History

These courses survey the political, economic, and social growth of America. The first semester covers the period of exploration to 1865, and the second semester from 1865 to the present.

These courses survey the political, economic, and social growth of America. The first semester covers the period of exploration to 1865, and the second semester from 1865 to the present.

This course surveys global political, social, economic, cultural, and technological developments across the twentieth century. Particular emphasis is placed on exploring how the world became interdependent and interrelated to a far greater degree than ever before and the forces that have resisted these processes of globalization.

What does it mean to be a Bethanian, and how have the students, faculty, and staff who came before us shaped the legacy of 'dear old Bethany'? This course surveys the history of Bethany College from its founding to the early 2000s. In addition to traditional lectures, students will participate in in-class activities that foster further engagement with the history of the college. Students will tour historic sites associated with the college, gain hands-on experience sorting, preserving, and utilizing primary sources in the college archives, and research the impact on the campus community of a person, department, club, sport, association, policy, or building of their choice.

Based on two immersive historical role-playing games, this course examines a fundamental transformation of the twentieth-century world: the end of European colonial rule in Africa and Asia. Students take on roles of key historical figures involved in the efforts to forge stable, democratic nations in India and South Africa. Students explore how the political factions and stakeholders involved in decolonization dealt with a common set of dilemmas: building a democracy in a region lacking democratic traditions; forging a unified nation in a region of tremendous ethnic, religious, and social diversity; reconciling antagonistic communities after years of oppression and conflict; and assuring the rights of vulnerable minorities from the potential tyranny of a democratically-elected majority.

This course surveys the history of Islamic civilization from the life of the prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century CE through the collapse of the Abbasid Caliphate in 1258. It explores the development of the Islamic religion and the formation and institutionalization of Islamic political and social institutions. It also explores the philosophical, scientific, and economic flourishing of the Islamic world’s “golden age” that began in Baghdad after 762. Also emphasized is the development of important regional centers of Islamic civilization across a vast territory stretching from Spain to the borders of China.

This course surveys the history of the Middle East from the fifteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century. It begins with the rise of the Ottoman and Safavid Empires and concludes with U.S.-led interventions of the early 2000s and the political upheavals of the Arab Spring.

This course is an examination of the transitional period from the Middle Ages to the Modem World. Particular emphasis is on the political and economic development of the Italian city states, the rise of national monarchies in Northern Europe, and the collapse of the unity of western Christendom.

This course surveys the history of Europe from the French Revolution to the present. It is topically and chronologically organized and emphasizes common themes and problems in European civilization as a whole rather than specific national histories. The first half of the course traces Europe’s ascent to global dominance across the nineteenth century through the development and spread of industrial capitalism and colonial empires. The second half of the course follows the history of Europe through the two World Wars and the resultant collapse of empires and the Cold-War division of Europe. The course concludes with an examination of the fall of Communism, the rise of the EU, and the renewed forces of nationalism that have resisted European unification. In addition to following these broad political developments, this course also focuses on social and economic changes, cultural movements, and the lived experience of Europeans during this period of deep and rapid transformation.

This course examines bitter controversies and debates surrounding the stories about the past that shape people’s identities and sense of belonging. It focuses on the relationship between political and cultural struggles of the present and public discourses on the past. We examine case studies from the United States and around the world of conflicting interpretations of the past and their political reverberations.

Case studies and moot cases examine the historical development of important constitutional issues before the United States Supreme Court. Students become familiar with the basic stmcture and functions of the federal court system. (This course may be taken for credit as POLS 401.)

This internship is a faculty supervised off-campus experience that relates to history. The off-campus experience must be approved by the chair of the department prior to the beginning of the internship. Off-campus work is supervised jointly by a faculty supervisor and a designated off-campus mentor. After completing the internship, students submit reflective essays regarding the quality of the internship experience and its connections to history. The student is evaluated by the faculty supervisor who may take into consideration the evaluation of the mentor. (The course is taken as credit or no credit.)