Fall 2011 Courses Offered
HISTORY DEPARTMENT ADVANCED COURSES FALL 2011
The SFA History Department will offer the following advanced and graduate courses during the Fall 2011 semester. For more information about individual courses, see the instructor.
All 300 and 400 level courses have a prerequisite of 6 hours of history.
To help students meet degree requirements, each semester the department will designate certain courses as Writing Enhanced Courses.
HIS 302 US DIPLOMATIC HISTORY 1900-Present, Dr. Taaffe, MWF 9:00-9:50, F-477
This course covers the United States’ foreign policy from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to the present. It scrutinizes the motivations behind and consequences of the United States’ actions in the world. It focuses particularly on the social, political, economic, and military factors that influenced the United States’ relationship with other countries. Topics examined include the expansion of American power overseas, World War Two and the emergence of the United States as a superpower, and the Cold War.”
Meets an elective requirement for the International Studies second major or minor.
May count toward the International Business major – see MMIB Department.
HIS 304 SCIENTIFIC HERITAGE OF THE WESTERN WORLD, Dr. Bremer, TR 12:30-1:45, F-477
This class seeks to explain how humanity has understood the natural world that it inhabits and focuses upon the history of three key subjects: biology, astronomy and geology. Beginning with the Greeks and ending with scientific advances of the early 21st century, we will selectively review the most important eras of scientific discovery with a focus on the history of science since 1500. Topics covered will include: ancient Rome, medieval Islamic science, the scientific revolution, evolutionary biology, genetics, relativity, big bang and dark matter, plate tectonics, and evolutionary psychology. We will read primary sources, including Pliny, Darwin, Galileo and Stephen Jay Gould. This course will provide students with a crash course on the history of life.
HIS 308 INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HISTORY, Dr. Sandul, M 4:00-6:30, F-477
This is a reading-discussion-lecture course (so three times the fun) on the many classic and late-breaking developments in the exciting world of public history. The three primary aims are: (1) to introduce you to the practice of public history and what it is, exactly (or so many think); (2) look at leading fields associated with public history, such as museums, historic preservation, cultural resources management, oral history, archives, and commemoration; and (3) ponder some of the interests, issues and problems, demands and concerns of public history and history in the public.
HIS 313 MAKING RACE, Dr. Carney, MW 2:30-3:45, F-477
This course examines the construction of race from a global perspective and with a particular focus on the cultural meaning of race. This class will center on lectures as well as the student-led discussion of monographs, academic articles, film, and music. Topics will include: global concepts of race; “othering”; the construction of race in the Americas; race and the question of freedom and liberty; 19th century conceptions of blackness; race and modernity; black diasporic culture; race and liberation movements; and the myth of a “post-racial” society.
Writing Enhanced Course
HIS 318 ANCIENT WORLD, Dr. Dahmus, MWF 10:00-10:50, F-475
This survey course of ancient history begins with prehistoric man and then considers the early Near Eastern civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Hebrews, Assyria, and Persia. Then Greek history takes center stage—from the Mycenaeans, through Sparta and Athens, and ending in the Hellenistic period after the death of Alexander the Great. Finally the class considers the growth of Rome from a small city state in central Italy to the colossal empire that ruled much of the ancient world.
HIS 320 MODERN EAST ASIA, Dr. Catton, MW 1:00-2:15, F480
The course surveys the history of East Asia, primarily of China and Japan, from the 1600s through to the present. The focus will be on the major social, economic, cultural, and political changes of this period; key topics include the impact of Western imperialism, the process of modernization, the rise of revolutionary movements and militarism, the Second World War in Asia, and Mao’s China. Readings will include the writings of Asians as well as the works of historians
Meets an elective requirement for the International Studies second major or minor.
May count toward the International Business major – see MMIB Department.
HIS 321 WORLD HISTORY, Dr. Taaffe, TR 9:30-10:45, F480
This course examines the social, political, religious, economic, ideological, and foreign policy factors that shaped the development of world history, with an emphasis on the nonwestern world. Specific subjects emphasized include major religions, western dominance, new ideologies, decolonialism, and the importance of individuals.
Meets an elective requirement for the International Studies second major or minor.
Meets a requirement for those seeking teacher certification in History for grades 8-12.
May count toward the International Business major – see MMIB Department.
HIS 325 EUROPE IN THE AGE OF ABSOLUTISM, 1648-1789, Dr. Allen, TR 11:00-12:15, F-474
This course explores the history of Europe from the end of the Thirty Years War in 1648 until the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. The central theme of the course will be the emergence of “absolutist”
monarchs, exemplified by some of the most famous rulers in European history: Louis XIV of France, Frederick the Great of Prussia, Leopold I and Maria Theresa of Austria, and Peter the Great and Catherine the Great of Russia. We will also look beyond the growth of these monarchies and examine the dramatic and often unsettling changes in society that resulted from the expansion of commerce and the spread of “enlightened” ideas.
HIS 328 CONTEMPORARY EUROPE, Dr. Tebbe, TR 2:00-3:15, F-477
Europe in the twentieth century witnessed a flurry of revolutionary changes. Communism and Nazism rose and fell, two world wars practically destroyed the continent, multiple genocides murdered millions, and social relationships, especially in terms of gender, underwent a complete transformation. A continent brought to the brink of destruction in 1945 by war and political extremism somehow converted to democracy and peace a mere fifty years later. Without a doubt, Europe's twentieth century was one of the most volatile and fascinating ever. In this class we will examine the history of Europe from the First World War to the present through literature, film, music, and the writings of historians on the subject.
Meets an elective requirement for the International Studies second major or minor.
May count toward the International Business major – see MMIB Department.
HIS 333 HISTORY OF MEXICO, Dr. Dormady, TR 12:30-1:45, F-480
Survey of Mexico from the rise of Aztec civilization to the Mexican Revolution of the 20th century and its aftermath.
HIS 335 HISTORY OF TEXAS, Mr. Bradford, TR 9:30-10:45, F-472
The course examines the history of the various cultures that have inhabited the land known as Texas from its first settlement by Native peoples to the present. Major themes of the course will include Texas’ multicultural heritage, cultural contestation over land and identity, and deconstructing powerful regional myths from the Alamo to the Texas Rangers. The classe will consist of interactive lectures and discussions based on the assigned readings and maps, paintings, photographs, and film clips from different eras.
Meets a requirement for those seeking teacher certification in social studies for grades 4-8
HIS 335.501 HISTORY OF TEXAS,Dr. Bradford, Web course
The course is designed as a comprehensive survey course in Texas history beginning with pre-Columbian contact and continuing until the contemporary era. Because the course covers such an expansive timeframe, a number of topics will only be cursorily covered in class lectures, making it essential that students supplement their understanding of course content with readings in the textbooks. The primary focus of the course will be the various political, social, and cultural themes that have played key roles in the development of Texas and Texans, and the emphasized themes will be the ones the instructor feels most essential in gaining an understanding of Texas in a historical perspective. Course themes will include the exploration of the diverse cultural legacies of the state, the place of Texas in the American South, and the role of economic boom-and-bust cycles in shaping the state. Because this is an upper-level history course, a key element of the course will be the growth of critical thinking among the students concerning the examination of historical themes and paradigms.
This course meets a requirement for those seeking teacher certification in social studies for grades 4-8.
HIS 341 HISTORY OF ENGLAND I, Dr. Malpass, MWF 11:00-11:50, F-475
Traces the development of England from the Roman invasions through the Anglo-Saxon and Viking eras to the Norman Conquest and the High Middle Ages. Utilizes an audio-visual approach.
Meets an elective requirement for the Gender Studies minor.
HIS 343 COLONIAL AMERICA, Dr. Lannen, MWF 10:00-10:50, F-477
A study of the social, cultural, political, religious, and military development of the British North American colonies from the era of exploration and settlement to the end of the Seven Years War in 1763
HIS 416 COLD WAR CULTURE, Dr. Cox, MWF 11:00-11:50, F-480
This course offers a comparative exploration of the impact of the Cold War on life in the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1964. Topics to be covered include the influence of the Cold War on family life, race relations, religion, and popular culture in both countries. We will also consider how government and ordinary people in both countries dealt with fears of nuclear war, espionage, and internal subversion. We will pay particular attention to the interpretation of visual sources, such as film, television, and physical artifacts. At the beginning of the course, students will learn advanced research techniques historians use to study the lives of ordinary people; later they will use those techniques to complete a research project on one aspect of the social or cultural history of the Cold War. Note that the course will not cover the diplomatic history of the Cold War or political aspects of international relations.
Students who complete a research project on a topic related to gender studies may count the course toward the gender studies minor.
Writing Enhanced Course
GRADUATE COURSES
HIS 530 HISTORIOGRAPHY, Dr. Cooper, M 6:00-8:30, F-480
Historiography is the study of what historians have written, researched, and argued in the past and how the field, its influences, and scholars have changed over time. This class will examine how historical events have shaped historical writings and how historians have influenced the period in which they lived and wrote. The course will analyze methods and sources, why they were chosen, the intended audience, and why some sources or topics have been disregarded in specific historical accounts. Students will also consider methodology and current trends in historical investigations. Functioning as a graduate seminar, the class will be an intensive reading and writing experience.
HIS 536 LOCAL PUBLIC HISTORY, Dr. Jackson, W 6:00-8:30, F-480
Public history, by its very nature, has to respond to changing needs and interests in the public arena. The need this course will address is the commemoration of the 90th anniversary of Stephen F. Austin State University in the fall of 2013. I have been charged to produce a history of those 90 years in a new book, which is due to the press in the spring of 2013. Many parts of the history have been the focus of intensive research in previous years. For instance, on the web is a thorough history of many of the most important moments in the first 75 years [The SFA Story at www.sfasu.edu/story ]. This class will be researching missing links in this history, assessing material generated since 1998, conducting interviews with retired faculty and staff, and working with a new archive of photographs to be made available this summer. (We will digitize, collect, sift, preserve, and add to these photographs by backing up whatever research projects you undertake.) Ways of presenting SFA’s history will be examined, too, especially the use of new digital opportunities. We will develop the framework for a CD to accompany the history and might even develop an SFA “App” for the iPhone and iPad. There will be an extensive outline, but there will be no textbook required for the course. Our sources are all around us. There will be four major requirements for the course: 1) a service learning project with university archival material in the ETRC; 2) the research and writing of a Texas State Historical Marker Application; 3) three oral history interviews on SFA history; and 4) a term paper on some topic relating to SFA history.
HIS 565 19TH CENTURY TEXAS, Dr. Sosebee, T 6:00-8:30, F-480
Research and Readings on the 19th Century History of Texas
HIS 567 COLD WAR WORLD, Dr. Cox, R 6:00-8:30, F-477
This course offers a comparative exploration of the impact of the Cold War on life in the United States and the Soviet Union from 1945 to 1964. Topics to be covered include the influence of the Cold War on family life, race relations, religion, and popular culture in both countries. We will also consider how government and ordinary people in both countries dealt with fears of nuclear war, espionage, and internal subversion. We will pay particular attention to the interpretation of visual sources, such as film, television, and physical artifacts. Note that the course will not cover the diplomatic history of the Cold War or political aspects of international relations.