History

Overview

Through history, students learn to evaluate evidence critically, to assemble the evidence in the most comprehensive way possible, to analyze the assembled evidence in the context of a broadly integrated view of human affairs, and to communicate their conclusions effectively. By studying ideas, institutions, and societies over time, students should also develop a perspective shaped by knowledge of geographical and temporal differences in human life and awareness of conflicting interpretations of events. In enabling them to encounter the past for its own sake and to understand ways in which the past bears upon the present, the study of history provides students with preparation for a wide range of professional and personal vocations:

St. Olaf's history curriculum is structured to achieve these goals. In Level I seminars, students approach history as a way of learning through a variety of historical topics. In Foundation Courses, they explore the broad historical development of the world's major societies and cultures. After acquiring the skills of historical analysis, students examine more specialized historical developments in Level II national, area, and topical courses. Finally, Level III seminars challenge students to recognize historical problems and to formulate their own questions about history, historiography, and historical methods.

Prerequisites

General Education Credit

Distribution or Comprehensive Credit

Interdisciplinary Concentration in Historical Perspectives

Requirements for the Majors

Requirements for a Graduation Major

Requirements for a Teaching Major

Recommendations for Graduate Study

Courses

Level I: History Seminars

Courses numbered 101-149 are seminars open only to first-year college students. Each focuses on a different topic, but all explore the fundamental problems of history, emphasizing analysis of primary sources and critical assessment of historical interpretations. These seminars are offered both semesters. The following seminars are planned for 1995-96:

101 Athens and Rome: The Origin of Western Civilization

Ancient Athens is remembered as the "Mother of Democracy," and early Rome coined the word "republic," yet both of these parent democracies evolved into imperialist dictatorships, while producing civilizations and cultural achievements that stand unequaled in Western civilization. Students of European history marvel at the wonders of Athens' Periclean Age and Rome's Augustan age, even though those two periods are named after two of antiquity's most aggressive rulers. In this seminar we examine these early republics, analyze their transition to imperialist powers, and explore the correlation between their failure as democracies and their cultural greatness.

106 Henry VIII and Elizabeth I

No two English monarchs have provided such continuing fascination as Henry VIII and his daughter, Elizabeth I. Both loved and feared in their own day, they remain intriguing today. While studying their personalities and their actions in the broader context of Tudor history (1485-1603), we will discuss the Reformation, the deaths of Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, and Mary Stuart (Queen of Scots), the puritan movement, women and the family, and the development of a national English culture. As we examine how historians study and write history, we will analyze and interpret 16th-century English documents and view and discuss films about Tudor England.

107 Restoration! Court and Culture in England, 1660-90

The reign of Charles II, notorious for sex and scandal, brought England to a crossroads. Would parliament and protestantism be preserved by the restored monarchy, or would tyranny and corruption instead prevail? Would religious toleration and greater intellectual freedom be obtained, or would religious coercion and a limited press continue? Such issues perplexed John Milton, John Locke, William Penn, John Dryden, and John Bunyan, whose thought-provoking writings we will study. Between the Reformation and the Enlightenment, this era of Plague and Fire -- and of war and revolution -- saw the emergence of modern liberal thought and natural science.

108 The Fall of the Russian Monarchy

Why did Russia not become a democracy under a constitutional monarchy? Instead, the Romanov dynasty was swept away by violent revolution in 1917. By studying the reign of Tsar Nicholas II through various primary sources, students will learn how to interpret this period themselves. Topics include the royal family, the peasantry, the emerging working classes, religion and culture, the revolutionary movements, wars and the tsar's abdication.

115 The Third Reich and Hitler's Europe

The Nazis, despite their brutality, were able to win a substantial degree of popular support. This and other dilemmas will be explored in this seminar. Through the use of primary sources, students will gain insight into life under the Third Reich, and will also learn how historians reconstruct the past. In addition, they will critically assess conflicting interpretations of the Nazi period.

116 Europe and the Great War

The "Great War"? This course places World War I within the social, cultural, and intellectual history of Europe from the 1870s to the 1920s. Students use literature, film, and propaganda to examine the nature of total war and its impact on gender, state, and society. How did the nineteenth century prepare Europeans for war? How did the different experiences of trench warfare and the home front contribute to a gender crisis? Was the war an agent of progress, or cultural preparation for the brutality of the Holocaust?

122 Mahatma Gandhi: Saint or Revolutionary?

As leader of the movement which brought India independence in 1947, Mahatma Gandhi became a model for political revolutionaries around the world. A masterful politician with a keen sense of strategy, he was also a deeply religious man who drew inspiration from Tolstoy and Christ as well as from the Hindu classics. He was a social reformer and cultural traditionalist who believed that India's salvation lay in a return to the traditional world of the village. How are we to explain Gandhi's political success and the place he occupies in the minds of people everywhere?

127 Radical Islam

An introduction to the radical tradition in Islam. Although it is only a narrow stream within the Muslim tradition, Islam has contained from its very inception a radical voice that called for the replacement or overthrow of corrupt and "un-Islamic regimes." Through study of primary and secondary sources, students will examine the intellectual and historical origins and development of what is popularly known as "Islamic Fundamentalism." Students will explore the diverse nature of Islamic radicalism, which is not a monolith but a group of associated tendencies and outlooks.

130 American Revolution

This course examines eighteenth-century America, focusing upon the American Revolution as a crucible of cultural change. Students will work with primary documents as well as secondary sources that demonstrate a variety of approaches. Topics include: social change in eighteenth-century North America; the British Empire and the Seven Years War; the politics of resistance and revolution; war and American culture; the Constitution, republican culture and the emergence of American democracy. The course also takes the perspective of groups often outside the boundaries of the new language of liberty: loyalists, Native Americans, women, and African-Americans.

132 Slavery in the Americas

An overview of African slavery in the United States, and also the Caribbean and Latin America. Seminar/discussion format, based entirely on first-hand eyewitness accounts. Readings included the narrative of Frederick Douglass, Harriet Jacobs' autobiography, and the writings of slaveholders like Mary Chesnut. Topics include: the slave trade, the origins of African-American culture, women and slavery, and the origins of the Civil War.

140 America Since World War II

This seminar examines American society since 1945, with particular emphasis on the years between 1945 and 1975. Our main focus will be social history. Topics include the impact of the Cold War, migration to the suburbs, post-industrial society, the culture of the 1950s, civil rights, the Vietnam War, the student movement, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. Sources include novels, essays, magazine stories, films, and documentaries.

145 Civil Rights Revolution

An examination of the overthrow of American segregation, through several decades of agitation for civil rights. This seminar will focus primarily on the South, though students will also discuss northern race relations. Primary accounts from the era will constitute most of the assigned readings. Among the topics covered will be the segregated South, Martin Luther King and his critics, the Black Power movement, and the rise of white backlash politics.

190 Europe from the Ancients to the Renaissance

A survey of European history and culture from Homeric Greece to the Italian Renaissance. The course introduces students to the ancient world, the beginnings of Christianity and the emergence of Rome as a unifying power, Rome's disintegration and the transition into the medieval period, the Middle Ages, and Renaissance. Through original texts and historical studies, students will explore relationships among religions, states, and societies, and views of natural environments, family life, and gender roles.

191 Europe from the Reformation to Modern Times

A survey of modern European history and culture from the Reformation to modern times. The course introduces students to the impact of Protestantism, the development of nation states, the Enlightenment, revolutionary ideas and experiences, the Napoleonic era, imperialism, and the emergence of mass political movements and global warfare. Through original texts, historical studies, and literature, students will explore relations among religions, states, and societies, and understandings of liberty and reason, natural environments, family life, and gender roles.

195 Global Histories from Ancient Times to 1500

A thematic, comparative, and chronological approach to the evolution of selected cultures, societies, and environments in Asia, India, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the pre-Columbian Americas. Primary emphasis is on the non-western world. Students will explore a variety of topics through original texts, historical studies, and literature. Topics include: religious practices and the birth of world religions, family life and gender roles, trade and interregional exchanges, the varieties of human interaction with the environment, and forms of political authority.

196 Global Histories from 1500 to the Present

A thematic, comparative, and chronological approach to the evolution of selected cultures, societies, and environments in Asia, India, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas from the Age of Exploration to the present. Primary emphasis is on the non-western world. Students will explore a variety of topics through original texts, historical studies, and literature. Topics include: encounters among different cultures through exploration, trade and warfare; the challenges to religion and the persistence of traditional modes of living; innovations in family and gender patterns; the great empires of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East; the rise of European hegemony, and the creation of New World societies and the impact on indigenous peoples and environments.

205 United States, 1607-1865

This course charts the development of American institutions and society from colonial origins to the Civil War. We will explore economic, social, and political themes with special emphasis on changing interpretations. Major topics are colonial life, the American Revolution, the constitution, political parties, social and cultural development, westward expansion, Jacksonian democracy, status of women, abolition of slavery and other reform movements.

206 United States Since 1865

As they study the development of American institutions and society from the Civil War to the present, students will examine economic, social, and political themes with a special emphasis on changing interpretations. Major topics are Reconstruction, urbanization, populism, progressivism, depression, New Deal, foreign relations, civil rights, social reform, equality for women, and other recent trends.

Level II

Period and National Histories of Europe

210 Ancient: Middle East and Greece

A history of Western civilization's primary cultures, from the early kingdoms of Egypt and Meso-potamia through the "Golden Age" of classical Greece and the empire of Alexander the Great.

211 Ancient: Rome

A survey of Mediterranean civilization from the early history of Italy through the Roman Republic and Empire to the founding of the Germanic kingdoms in the West and the Byzantine Empire in the East.

212 Medieval

European history from the last days of the Western Roman Empire to the Age of the Renaissance, with attention also focused on the civilizations of Islam and the East.

213 Age of the Renaissance

An examination of the political, economic, social, literary and artistic aspects of the age often said to mark the birth of modern times. Study of the Renaissance in both Italy and northern Europe. Readings include many primary sources, e.g. Petrarch, Machia-velli, Erasmus, Thomas More, Rabelais.

214 Reformation Europe

Students study Protestant and Catholic religious movements, Luther and other Reformers, political and social institutions, the Protestant family, intellectual traditions, and popular culture and beliefs in this interdisciplinary approach to Reformation Europe. We also investigate the rise of nation states, theological debates, the wars of religion, science and learning, printing and communication, and capitalism.

220 Tudor and Stuart England, 1485-1715

In this survey of politics, religion, and society from the Reformation through the Glorious Revolution, students will examine the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the constitution, the law and lawyers, the Church and its critics, the two revolutions of the 17th century , and the emergence of political stability. Students will also consider the historical debates about the nature of revolution in Stuart England and the relationship between political and social change.

221 The Rise of Great Britain

Why and how did Great Britain emerge as the first modern "super power"? We examine British history from the Revolution of 1688 through the era of Winston Churchill. Students will explore the social world of aristocracy, the impact of the Industrial and French Revolutions, liberalism and capitalism, the working class and political reform, the women's movement, the imperial achievement, the issue of Ireland, the challenge of the two World Wars, and the socialist response.

222 Russia Under the Old Regime

Students examine Russia's modern history from Peter the Great to the Revolution, tracing the transformation of Russia's autocracy into a more pluralistic political body by examining the emergence of free social classes in the 18th and 19th centuries. We also will assess Russia's economic, cultural, and religious development against the background of the empire's westernization. Applied Foreign Language Component available in Russian.

223 From Tsarism to Bolshevism

This course examines the history of Russia under the last tsar through the Revolution; consolidation of Soviet power and formation of the Soviet Union; Stalinism, the Terror and the Second Great Fatherland War; de-Stalinization, Stalin's heirs, dissent, decline and fall of the U.S.S.R. Applied Foreign Language component available in Russian.

224 Modern Scandinavian

The Scandinavian social-democratic welfare state developed fully in the decades after World War II. It became, for many, a model of social progress. Others assailed its permissive and liberal attitudes and found it fraught with "sex, suicide, and socialism." Today the welfare state is in crisis, due mainly to insufficient resources. Through a survey of social, economic, and political developments from about 1800 to the present, students will trace the Scandinavian roots of the welfare state and gain an international perspective on the role of small nations in a world community. Applied Foreign Language Component available in Norwegian.

225 Modern Germany

A survey of the history of Germany with emphasis on the period from 1700 to the present. Through primary sources, literature, and historical accounts, students will examine Germany's development from a collection of independent states to a great power, and of the social, cultural, and political impact of national unification and rapid industrialization. Applied Foreign Language Component available in German.

226 Modern France

A survey of the history of France since 1750, tracing elements of continuity and change in France from ancient regime to republic. Emphasis on the revolutionary tradition in France; challenges to the Third Republic; impact of World War II on society and politics; France since de Gaulle. Students will analyze and interpret both primary and secondary sources for each period. Applied Foreign Language Component available in French.

232 Women and Gender in Modern Europe

A survey of women's experience in Europe since the 18th century. Topics include: definition of a proper sphere for women beginning with the Enlightenment, changes in women's legal and political status after the French Revolution, changes in gender roles and family values resulting from industrialization, the Victorian cult of womanhood, and the development of a women's movement.

233 Democracy, Communism, and Fascism in 20th Century Europe

Liberal democracy, the major political movement of the 19th century, has been continually challenged in the 20th century from both right and left. Students study the historical development and the ideology of modern European politics. Readings include source texts from major political thinkers, as well as accounts and analyses of major political events, including the collapse of democracies in the 1920s and 1930s, the emergence of communist governments in eastern Europe, and the establishment of democracies on the ruins of communism.

234 Europe and the Muslim World in the Mediterranean, 1000-1800

A survey of Christian-Muslim relations from the Crusades to the dawn of modern colonialism. Students will examine the Mediterranean as a conduit of ideas, material culture, and political power. Topics include: Christian-Muslim perceptions of each other, the common culture of Mediterranean Christendom and Islam; trade; the political systems of southern Europe and the Islamic world; the rise of European supremacy and the shift from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic system.

235 French Revolution and Napoleon

A study of seminal events, institutions, and doctrines of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic areas, with special attention to the 18th-century background to the Revolution, its impact on European history in the 19th century, and its legacies to the modern world. Students read primary sources to track the development of a revolutionary political culture; readings in the secondary literature reflect the variety of approaches to the historical study of the era, and include classic and contemporary interpretations of the Revolution.

236 Europe Since 1945

This course examines Europe in the recent past with an emphasis on the intersections among political, economic, social, and cultural developments. Through primary sources, historical accounts, and literature, students will explore the bases for the construction of political stability and economic prosperity in the West and state-directed development and authoritarianism in the East; Europe's role in the world; and the periodic emergence of cultural and political challenges to the reigning orthodoxies. This course also explores how long-standing patterns of European society helped shape the new departures of the postwar world.

240 Women in America

A survey of women's experience in American life from the colonial period to the present. Special emphasis on changing economic, social, and legal status, society's attitudes towards women, and the growth of a women's movement.

241 Native American-White Relations

A survey and analysis of Federal relations with Indian tribes and peoples in the 19th and 20th centuries. Special attention is given to Andrew Jackson's policy of forced removal, the development of reservations, Grant's use of the military and the churches in a so-called "Peace Policy,'' assimilation under the Dawes Act, John Collier's program toward restoration of tribalism and Indian culture in the 1930s, Indian claims based on non-fulfillment of treaty obligations, the attempt to terminate federal responsibility for Indian welfare in the 1950s, and the Red Power movement in quest of social justice.

242 African American History

In this study of Black people in American society from their African origins to the present, students will explore African heritage, the experience of slavery, segregation, and the rise of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. We will pay particular attention to the issue of Black Nationalism as a force in American life.

243 Immigration Ethnic Studies

The United States cannot be understood without a knowledge of immigration and ethnic history. The continuing influx of Europeans, Africans, and Asians had an enormous impact upon the development of American culture, institutions, and social order. This course emphasizes European immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries and its consequences in America, focuses on the emergence of multiple white ethnic subcultures and their interaction with the American environment, and introduces theories of a pluralistic concept of society: multiculturalism, assimilation, and the nature of ethnic identity and its persistence and change in later generations.

244 America in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era

As they study the impact of the Civil War era on American society and politics., students will focus on slavery, emancipation, and race relations. We also will address the impact of industrialization on northern society, encompassing such related topics as immigration and nativism, the westward movement and slavery expansion, and the dispossession of Native Americans. The goal of the course is to situate the dramatic political and military events of the era in the wider evolution of American life.

245 Foreign Policy and Diplomacy

A study of American foreign policy and diplomacy from the beginning of the Republic through the Cold War, emphasizing the U.S. expansion and emergence as a world power. Students will examine relations with Britain, France, Germany, Mexico, Panama, China, Japan, and the Soviet Union. Strategies and crises associated with the policy of containing communism in Europe, Asia and Central America since World War II.

246 Environmental History

By examining the interaction of people and environment on the North American continent from the 15th century to the present, this course shows how history "takes place" in ecological contexts that change over time. Students will compare Native American and Euro-American religious beliefs, social values, economic aspirations, and technological developments and examines their consequences for the flora, fauna, and peoples of the continent.

250 Topics in History

The focus of this course varies depending upon instructor. Recent topics have included religion and revolution in Iran and slavery, race, and ethnicity in Latin America. Topic in 1996-97 is American Intellectual Cultures.

259 Ancient and Medieval China

This study of Chinese history and culture from the emergence of Chinese civilization to the end of Mongol rule in 1368 provides an overview of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, culture, institutions, and society. This course examines social, economic, and political change; the development of Confucianism and Chinese Buddhism; and Chinese art and literature. It also considers China's relations with its neighbors, particularly Chinese expansion into Inner Asia, and the Turkic and Mongol conquest dynasties in China.

260 Late Imperial China

The course examines Imperial China from 1368 to 1911, tracing the growth of autocracy, premodern economic development, social change, and international relations. Students explore the dynastic crises of the 17th century, the Manchu conquest, and the combined impact of indigenous change and Western challenge on Chinese traditions which ultimately led to the revolutions of the 20th century. Applied Foreign Language Component available in Chinese -- see instructor for information.

261 China in Revolution, 1900-Present

An examination of reform and revolution at the end of Qing dynasty; the creation and collapse of the first Republic; warlordism, cultural change, the rise of Chinese nationalism; Japanese invasion, civil war, and the Communist victory; The People's Republic since 1949: economic and social change, Sino-Soviet conflict, the Cultural Revolution, Maoism and Mao's legacy, and China's recent economic and political transformation. Applied Foreign Language Component available in Chinese -- see instructor for information.

262 Japanese Civilization

A study of Japan from the origins of the Yamato state to the emergence of modern Japan, this course provides an overview of traditional Japanese thought, values, and culture. This course examines social, economic, and political change, intellectual and religious history, and the development of Japanese arts and literature, as well as Japan's relations with China, Korea, and the West.

263 Modern Japan

This survey of modern Japan from about 1800 to the present examines the political transformation of the Meiji Restoration, the industrial revolution and social and cultural change, the rise and fall of party government, militarism and Japanese expansionism in World War II, the American occupation, and postwar social, political, economic, and cultural developments.

266 Modern India

This study begins with the Moghal period, 1525-1707, as a background for Hindu-Muslim interaction and for later European dominance. We will then consider the India-based kingdoms of the Marathas, the Sikhs, and Mysore and the phenomenon of the Europeans before examining the 19th and 20th centuries both from the point of view of British rule and modernization and from the standpoint of Indian nationalism and cultural renaissance.

Intercultural 269 Islamic Civilization

Through a survey of the main political, social, and economic institutions of the classical Arab and Ottoman periods, students will gain an understanding of how notions of politics and society are shaped. Issues covered include: the practice of the faith, Islamic law, the structure of family and society and the Arab, Persian and Turkish legacies.

270 Modern Middle East

In this survey of the modern Middle East from the 16th century to the present., students will explore the changing nature of political and social institutions. Topics include: Ottoman society and institutions, the impact of the West, creation of the nation-state system, and the evolution of current conflicts in the region.

275 East Africa and the Horn in Historical Perspective

This course examines the roles of trade and agricultural development in the rise of states in eastern Africa. We will study the principal characteristics of pre-colonial African societies, along with the processes of change which have transformed them, including colonial conquest and domination, independence, and post-independence developments.

276 West Africa in Historical Perspective

Students examine West African history from the early formation of trading states in the Sahel region to the European conquest and the ultimate creation of independent African states. We will focus on long-distance trade (both across the Sahara and across the Atlantic) and political centralization.

277 South Africa in Historical Perspective

In this broad survey of the history of Southern Africa (with a major emphasis on the Republic of South Africa), students will engage in readings and classroom activities focusing on the following themes: race and ethnicity, gender, environmental issues, migrant labor, and apartheid and resistance. These focal points illuminate the broader context of change in the South African past.

281 Modern Latin America

An overview of the evolution of Latin American societies since 1750, this course examines the consequences of independence, 19th-century economic imperialism, and the 20th-century transitions to more urbanized, industrialized ways of life. We will focus on major Latin American nations and compare their revolutionary and counter-revolutionary trajectories toward the establishment of authoritarian states. Applied Foreign Language Component available in Spanish.

282 Modern Mexico

Students will investigate the conflicts and continuities of Mexican history since independence: the collapse of Spanish colonial rule; the attempts to build a national state and economy; the revolutionary upheavals of 1920 to 1940 and the authoritarian developments of recent decades. We will pay special attention throughout to the fate of Indian peasants in an industrializing society.

283 Brazil from Colonial to Modern Times

This course surveys Brazilian history from its colonial beginnings as a slave-based export colony to its 20th-century struggle for industrialization and political stability. We will examine race relations, cultural and economic nationalism, the importance of the frontier, military regimes, liberation theology, and the transition to democracy. Throughout the course, students will consider the relationship between elites and masses and how popular religious and cultural movements have served both to unite and divide Brazilians.