History

This course, a continuation of HST 104, will emphasize the history of "the American experiment of liberty under law." It covers from the colonial heritage and the founding of the republic to the increasing involvement of the United States in a world of ideologies and war. Such themes as the constitutional tensions between liberty and order, opportunity in an enterprising society, changing ideas about the individual and equality, and the development of the ideal of global democracy will be examined. Attention will also be given to themes of continuity and comparison with the modern Western world, especially the direct Western influences (classical, Christian and English) on the American founding, the extent to which the regime was and is "revolutionary," and the common Western experience of modernization. Required course for all students in the College. May be taken in the freshman year but must be completed by the end of the sophomore year. 

Similar in format to HST 104, this course is a document-based, thematic study of Western civilization and culture that focuses on the development of European political culture since 1600. Major topics include the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Church, revolutionary movements, imperialism, scientific naturalism, social democracy, total war, and totalitarianism. As a continuation of HST 104 and 105, the course permits students to place their understanding of the American Heritage into an international context and to comprehend more fully the development of the modern and contemporary world. May be taken as the third Western Civilization major requirement.

British colonial America from the founding to the Treaty of Paris of 1763; emphasis on the religious, political and economic elements of colonial culture. 

The United States from its emergence in the Revolution to the end of the War of 1812; emphasis on the thought of the Founding Fathers and their Constitution-making. 

From the Peace of Ghent to the era of "Manifest Destiny" and the deepening of sectional conflict. Special attention is given to the presidency of Andrew Jackson and the broadening of democracy which it brought.

The rise of American sectionalism, the conflicting interpretations of the Constitution and state sovereignty, the approach of sectional division, Civil War and Reconstruction. 

Surveys the history of the United States from the end of Reconstruction to the triumph of Progressive reform in domestic and foreign policy. Particular attention given to political, social, religious, and intellectual trends and to America's emergence as an economic and military world power. 

Surveys the history of the United States from the outbreak of the First World War to the end of the Second World War. Particular attention given to the transformation of American life brought by economic, social, religious, and intellectual changes, and by the experience of total mobilization for global war. 

American politics from Bill Clinton's "New Democrats" and George W. Bush's "compassionate conservatives" to Barack Obama's transformative progressivism and Donald Trump's neo-populism and beyond. The U.S. as the world's sole superpower to the post-9/11 War on Terror. Continuing controversy over American ethnic, cultural, and religious identity. 

A survey of the history of Byzantium from A.D. 700-1453, with special emphasis on the relations between the Empire and Latin Christendom and the evolving perception of Byzantium as “non-western.” Key moments and documents will be examined in light of the historic frictions between the Byzantine Empire and the Latin West, observing both how medieval Latins contested Byzantine political, ethnic, and religious claims and how the Byzantines responded in turn to these challenges and so contributed to the emergence of a schism between East and West. The course will focus especially on the history of ideas, culture, religion, institutions, and politics.

World War I and the "lost peace," the birth of totalitarian regimes, World War II and the Cold War, European integration and the problems of the nuclear age.

This course examines the relationship between the three pillars of military activity—people and systems, institutions and processes, and religious and intellectual traditions—in western history, from classical antiquity through the early Middle Ages. The course examines the perennial causes of war, the relationship between political and military institutions, strategy, and the tendency of warfare to test and expose the first principles of a community. Throughout, students examine the idea of a specifically “western way of war.”  As an introduction to military history, the course provides a foundational knowledge of military history in the pre-modern world, the role of military action in shaping western history, and those perennial themes that remain central to the study of war up to the present day. Required for the minor in Military History and Strategy. 

A continuation of Foundations I, this course addresses the same set of questions by examining relationships among the three central pillars of military activity—the people and systems employed in combat, the institutions and processes which direct their activities in peace and in war, and the religious and intellectual traditions which shape both men and institutions—from the High Middle Ages to the First World War. The course emphasizes major military and naval innovations, strategy and culture, and the military revolutions. Required for the minor in Military History and Strategy. 

A survey of Roman history from 753 to 44 B.C. Students will explore the foundations of Rome in archaic Italy and its unlikely rise to become the dominant military power in the Mediterranean, then trace Rome’s descent into civil war and autocracy under Pompey and Julius Caesar. Topics include archaic Italy, the Monarchy and Republic, the Struggle of the Orders, Roman law of the Twelve Tables, the Roman family, household and slavery, Rome’s consolidation of Italy, the Punic Wars, Hellenism and intellectual developments in Rome, medicine, philosophy, and politics, Roman identity, the civil wars and the Fall of the Republic, and more.

A survey of the military, political, and intellectual history of ancient Rome between Julius Caesar’s assassination and the death of Constantine the Great. This course studies the foundations and transformation of the Roman principate and its impact on social, political, and religious change in the first four centuries. Topics include the First Triumvirate, the Julio-Claudian and Antonine dynasties, Augustan literature and culture, especially ancient historiography, the Roman army, the Severan Empire, philosophical schools in Alexandria, Roman law, religious conversion(s) among pagans, Christians, and Jews, the third century crisis, and the so-called “New Empire” of Diocletian and Constantine.

A survey of the military, political, and intellectual history of ancient Rome from 337-641 A.D. This course examines the decline, fall, and transformation of the Roman Empire after Constantine’s death to the establishment of the Gothic kingdoms in the West and rise of Islam in the East. This course emphasizes the role of the later Empire in creating those vehicles of ancient thought and culture that became the enduring legacy of the Western Heritage. Topics include the rise of conciliar Christianity and the creeds, the ‘barbarian’ invasions, military and economic change, the loss of security in the provinces, the rise of monasticism and the ‘holy man’, codices of Roman law, the emergence of Gothic kingdoms in the West, the distinction between ecclesial and temporal power, the Vandal invasions of Africa, St. Augustine’s legacy in the Latin world, imperial ‘restorations’ in Ostrogothic Italy, Justinian’s Reconquista, the Islamic conquests, and the end of antiquity.

Survey of the Judeo-Christian heritage of the United States, with special attention to church histories. 

A broad introduction to the American military and naval experience from the colonial period to the eve of World War I. In addition to the major land campaigns of American history, we examine the role of foreign activities and naval warfare, considering the changing cultural, political, economic, and religious norms of the United States. 

Survey of US military history, broadly conceived, from World War I to the wars of the early twenty-first century. The course addresses military strategy, the interplay of force and diplomacy, technological innovation, civil-military relations, leadership, and the cultural and social underpinnings of military power. 

This course examines a single American war, which will vary each term. Usual subjects include the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Korean War, or the Gulf Wars. Students may repeat this course with different wars.

A survey of the major military campaigns of both wars, with emphasis upon strategies, operations, tactics, and generalship. Attention is also given to the ordinary soldier and civilian, as well as the home fronts. 

Covers the military, diplomatic, political, and cultural dynamics of the struggle for South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. Students will evaluate competing interpretations of the war and their ongoing relevance to debates on US foreign policy and national identity. 

This course examines the static nature, yet changing character, of strategy in war. We scrutinize the strategists such as Sun Tzi and Carl von Clausewitz, as well as the strategies such as annihilation and attrition to counterinsurgency and nuclear deterrence. Global in scope, primary source readings cover all continents, strategists, and major empires, whilst reflecting on the sociocultural influences on war's conduct. From antiquity to the present, this course challenges students to craft their own definitions of strategy and examine how the art of war instructs the future of American foreign policy. 

Utilizing primary source readings, this course surveys the key minds who constructed, influenced, and shaped the ethical implications of warfare in the West. We begin in antiquity with ancient Greece and Rome and end in the present. Whilst examining case studies from major wars throughout history, we face the herculean task of confronting war through a theological and philosophical lens. 

Since the end of World War II, the United States has sought to strengthen allies and alleviate suffering through foreign assistance programs ranging from military support to humanitarian aid. This course examines the theories underlying these programs, the implementation of programs, civil-military cooperation, and aid effectiveness. 

This course provides a history of governmental efforts to thwart insurgents and terrorists with all the instruments of national power. The course considers the causes of insurgency and terrorism as well as the strategies, tactics, leadership, and interagency collaboration employed against them. 

This course traces the rise of the American national security state from its humble origins in the American Revolution to its massive growth in the twentieth century and its transformation in the twenty-first century. Students will explore the national debates over the need for national defense, the growth of defense spending and taxation, the rise of the defense industry, the inefficiencies and abuses of the national security bureaucracy, and the compromises to American liberty resulting from perceived national security threats. 

This course examines the evolution of U.S. strategic thinking from the time of the country’s founding to the present, in the context of the pillars introduced in the core Foundations courses. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, the course illuminates enduring themes and truths of international relations and statecraft. In tandem with the rise of the United States from a small nation to a global power, it explores the expansion of American interests and the evolution of military strategy into national security strategy. Required for the minor in Military History and Strategy. 

Studies in American thought and its social consequences from the colonial period to the present. Readings include interpretations of the American mind and selections from important thinkers in social criticism, philosophy, economics, politics and literature. 

The American implementation of the Western heritage of constitutionalism in the colonial and founding eras, its development in the antebellum period, and its crisis in the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Constitutional problems of the urban and industrial revolutions, the Progressive Era, civil liberties in the world wars and Cold War, civil rights and the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the modern administrative state, and the rise of modern judicial review. 

This course explores the history of the United States Presidency from the administration of George Washington to the present. It studies major presidencies and the increasing centralization of power in the executive branch since the mid-20th century. 

United States foreign policy from the American Revolution through the Cold War. 

This course considers the perennial disciplinary questions that historians have confronted since classical times. It takes up significant philosophical and theoretical approaches to history, as well as important analytical and historiographical problems within the major historical fields of study. The course places special emphasis upon the history of historical writing. The History Department faculty strongly recommends the course for all history majors intending to pursue graduate study or wishing to write a thesis for departmental honors in history.