The West and its relations with the rest of the world are central topics today, but just what is the West and what is its history? This course surveys the history of the West from remote antiquity to the 16th century. We will consider developments in technology, economy, politics, religious institutions and faiths, cultural media and social ideals. Together, these themes add up to civilization in the west. We will acquaint ourselves with these dimensions of the past while seeking to acquire the basic skills professional historians use to learn about this past.

Full details for HIST 1510 - Introduction to Western Civilization I

This course will examine the often-neglected role of women in the history of war and peace. We will use women's writings-diaries, memoirs, letters, speeches, fictional accounts, and the like-to analyze World War I, World War II, and the Spanish Civil War from a female perspective. Through a thorough reading of British feminist Vera Brittain's Testament of Youth, Holocaust victim Etty Hillesum's An Interrupted Life and Letters from Westerbork, and Italian Resistance activist Ada Gobetti's Partisan Diary, we will explore the question of women's autobiographical writing and its political, social, and cultural implications. We will also study other topics, such as women's suffrage, motherhood and family, resistance to fascism, and the Holocaust.

Full details for HIST 3662 - Women, War, and Peace in Europe, 1900-1950