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Fall 2008 Course Descriptions:

Undergraduate Courses

Graduate Courses (500-level)

Graduate Courses (600-level)

The following is a complete listing of history courses offered by the University of Alabama for Fall 2008.

Undergraduate Courses

History 101:

Western Civilization to 1648 (3 hrs.)
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.

History 102:

Western Civilization since 1648 (3 hrs.)
Covers the development of 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.

History 105:

Honors Western Civilization to 1648 (3 hrs.)
Honors sections of HY 101. Prerequisite: Invitation of the department or membership in the University Honors Program.

History 106:

Honors Western Civilization since 1648 (3 hrs.)
Honors sections of HY 102. Prerequisite: Invitation of the department or membership in the University Honors Program.

History 203:

American Civilization to 1865 (3 hrs.)
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.

History 204:

American Civilization since 1865 (3 hrs.)
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.

History 205:

Honors American Civilization to 1865 (3 hrs.)
Honors sections of HY 203. Prerequisite: Invitation of the department or membership in the University Honors Program.

History 206:

Honors American Civilization since 1865 (3 hrs.)
Honors sections of HY 204. Prerequisite: Invitation of the department or membership in the University Honors Program.

History 225:

History of Alabama to 1865 (3 hrs.)
State history under the flags of Spain, France, Great Britain, the U.S., and the Confederate States, with emphasis on cultural heritage.

History 235:

History of the Christian Church to 1500 (3 hrs.)
This course is a survey of the Christian Church from its origins in the ancient Near East to the eve of the Protestant Reformation in Europe in the late fifteenth century. We shall look at religious attitudes in antiquity, the influences of Jews and Judaism, the life of Jesus Christ, the development of basic Christian theology by the Apostle Paul, Christian accommodation with the Roman Empire, ecclesiastical domination of culture and society in the Middle Ages, the Crusades, the Spanish Reconquest, and the emerging strands of reform, such as humanism, within Christianity that led to the Protestant Reformation. This course makes extensive use of computer technology. We have our own webpage, www.history.ua.edu/courses/hy235, assigned readings on the web, with links to visual material, art, and music. Additionally all classes will be captured in Tegrity.

History 237:

Colonial Latin America (3 hrs.)
Formation of the largely Spanish-speaking New World, from the shock of conquest to the trials of freedom that spawned the modern nations of Latin America.

History 243:

Asian Civilization to 1500 (3 hrs.)
Broad survey of Asian civilization from the earliest times covering India, China, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, with largely cultural and religious emphases.

History 247:

England to 1688 (3 hrs.)
History of Western civilization in one country, from Anglo-Saxon times to the growth of absolutism and resistance.

History 300-001:

The Crusades (3 hrs.)
This course explores, from multiple perspectives, the medieval marriage of religion and violence known as the "Crusade." It offers not only an overview of the traditional, largely military narrative of "numbered" crusades. It also explores the broader view : the general context of "holy war" down to c. 1100; tensions between the ideal and reality of crusading; the social and cultural impact of the Crusades, for good and ill; the intersection of crusading history with women's' history and gender; the Muslim perception of the "Franj" as both invaders and neighbors; the long afterlife of the crusades down through the early modern period. There are no pre-requisites for the course, though completion of our introductory Western Civilization course (HY 101/105) would be helpful.

History 300-002:

African-American Religion to 1914 (3 hrs.)
This course offers an in-depth historical investigation of African American religion from the era of colonial contact through the Great Migration. Will spend time analyzing slave religion, northern free black church communities, the Civil War, the growth of free black churches, the holiness and pentecostal movements, and migrations. Particular attention will be paid to the role of women, material culture, and politics in the formation of black spiritual life as well as the early history of the Civil Rights movement.

History 300-004:

History of Brazil (3 hrs.)

History 300-005:

Espionage (3 hrs.)

History 306:

History of Oriental Thought (3 hrs.)
Survey of seminal thinkers from the Orient, with a special effort to place their thought in social and cultural context.

History 314:

Coming of the Civil War (3 hrs.)
American history from 1815 to 1861, giving special emphasis to the development of a distinctive American culture and the factors within that culture that led to the Civil War.

History 318:

U.S. Since 1945 (3 hrs.)
This course will survey major social, cultural, and political trends in American history since World War II, with some attention to economic and diplomatic history as well. Most of the course material will highlight the experiences of individual Americans in this period, and we will often revisit the ways they generated and reacted to the tremendous changes in American life since the 1940s in four interrelated areas: 1) realignment of American politics, and debates over the integrity of government; 2) "rights revolutions" incorporating more groups into American civic life; 3) increasingly open and divisive forms of cultural expression; 4) the changing nature of American foreign policy. Across these issues we will trace the contours of ongoing debates in the United States between "conservatives" and "liberals," and attempt to define those terms.

History 319:

Nineteenth-Century Black History (3 hrs.)
This course provides an overview of the historical development of African American history from the slave trade through the early twentieth century. Topics will include slave communities and culture, black life during the Civil War, the transition to freedom, the rise of black churches and schools, the evolution of black domesticity and respectability, black nationalism, and black religion. Particular attention will be paid to locating early examples of civil rights struggles.

History 325:

Rise of America to World Power (3 hrs.)
Emphasizes American international involvement through the Panama Canal, the Roosevelt Corollary, World War I and the League of Nations, Pearl Harbor and World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam War, and after.

History 330:

Civil Rights Movement (3 hrs.)
History of the leaders, organizations, and events of the Civil Rights Movement during the years 1945 to 1968.

History 355:

German History, 1740-1918 (3 hrs.)
A survey of German history in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Topics to be examined include: the Holy Roman Empire and its internal conflicts; the Enlightenment, the public sphere, and the emergence of a German-language culture; the French Revolutionary Wars, Napoleon, and the rise of German nationalism; liberalism and the middle classes; the 1848-49 revolution; industrialization and the growth of the working class movement; Bismarck and the foundation of the Kaiserreich; Protestant-Catholic rivalry and the Kulturkampf; Jewish life and the problem of Antisemitism; the situation of women and the rise of feminism; Kaiser Wilhelm II's "personal" monarchy; developments in Austria-Hungary; modernism in art, literature, and music; international rivalries and the plunge into World War I; defeat, revolution, and the end of the Kaiserreich.

History 384:

Ancient Egypt and the Near East [same as CL 384] (3 hrs.)

History 385:

The History of Greece [same as CL 385] (3 hrs.)

History 386:

History of Rome [same as CL 386] (3 hrs.)

History 397-001:

History Colloquium: Nature and the Environment (McClure) (3 hrs.)
This course offers a broad survey of Western views of nature and the environment from the biblical and classical era to modern Europe and America. Examining writings of theologians, philosophers, literary figures, scientists, and environmentalists, we shall ask several questions. What is the relationship between humans and the natural world? How has nature been viewed variously as a "garden," a "paradise," a "wilderness," a pastoral ideal, and a menace? What is the tension between nature and technology (or progress)? Nature and culture? The countryside and the city? How have humans defined their relationship with animals? When and why did an "environmental ethic" emerge? Readings will include Genesis, Exodus, and job, and works of Virgil, Ovid, St. Francis, Petrarch, Montague, Emerson, Thoreau, Darwin, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, Gary Snyder, Arne Naess, Edward Abbey, and Peter Singer. This is not a lecture course but rather a colloquium organized around an in-depth discussion of primary and secondary sources. Enrollment will be limited to twenty. Students from all majors and colleges welcome. For more information contact gmcclure@bama.ua.edu

History 397-002:

History Colloquium: American Constitutional Republic (Freyer) (3 hrs.)
This colloquium explores the initial decades of the American constitutional republic through a study of primary documents concerning the British Imperial system, revolutionary republicanism, the success and failures of the Confederation, the making of the Constitution, the breakup of Federalists and the rise of the loyal opposition, its triumph in Jeffersonian republican constitutionalism and territorial expansion, and the Jacksonian Democatic reaction, 1775-1837. The purpose of these readings will be to familiarize the students with historical research methods, in order to write a fifteen page paper using primary sources.

History 400-003:

History of Beijing China (3 hrs.)

History 400-004:

History of Chinese Medicine (3 hrs.)

History 408:

Colonial U.S. to 1763 (3 hrs.)
Topical survey of major themes in U.S. colonial history, with particular emphasis on Anglo-American developments.

History 417:

U.S. from WWI through WWII (3 hrs.)
Covers U.S. participation in two world wars, the Roaring Twenties, and the Great Depression. Government, society, and culture receive attention and analysis.

History 446:

Age of Reason 1715-1789 (3 hrs.)
The Enlightenment of Voltaire, Diderot, Rousseau, Franklin, Hume, Goethe, and Kant, whose writings exalted individual reason, tolerance, liberalism, science, and public service and set the stage for the French Revolution.

History 471:

Age of Exploration & Conquest (3 hrs.)
A history of exploration from ancient times to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when European nations expanded by sea voyages and conquest, exploring the islands and coasts of Africa and Asia, and exploring and settling the Americas, already inhabited, of course, by Amerindian populations of millions. The emphasis will be on the Portuguese/Spanish approaches to and encounter with the Americas, utilizing both traditional and contemporary interpretations, as well as learning both traditional and modern tools and methodologies, such as employing the World Wide Web for intensive research to supplement traditional written sources. We will do some paleography by reading original documentary materials to get a feel for how historians work. Website: www.history.ua.edu/courses/hy471

History 475:

Caribbean Basin 1492-Present (3 hrs.)
Traces the evolution of Caribbean and Central American nations from the first European settlements to the present.

History 480:

Survey Of Military History (3 hrs.)
Introduction to the ways in which human beings have organized and used armed force over the course of recorded history.

History 498:

Honors Thesis I (3 hrs.)

History 499:

Honors Thesis II (3 hrs.)

Graduate Courses (500-level)

History 500-003:

History of Beijing China (3 hrs.)

History 500-004:

History of Chinese Medicine (3 hrs.)

History 508:

Colonial U.S. to 1763 (3 hrs.)
Topical survey of major themes in U.S. colonial history, with particular emphasis on Anglo-American developments.

History 525:

History 546:

History 571:

History 575:

Caribbean Basin 1492-Present (3 hrs.)
Traces the evolution of Caribbean and Central American nations from the first European settlements to the present.

History 580:

Survey Of Military History (3 hrs.)
Introduction to the ways in which human beings have organized and used armed force over the course of recorded history.

History 599:

Thesis Research (1-6 hrs.)

Graduate Courses (600-level)

History 601:

Literature of American History to 1865 (4 hrs.)

History 605:

Literature of Latin American History (4 hrs.)

History 606:

Proseminar in U.S. History to 1877 (4 hrs.)

History 607:

Proseminar in U.S. History since 1877 (4 hrs.) This course will survey the contours of the "cultural turn" that American historiography has taken in the last several decades. Broadly speaking (and we will debate this in the course), cultural history is the study of how people find or assign meaning to events in their lives, and then broadcast those meanings through various sorts of "texts" (films, letters, magazine articles, advertisements, television shows, plays, novels, and so on). Course materials will feature a variety of topical emphases marking the cultural turn: popular/mass culture, "highbrow" culture, war and society/culture, intellectual history, memory studies, political culture, consumption, masculinity/gender studies, and others.

History 635:

Proseminar in Recent British and European History (4 hrs.)

History 639:

Proseminar in Military and Naval History (4 hrs.)

History 697:

Directed Readings (1 to 4 hrs.)
Prerequisite: Written permission of the director of graduate studies.

History 698:

Directed Research Not Related to Dissertation (1 to 4 hrs.)
Written permission of the director of graduate studies is required for admission.

History 699:

Dissertation Research (1 to 12 hrs.)
Not to be counted for required credit for advanced degrees.