historical background, economic, political and social implications of slavery and freedom in the African Diaspora (Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia) as well as the legal and extralegal struggles for and meaning of (global, local, and national) freedom.
Professor: M. Jirik
Time: 9:00-9:50 M/W/F
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 3210. HISTORY OF RELIGION IN POST-CIVIL WAR AMERICA. (Same as Religious Studies 3210).
This course will explore the explosion of diverse religious communities beginning in the late 19th century in what was already an incredibly kaleidoscopic religious landscape in the US. The major social, political, and economic issues will be explored through the lens of Religious Studies, taking for granted that the beliefs, practices, norms, and biases inherent in both individual and institutional religious identities are some of the key features of those issues.
Professor: TBD
Time: 9:30-10:45 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 4303. BLACK STUDIES IN RACE, CLASS, GENDER, AND U.S. POLICY. (Same as Black Studies 4303).
Examines the causes and effects of the vast social and economic inequalities that exist between blacks and whites in US society, including the role federal, state, and local government play in creating and addressing such inequalities as financial, tax, environmental, trade, and foreign policies as well as issues of human and social welfare.
Professor: W. Mack
Time: 3:00-3:50 M/W/F
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 4400W. HISTORY OF AMERICAN LAW. (Contact Thomas Kane, kanetc@missouri.edu for a permission number to enroll in the course; Same as Constitutional Democracy 4400W).
American law from English origins to present. Reviews common law, codification, legal reform movements, slavery law, adminis-trative state, formalism, legal realism, jurisprudential questions concerning rule of law.
Professor: C. Conklin
Time: 2:00-3:15 T/Th
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
Summer 2023
HISTORY 1100. SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY TO 1865. (Eight Week Session). Introduction to U.S. history through the Civil War, surveying political, economic, social, and cultural development of the American people. No credit will be given to students who have received credit in History 1400 (AP credit for U.S. History).
HISTORY 1200. SURVEY OF AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865. (Eight Week Session). Introduction to U.S. history since 1865, surveying political, economic, social, and cultural development of the American people. No credit will be given to students who have received credit in History 1400 (AP credit for U.S. History).
HISTORY 2210. TWENTIETH CENTURY AMERICA. (First Four Week). This course examines the twentieth century in the United States, focusing on the political, social, and cultural changes that took place during that century. Through lectures, readings, and videos, the class will explore how and why the United States evolved from a rural agricultural nation into an urban industrial one by the outbreak of World War II, and then into a suburban nation during the last half of the twentieth century. The class will also examine how the United States became a military and economic superpower, and the social and cultural movements that sprung up in response to the changes in American life during the twentieth century.
Instructor: C. Forrest
Time: ARR Internet
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: Grades will be based on reading summaries, quizzes, and written exams
HISTORY 4230. OUR TIMES: UNITED STATES SINCE 1945. (Second Four Week). Through lectures, discussions, readings, and media, this course will explore significant developments in American life from 1945 to the end of the Cold War, including America’s role in the world, domestic policy, social movements, and cultural developments.
Instructor: C. Deutsch
Time: ARR Internet
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: To be determined
HISTORY 4645. WITCHCRAFT AND WITCH HUNTING IN PRE-MODERN EUROPE. (Eight Week Session). In order to examine how European peoples understood and experienced witchcraft, this course will combine some pre-recorded lectures with assigned readings of primary sources (i.e., historical documents) and secondary literature (i.e., what scholars have written about those primary sources). We will explore the differing—and sometimes similar—understandings and experiences of the educated and the unlettered, female and male, rural and urban, rich, and poor, lay, and religious. We will do this with a keen eye on the ways the study of witchcraft can enrich our historical understanding of issues such as gender relationships, modern state formation, the histories of science, law, and theology, popular and elite religion, demonology, and magic, as well as other relevant topics.
Professor: J. Frymire
Time: ARR Internet
Readings: To be announced
Exams and papers: reading quizzes and/or reading logs, 1 short 4-5 page essay, online midterm and final