Department of History

HIST 1301. United States History to 1876. 3 Hours.

Students examine the colonial origins of the United States and growth of the republic to 1876.

HIST 1302. United States History Sn 1876. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of the United States from 1876 to the present.

HIST 2311. World History to 1500. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of the world from the dawn of civilization in Mesopotamia, China, India, Egypt, and Mesoamerica through the Middle Ages in Europe and Asia. Topics may include the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Reformation, and the rise of nation states.

HIST 2312. World History since 1500. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of the world from 1500 to the present. Topics may include European expansion overseas; imperialism and colonization; the Industrial Revolution; the Enlightenment; the French Revolution; nineteenth century nationalism and democracy; the colonial rebellions in Africa, Latin America, and Asia; World War I; World War II; the Cold War; and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

HIST 3075. Independent Study. 1-3 Hours.

Students may take this course for Academic Distinction Credit. See Academic Distinction Program in this catalog.

HIST 3300. The Historian's Craft. 3 Hours.

Students learn the fundamental architecture and tools of the discipline, including the analysis, interpretation, and contextualization of evidence. Students conduct research in primary and secondary sources, and apply historical writing skills.
Prerequisite: Declaration of major or minor in History.

HIST 3301. Applied Public History. 3 Hours.

Students apply the theories and best practices of public history to develop an original exhibit or event for the general public. The course promotes the collaborative study and practice of history and may be offered with Academic Community Engagement distinction.
Prerequisite: HIST 3388.

HIST 3310. Mesoamerican History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of Mesoamerica, a broad geographic area comprised of peoples, including the Maya, Zapotec, and Aztec. Students analyze how the peoples of this region accomplished their achievements in architecture, calendrics, astronomy, art, the sciences, and literature.

HIST 3311. African Civilizations to 1800. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of Africa between 16,000 BC and 1800 AD. Topics may include the historical roots of Africa’s cultural diversity; evolutions in agriculture and technology; trade and commerce; the Indian Ocean Slave Trade; and the development of social, economic, and political institutions.

HIST 3312. History of East Africa. 3 Hours.

Students examine East Africa’s rich and varied past, from the earliest times to the present. Major themes may include the cultural diversity of the region, the growth of complex societies, the slave trade, East Africa’s place in the wider setting of the Indian Ocean World, colonial conquest and African responses, the regaining of African political independence, and challenges facing modern independent states.

HIST 3317. War & Revolution in China. 3 Hours.

Students examine the profound changes that China has undergone from the early twentieth century until the present day, focusing on the themes of war and revolution. Topics to be analyzed may include the collapse of the old dynastic system, the Japanese invasion of China, the Chinese Civil War, the Cultural Revolution, and protest movements in the late twentieth century.

HIST 3318. Colonial Southeast Asia. 3 Hours.

Students examine European, U.S., and Japanese empire-building in Southeast Asia from the seventeenth century until the mid-twentieth century. Topics may include European maritime empires in the South Pacific, colonial rivalries in Southeast Asia during the nineteenth century, the U.S. Philippines, and anti-colonial movements.

HIST 3322. Black Civil Rights Movement. 3 Hours.

Students examine the black civil rights struggle in the United States from the late 19th century to the present. Topics include the black response to Jim Crow laws, the emergence of national civil rights organizations as well as local activism and historical events that have served as catalysts for change in civil rights legislation.

HIST 3323. History of American Slavery. 3 Hours.

Students examine slavery as an integral part of America's social, cultural, and economic development as a country and also as a catalyst to the establishment of antislavery and abolitionist movements.

HIST 3325. Era of Amer Revoltn 1763-1789. 3 Hours.

Students examine the issues of conflict between English continental colonies and British imperial policy which led to the movement for independence. Topics may include internal colonial conflicts and attempts to solve the federal problem culminating in the formation of the Constitution.

HIST 3326. The History of the West. 3 Hours.

Students examine the settlement and development of the Trans-Mississippi West and its influence upon national and international affairs.

HIST 3327. Topics in the History of Gender and Sexuality. 3 Hours.

Students examine how the understanding of gender and sexuality differs historically according to factors such as race, class, ethnicity, religion and/or sexual orientation.

HIST 3328. Mod France: From Rev To Presnt. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of France from 1789 to the present. Topics include the military, political, and diplomatic history of France in this era.

HIST 3329. Contemporary Latin America. 3 Hours.

Students examine the development of the South American Republics from their independence to the present. Topics may include social, economic, and political development.

HIST 3330. Modern China and Japan. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of modern China and Japan from the last Chinese dynasties to the present. Topics may include the resilience and weaknesses of China’s imperial system; the challenges posed to China’s traditions by Western economic and cultural penetration; China’s twentieth century experiments in forms of government and in direction of its cultural development; and the political, economic, social, and intellectual history of Japan from the beginning of the Meiji period (1868) to the present.

HIST 3332. Modern Asian History. 3 Hours.

Students examine Asian history since the fourteenth century. Topics may include the modernization of Asia and the influence of colonization, nationalism, and industrialization on present-day Asia.

HIST 3333. Religion in World History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the origins, development, and modern manifestations of the major living world religions. Topics may include the peoples, times and places of the founders of each tradition; the classical literature within each tradition and the canonization of these sacred writings; and the significant sects and schisms within the religions that have influenced major events in world history.

HIST 3334. Renaissance Europe. 3 Hours.

Students examine the intellectual, political, social and cultural history of Europe from the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries, a period that saw, starting in Italy, a rebirth of the values and culture of Classical Greco-Roman civilization. Topics may include intellectual and artistic movements and the profound implications these had for European values, worldview, politics, and art.

HIST 3335. Germany & Cen Europe Sn 1815. 3 Hours.

Students examine German and Central European history. Topics may include the principal political, economic and social trends since the Congress of Vienna.

HIST 3336. Middle East Since 1700. 3 Hours.

Students examine the political, social, economic, and cultural development of the Middle East since the seventeenth century. Topics may include the decline of traditional empires; the encroachment of Europe; the Eastern Question; the development of nationalism among the Turks, Arabs, and Iranians; Islam and modern ideologies; and the Middle East in the twentieth century.

HIST 3337. The Bible & Reform in Europe. 3 Hours.

Students examine the religious, social and cultural history of Europe from the sixteenth into the seventeenth centuries, a period that saw the fracturing of a unified Christendom. Topics may include religious and theological changes and the profound implications these had for European politics, social norms, cultural values, and economic endeavors.

HIST 3338. Eco His: Ind Rev To Present. 3 Hours.

Students examine the Industrial Revolution in nineteenth-century Britain and twentieth-century United States. Topics may include the relationship between agriculture and industry, the rise of the corporation, the development of the international monetary system, and systems of trade.

HIST 3339. French Revol & Napoleonic Wars. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of France during the French Revolution Napoleonic Era, 1789-1815. Topics may include the military and political history of the era, with a detailed examination of the battles and campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars.

HIST 3340. Mexican Americans Since 1848. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of Mexican-Americans in what is now the United States Southwest. The course begins with the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the war between the United States and Mexico and created a Mexican-American minority within the U.S. Topics may include such themes as the indigenous background of this population, the Chicana/o perception of the Southwest as a homeland, and the effect of that perception on the history of this ethnic group.

HIST 3342. History of Seapower. 3 Hours.

Students examine naval warfare and maritime trade from the mid-seventeenth through the twentieth centuries. Topics may include the emergence of modern state-based navies, their growing importance in warfare, the role of politics and administration in waging naval war, maritime cultures and societies, privatized war at sea, and major naval campaigns of the era.
Prerequisite: Junior Standing.

HIST 3347. Early Modern France, 1453-1789. 3 Hours.

Students examine major political, cultural, economic, social, intellectual, and artistic developments in France between 1453 and 1789. Topics may include the crisis of the Later Middle Ages, Renaissance France, the Protestant Reformation and the French Wars of Religion, the French Counter-Reformation, Absolutism, Overseas Expansion, the Enlightenment, and France on the eve of the French Revolution.

HIST 3350. Early Christianities. 3 Hours.

Students engage in an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural examination of central themes in the history of early Christianities beginning with the transformation of the Jesus Movement into a separate Christian religion and concluding with the divisions made permanent by the Fourth Crusade.

HIST 3351. Japan: The Age of the Samurai. 3 Hours.

Students examine medieval and early modern Japanese history. Beginning with the emergence of warrior bands, students explore how military men established regimes, managed vendettas, and mobilized resources. Topics may include warrior ideology, samurai rule, and the dissolution of the samurai caste.

HIST 3355. Urban and Suburban History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the growth and development of cities and suburbs in the U.S., paying particular attention to public policy, race, class, ethnic enclaves, and connections between American and global cities. Topics may include major metropolitan areas, such as Houston, Texas. Students conduct research into the city and its surrounding suburbs and locales. Credit 3 .

HIST 3357. World War I (1914-1918). 3 Hours.

Students examine World War I from its European origins to its emergence as a global conflict. Topics may include the formation of political and military alliances; emerging role of the state; role of industrial economies in waging war; homefront cultures and societies; major land campaigns of the Eastern and Western Fronts; war at sea; the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, which emerged out of the war; and the complexity of the peacemaking process.
Prerequisite: Junior Standing.

HIST 3358. Silk Roads to Atlantic World. 3 Hours.

Students engage in an interdisciplinary investigation of the contexts, impulses, and implications of long-distance interplay among cultures in both pre-modern and modern times. Students apply scholarly models of cross-cultural interactions using three specific case studies: the ancient Silk Roads, the trans-Eurasian Mongol Empire, and the trans- Atlantic Columbian Exchange.

HIST 3359. Germany at War and Peace. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of militarism and warfare in Germany, from the rise of the Prussian state in the eighteenth century through the present. Topics may include the relationship between warfare and the development of German politics, society, and culture. Major historical figures include Frederick the Great, Clausewitz, Otto von Bismarck, and Adolf Hitler. How contemporary, pacifist German politics emerged out of two difficult centuries of warfare is examined.
Prerequisite: Junior Standing.

HIST 3361. The U. S. & the Vietnam War. 3 Hours.

Students examine the United States involvement in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1975. Topics may include the issues of nationalism and communism in Southeast Asia; the first Indochina war between the French and Vietnamese; the United States military effort in Indochina from 1965 to 1975; the postwar political, economic, and social problems in the region; the effect of the Vietnam War on American culture and foreign policy.

HIST 3362. The Middle East, 500 - 1700. 3 Hours.

Students examine the political, social, economic, and cultural development of the Middle East from the eve of the rise of Islam through the seventeenth century. Topics may include the Middle East before Islam; the Rise of Islam; the faith and practices of Islam; the Rightly-Guided Caliphs; Shiiah and Sunni Islam; the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates; the Crusades and Islam; Islam and the Steppe Empires; the rise and apogee of the Ottoman Empire; and Islam’s initial response to the encroachment of the west.

HIST 3363. Britain to 1714. 3 Hours.

Students examine the development of the British peoples from prehistoric times to the end of the Stuart dynasty. Topics may include the peoples of Wales, Scotland and Ireland.

HIST 3364. Modern Britain 1714-Present. 3 Hours.

Students examine the effects of industrial change, the enmity of France in foreign affairs, Great Britain’s renewed expansion overseas following the American Revolution, movements favoring social and economic reform, and political trends to the present.

HIST 3365. Russian History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the roots of Russia (Kiev, Christianity, the Mongol occupation, Ivan the Terrible, the Times of Troubles) and survey Russian history from Peter the Great to the present.

HIST 3366. Modern European Military Hist. 3 Hours.

Students examine European military history and its links to political, social, and cultural changes from 1600 to the present day. Topics may include major wars in Europe, European military conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, and the wars of decolonization.

HIST 3367. Eur-Age Absoltsm/Rev:1648-1815. 3 Hours.

Students examine significant issues in European history from 1648 to 1815. Topics may include developments in political theory, natural science and economics as well as the tensions in the old social order, which helped instigate the French Revolution.

HIST 3368. European History 1815 1914. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of the principal European powers from the Congress of Vienna to World War I.

HIST 3369. The World In The 20Th Century. 3 Hours.

Students examine global politics and diplomacy since World War I.

HIST 3370. Ancient History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of the civilizations of the Ancient Near East, Greece, and Rome with special emphasis upon their contribution to the cultural heritage of the western world.

HIST 3371. Medieval History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the political, economic, social, intellectual, and religious institutions and developments in Europe from the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century to the Renaissance.

HIST 3372. Historiography. 3 Hours.

Students survey various historical interpretations and develop research skills.

HIST 3373. Topc in Hist of Sci & Medicine. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of science and medicine. Topics include the development of scientific knowledge across the centuries.

HIST 3374. US Religious History to 1865. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of US religious ideas, practices, and traditions between European first contact and the Civil War. Content may include indigenous religions, colonialism, Puritanism, dissent, the constitutional laws on religious liberty, new religious movements, Catholicism, and the Civil War. Special attention will be given to diverse and competing religious expressions.

HIST 3375. US Religious History from 1865. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of US religious ideas, practices, and traditions between the end of the Civil War and the present. Content may include the growth of secularism, immigration, modernism and fundamentalism, the religious right, and religion during the world wars and civil rights movement. Special attention will be given to diverse and competing religious expressions.

HIST 3376. Early America to 1783. 3 Hours.

Students examine early American history from the beginnings of European colonization through the American Revolution and the War for American Independence.

HIST 3377. America in Midpassge 1783-1877. 3 Hours.

Students examine United States history from 1783 to 1877. Topics may include the origins of the U.S. Constitution, the early republic and rise of the two party-system, the nature of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy, the sectional crisis and the Civil War, and the era of Reconstruction.

HIST 3378. Emergence Mod Amerca 1877-1945. 3 Hours.

Students examine United States history from 1877 to 1945. Topics may include discussions of the Industrial Revolution, the Populist and Progressive movements, World War I, the era of the 1920s, the Great Depression and New Deal, and World War II.

HIST 3379. Recent America, 1945 to Presnt. 3 Hours.

Students examine United States history from the end of World War II to the present. Topics may include discussions of the Cold War; the civil rights and environmental movements; the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the war on global terrorism; the public policy debates surrounding the role of the federal government in the modern economy; and the evolution of American popular culture.

HIST 3380. The American Civil War. 3 Hours.

Students examine the sectional conflicts of the 1850s, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Topics may include the military, political, social, and diplomatic history of the era.

HIST 3381. British Empire & Commonwealth. 3 Hours.

Students examine the British Empire and Commonwealth to the present time. Topics may include the rise of colonial and dominion nationalism, the imperial conferences, and the unfolding of the British Commonwealth of Nations.

HIST 3382. Immigration Ethnicity Amer His. 3 Hours.

Students examine ethnic group relations, nativism, and racism in the historical development of American civilization, with special emphasis on the patterns of assimilation and non-assimilation of particular ethnic groups.

HIST 3383. American Women's History. 3 Hours.

Students examine U.S. women’s history. Topics may include work, marriage, family, sexuality, reproduction, education, and the social forces that have aided or blocked change in women’s roles in American society. Particular attention is paid to differences in race, class, and ethnicity.

HIST 3384. Fam & Childhd in Atlantic Wrld. 3 Hours.

Students explore how encounters among Indians, Africans, and Europeans during the early modern period transformed the structure, relationships, and experiences of families and children. Special emphasis is given to primary historical research and the effect of cross-cultural developments on shaping notions of race, gender, and sexuality in the Atlantic World.

HIST 3385. American Diplomatic History. 3 Hours.

Students examine selected topics in U.S. Diplomatic History.

HIST 3386. Military & War In America. 3 Hours.

Students examine the U.S. military experience, from the colonial period to the present. Topics may include the military, political and diplomatic history of the great conflicts of the United States.

HIST 3387. World War II. 3 Hours.

Students examine the inter-war and World War II era from 1919 - 1945, emphasizing the events leading to the war in Europe, the rise of Nazi Germany, the major battles and campaigns in the European theatre, and the aftermath of the war. Topics may include the rise of the Japanese Empire, the events leading to the outbreak of war in Asia and the Pacific, and the major battles and campaigns of the Pacific war through the defeat of Japan.

HIST 3388. Public History. 3 Hours.

Students examine topics in the field of Public History, including architectural preservation and restoration, museum studies, and oral history. Topics vary from semester to semester, but each semester students analyze oral sources, primary textual materials, and historical artifacts of various types, including architectural dwellings, tools, and local and family records.

HIST 3389. Africa - Past & Present. 3 Hours.

Students examine the problems, potentials, and upheavals of Modern Africa. Topics may include the effect of the slave trade on African society, racial conflicts, apartheid, the emergence of African nationalism, the end of white colonial rule, and the difficulties of achieving economic and political stability in contemporary Africa.

HIST 3390. Conceptualizing History Edu. 3 Hours.

Students examine conceptualization techniques in Texas, U.S., and World History. The course is designed to enable History students to organize a vast amount of material into a logical framework that will help them to better understand the interactions of individuals, communities, nations, and cultures across time and place. Special emphasis will be placed on subject areas included in the Texas Examination for Educator Standards.

HIST 3391. Colonial Latin America. 3 Hours.

Students examine the conquest and development of the colonial institutions of Spain and Portugal in the Americas, including the Spanish borderlands as the center of Spanish colonial activity and power in the Americas.

HIST 3392. Native American History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the history of Native Americans in the United States.

HIST 3393. African-American History. 3 Hours.

Students examine the African American experience in the United States. Topics may include the various forces shaping race relations in the United States.

HIST 3394. America in the 1960s. 3 Hours.

Students examine the decade of the 1960s in the United States, paying particular attention to the social, cultural, and political shifts that occurred during these years. Students develop a nuanced understanding of this pivotal decade in United States history and engage in contemporary debates about its multiple meanings.

HIST 3395. American Environmental History. 3 Hours.

Students examine how nature has affected the course of United States history, particularly in regards to the role of natural resources, the growth of the economy, responses to environmental crises and challenges, and transformations in the environment resulting from centuries of use.

HIST 3396. The American South. 3 Hours.

Students examine the dynamics and expansive nature of the U.S. South. Topics include the peoples and varied regions of the South; its economic and political development; literature, race and religion.

HIST 3397. Modern Mexico. 3 Hours.

Students examine the national history of Mexico from the era of independence (c.1810) to the present. Students explore the challenges that the Mexican people faced after gaining independence, their resilience during years of political and economic change, and the rich culture that has emerged in the wake of those struggles. Attention is also given to the US-Mexican border as a site of complex cultural interaction.

HIST 3398. Texas & the Southwest. 3 Hours.

Students examine the Greater Southwest, Spanish expansion and the Spanish-French rivalry in the lower Mississippi region and Texas. Topics include geographic factors and cultural developments.

HIST 3399. Special Topics in History. 3 Hours.

Students examine various specialized topics in history not normally covered in detail by other upper-level courses.

HIST 4399. History Senior Seminar. 3 Hours.

Students examine specific topics and conduct historical research, producing an extensive research paper using primary and secondary sources.
Prerequisite: Senior standing in history or departmental approval.