B.A. in History Course Descriptions
HST 106 - World History I
3 Credits
A study of the World history from the dawn of civilization to the early modern period.
Areas of focus include the Near East, China, India, Japan, sub-Saharan Africa, Europe,
and the Americas. This course fulfills the diversity, global, and multicultural requirement.
HST 107 - World History II
3 Credits
A continuation of World history from 1500 to the present in terms of the political,
cultural, social, scientific, and religious events that have produced the Modern World.
Special emphasis will be given to the development of nation-states and their policies
of imperialism, the scientific and technological revolution, political and social
revolutions, World War, capitalism, and the emergence of the global economy.
This course fulfills the diversity, global, and multicultural requirement.
HST 110 - Western Civilization I
3 Credits
This course is an introduction to the history of Western Civilization, beginning with
a study of the contributions made by Greece and Rome, and continuing with the development
of Western society in Medieval Europe, the Renaissance, and the period of exploration
and conquest. Not open to students with credit in HST 231.
HST 111 - Western Civilization II
3 Credits
A study of modern European civilization from the 17th Century through World War I through selected areas of study: e.g., imperialism, the
rise of the nation-state, political economy, revolution, the breakdown of religion
as a unifying idea. Not open to students with credit in HST 232.
HST 131 - Far East: Beginning to Present
3 Credits
A study of China, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia with emphasis on the political,
economic, and cultural history, and the impact of Western contacts on these nations.
HST 201 - American History I
3 Credits
An analysis of the colonial heritage of the United States, the causes and consequences
of the American Revolution, the political, social, and economic development of the
new nation through the Civil War and its aftermath.
Not open to students who have taken HST 120.
HST 202 - American History II
3 Credits
An analysis of the rise of big business, the labor movement, the emergence of the
United States as a world power; the Progressive Reform movement; World War I, the
Great Depression, World War II and the Cold War era.
Not open to students who have taken HST 121.
HST 215 - Issues in History
3 Credits
This course will examine selected issues in the study of history. Topics may vary
with each offering and partially satisfy one of the three concentrations in history.
This course may be repeated when the topic has changed.
HST 226 - The Ethnic Experience in America
3 Credits
A study of Native American and non-English speaking immigrant ethnic groups within
the development of the U.S. with specific attention to the issues of dominant and
minority relations, assimilation or ethnic pluralism and culture, color, gender, and
social class as negative or positive factors in ethnic relations.
HST 230 - History of Latin America
3 Credits
A study of patterns in the conquest and colonization of Latin America and the continuity
and change in these patterns from independence and national consolidation through
contemporary struggles with socio-economic and political development.
HST 245 - The Middle East and Islam
3 Credits
An exploration of the historical, religious, social, and political factors that have
produced the contemporary Islamic Middle Eastern world. Special consideration will
be given to Islam as one of the three great Western religions.
Not open to students with credit for HST 348D.
HST 279A - CORE: History of Western Monasticism
3 Credits
This seminar explores the history of monastic communities from their earliest development
to the end of the Middle Ages. Particular attention will be paid to communal life
in Judaism and early Christianity, the development of coenobitism in Egypt and Greece,
the institutionalization of Western monasticism, ninth and twelfth-century reforms,
and the rise of the mendicant orders in the twelfth and thirteenth century. Comparison
will also be made to traditions of communal life in other World religions.
Over the course of the seminar students will consider the paradox of the anti-social
community, the pursuits of active and contemplative life, the practicalities of stability,
recruitment and governance, and issues of luminosity and marginalization.
Prerequisite: CORE 179 or appropriate transfer status. This course fulfills the Arts
requirement (History).
HST/ART/POL 279C - CORE: American Political Thought: Nature and the Common Good
3 Credits
A study of the concept of nature as used in Anglo-American thought and how these usages
influence an understanding of the natural, social, and political environments of the
United States. Special emphasis given to American political theory, its illustration
through the 19th century American landscape movement, and the inability of U.S. thinkers to appreciate
the common good.
Not open to students with credit in POL/HST/ART 335 or POL 348F.
HST 305 - The Ancient World
3 Credits
A study of the foundations of Western civilization, with special emphasis on the ancient
Near East, Greece, and Rome.
HST 317 - Europe in the Age of Revolutions
3 Credits
A study of the major revolutionary movements in early modern Europe (1500-1890). Selected
topics include the period of religious wars, movements of scientific inquiry, the
enlightenment, ideological and political revolutions, industrialism, and imperialism.
Not open to students with credit in HST 211.
HST 320 - Twentieth-Century America
3 Credits
A study of the political, economic, and social changes in the United States in the
twentieth century and the role of the United States in international affairs. The
thematic focus will be on the extent and speed of the changes in the World War II
era, which laid the foundations for many of the present day challenges presented by
issues of race, gender and class.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.
HST 330 - World Powers in the Twentieth Century
3 Credits
A study of the interactions of the major world powers in the twentieth century with
emphasis on the developments following World War I through the current challenges
posed by the concept of a "global" community and economy.
Prerequisite: Consent of instructor. This course fulfills the diversity, global, and
multicultural requirement.
HST/THL 342 - History of Christianity in the United States
3 Credits
A historical overview of the religious life, institutions, and thoughts of Americans
from colonial times to the present with a special emphasis on the Catholic Church
in the United States. Note: In the previous Core Curriculum, HST/THL 342 does not
fulfill the core requirement in theology unless one additional course in theology
is also taken. This course fulfills the diversity, global, and multicultural requirement.
HST/POL 348E - A History of U.S. Foreign Relations
3 Credits
A study of the relationship between major expressions of U.S. foreign policy and the
American ethos in the context of historic foreign policy challenges.
Prerequisites: ENG 101-102 or 110-111.
HST 348F - History and Technology
3 Credits
A consideration of the technological forces in human history through the study of
selected social issues and the reading of primary texts.
HST 350 - Medieval Europe
3 Credits
A study of Europe from 500-1500 tracing the development of medieval civilization through
its apex and decline. Special consideration will be given to the artistic, intellectual,
religious, social, and political events, which created the great European age of transition
from the Ancient to the Modern worlds.
HST 352 - Modern Europe
3 Credits
A study of Europe from 1890 to the present, tracing the transformation of Europe from
the center to the periphery of world power. Topics to be discussed include Imperialism,
World War, ideological conflicts, economic revival and unification, reemergence of
nationalism and regionalism, and the dissolution of communism.
HST/POL 365 - The United States Presidency
3 Credits
A study of the American Presidency—often described as “the most powerful political
office in the world”—and the men who have occupied it. An analysis of the continuity
and change in the institution since it was created by the Founding Fathers at the
Constitutional Convention. The historical focus will be on the emergence of the Modern
Presidency during the twentieth century.
Prerequisite: POL 290.
HST 370 - Africa and America: The Uneasy Partnership
3 Credits
Survey of the relationship between Africa, Europe and the Americas; examination of
the cultures and histories of sub-Saharan Africa, the development of the slave trade,
the middle passage, chattel slavery in the U.S., the Civil War and Reconstruction,
racial thought in the U.S. from 1877, the Civil Rights Movement, the development of
pluralism and contemporary issues of diversity in U.S. culture.
HST 379A/CRJ 379A/POL 379D - CORE: Justice, Rights, Liberty
3 Credits
The search for justice in terms of the development of civil rights in the United States.
Readings, discussions, and debate on the concept of justice; examination of history,
substance, and value of civil rights—with special attention paid to the Bill of Rights;
focus on the Civil Rights Movement (race and gender) as a case study.
Prerequisite: CORE 179 or appropriate transfer status; ENG 102 or ENG 111. This course
fulfills the Arts requirement (HST) or partially fulfills the Social and Behavioral
Science requirement (POL/CRJ). Not open to students with credit in POL/CRJ 232. This
course fulfills the diversity, global, and multicultural requirement.
HST 379B - CORE: Slavery and Freedom: The Paradox of American History
3 Credits
This course will examine the central paradox of American History—Slavery and Freedom—around
the central event of the Civil War. Although the focus will be on history, literary
works will be assigned as well (i.e., Shelby Foote, Ambrose Bierce, Toni Morrison,
along with great primary documents such as the Declaration of Independence, Paine’s
Common Sense, Frederick Douglas, and the speeches of Abraham Lincoln (exemplary in terms of literary
style as well as substance)).
Prerequisite: CORE 179 or appropriate transfer status; ENG 102 or ENG 111. This course
fulfills the Arts requirement (History). Not open to students with credit in HST 348C
or HST 344-345.
HST 379C - CORE: Columbus Urban History
3 Credits
This course addresses justice in the context of Columbus’s urban history.
Prerequisite: CORE 179 or appropriate transfer status; ENG 102 or ENG 111.
HST 479 - CORE: History Matters/Senior Seminar
3 Credits
This seminar in history is designed to help the more advanced student study the meaning
and practice of history through historiography and directed research. The “History
Matters” theme will be interpreted from two perspectives: a) the basic “matters” of
history: practicing the historian’s craft, which includes searching, discovering,
questioning, analyzing, and interpreting various kinds of historical sources, as well
as developing one’s own synthesis and presenting it credibly; and b) exploring the
significance and relevance of the past, based on the moral conviction that history
does, in fact, “matter”—both to those who formally study the past, and to society
as a whole.
By studying historiography—the writing of history by famous historians in the past—and
the philosophies of history, we shall obtain a more informed perspective on present
controversies surrounding the teaching of history and the interpretations of the past
in the American political arena. The apex of the course will be researching and writing
a major paper, and sharing the results with colleagues.
HST 1/2/3/485 - Special Topics
3 Credits
Intensive reading and class discussion of selected topics in history not covered in
regular courses.
HST 2/3/486 - Independent Study
3 Credits
Intensive individual work in an area of history. Includes Honors Program research.
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor, academic advisor, division chairperson.
HST 498 - Seminar
3 Credits
As a capstone course this is a study of the meaning and practice of history through
directed research and historiography with emphasis on the integration of social studies
theories, themes, concepts and facts (American and world) in diverse historical and
social settings.
POL 290 - Politics and Government: Process and Issues
3 Credits
An overview of Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court; consideration of the
political process and the ideas that inform, modify, and alter the United States political
system. Emphasis on citizenship, political culture, socialization, public opinion,
voting patterns, political parties and competing ideologies.
Not open to students who have taken POL 268.
POL 360 - Seminar: International Politics
3 Credits
Investigation of the major issues and concepts that inform world politics with special
emphasis on developments since 1945; consideration of United States foreign policy
and domestic political culture in light of World War II, the Shoah, the war in Vietnam;
the development of international organization and international law. This course fulfills
the diversity, global, and multicultural requirement.
POL 379B - CORE: Peace and Justice: Catholic Social Teaching
3 Credits
The study of justice and peace through the application of the social teaching of the
Catholic Church and the findings of social and political science.
Prerequisite: CORE 179 or appropriate transfer status; ENG 102 or ENG 111. Not open to students who have completed POL/THL/SJU/PJU 278. This course partially fulfills the Social and Behavioral Science requirement.