HISTORY

 

HS100                                   Introduction to Western Thought                                                                                    .5 CU

This course explores a variety of themes with the intention of providing students with a firm foundation in the history of Western thought.  Students will read and discuss works produced by European men and women from roughly the 13th to 18th centuries, paying particular heed to the culture in which these works were produced, disseminated, and ultimately diffused throughout the western world.  Understanding the attitudes, belief systems, ideals, and traditions historically rooted in Europe and the Americas is key to more advanced work in the humanities, particularly the discipline of history.  Selected readings are intended to illustrate a degree of continuity in issues and topics of interest to those in the West, while introducing students to the dominant strands of thought in western societies and culture.  This is an interactive course with student-led discussion, research activities, and a final project.  Required of all ASMS sophomores.

 

HS101, 102                 Advanced American Studies I and II                                                              .5 CU

This course examines American culture, society and politics from the colonial period through the Cold War Era.  Special attention will be paid to the founding of the nation, expansion westward and industrialization, the struggles of Americans to live together and govern a diverse land that stretches from sea to sea, and finally the traumatic experience of civil and foreign war.  Class lecture and discussion, group activities, college-level research and writing assignment.  Completion of both courses is required for Government taken in the senior year.

 

HS109                         Church History                                                                                                  .5 CU

This course examines the history of the Christian Church, some of the relations it had with the world in which it grew, and its controversies.  For possible future reference, you would find that any college history department would be interested to know that you took such a course.  It would certainly, for example, point to preparedness if you were to pursuer a major or minor in history. On the other hand, this is a course in religious studies or the history of religions.  Again, this would point to preparedness for a major or minor in religion, religious studies, or comparative religion or the attendance of a seminary.

 

HS110                         Ancient Faith and Philosophy                                                                         .5 CU

This course is an introduction to beliefs and practices concerning the afterlife from a variety of cultures.  It takes advantage of the fact that some of the students have varying acquaintances with Judeo-Christian beliefs in particular, but without penalizing those which do not.  This is especially valuable if there are one or more students familiar with other faiths – Islamic, Hindu, Buddhist, etc.  The various beliefs and practices are compared and contrasted.  The student will achieve an appreciation to the extent that further course work in religious studies, biblical literature, theology, etc. would be highly recommended.

 

HS111                         Biblical Literature                                                                                             .5 CU

This course examines historical background, Biblical exegesis, select Biblical works (i.e., the gospel of Luke, the Apocalypse, Genesis, the Apocrypha, etc.) and the impact of the Bible throughout history.  A combination of lecture and discussion format is used.  The approach is strictly non-denominational, so students of any background are considered as bringing their unique insights and questions to the discussions.  This course is not offered every year.

 

HS115                                   Egyptology                                                                                                                              .5 CU

This course will give the student an understanding and appreciation of Egyptian culture with emphases on the ideological (re: the monarchy, the mobilization of the state etc.) and special emphases on Egyptian life and beliefs.  Videos and texts will enhance the student’s understanding to the extent that further study of Egyptian civilization can be recommended (at college, via the web, as “hobby,” etc.).  The hope is actually that a core will be provided for later life-long interest in this subject.

 

HS116                         Roman Civilization                                                                                           .5 CU

The course serves as an introduction to roman civilization, emphasizing the imperial period, the time of the so-called “Caesars.”  A text from England titled These Were the Romans is used for the first part of the course.  This serves as a text on the civilization of Rome and thereby a preparation for examining the history of the empire.  In the second part of the course, lecture notes, some taped materials, and the text, The Byzantine Empire may be used.  This text, recently reissued with students in mind, is helpful for the later emperors.  This course is not offered every year.

 

HS201                         Economics                                                                                                         .5 CU

This course focuses on the characteristics of economic systems from early man to the present.  Topics include an analysis of market systems and price structures, central banking and credit systems, and the business cycle, as well as the economic impact of government, demographics, and technology.

 

HS202                         U.S. Government                                                                                              .5 CU

This course is designed to give students an understanding of American government by focusing on political philosophy, political parties and interest groups, civil liberties, and governmental structure.

 

HS204                         Civil Rights                                                                                                        .5 CU

Class will begin with the 13th, 14th, 15th amendments and the Reconstruction era and will conclude with mandatory busing and affirmative action of the 1970s.  special emphasis on segregation and lynching as forms of race control, the early history of the NAACP, as well as early black leaders such as Carver and DuBois.  The class will trace the events of the 1950s and 1960s that led to the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, 1965, and 1968.  The course objective is to show students the 100 year long struggle for equality by American blacks.  The class will feature lectures, documentaries, readings, discussions, and speakers.  Prerequisite:  Advanced American Studies (or U. S. History) 1/1 - 2/2. 

 

HS206                                   American Popular Culture                                                                                                    .5 CU

Cultural studies courses attempt to provide an understanding of the American national experience by studying how American cultural life is made, consumed, and experienced.  It is how we make sense of ourselves and others.  Students in cultural studies courses will develop a greater sense of themselves as Americans and better understand the connections between the aesthetic and the political.  Students will learn to recognize power, ideology, and hegemony not in an abstract sense, but as they operate in society everyday.  It is through film, fashion, and music, for example, that we find thinking on race, gender, and age.  It is in a painting or political cartoon that we can observe a popular response to current political policies.  Drawing on many disciplines, this course is taught by various faculty whose perspective may be political, historical, sociological, anthropological, or literary.  Prerequisite:  Advanced American Studies 1/2

 

HS208                         Post-1945 U.S. and the World                                                                         .5 CU

This course entails study of the United States in the post World War II period.  Emphasis will be on the United States in a global context.  Topical areas of study will include the Cold War, Vietnam War, American Foreign Policy and Globalization.  In addition to American politics and governmental policies, the course will explore modern American society with an attempt to better understand issues of importance to American citizens at the dawn of the 21st century.  This is a seminar course with assigned readings and a major paper.  An excellent elective for those students who wish a better understanding of late 20th century America.  Prerequisite:  Advanced American Studies (or U. S. History) 1/1 - 2/2. 

 

HS211                                   Terrorism and Violence in the Twentieth Century                                         .5 CU

This course takes an historical look at the troubling phenomena of genocide, terror, and violence around the world in the twentieth century.  A number of case studies will be examined to better understand why and how terror has been deliberately employed by political leaders, such as Joseph Stalin, and extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan.  Study of the Holocaust will incorporated.  Covered will be crimes of war, genocide, state terror, hate crimes as well as the terrorism associated with extreme religious views both in the United States and abroad.  This is a team-taught intensive course with lecture, discussion and a final project.  Prerequisite:  Advanced American Studies (or U. S. History) 1/2 - 2/2. 

 

HS214                         Women of the Renaissance                                                                                        .5 CU

Moving away from the traditional survey approach to the field, this course will focus on the Renaissance from a feminist perspective.  The question has been asked, “Did women have a Renaissance?”  The reality is that most did not, and for those, the Renaissance was a time when women were both denied equal protection under the law, and held to standards of beauty and behavior overwhelmingly determined and shaped by men.  Synonymous with social, economic, and political change, the Renaissance for most women served to reinforce female submissiveness and patriarchic control but surprisingly it is an age that produced the first women artists and a number of powerful female monarchs.  In this class, women of the Renaissance will be studied; both those who were marginalized as in the case of the village spinster and those who wielded considerable power and influence as in the case of Elizabeth I.  It is their lives that become our window into this perpetually fascinating period of European history.  Seminar with assigned readings and class project.  A history elective for those interested in women’s studies and the culture of the Renaissance.

 

HS215                         The British Empire                                                                                           .5 CU

The long reign of Queen Victoria not only gave us Victorian England but the British Empire at its most glorious.  From exotic India to the danger and excitement of Africa and Asia, the British sought to plant the British flag as well as British institutions and traditions all over the world in what historians term the “long nineteenth century.”  This elective explores the concept of imperialism as represented by British colonies, the exploration and settlement of the African continent, and the commercial and missionary experience in China and East Asia.  Appealing to the romantic but taking serious note of the economic and exploitive side of colonial rules, the course seeks to present the experience from both the position of the British colonizers and the indigenous people they ruled.  Seminar with assigned readings and discussion.  Major paper.  Prerequisite:  Advanced American Studies (or U. S. History) 1/1 - 2/2. 

 

HS219                         Beginnings of Islam                                                                                         .5 CU

This course will introduce the student to the historical circumstances and the life of Mohammed and will examine the beginnings of Islam.  Among certain particulars, it will investigate the religious and political situation of the Arab tribes at the turn of the seventh century A.D., the circumstances of Mohammed’s birth and early life, his personal and socio-political struggles in later life, and the progress of the ummah, or Islamic community, in Arabia.  The course will also consider the Muslims’ relations with the two contemporary empires, the Byzantine and the Persian, and the events that led to Islam’s status as a “world religion.”  Such a course should be of some practical benefit to the students regardless of their career pursuits.  However, it may be of particular consequence for those who prepare careers in foreign service, politics, the military, international business, religious studies, philosophy, etc.  Text: Mohammed, by Karen Armstrong.  Other articles, essays, or chapters will also serve as reading assignments and sources for reports.  Note:  As with the course “Church History,” taught now for over a decade at ASMS, this course will be strictly non-sectarian.  Again, as in the case of “Church History,” its resources and emphases may be modified from time to time.