UA Department of History
Interim/Summer 2020 Course Descriptions
Undergraduate
UPDATE – March 27, 2020 – Nearly all of the survey course offerings and quite a few of the 300-level courses have moved to online offerings.
Note: There are no prerequisites for any courses in History. 300-level courses cap at 40 students and are lecture based. 400-level courses cap at 30 students, are discussion based, and usually have the “W” designation (double check below). 300 and 400-level courses have roughly the same workload.
SUMMER INTERIM COURSES — May 4–22
HY 306-002 Kennedy’s Assassination: Why? Professor David Beito/Professor Stephen Schwab. MTWRF 9-Noon. “Even though more than 55 years have passed since President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, TX, doubts still linger as to whether Lee Harvey Oswald was the only shooter. This course is intended to examine in some depth both the Kennedy assassination and the precise motive involved, which has never been established.”
HY 307-001 Mexican History Through Film. Professor Steve Bunker. MTWRF 9-Noon. This course will examine Mexican history from the late-colonial period to present day through the lens of film produced in Mexico and the US. We will watch a movie a day and have readings that correspond to the film and/or the period/theme in question. We will examine the film’s historical subject and its presentation, but we will also analyze each film as a primary source and an expression of the time period in which it was produced.
HY 335-001 Handmade Nation: Knitting & History. Professor Heather Kopelson. MTWRF 1-4:00. Explores the history, art, and politics of knitting. Students will learn to knit (or develop their skills as knitters) and also analyze knitting as a fascinating window onto the rest of the world. Topics explored include the craft’s history, women’s and men’s work, the politics of art vs. craft, consumerism, globalization, and the craft’s role in activism. Half of class time will be studio-based and half will focus on discussion of the readings.
HY 348-001 History of Games. Professor Charles Clark. MTWRF 9-Noon The goal of this course is to use the games of various societies as a primary source, a “window” into portions of the human experience at differing times and places, and to incorporate experiential learning by adding gameplay and rule discussion to scholarly readings and class discussion. Thus, we will study a series of specific games, and the societies which produced them, focusing on games which involve mastery of rules and chance rather than on contests of physical skill or endurance.
SUMMER I — May 27 – June 24
HY 101 Western Civilization to 1648. A history of Western civilization from its origins in Greece and Rome through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the age of discovery and expansion during the emergence of modem Europe.
HY 102 Western Civilization Since 1648. Covers the development if the Western world from the Thirty Years’ War to the post-World War II era; the age of absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, industrialization and the wars of the 20th century.
HY 103 History of American Civilization to 1865. A survey of American history from its beginning to the end of the Civil War, giving special emphasis to the events, people, and ideas that have made America a distinctive civilization.
HY 104 American Civilization Since 1865. A survey of American history from the Civil War to the present, giving special emphasis to the events, people, and ideas that have made America a distinctive civilization.
HY 117-001 World History to 1500. Professor Patrick Hurley. MTWRF Noon-1:45. This survey course explores the history of several major parts of the world and their perspective histories from the earliest times to AD 1500. Such exploration will include studies of the Mediterranean and Near East, China, India, Mesoamerica, and Sub-Saharan Africa. When examining these topics, attention will be given to social, economic, and religious history as well as political history.
HY 316-001 Life and Legend of Abraham Lincoln. Professor Glenn Brasher. MTWRF 2-3:45. This course will examine the life of the man often considered the representative American. Through historical works, Hollywood films, documentaries, photographs, and Lincoln’s own writings, the course will attempt to discover both the “real” Lincoln and how Lincoln has been seen by subsequent generations of Americans. “His views and impact on race and slavery are especially highlighted.”
SUMMER II — June 30 – July 29
HY 101 Western Civilization to 1648. A history of Western civilization from its origins in Greece and Rome through the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and Reformation, and the age of discovery and expansion during the emergence of modem Europe.
HY 102 Western Civilization Since 1648. Covers the development if the Western world from the Thirty Years’ War to the post-World War II era; the age of absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, industrialization and the wars of the 20th century.
HY 103 History of American Civilization to 1865. A survey of American history from its beginning to the end of the Civil War, giving special emphasis to the events, people, and ideas that have made America a distinctive civilization.
HY 104 American Civilization Since 1865. A survey of American history from the Civil War to the present, giving special emphasis to the events, people, and ideas that have made America a distinctive civilization.
HY 307-002 Caribbean Pirates in HY & Pop. Professor Juan José Ponce-Vazquez. MTWRF 2:00-3:45. Their imagery of Caribbean pirates has become commercialized and ever-present in western culture to the point that everyone has heard about them. In this course, we will first learn who the real pirates of the Caribbean were, their impact in defining international trade, as well as the imperial aspirations of early modern European states in the New World. We will look into the Golden Age of Piracy, how pirates lived and died, their meteoric rise in the New World and the reasons for their final decline. While doing this, we will also explore the ways in which Caribbean piracy has been portrayed in multiple media formats, mostly film, board games, and video games.
UA in Oxford Courses July 3 – August 1, 2020
Cancelled for 2020