Introduction

Courses for Fall 2007
    100 level
    200 level
    300 level
    First Year Seminars

History courses taught at Wake Forest
  

History Courses for Fall 2007

100 Level Courses

History 101A & 101C. Western Civilization to 1700 (3h). TR 8-9:15 & 9:30-10:45. B117. Williams. At light speed (in one class period) we will traverse the prehistory of our species and then set about a more intensive review of the next 5200 years (3500 B.C.E to 1700 C.E). Our journey will carry us from Sumeria and the appearance of that form of culture historians call civilization to the eve of industrialization and political revolution in Western Europe.  While examining the the communal structures, achievements, tribulations, and transformations of peoples who, for the most part, spoke Indo-European languages and who, from their origins somewhere north of the Caucasus, came to control not only Europe, but the Americas and the whole of northern Asia, we will try to determine what sense it makes to speak of the tangible and intangible worlds they made as a single civilization and on what bases we might distinguish this civilization from others that appeared elsewhere.

History 101B. Western Civilization to 1700 (in a Mediterranean context) (3h). TR 9:30-10:45. A102. Hughes. People have faced certain perennial problems as they tried to live their lives in complex societies. We’ll explore their efforts to come to grips with these problems by focusing on a historically important but culturally diverse area of the world, the Mediterranean basin and its outliers, over an extended period of time. Some of the problems that will concern us in the course are: the nature of divinity and people's relationship to the divine; the nature of evil; the nature and sources of human knowledge; the organization and legitimation of political power. Two particular emphases will be environmental history (why did the Mediterranean remain a center of world power for 4500 years—and then become a backwater?) and cultural interaction (why and how did human groups develop different cultures within similar, neighboring environments and how did their interaction with one another affect their development?). Americans are, perforce, cultural heirs to this part of the world, and a study of its development should give you some understanding of how the culture you live in—and some of your own attitudes and values—came to be.

History 102A. Europe and the World in the Modern Era (3h). MWF 9-9:50. B117. Caron. This course examines the political, social, economic, and cultural experiences of Europeans and their connections to the world since 1700. We will analyze the growing importance of nationalism and liberalism, the conflict of imperialism, and the movements of people, ideas and goods. We will look at how Europeans interacted with each other and with non-Europeans. The class will end with an analysis of recent important events, such as the break-up of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, the Gulf War, and the ongoing Arab-Israeli negotiations. The format of the class is a combination of lecture and discussion.

History 102B & 102F. Europe and the World in the Modern Era (3h). MWF 9-9:50 & 10-10:50. A103 . Rupp. This course provides a survey of European history in the modern era.  Broad themes addressed in the course include the following: differing forms of government and the principles upon which they have been based; the role of ideas in influencing historical change; the impact of social structures and struggles on forms of political power; the rights and powers of the individual and how these have been defined relative to the community and the state.

History 102C & 102E. Europe and the World in the Modern Era (3h). MWF 10-10:50 & 11-11:50. A208. Fitzgibbon. In this course, we will focus on the intersection of personal and public life--on the ways in which individuals' desires and perceptions have shaped politics, religion, knowledge, the economy, public discourse, urban life, and international relationships during past 400 years, and vice versa.   In addition to the textbook, students will read four novels that illuminate changes in moral values and social relationships during the past two centuries.  Written assignments will include 2 midterms, a paper on a classic European film, 2 papers on the supplementary reading, and a final exam.

History 102D & 102G. Europe and the World in the Modern Era (3h). MWF 11-11:50 & 12-12:50. A103. Bobroff. A survey of modern Europe from 1700 to the present. Focus varies with instructor.    

History 104A. World Civilizations since 1500 (3h). MWF 8-8:50. A102. McConnell. A survey ofthe major civilizations of the world in the modern and contemporary periods.

History 104C & 104E. World Civilizations since 1500 (3h). MWF 2-2:50 & 3-3:50. B117. Vella. This course will introduce students to major episodes and trends in world history since 1500. Readings, lectures and class discussion will cover the political, social, cultural and intellectual spheres as well as exploration,  warfare, commerce, religion, science, race, gender and the arts. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the enormous role global empires played in this period and how they served both to join diverse peoples together and to drive them into conflict, creating a more cosmopolitan world that often fractured into one of "us" and "others".

History 104D & 104F. We Are What We Eat: World History Since 1500 Through Foods and Beverages (3h). MW 2-3:15 & TR 9:30-10:45. A305 & A103. Hellyer. The aim of this course is to explore patterns in world history since 1500 and consider how those patterns shape our world today.  We will use foods, beverages, and intoxicating substances to first explore prominent world civilizations before moving to consider globalization, colonization, slavery, and the development of national cultures and political systems.  We will also use foods and beverages to examine how and why industrialization developed first in some parts of the world and how the industrial global economy defines our world today, particularly the gap between rich and poor.

History 104G. World Civilizations since 1500 (3h). TR 12-1:15. A208. Wakild. This course surveys representations of the Latin America through the eyes of foreign travelers from European contact in the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. Using the insights of chroniclers, scientists, revolutionaries, and economists we will examine the role of Latin American peoples, products, and philosophies within the broader context of world history. The aim of the course is to elicit how global trends of cultural exchange, economic expansion, societal development, environmental change, and political consolidation influenced people?s daily lives and shaped the current world situation.

History 104H & 104I. World Civilizations since 1500 (3h). MWF 11-11:50 & 1-1:50. B117 & A208. McGraw. Survey of the major civilizations of the world in the modern and contemporary periods. Focus varies with instructor.

History 104J. World Civilizations since 1500 (3h). TR 1:30-2:45. A103. Greenspan. This class will examine the last five hundred years of world history with particular attention to how ordinary people are affected by the events going on around them. To this end, in addition to a main textbook, we will read five primary sources that address the issues confronted by average people around the world. We will read works by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Frederick Douglass, Karl Marx, Chinua Achebe and Mohandas Gandhi. Students will be asked to discuss these works in class, as well as answering a required question on them for both the midterm and final exams. In addition to lectures, discussions and exams, students will be asked to write an 8-10 page research paper on a topic which is agreed to by both the student and the instructor.

History 105A & 105B. Africa in World History (3h). TR 1:30-2:45 & 3-4:15. A102. Parent. This course examines the continent of Africa from prehistory to the present in global perspective, as experienced and understood by Africans themselves.  Africa’s vast diversity in ecology, language, tradition, economy, and civilization has all developed in relationship to other regions and peoples of the world.  African origins of humankind and civilizations are opening areas of discussion.  Africans influenced and were influenced by the trends of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. An analysis of internal developments of traditional religions and the world religions of Islam and Christianity will be analyzed.  External pressures will also be analyzed, especially the slave trades and colonial domination.  These pressures have impacted societal formations, patterns of trade, migration, and demography. Resistance to colonial occupation, national independence, and post-colonialism are major themes.  Attention will also be given to changing conceptions of gender and sexuality during Africa’s transition from peasant to modern urban societies.

History 106. Medieval World Civilizations (3h). MWF 2-2:50. A208. OÇonnell. This course provides an overview of world civilizations in the period generally understood as “medieval”—that is, from approximately 600 to 1600 B.C.E.  The concept of a medieval, or middle, period in history originally came from European history, referring to the time between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance, or rebirth of classical knowledge. One of the questions of this course is to examine cultures and societies in east Asia, India, Africa, and the Americas as well as Europe during the same time frame and to ask if there is such a thing as a “medieval” world history.  Are there patterns, transformations, and developments common to all these societies in the medieval period?  What characteristics do these widely differing cultures and geographic areas share, and where do they differ? At the end of the course, you should be able to distinguish the significant similarities and differences between the world’s major civilizations and to identify the relationships and points of cultural exchange among these societies.

History 107. The Middle East and the World (3h). MWF 10-10:50. A305. Wilkins. This class examines in its global context the Middle East region from the inception of Islam in the seventh century to the twentieth century. It combines an introduction to Islamic civilization in its central lands with a close study of its interaction with other societies. The class surveys Orientalism, Muhammad and the early Muslim community, the transmission and development of Greek thought in Islam, the Arabian Nights in historical context, the European Crusades, modern European colonialism, and contemporary Islamic revivalist movements, among other topics.

History 132. European Historical Novels (1.5h). W 2-4:30. B101. Barefield. Meet every other week. War and Peace, The Leopard and one other novel. After the first session, the class meets at the professor's house (within the gates of WFU).

History 162. History of Wake Forest University (1.5h). T 3-4:15. Greene 308. Hendricks.

Credit cannot be received for both 101 and 103 or 102 and 104.
All classes held in Tribble Hall unless otherwise noted.

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200 Level Courses

History 246. Japan Before 1800 (3h). TR 12-1:15. B117. Hellyer. Survey of Japan from earliest times to the coming of Western imperialism, with emphasis on regional ecologies, economic institutions, cultural practice, military organization, political ideology, and foreign relations.

History 252. The United States After 1865 (3h). TR 12-1:15. A103. Smith. The course is designed to be a sweeping survey of the story of the United States from the Civil Ware to the present. It will include a tour of all social, economic, and political history with stops for closer looks at particularly important laws and events.

History 284. Latin America's Colonial Past (3h). TR 3-4:15. A208. Wakild. This class is an overview of the history of Spanish and Portuguese colonialism in Latin America from the late fifteenth to early nineteenth centuries. Themes we will examine include the role of conquest in the construction of colonial states and economies; indigenous communities under colonial rule; slavery and forced labor systems; gender, family, and the emergence of multiethnic populations; religion, conversion, and cultural syncretism; and resistance, rebellion, and independence. We will examine these issues with particular attention to the voices of people living in these times through the use of primary sources.

100 level  |  200 level  |  300 level  |  FYS

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300 Level Courses

History 307. The Italian Renaissance (3h). MWF 12-12:50. A208. O'Connell. This course examines the economic, political, intellectual, and social developments in the Italian world from ca. 1350 to 1615, a period that marked a profound transition between the medieval and modern worlds. Many examinations of the “Renaissance era” end on or around the year 1500, leaving the impact of the discovery of the Americas, the religious reformations, and the beginnings of the Scientific Revolution to the period often labeled as “early modern.”  It is the purpose of this course to investigate to what degree these major transformations in western and world culture were rooted in and influenced by the social, cultural, political, and economic developments on the Italian peninsula beginning in the fourteenth century. During this period, intellectuals, politicians, artists, and urban elites struggled to combine the humanist recovery of the Greco-Roman classical tradition with the deeply entrenched religiosity of the medieval period.  The result was a culture that celebrated human ability to create the best possible world on earth, but this faith in human potential was frequently shaken by warfare, civic strife, and economic instability. HST 206 also fulfills the pre-modern requirement.

History 311AB. Special Topics: American Cities, 1800-2000 (3h). MWF 2-2:50. A104. Fitzgibbon. For centuries, young adults have ventured off to American cities in search of freedom and opportunity.  Many of the people who lived in American cities, however, were determined to cling to traditional folkways or to enforce hierarchical relationships and restrict personal freedom.  Even individuals who sought personal advancement for themselves were sometimes unwilling to grant similar opportunities to others.  American cities, therefore, have always been contested terrain.  In their most vital periods, American cities have provided ways for millions of diverse people to work and play together peacefully, despite enormous differences in wealth, power, and values.  In other periods, inept leadership and a scarcity of good jobs and housing have encouraged hatred, violence, and flight.  In this course, we will explore the diverse people who came together to create the United States’ cities and its distinctive urban social fabric and popular culture.  Topics include street life, machine politics, immigrant neighborhoods, Harlem, sports, the department store, nightlife, gay subcultures, racial conflict, suburbanization, and Las Vegas.

History 311AC. Special Topics: U.S. Immigration History (3h). MW 3-4:15. A208. Mcgraw. This course situates current U.S. policy debates within the history of immigration and ethnicity since 1789.  We will locate the movement of peoples, cultures, and ideas within the broader currents of U.S. economic growth, imperialism, war, and political movements for restriction, reform, and recognition.  Out study will pay particular attention to past patterns of migration in North Carolina and other southern states.  Along the way, students will assess how effectively scholarly frameworks such as “borderlands” and “whiteness” make sense of actual lived experiences of mobility, community, and identity.

History 311AD. Special Topics: United States Legal History I (3h). MW 3-4:15. A102. Bennett. This course is designed to introduce students to legal history as another lens to view the development of the United States. It will encompass the American legal past from the Colonial Period to the Civil War. In each era, students will examine critical developments in the republic's private law, public law, and legal institutions. Subjects to be discussed include colonial legal culture, the role of law in the American Revolution, relationships with Native Americans, the American law of slavery, and the legal undercurrents behind the Civil War. Through a chronological analysis of subjects such as these students will become acquainted with the central developments and recurrent issues in American legal history. The fundamental goal of the course is to encourage students to think broadly about the place of law in United States history. Requirements for the course include regular participation in class discussions, writing of book reviews, and completion of mid-term and final examinations.

History 311EB. Special Topics: European Diplomacy, 1648-1814 (3h). MWF 2-2:50. A103. Bobroff. This HST 311 is the “prequel” to HST 333, European Diplomacy 1814-1914. The course examines the early history of modern European international relations from the Peace of Westphalia of 1648 to the end of the Napoleonic Wars. This period of European diplomacy is crucial to an understanding of the creation of the modern European state system. Religion begins its serious decline as a central factor in European international relations replaced by more “realistic” approaches, pioneered by Cardinal Richelieu earlier in the century. The period sets the stage for the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. While clearly absolutism in practice, we will search for evidence of the effects of the Enlightenment on the system of diplomacy in the era. We study in part the Great Powers and the men and women leading them as well as the broader social, cultural, ideological, religious and economic contexts that inform and limit the choices left to the direct players. Each student will select a country on which to concentrate her/his writing and presentations, but students will be responsible for all the material covered in class.

History 311EC. 20th Century Eastern Europe (3h). MWF 1-1:50. A102. Rupp. In this course, we will examine the history of twentieth century Eastern Europe. The course begins with a brief historical background for the period prior to World War I, particularly a consideration of the nature of imperial rule and the emergence of nationalism in this region.  We will then explore the emergence of nation-states following the war, and consider the social, political and economic challenges faced by these states in the interwar period.  Our treatment of World War II includes a discussion of native fascism, the occupations by the Nazis, the Italian fascists and the Soviets, and the Holocaust.  During the weeks devoted to an examination of the Eastern Bloc, we will discuss the imposition of Stalinist rule, economic modernization and social change, as well as developments in the post-Stalinist period.  At the end of the course, we will discuss the collapse of the Eastern Bloc in 1989, and the myriad challenges (national, political, economic and social) faced by the countries of Eastern Europe as they strive for European integration.

History 311WA. Special Topics: History of Modern Genocide (3h). MWF 10-10:50. A102. McConnell. It is said that genocide may be as old as organized society.  Hints of this phenomenon color the history of the West.  The Hebrew Bible, for example, reports the story of Moses who carried out war against a foreign people to the point of their extermination.  And while the impulse to destroy an identified group may be ancient, the social circumstances that form genocidal events in history is constantly changing.  In perhaps the most familiar episode, Nazi Germany employed industrial ingenuity and bureaucratic efficiency to carry out their mass extermination of the Jews.  More recent genocides, such as those in Rwanda, used means that were anything but modern.  This course explores the history of genocide in the modern age throughout the globe.  It seeks to understand the causative forces and intellectual frameworks that contribute to these events and their devastating legacies.  Definitional questions about the nature of genocide will be considered throughout the semester as students examine contested historical episodes such as European and American confrontation with indigenous peoples of North and South America.  In addition students will be asked to consider the propaganda and arguments lodged by various groups and government officials to deny genocidal events such as those by modern-day Turkey.

History 316 & 616. Republic and Empire (3h). TR 9:30-10:45. A208. Lerner. The course considers the history of Rome, a city-state, which constructed one of the most durable empires the Mediterranean Basin has ever known.  The course will survey the peoples and cultures of the Mediterranean during the first millennium BCE: the growth of Roman power in Italy and then, beginning in the second century BCE, throughout the Mediterranean; changes in Mediterranean life under Roman domination; and the breakdown of Roman power during the first millennium CE.  The main themes emphasized throughout the course include: Roman conquest of Italy and the Mediterranean; the internal political struggle and the evolution of the Republican state; the fall of the Republic and the growth of autocracy; Roman adjustments in attempting to hold the empire together; and finally, the culture of the peoples subject to Roman rule.

History 337 & 637. Gender in Early America (3h). T 2-4:30. B117. Gillespie. This course explores the history of gender roles and relations from the colonial period to the mid-nineteenth century. It analyzes the social constructions of femininity and masculinity and their political and cultural significance, the changing meanings of sexuality, and the diversity of gender expectations across race, ehtnicity, class, and region from the earliest cultural encounters between Native Americans, Africans and Europeans through the American Civil War.

History 359 & 659. US History Gilded Age to Depression (3h). MWF 2-2:50. A102. Caron. This course will examine the post-reconstructed nation with special attention to the politics of equilibrium; the economic impact of industrialization and agricultural revolutions; the positive and negative aspects of rapid urbanization; immigration and the class, ethnic, and religious clashes that ensued; Jim Crow and civil rights; the growth of Big Business and labor’s response; Populism; the acquisition of an empire; Progressive reforms at city, state and federal levels; World War I at home and abroad; and the changing notions of femininity and masculinity.  The course will end with the onset of the Depression and Hoover’s response to it.

History 363 & 663. The Old South (3h). TR 12-1:15. A102. Gillespie. This course provides an econmic, social, cultural, and political history of the American South, from the first encounters between Native Americans, Europeans and African slaves through the Civil War, Emancipation, and the beginnings of Reconstruction.   It emphasizes the development of slavery, the slave experience, the plantation economy, proslavery thought and southern nationalism, the construction of a master class, how gender functioned, and the rise of southern distinctiveness.  It explores the personal and political dynamics between social groups, especially between white and black southerners, and how and why these dynamics changed over time.  It relies on an interpretive approach to highlight new developments in scholarship, and stresses the major themes that give coherence and meaning to the study of this region and its relationship to the nation and the world across three centuries of time.

History 369 & 669. Modern Military History (3h). MWF 10-10:50. B117. Hughes. After the Vietnam War, where the US won all the battles but lost the war, the Department of Defense and others began asking how that could have happened. This course is designed to help Americans answer that question by putting military experience in a broader political, economic, cultural, and social context. We will talk about military technology, tactics, and strategy and about battles and wars, but we will always seek to situate them within the larger historical context. We can’t understand how the narrowly military elements developed and how and why they were successfully—or unsuccessfully—deployed unless we recognize the complex range of factors that influence both military choices and ultimate outcomes.

History 376 & 676. Civil Rights and Black Consciousness Movements (3h). W 3-5:30. A103. Parent.
The purpose of this class is to grapple with the struggle of African Americans for liberation from 1941-1975.  During this period African Americans organized mass movements for equality, cultural reclamation, political power, and community control that had national and international ramifications.  Activists struggled for the national conscience.  Nonviolent direct action mobilized communities demanding full participation in American society; violent revolutionist rallied city dwellers fighting for a separate nation.  These alternative movements reflect the ambivalent identity of Africans in America struggling for liberation.
The courses’ themes include the impact of mass demonstration and urban riot in modern society, sports heroes and societal change, communities organizing for change, social stratification of race, social implications for religious and political institutions, the sociology of violence and nonviolence in social movements, the relationship between media and movement, public policy and social conflict, gendered and class relations in organizational structure and leadership, the social implications of childhood and youth in  mass movements, war and societal change, and prisons and redemption.

History 390A & 690A. Research Seminar: Civil War Leaders (3h). T 2-4:30. A104. Escott. A research seminar in which students will use primary sources to examine, analyze, and assess the leadership provided to South and North by key individuals during the Civil War.

History 390D & 690D. Research Seminar: Wake Forest University History (3h). R 3-5:30. A305. Hendricks. The primary purpose of this course is to master the skills of doing research and writing historical papers. In addition, the course demands an understanding of the nature of institutional history. The course will begin with a look at the nature of history, types of historical documentation, and various ways of organizing and presenting historical material. The nature, advantages and problems of institutional history will also be explored. Students will gain familiarity with the history of Wake Forest University, especially the preparations for the move to Winston-Salem, the move itself, and some of the key events of the last fifty years. Topics for a preliminary short paper and a final lengthy paper will be explored and refined early in the course.

History 391 & 691. Honors Seminar: Ancient Greek Democracy (3h). T 1:30-4. B10. Lerner. The seminar will explore the institution of Greek democracy from its origins in the archaic period to its blossoming in classical Athens.  Students will be introduced and encouraged to investigate in translation ancient texts and contemporary scholarship in order to glean insight about a variety of topics regarding ancient forms of democratic government.

History 399 & 699. Directed Reading (1-3h). Staff. POI.

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First Year Seminars

FYS 100. Image of Wealth and Poverty in U.S. History (3h). TR 9:30-10:45. Collins 007. Smith.

FYS 100. Fallout Shelters and the Cold War (3h). TR 9:30-10:45. Collins 008. Hendricks. During the 1950s and 60s, in response to the nuclear threat and encouragement from the Federal government’s Civil Defense program, thousands of Americans either built fallout shelters or created secure places in their homes for refuge. Public shelters were located, marked, and stocked with survival necessities. The Soviet Union made similar provisions for surviving a nuclear holocaust. The shelters provided more realistic options for surviving a nuclear war than earlier civil defense evacuation policies, but even in the 1960s official statements on the dangers of nuclear fallout greatly overestimated their effectiveness. Most shelters provided limited protection and inadequate food, water and ventilation for the time necessary to avoid damage in the case of severe fallout. The Civil Defense program of these years has been called more propaganda than substance. September 11, 2001 and subsequent events have produced an elaborate Homeland Security program to protect the U.S. and the world from Terrorism. How are the programs similar and how do they differ?

FYS 100. Manhood in America (3h). TR 9:30-10:45 & 12-1:15. A104. Greenspan. This class will examine the issues of manhood and masculinity as they affected men in the United States from the middle part of the nineteenth century through World War II. We will examine the ways in which perceptions of masculinity shaped the ways that men behaved and the ideals that they held. We will examine the roles of men in war – with particular attention to the U.S. Civil War and World War II – as well as examining men in their everyday working lives. We will also examine visions of ideal manhood, and how the changing nature of American society affected perceptions of masculinity. We will read a variety of primary and secondary works to help better our understanding of American manhood. Class assignments will comprise book reviews, a research paper and a take-home final exam.

FYS 100. World War II (3h). TR 1:30-2:45. A104. Barefield.

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