History
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CAS HI 291: Politics of the American Environment
When have Americans addressed declining resources and ecological deterioration' Why did demands for environmental justice develop' We explore how the United States has distributed environmental risks and rewards from the country's beginning to the present. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Social Inquiry I, The Individual in Community. -
CAS HI 297: African American Women's History
Survey of African American women's history from the slave trade to the present, investigating its critical role in shaping the meaning of race, gender, and sexuality during slavery, Jim Crow, and the civil rights era. Also offered as CAS AA 297 and CAS WS 297. Effective Fall 2024, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I. -
CAS HI 298: Black Freedom Dreams: America and the World
Surveys the history of African diaspora peoples in the Americas from their African origins and the rise of the Atlantic slave trade through the age of emancipations, investigating the varied meanings of race, resistance, migration, and freedom. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS HI 299: Civil Rights History
This course examines the U.S. Civil Rights and the struggle for black freedom movements. From the late nineteenth century through the twenty-first century, we consider events, organizations, "leaders" and organizers, legal campaigns, and political protests to answer the questions: What were the race, class, and gender dynamics within the movements' What were the changing definitions of freedom' The course treats the movement's roots, goals, ideologies, and cultures, and includes a comparison of the struggles for equal rights of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, LGBT folks, and other groups. Effective Spring 2021, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: The Individual in Community, Historical Consciousness, Teamwork/Collaboration. -
CAS HI 300: American Popular Culture
Examines how Americans have changed (and haven't) since the nineteenth century by exploring their curious beliefs, social and sexual practices, and changing understandings of selfhood. Topics include Victorian etiquette, modern city pleasures, racial stereotyping, dating rituals, family dynamics, and more. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Aesthetic Exploration, Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS HI 301: Women and Gender in US History
Examines the ideas and experiences of women in the United States from the 1600s through the late twentieth century. Considers the common factors that shaped women's lives as well as women's diverse class, ethnic, and regional experiences. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS HI 303: Sex, Love, Family: American Relationships from Birth to Death
Explores Americans' intimate bonds and family dynamics throughout US history. Follows the life cycle from birth to death, surveying common milestones and rituals such as coming of age, coming out, getting married, or having a midlife crisis, and more. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Digital/Multimedia Expression. -
CAS HI 308: Religious Thought in America
Surveys many of the strategies that American religious thinkers have adopted for interpreting the cosmos, the social order and human experience, and the interaction of those strategies with broader currents of American culture. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II. -
CAS HI 311: Technological Empire: America in the Nineteenth Century
In the nineteenth century, the U.S. transformed from a young republic on the periphery of global influence into a formidable overland empire poised to, eventually, become the world¿s preeminent superpower. This course explores that transformation from the perspective of technology. -
CAS HI 315: The American West
We examine the American West, the mythical landscape of freedom and adventure, as a region of violence, empire, and exclusion. Exploring 300 years of Western history, we focus in particular on Indigenous conquest and the continuities of colonialism. Effective Fall 2023, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II. -
CAS HI 320: Understanding Revolution: France and Algeria
Undergraduate Prerequisites: First Year Writing Seminar (e.g., WR 100 or WR 120) - Freedom! Liberty, equality, fraternity! National liberation! These slogans have inspired violent revolutions around the world. What do they really mean, and what have they really led to' We will investigate these questions by role-playing and historical analysis of two case studies: the French Revolution (1789-1794) and the Algerian Revolution (1954-62). Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Global Citizenship and Intercultural Literacy, Writing-Intensive Course. -
CAS HI 321: The American Revolution, 1750-1800
The course examines the American Revolution and America's dramatic war for independence, situating these struggles within broader changes in the society and the Atlantic world. The course also shows how Americans struggled, often violently, to create a stable republic in the aftermath of these truly revolutionary upheavals. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in the following BU Hub area: Historical Consciousness. -
CAS HI 322: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire
Examines early modern Britain's global expansion, with a focus on the British isles and the American colonies. Explains how economic growth and imperial warfare shaped Britain and her colonies, and probes the causes of the empire's collapse in 1776. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course titled "Colonial British America from Settlement to Revolution" that was previously numbered CAS HI 322. Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Critical Thinking. -
CAS HI 323: Topics Jewish History
Course may be repeated if topic differs. Explores the History of Jews and Jewish Communities in various geographic, chronological, or thematic contexts. Topic for Spring 2026: History of Jews in the Americas. The history of Jews and Jewish communities in North America, South America, and the Caribbean from 1492-present, highlighting the diversity of Jewish experiences and Jews¿ engagement with other sectors of society. -
CAS HI 331: Drugs and Security in the Americas
(Meets with CAS IR 290). Drug trafficking has become a dominant issue in U.S.- Latin American relations. This class examines the War on Drugs from both U.S. and Latin American perspectives in order to draw out racial, socio-economic, political, and gender-based dimensions and explore alternatives. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Ethical Reasoning. -
CAS HI 332: Introduction History, Humanities, and Social Sciences Research in the Digital Age: Tools and Methods
Course 1 in two-semester-sequence (Fall: HI 332/XL 332; Spring: HI 333). Introduces principles and tools of digital research in history, the humanities, and social sciences. Through project-based learning, students combine skills in digital literacy, media creation, humanistic and social sciences inquiry. Effective Fall 2025, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Digital/Multimedia Expression, Research and Information Literacy, Social Inquiry I. -
CAS HI 338: Repression, Revolution, Rock n' Roll: US in 1950s & 1960s
Few periods shaped American society, culture and politics as dramatically and enduringly as the 1950s and 1960s, transforming institutions, life experiences, the nation's role in the world, and the ways Americans thought about social problems and political activism. Topics include: Cold War, McCarthyism, Civil Rights, Vietnam, Campus Protest, Counterculture Effective Fall 2020, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS HI 339: A History of the Present: The United States since 1968
Analyzing the recent experience of the United States and its people in historical perspective, the course allows students to explore important developments in US politics, race relations, economy, and popular culture, investigate diverse social science approaches to contemporary problems, and develop an independent research project. Topics include war, politics, religion, and popular culture as well as changing notions about race, gender, and selfhood. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry II, Research and Information Literacy. -
CAS HI 341: Political and Cultural Revolution
Comparative historical analysis of modern and contemporary revolutionary upheavals and cultural change in Europe, the Americas, East Asia, Africa, Middle East, and the former Soviet republics. Examines the challenges posed by modernization, crisis of legitimacy, nationalism, imperial decline, and globalization. This course cannot be taken for credit in addition to the course with the same title that was previously numbered CAS HI 215. Effective Fall 2018, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Social Inquiry I, Critical Thinking. -
CAS HI 343: Taste, Culture, and Power: The Global History of Food
An exploration of the global history of food from prehistory to the present, considering the birth of agriculture, food in nations and empires, hunger and nutrition, and the future of eating, including examples from Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Effective Fall 2019, this course fulfills a single unit in each of the following BU Hub areas: Historical Consciousness, Digital/Multimedia Expression, Creativity/Innovation.
