Saint Louis University
Course Descriptions
Fall 2015(201610)
4/13/15
Undergraduate Course Offerings…...Page 2
Graduate Course Offerings………….Page 7
Undergraduate Courses
Lower Division-Fall 2015
HIST 1110: Origins of the Modern World to 1500
History is dynamic—a series of people coming into contact with others, a story of travel, trade, the exchange of the ideas and,
sometimes, even tragic war. To do history, then, requires that we recognize the complexities of other people’s lives and times
in addition to learning who they were and when they died. Our goal will be to do just that, and our focus will be on the
origins of the Mediterranean world to c. 1500 C.E. covering nearly three thousand years, ours is an epic story. In our class,
you will learn how and where to find the evidence that tells us about the people of the Mediterranean past, from the Bronze
Age to the Renaissance. Sometimes this evidence is textual and documentary. Other times, it is archaeological and visual. Yet
each piece of evidence—whether from Athens or Africa—preserves the voice of someone who can tell us about the politics,
economy, family life, or religious concerns of their time. When taken together, they provide a complex answer to a seemingly
simple question that people have been asking for millennia when they first began to encounter people who were different
from themselves: “Tell me where you come from,” they would ask. We will explore the range of their answers together.
HIST
1110
01
10034
1100
1150
MWF
Boin
HIST 1110: Origins of the Modern World to 1500
A developmental and conceptual approach to Europe as the confluence of classical and oriental civilizations. The course will
cover ancient civilizations of the Mediterranean and the Near East: Greece, Rome, Islam, Byzantium, and Germanic tribal
society: the contributions of each to the European Middle Ages, Renaissance, European Expansion, Scientific Revolution,
and Reformation.
HIST
1110
02
10138
1200
1250
MW
HIST
1110
04
10747
1410
1500
MWF
HIST
1110
05
11725
1310
1400
MWF
HIST
1110
06
13506
1245
1400
TR
HIST
1110
07
13507
0930
1045
TR
HIST
1110
09
15819
1415
1530
TR
HIST
1110
10
13508
1100
1215
TR
HIST
1110
11
13509
0900
0950
MWF
HIST
1110
12
15852
1730
2000
T
HIST
1110
13
13509
1100
12:15
TR
Fr. Steven Schoenig
Dr. Daniel Schlafly
HIST 111-: Honors - Origins of the Modern World to 1500 (Honor students only)
HIST
1110
03H
17493
0930
1045
TR
Dr. Claire Gilbert
HIST 111: Origins of the Modern World to 1500: SLU Inquiry (Freshmen & Sophomores Only)
HIST
1110
08
17497
1000
1050
MWF
Dr. Jennifer Popiel
2
HIST 1120: Origins of the Modern World 1500 to Present
A developmental and conceptual approach emphasizing increasing awareness of and contact with the rest of the world. The
course will cover transatlantic encounters, the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, the Scientific Revolution, Absolutism,
the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution, Modernism, and imperialism.
HIST
1120
01
10766
1415
1530
TR
Dr. Nate Millett
HIST
1120
02
10767
1100
1215
TR
Dr. George Ndege
HIST
1120
03
10768
1000
1050
MWF
HIST
1120
04
10769
1200
1250
MWF
HIST
1120
05
10770
0900
0950
MWF
HIST
1120
06
13516
0930
1045
TR
HIST
1120
07
13517
1310
1400
MWF
HIST
1120
08
13518
0930
1045
TR
HIST
1120
09
15858
0930
1045
TR
HIST
1120
11
15853
1730
2000
R
Stephen Kissel
HIST 2600: US History to 1865:
This course covers American history from the period of contact through the Civil War. Topics include the collision of
European, African, and Native American cultures in the age of contact and settlement; colonial British North America; the
American Revolution and the Constitution; geographic expansion and social, economic, and cultural change in the
Jacksonian era; slavery and the sectional conflict, and the Civil War.
HIST
2600
01
16294
1310
1400
MWF
Stephen Kissel
HIST 2610: History of the United States Since 1865:
This course will survey the major historical development in American history as the United States emerged as a major world
power. The course will examine such issues as the shift from a rural agrarian to an urban industrial nation, the shifting view
of the role of government in society and the economy, and the evolution of foreign policy from nineteenth century isolation
to world super power in the years after World War II. The format of the course will be lecture and discussion.
HIST
2610
01
13521
2:15
3:30
TR
Dr. Katrina
Thompson
HIST
2610
02
16311
1000
1050
MWF
TBD
HIST 2700: China to Japan up to 1600:
This course will introduce students to the histories and cultures of China and Japan from the origins to the Ming dynasty
(1368-1644) and the establishment of the Tokugawa shogunate (1603-1868). Students will be guided in analyzing pieces of
archaeological, historical, literary, and artistic evidence and in developing a comparative perspective with the
West. Funerary and ritual practices, warfare, state formation, ideology, and the influence of Confucianism, Daoism,
Shintoism, and Buddhism on institutions and society will be among the main themes treated in class.
HIST
2700
01
17663
1415
1530
TR
Marsilli
3
Undergraduate Courses
Upper Division
Fall 2015
HIST 2800: Historian’s Craft: Methods Proseminar- Savages, Barbarians, and Monsters: Travelers and
Otherness in History
The goal of the History Workshop is to equip students to do the work of historians and to prepare them for a successful career
as a history major (and a vocation after college, no matter what that job might be). More precisely, this course will help
develop the reading, writing, analytical, and research skills necessary for tackling assignments and research projects in 300level courses and in the senior seminar. To that end, we will read documents produced by travelers as well as scholarly essays
and monographs that analyze the theme of intercultural encounters through a variety of methodologies. This course addresses
different career paths that employ disciplined historical thinking. The goal is to learn how to engage sources and arguments
critically, hone your analytical skills in all of your assignments, while acquiring the cultural tools to deal with the issues of
otherness and diversity both in every-day life and from an intellectual point of view
.
HIST
2800
01
15829
11:00
12:15
TR
Marsili
HIST 2800: Historian’s Craft: Methods Proseminar
The goal of the History Workshop is to equip students to do the work of historians and to prepare them for a successful career
as a history major (and a vocation after college, no matter what that job might be. More precisely, this course will help
develop the reading, writing, analytical, and research skills necessary for tackling assignments and research projects in 300level courses and in the senior seminar. To that end, we will read books from a variety of fields using a variety of historical
methodologies and address different career paths that employ disciplined historical thinking. The idea is to learn how to think
critically about sources and arguments and to hone your analytical skills in our seminars and your weekly assignments. Along
the way we’ll read some great books and learn about a lot of different historical fields too!
HIST
2800
02
15830
1100
1150
MWF
Popiel
HIST 3030: The Byzantine Empire
The course will survey the history of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Empire from AD 285 to 1461 in lectures and
discussions. Readings will include St. Athanasius' Life of St. Anthony, Procopius' Secret History, the epic poem
Digenes Acrites, Michael Psellus' Chronography, and Geoffrey de Villehardouin's Conquest of Constantinople.
There will be a midterm exam, a final exam, and a research paper of about 10 pages.
HIST
3030
01
17667
1415
1530
TR
Treadgold
HIST 3040: The Middle Ages to 1100
HIST
3040
1100
1150
MWF
Finan
4
HIST 3130 The Age of Industrialism and Democracy, 1815-1914
From a world restored at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, Europe was transformed
and transformed the world. Inspired by the French Revolution, nationalists, liberals, and revolutionaries challenged
monarchies and established elites. The new classes born of the Industrial Revolution, capitalists and proletarians, remade the
old social order. New technology, such as the railroad, the telegraph, the rotary press, the telephone, electric power,
photography, and sanitation, shaped the world we know today. Rising powers, especially the new German Empire, the United
States, and Japan, challenged existing great powers, and with them extended imperial control and Western concepts over
much of the world. The ideas of figures like Darwin, Marx, and Leo XIII have resonated far beyond their own times. Writers,
artists, and composers found new forms of expression. Why did a century of relative peace, when so many believed in reason
and progress, end in the destruction of World War I? A textbook plus outside sources (documents, images, etc.). Short
papers on the outside sources. Research paper. Three essay exams in the course of the semester. Final presentations.
HIST 3130 01
18652 10:00-10:50
MWF
Schlafly
HIST 3700: US Constitutional History:
This course explores the evolution of the U.S. Constitution in American political culture, from its English roots to the
present. Although students will examine the development of constitutional law and interpretations, the primary focus of
the course is on the role of the Constitution in shaping the American government, society, politics, and economy. Through
primary and secondary readings, a class constitutional convention project, and an essay, students will explore first-hand the
meaning, creation and impact of the American Constitution in its historic context.
HIST
3700
01
17685
930
1045
TR
Siddali
HIST 3930-- Jihad: Striving in God's Way
Religious war... Working for social justice… Refining one's soul… Counter-crusade... Sixth pillar of Islam... Fighting for
freedom... Establishing a truly Islamic state… Becoming a better citizen... The concept of jihad has been imagined in these
and countless other ways for more than a millennium. In this course we consider the ways in which Muslims—and nonMuslims—have approached the concept of jihad. From before the beginnings of Islam to contemporary U.S. culture—by way
of the Prophet’s career, Islamic law, Sufi mysticism, modern militancy, and more—we research the historical contours of the
meanings with which humans have invested the term. The course culminates in a series of conversations with contemporary
Muslim leaders on the contemporary legacies of jihad.
HIST
3930
01
17720
930
1045
TR
Yarbrough
HIST 3930: Public Health and Policy In The Developing World
This course explores the histories of global health initiatives to control disease in the developing world from the late
nineteenth century to the present by highlighting cultural, economic and sociopolitical essentials in the evolution and
development of public health and policy in the developing world. The inventory of themes to be examined, include disease
and medicine in the colonial and developing world contexts, the production and nature of knowledge transfer, global health
interventions and the persistence of traditional ideas and practices as complementary and alternative therapies.
HIST
3930
02
17723
12:45
14:00
TR
Ndege
5
Undergraduate Fall 2015
Seminar Courses
HIST 4900: Ancient Mystery Cults:
Religions can be baffling to outsiders. We find ourselves wondering, “What is it that this group of people knows, or think
they know?” Perhaps for those very reasons, the “mystery cults” of the ancient Mediterranean could provoke similar,
sometimes polemical reactions from those who found themselves standing on the outside, looking in. But what is the
evidence for these cults, and how do historians make sense of them? These cults have had a long and lasting legacy. Early
scholarship often saw them as providing the spiritual foundation for the rise of a “Christian world.” Why? This senior
seminar will explore these questions. It will do so with a rigorous attention to the ancient evidence (classical texts and
archaeological material, as well as Jewish and early Christian sources). Our focus throughout will be on situating this
evidence within its larger social and cultural context. We will begin by examining the role that ritual and religion played in
ancient society and then move to consider the evidence for specific individual cults (Isis, Mithras, Dionysus and others).
Students will be expected to lead discussion of the relevant readings, present aspects of the evidence (material and textual) in
class, and prepare a final research paper in consultation with the professor.
HIST
4900
01
17729
1310
1425
MW
Boin
HIST 4902-- The U.S. and the Middle East: Modern Connections
Since the early days of the country's independence, the United States and its citizens have engaged deeply with the peoples of
the Middle East and North Africa. While public attention is drawn to moments of conflict—from the Barbary Wars that
began in 1801 to the ongoing military interventions post-2001—such conflicts in fact represent isolated episodes that
punctuate densely woven stories of diplomacy, economic exchange, religious mission and pilgrimage, intellectual inquiry,
travel and adventure, immigration and cultural hybridization. In this research seminar you will explore these engagements at
all levels while designing and carrying out your own original research on a topic you select.
HIST
4920
01
17731
1100
1215
TR
Yarbrough
HIST 4910: Internship/History in Practice
This course gives students the opportunity to serve as unpaid interns in the area of public history, historic preservation,
archives, library and museum science. Students work an equivalent of 8-10 hours per week for the semester, keep a journal of
their activities, and receive an evaluation by the professional in charge of supervising their work. Students may undertake an
internship with organizations in the St. Louis area or most anywhere in the world. The instructor works with students to
identify internship work that matches their interests and to place them with appropriate organizations .
Section:
30
Dr. Silvana Siddali
6
Graduate Courses
Fall 2015
HIST 5000: Theory and Practice of History: An Introduction
This course will examine some of the most influential theories of today's intellectual marketplace that affect the study of
history. From historical materialism, through structuralism, semiotics, post structuralism, postmodernism, postcolonial and
critical theory, to gender and narrative history, we will discuss their premises, rationales, and their usefulness in terms of the
insights they offer to the historian. Apart from reviewing various theoretical approaches, we will also discuss their
applications by examining selected cases of scholarship that employ them as tools of interpretation and as forms of writing
about the past.
HIST
5000
01
10771
1630
1900
T
Rozbicki
HIST 5210: The Byzantine Historians
The class will read in translation, write brief essays on, and discuss some major works of the Byzantine historians: Eusebius'
History of the Church, Ammianus' History, Procopius' Vandal War and Gothic War, Michael Psellus' Chronography, and
Anna Comnena's Alexiad. You will also write and present in class a paper of about 20 pages on a topic of your choice related
to Byzantine historiography.
HIST
5210
01
17739
1630
1900
R
Treadgold
HIST 5300: Introduction to Medieval History
An examination of the most important topics in medieval history including historiographic background, literature, and current
trends. This course will acquaint the student with the work and thought of the leading scholars in medieval studies as well as
differing perspectives.
HIST
5300
01
16352
1310
1600
M
tbd
HIST 5310: Adv. Studies Medieval: The Papacy and the Law
A great many medieval texts were legal in nature, and the law touched on nearly every facet of medieval life. Ecclesiastical
law had a particularly significant impact across the medieval West, and was intertwined with the development of papal
authority in the Church. This course offers an introduction to Latin canon law in the middle Ages by focusing on selected
sources and issues. Primary and secondary readings will shed light on the development, transmission, and use of influential
ecclesiastical norms and legal collections from late antiquity (beginning with the early councils and the first papal decretal) to
the classical period (encompassing Gratian and Gregory IX). The goal is to be able to work competently with canonical
sources, and to grasp their relevance, within the story of the medieval papacy as well as the broader study of medieval
history. This course is designed as the first half of a year-long advanced studies/seminar sequence, although it is also
possible for it to stand alone.
HIST
5310
01
13549
1630
1900
W
Schoenig
HIST 5410: Adv. Studies Early Mod Euro History
HIST
5410
01
16353
1630
1900
R
Gilbert
HIST 5600: Intro Studies in American History
HIST
5600
01
16356
1630
1900
M
Hester
HIST 5610: Adv. Studies American History
HIST
5610
01
17743
1630
1900
R
Bradley
7
HIST 5700: Introduction To World History
HIST
5700
01
1630
1900
T
Millett
HIST 6900: Professional Writing for Historians
Professional Writing for Historians is the first half (3crs) of a two-semester program (6crs) designed to assist students in
making the critical transition from coursework to professional writing and dissertation research as efficiently and effectively
as possible. Graduate study in the first two years of a student’s program has followed the well-delineated lines of course
requirements and language training. Building on this phase, a student must now use that knowledge and skill to carry out a
more amorphous task, namely to conduct original research somewhat independently in order to complete the Ph.D. program
successfully and to launch a career as a publishing professional historian. At this point, a student faces three challenges: to
conceptualize the dissertation, to fund a year of research, and to begin establishing a record of scholarship.
This two-semester course of study will help students achieve these objectives by providing hands-on mentoring and a
collaborative network so that by the end of the academic year they will have completed an accepted dissertation prospectus,
tendered a competitive application for an external grant, and submitted an article to a respected academic journal for
publication. In this first semester course, students will gain strategies to the challenges of competing in the academic job
market, complete and submit a grant proposal, and begin their dissertation prospectus
HIST
6900
01
13564
1630
1900
W
Gavitt
8