Summer 2023 Course Listings

UA Department of History
Summer 2023 Undergraduate Course Descriptions

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 8 – 26

HY 307-001 Mexican History Through Film. Professor Steven Bunker. MTWRF 9-Noon – Interactive Audio/Video Course. 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. 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 Chuck Clark. MTWRF 10 AM – 1 PM. 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 30 – June 28

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 modern 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 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 316 Life and Legend of Abraham. Professor Glenn Brasher. MTWRF 2-3:45. This course examines the life of the man often considered the perfect example of having lived the American Dream. He rose from backwoods origins to become a successful lawyer, an exceptional president, and the supposed Great Emancipator who has been memorialized and celebrated by generations of Americans. But has all the mythmaking masked the truth? Through historical works, Hollywood films, documentaries, photographs, and primarily Lincoln’s own writings, the course searches for the “real” Lincoln, but also uncovers how subsequent generations of Americans have remembered him and laid partisan claims to his legacy. Using his life as a lens, the course sheds light on Early Republic, Antebellum, and Civil War America.

HY 374-001 Caribbean Pirates in History and Popular Culture. Professor Juanjo Ponce-Vazquez. MTWRF 2-3:45. The 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.

HY 406-001 (W) Retirement History & Your Future. Professor Steven Bunker. MTWRF 10-11:45. This is a course for those who are wondering about their future financial security in retirement and how our retirement system came to be. It’s not your typical history class. Ever wondered what the difference is between an IRA and a 401k or a defined contribution plan and a defined benefit plan? And what a Roth, an index fund, or an expense ratio is? In this course you will learn both the origins and evolution of our retirement system (such as Social Security, Medicare, and the 401k) as well as an understanding and explanation of how to plan for and navigate your future.

Writing proficiency within this discipline is required for a passing grade in this course.

SUMMER II — July 5 – August 2

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 modern 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 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 306-001 The American Wars for Empire, 1870-1916. Professor Kari Weisenberger. MTWRF Noon – 1:45. After the American Civil War and prior to the Great War, the United States began an imperial project that saw U.S. soldiers and sailors involved in conflicts all over the world to advance the nation’s economic and political goals. This course takes a deep dive into these lesser remembered conflicts to understand how and why the U.S. global empire developed the way it did, what the experiences of the men advancing those missions was, and how this imperial project affected the places it sought to influence. Reading and writing proficiency in history or related fields is highly recommended.

HY 358-001 World War II. Professor Chuck Clark. MTWRF 9 – Noon. The global conflict, or series of conflicts, from Manchukuo in 1931 to Tokyo Bay in 1945, with emphasis on battles on land and sea and in the air, life on the home fronts and in enemy-occupied areas, and the legacy of the war to future generations.