Department of History and Political Science
Faculty
Justin Clardie (Department Chair), Matthew Millsap, and Stephen Morgan
Student Learning Outcomes
- Students will demonstrate content expertise in their respective disciplines.
- Students will offer well-reasoned, evidence-based arguments addressing core questions and debates in their disciplines.
- Students will apply theories and historical knowledge to explain and evaluate contemporary political, social and cultural issues.
- Students in departmental general education courses will demonstrate understanding of social science theories and their application to real world events.
- Students will be able to analyze cultural issues from a variety of perspectives and demonstrate intercultural competencies as they interact and collaborate with individuals of a culture different from their own.
- Students in departmental general education courses will develop an evidence-based historical analysis that illuminates the human story by examining events, ideas and values of past societies and culture.
Degrees and Certificates
-
History, Bachelor of Arts -
History Education, Bachelor of Arts -
Political Science and International Relations, Bachelor of Arts -
Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, Bachelor of Arts -
History, Minor -
Political Science, Minor -
American Government/Political Science, Endorsement
Courses
HIST1030: The World and The West I
Credits 3HIST1040: The World and The West II
Credits 3HIST1070: United States History Survey
Credits 3A study of American history from European exploration to the present, with attention to the founding of the United States, the major developments and events, and the role of the citizen in U.S. history. This course is designed for the general student and will not meet major requirements for degrees in history.
HIST2030: United States History to 1877
Credits 3An introduction to American history from the period of exploration and colonization to the conclusion of reconstruction. Major themes and events include the European settlement of North America, Native American responses to European development of colonial America, the war for American independence, nation-building in the Early Republic, the development of slavery, Western expansion, and the Civil War and reconstruction.
HIST2040: United States History since 1877
Credits 3An introduction to American history from the conclusion of reconstruction to recent times. Major themes include Western expansion, industrialization and urbanization, imperialism, two world wars, American life between the wars, radicalism and revolt, and the post-Cold War world.
HIST3010: Recent America
Credits 3An in-depth exploration of modern America from 1945 to the present emphasizing the political, economic, diplomatic, and social aspects of the period. The course will investigate the origins of the Cold War, McCarthyism, increasing presidential power, the U.S. and the Third World, the civil rights struggle, women's movement, student revolts, Vietnam, Watergate, and the New Right and post-Cold War America.
HIST3020: Modern Europe (1800-Present)
Credits 3An in-depth exploration of Europe from the political and industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries through contemporary European society and culture, including 19th century "isms" (romanticism, liberalism, socialism, nationalism, imperialism) and world wars.
HIST3040: Medieval Europe
Credits 3HIST3050: Renaissance and Reformation
Credits 3HIST3094: Special Topics in History
Credits 2 3HIST3250: History of American Culture
Credits 3HIST3260: America in the Age of Revolutions
Credits 3HIST3330: U.S. Foreign Policy
Credits 3HIST3440: History of Christianity in America
Credits 3HIST3490: Modern Africa
Credits 3HIST3580: Teaching Social Studies in the Secondary School
Credits 2HIST3750: British and American Evangelicals
Credits 3HIST3840: The Holocaust
Credits 3The Holocaust was one of the seminal events of the twentieth century, and has had profound effects on the language and concepts that we use to describe atrocities, the way that we interpret history, and even the ways in which we remember and memorialize the past. To put it simply, the Holocaust was more than a singular tragedy in the middle of the twentieth century. It was much worse than so many other tragedies. It was a watershed that created a new lens for looking at the past, present, and future. In this course, we will study the events that make up the Holocaust, the deeper roots of antisemitism that made it possible, and how the Holocaust has been remembered, portrayed and memorialized. We will think not only about what happened, but about how to make sense of what happened—how to grapple with a history that seems to defy understanding. Fulfills a General Education Cultural Competency (CC) requirement.
HIST4100: Ideas that Made America
Credits 3HIST4970: Senior Thesis and Capstone
Credits 4POLS1000: Introduction to American Government
Credits 2POLS1010: American National Politics
Credits 3POLS1030: The Foundations of Politics: The Quest for Peace and Justice
Credits 3POLS1050: Introduction to International Relations
Credits 3POLS3094: Special Topics in Political Science
Credits 2 3POLS3100: Globalization
Credits 3POLS3310: Presidential Power: The Politics of Leadership
Credits 3POLS3330: U.S. Foreign Policy
Credits 3POLS3520: Theories of Politics
Credits 3POLS3610: Comparative Politics
Credits 3POLS4100: Ideas that Made America
Credits 3POLS4410: Constitutional Law
Credits 3POLS4420: Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Credits 3A critical examination of U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving constitutional rights and liberties with special attention given to the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment. Topics will include religious freedom, freedom of expression, rights in criminal procedure, due process and equal protection, including racial and gender discrimination and sexual harassment.