HISTORY SPRING 2015 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
HST 105D - WORLD HISTORY: THE EAST ENCOUNTERED THE WEST (CRN 30656)
This course examines the distinct cultural traditions in the West (Europe) and the East (China, Japan, and India), and the
confrontations between these two cultural heritage while they encountered during the mid-nineteenth century. The lecture
surveys the Western philosophies of humanism, individualism, and secularism; reviews their impacts in the societies of
China, Japan, and India, and investigates the eastern reactions to the Western challenges in the era of westernization. In
this regard, this course devotes to explore cross-cultural concepts, to embrace the significant aspects of culture which
holds globalization. This is the second part of a three-course sequence that considers the broad range of influences that
have shaped the world. Students may take the World History courses out of sequence.
HST 106D – WORLD HISTORY: THE MODERN WORLD (CRNS 30658, 30660, 30662)
This course explores the scientific, intellectual, economic, cultural and political movements that have transformed the
world in the modern period in the context of imperial expansion and globalization. This is the final part of a three-course
World History sequence. Students may take the World History courses out of sequence.
HST 202D – HISTORY OF THE U.S.: REFORM AND PROGRESS (CRN 30664)
This course explores most of the nineteenth century and the early part of twentieth century of United States history. It
begins with the reform movements of the 1830s and examines Westward expansion, the Civil War and Reconstruction,
Industrialization, and the Progressive reforms. Students may take the United States history courses out of sequence.
HST 203D – HISTORY OF THE U.S.: FIRST WORLD WAR TO THE PRESENT (CRNs: 30665, 30668, & 30670)
This course examines the history of the United States from the First World War to the present, including the Roaring
Twenties, the Great Depression, World War II, the Cold War, the Civil Rights Movement, and Globalization. Students
may take the United States history courses out of sequence.
HST 405C – GENDER ISSUES II: GENDER AND WAR IN AMERICA (CRN 30671)
War is a highly gendered phenomena in which cultural norms of masculinity and femininity are used by nation-states to
mobilize their populations for conflict. This class will explore the intersections between gender and war through study of
several key military conflicts in our national past: the American Civil War, the Spanish-American war, both World Wars,
Vietnam, and finally, the (2nd) Iraq war of the early 2000s. We will trace the gendered processes of defining citizenship
and national identity, of training men to kill and women to sacrifice (more), and examine the gendered landscapes of the
"home front" and the "front lines."
HST 407 – THE VIKING WORLD (CRN 30673)
Terrorizing the locals from Byzantium to Ireland with their swift attacks, the Vikings acquired a savage reputation in the
minds and stories of their victims. Not only successful raiders, Vikings were also astute merchants, diligent farmers,
skilled craftsmen, and savvy political players. Through an array of sources, including archaeological studies, medieval
histories, and saga literature, this course examines the Viking presence in the Russia and Byzantium, France, Britain,
Ireland, and follows their western expansion across the North Atlantic to Iceland, Greenland, and N. America. We will
also consider the worldviews, literature, and artistic expressions of the Old Norse, trace their transition from paganism to
Christianity, unravel their political organizations, and delve into daily life and culture in medieval Scandinavia itself.
Throughout the course, we will analyze how the Vikings have been (mis)understood and (mis)represented throughout the
centuries, and will gain an understanding of how our knowledge of the Vikings is compiled.
HST 426 – MODERN FRANCE: THE NINETEENTH CENTURY (CRN 30672)
The legacy of the French Revolution of 1789 and Napoleon’s reign created a period of political, social, economic, and
cultural upheaval in France. This course will analyze these upheavals from the Restoration of the Monarchy through the
multiple revolutions of the 19th century. We will also examine the French attempts to create a new colonial empire
incorporating North Africa, Vietnam, and Mexico. Finally, the class will consider the important contributions of 19 th
century France to the arts in the form of painting, literature, photography, and cinema.
HST 433D – SOVIET RUSSIA (30674)
This course examines the history and culture of Soviet Russia from the end of the Bolshevik Revolution to the present.
While citizens in the Soviet Union did not enjoy the same civil and political rights as those in the West, social rights such
as healthcare, housing and full employment had always been the goals of socialism. From Stalin’s ‘revolutions from
above’ to Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of glasnost and perestroika, we will explore how soldiers, workers, peasants and
women experienced the constructive and destructive consequences of these efforts to build socialism.
HST 447 – EARLY MIDDLE AGES (CRN 30675)
Organized chronologically and thematically, the course examines the transformations experienced by European societies
during the “Dark Ages,” as they adapted to upheavals and maintained traditions following the dissolution of the Western
Roman Empire. To understand early medieval societies in Europe between approximately AD 400 and 1000, we will
focus on a few significant questions: How did medieval Europeans combine indigenous customs, classical Roman
traditions, and foreign or even “barbaric” influences into new cultures? How did religious activities—especially with the
widespread introduction of Christianity—interact with political, ethnic, and social structures? How did the restructuring of
early medical economy government and society create a foundation for later centers? We will rely on the written and
archaeological evidence left to us by medieval Europeans themselves in order to understand the social, cultural, economic,
political, and religious world of early medieval Europe.
HST 452D – WOMEN AND THE FAMILY IN THE MIDDLE AGES (CRN 30676)
Through the medieval literary, archaeological, and historical sources, this course seeks to understand the experiences of
women from the early Middle Ages through the 1500s. We will examine the variety of roles that women occupied in their
societies and consider how these roles enabled women to shape the world around them in real and substantive ways. To
understand medieval constructions of the family as well as women’s roles within the family, we will explore domestic
spaces, the relationships between parents and children, as well as the personal, emotional, and legal relationships women
formed both within and apart from the context of marriage. Through secondary scholarship, we will also analyze the ways
that time and space, social and economic status, religion, and cultural identity influenced the ways the women lived their
lives, differed from one another, and related to men and to each other.
HST 455D – SOUTH AMERICA SINCE INDEPENDENCE (CRN 30677)
A study of national revolutions, political and economic problems and cultural trends of the new republics in South
America. In the 20th century the themes of militarism, industrialization and social revolution are emphasized.
HST 462D – HISTORY OF EAST ASIA: TRADITIONAL JAPAN (CRN 30678)
The course presents a general picture of Japanese history to further students’ understanding of present-day Japan through
the study of her past. The lecture and discussion will provide facts as well as analyses of significant events, conditions,
and accomplishments of Japanese people.
HST 463D – MODERN EAST ASIA (CRN 30679)
The course focuses on the historical process, which witnessed the modernization of China and Japan. Attention will be
given to the different paths each of these countries had taken and the different problems each has faced in the attempt to
build a modern state.
HST 489D – ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY (CRN 30680)
This course features oft-ignored forces in history: diseases, nonhuman animals, rivers, mountains, trees, and more.
Concepts include: the relationship between nature and culture; defining “nature”; capitalism and the environment; the
narrative form of history; the tools of environmental history. Topics include: disease, livestock, and American settlement;
war and nature; transportation, market expansion, and the environment; urban environments; development and
manipulation of the United States’ natural resources; conservation and environmentalism; environmental justice.
HST 491D – WESTERN UNITED STATES: 20TH CENTURY ISSUES (CRN 30681)
We all learn, live, and work in the American West—but how much do we understand about the past, present, and future of
this place we call “The West"? This class explores the evolution of the western United States from the frontier zone of the
mid-19th century to a powerhouse in American society, culture, and politics in the early 21st century. Topics include
economic growth and industrialization, federal power, regional resistance, ecological transformations, and community
conflicts involving race, class, and ethnicity.
HST 499W – SENIOR SEMINAR (CRN 31089)
Research and writing of a senior thesis paper showing the variety of sources, knowledge of the literature and the
development of historical style.
For more information, contact Professor David Doellinger, HSS 212, 503-838-8254, doellind@wou.edu