Spring 2017 Catalog !1

Spring 2017

Spring 2017 Catalog !2

History 315 If you are a freshman or sophomore History major and you haven’t taken History 315, please plan on taking it in Fall 2017 or Spring 2018. Unlike other history courses that focus mainly on content, this course teaches skills and methodology. The overarching goal is for history students to gain an increased understanding of history as a discipline and how historians make sense of the past.

Upper-level European

History 304: The Early Middle Ages (300-1050) Kimberly Rivers TR 11:30-1:00

“The Early Middle Ages” provides an introduction to the history and culture of Europe from about 300 to 1050. This was the formative period for European civilization, when what had been the later Roman Empire slowly turned into several new societies. We will begin with an examination of the basic elements of late Roman civilization and then turn to the study of the new cultures that formed around the Mediterranean after the fifth- and sixth-century migrations; these new societies will include the barbarian kingdoms of Europe, Byzantium, and the Muslim world. In examining these new societies, we will give particular attention to cultural themes, such as the role of writing in society, the importance of honor and the feud, the rise of a military culture, the status of women, and the role of law and religion in medieval society.

History 343: Religion in Modern Europe Michael Rutz MWF 9:10-10:10

This course is an introduction to the history of religion and religious thought in Europe from the era of the Enlightenment to the present day.  Through readings, lecture, and discussion we will explore a variety of topics, including: religion in the age of revolutions, evangelicalism and missions, 19C debates on re l ig ion and sc ience , ant i semi t i sm, secularization, religion and violence in the 20C, and the impact of multi-culturalism on religious life in contemporary Europe.   Another significant project will examine in depth the ongoing relationship between religion and politics, and how the interaction between European churches and states evolved over the past three centuries.  In the end, students will gain a greater appreciation for how religion contributed to, and was shaped by, the political, cultural, and social forces that created Modern Europe.

Senior Seminar Registration for the History 411 seminar (see below) is typically restricted to seniors, but History majors of junior standing interested in pursuing research earlier in their undergraduate careers may apply for entry. Speak with your History Department advisor for more

Spring 2017 Catalog !3

Upper-level United States

History 335: Nuclear America James Feldman TR 9:40-11:10

After the first successful nuclear test in 1945, Robert J. Oppenheimer—the father of the atomic bomb—reportedly quoted Indian scripture: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” Thus began America’s long and strange interaction with nuclear energy. In this course, we will explore this interaction by examining topics such as foreign policy and the arms race, civil defense planning, nuclear energy, the peace movement, the environmental movement, climate change, and many more. In confronting nuclear energy, Americans have had to wrestle with elemental questions such as the human relationship to nature, the obligations of citizenship, and the balance between national security and democracy.

History 341: History of Wisconsin

Thomas Rowland MWF 9:10-10:10

This survey of Wisconsin history addresses the principal political, economic, social and cultural themes

in the evolution of the place called Wisconsin from its pre-historical foundations to the modern era. Included in this survey will be: the initial contact between indigenous peoples and the arriving Europeans; the French & British eras, the American territorial period,

and the emergence of the state in 1848. It then surveys the history of Wisconsin throughout

the second-half of the nineteenth century to the close of the twentieth.

History 363: American Indian History Gabe Loiacono MW 1:50-3:20

More than 15,000 years of human experience.  More than 300 distinct nations.  Just one semester.  You could say that this course is the most ambitious one in the whole course catalog.  Do you have what it takes to study this much history? If you think you might, sign up for the course that tries to understand the long sweep of indigenous North American history from the many possible beginnings of people's being in North America to the late twentieth century.  Focusing on different nations at different moments, this course will not cover everything, but will look at much of the native North American past, and just a bit of the present.

History 395: War, the American Military & U.S. Foreign Relations, 1600-1918 Thomas Rowland MWF 11:30-12:30

This course surveys American military history from its colonial roots through the end of the Great War (1918). It will study the interrelationships of warfare, technology, and society. Of particular interest is an exploration of how American culture and social values have impacted the development of American military institutions and how the experience of war has radically affected American societal and cultural norms.

Spring 2017 Catalog !4

History 385: African American History Susan Rensing MW 1:50-3:20

Black. Lives. Matter.  Beyonce's "Formation."  The New Black Panthers.  Colin Kaepernick.  We are surrounded everyday with news and political debates that illustrate why African American history is incredibly important and relevant.  And yet, despite living in a golden age of path-breaking, exciting, and beautifully written scholarship on African American history, most Americans have only the thinnest understanding of the African American freedom struggle.  Students should register for this class if they want to find out about Rosa Parks before the bus, if they want to reckon with the messy complexities of slavery as an institution, if they want to explore the roots of mass incarceration and the War on Drugs, if they want to examine the patterns of racial segregation in Northern cities that still shape our present.  Students should also take this class if they want to read important works by African American activists and scholars like Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., Fannie Lou Hamer and many less familiar names.

History 411: American History Seminar Thomas Rowland MWF 12:40-1:40

This is a research seminar on a topic of both national and regional interest: Wisconsin in the era of the Civil War. This emphasis of this seminar involves instructor-guided research in the rich archival sources of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin archives. Chronologically it will address the years 1848-1873.

Join the History Club! The History Club hosts a variety of activities throughout the semester including Bowling with Professors. Join the History Club and get to know other History majors and minors outside of the classroom. For more information, email historyclub@uwosh.edu.

See your advisor soon…. All History majors who have completed 12 credits in History are assigned a faculty advisor within the Department of History.

Faculty advisors are eager to help you select your courses in History and other disciplines, speak with you about unique internship and research experiences and help you begin thinking about how you can market the skills you’re acquiring with potential employers.

If you do not know who your assigned faculty advisor is or have any questions about the advising process, please contact historyoffice@uwosh.edu or Professor Kercher at kercher@uwosh.edu.

the History Department chair, Stephen Kercher:920.424.7158 or kercher@uwosh.edu

Spring 2017 Catalog !5

Core & USP Explore/Quest Courses The Department of History offers a broad range of 100- and 200-level courses, as well as Quest I, Quest II and Quest III courses for the University Studies Program. See TitanWeb for a listing of these courses.

Have a question about any of these courses? Call or email…..

the History Department Off ice : 920.424.2456 or historyoffice@uwosh.edu

the History Department chair, Stephen Kercher:920.424.7158 or kercher@uwosh.edu

or any of us in the History Department!

Upper-level Non-Western

History 348: Ancient and Medieval India James Frey TR 9:40-11:10

This course surveys the history of India from “prehistoric” times to the collapse of the Delhi Sultanate and the establishment of the Mughal Empire. Because of the often semi-fictional, mythical, or scriptural nature of the available sources, the difficulty of translating ancient inscriptions, and the fact that India’s political, social, and religious history continues to be controversial and violently contested even in modern times, studying ancient and medieval India poses unique problems. Thus, this class examines various aspects of the topic, as well as literature of the period, focusing on classic research problems in the field, and how they have been addressed over time. In keeping with the tradition of South Asian studies, the instructor takes an interdisciplinary approach to the subject.

History 360: South Africa: 1652-present Michael Rutz MWF 1:50-2:50

This course is an introduction to the history of Southern Africa from the beginnings of European settlement in the 1650s to the present. Through lectures, readings and discussion we will examine the development of the complex network of economic, social and political relationships between black and white South Africans during the last three-and-one-half centuries. We will devote particular attention to important issues, such as: the diversity of African societies and cultures, the impact of European settlement, the dynamics of the relationships between Dutch and British settlers, the growth of South Africa’s modern economy, the development of policies of racial segregation and the institution of the Apartheid state, the history of African resistance, and the transformation of South Africa into a multi-racial democracy.

History 346: Women & Gender in Latin American History Ana Maria Kapelusz-Poppi (Spring interim) M-F 12:30-3:30

This course explores the role of women and the construction of gender relations in Latin American from pre-Hispanic times to the twentieth century.