21:512:201,202 History of the United States (3,3) Political, economic, and social phases of American history that have influenced or determined the development of the United States from 1607 to the present.

21:512:203 History of Newark (3) Major economic, social, and political developments in Newark from 1830 to the present; focus on late 19th- and 20th-century trends in demography, housing, and community development.

21:512:204 LGBT History (3) Explores the social, cultural, and political history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in the United States, focusing on the 20th century. An important goal of the course is to understand the shift from sexual acts to sexual identities as the main cultural framework for organizing human sexuality. Since the policing of LGBT life is closely related to broader shifts in sexual and gender identities, we will also pay close attention to the history of heterosexuality and heteronormativity. Topics covered will include the emergence of homosexuality and heterosexuality as categories and experiences; the changing relationship between sexual and gender deviance; the role of science, religion, and social movements in shaping the history of sexuality; HIV/AIDS; and the emergence and transformation of anti-LGBT politics.

21:512:215 U.S. History in Fiction and Fact (3) Explores critical events and problems in U.S. history by juxtaposing closely related works of history, biography, memoir, and fiction. Topics include Lincoln and Gettysburg; the legacy of slavery and reconstruction; and Huey Long and the Great Depression.

21:512:217 Introduction to Public History (3) This course will introduce students to the field of public history by teaching them the skills to become savvy consumers of the historical narratives they will encounter in the rest of their lives, as well as introducing them to the profession of the public historian. In contrast to academic research in history, public history seeks to capture the interest of the public in order to engage, entertain, influence, and inspire. Through a combination of lectures, readings, guest speakers, field trips, and group work, this class will explore how public histories are never neutral or apolitical, but instead are always engaged in broader social issues of power, identity, and belonging. By identifying and studying the various meanings of these invocations of the past within our holidays, the names of our streets, as well as at historic sites and museums, students will gain an understanding of some of the ways in which the past is operationalized in the present, in order to shape the future.

21:512:226,227 Topics in American History (3,3)

21:512:230 History of American Immigration (3) The central role of immigration in American history; English migration in the 17th century; involuntary African migration in the 18th century; Irish migration in the mid-19th century; southern and eastern European migrations; Asian migration; and the more recent Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican, and West Indian migrations; comparisons and contrasts of experiences; the tensions of cultural assimilation and separatism; and the concept of American national identity.

21:512:231 Asian American History (3) An introduction to the history of Asian Americans from the mid-19th century to the present. Drawing from a range of interdisciplinary approaches, the course explores the local, national, and global forces that have shaped the lives of Asian Americans, and how Asian Americans, in turn, have impacted regional, national, and international dynamics. Students will the use the experience of Asian Americans as a lens to investigate broader themes including migration, diaspora, race, labor, citizenship, community formation, war, empire, nation, and transnationalism.

21:512:233,234 African-American History (3,3) The black American's role in the United States from the 17th century to the present.

21:512:235 American Popular Cultures, 1945-2001 (3) This course investigates the history of popular cultures in the United States from the end of World War II in 1945 until 2001 in relation to particularly significant political developments and social movements. With a focus on television, music, and film, we ask how popular culture mattered to the Cold War, to the civil rights movement, to the crises of confidence in the 1970s, and to the rise of the New Right.

21:512:265,266 American Legal History (3,3) The interaction between political and economic forces and the role of law in American history; readings from the fields of history, political science, and constitutional development.

21:512:273,274 History of Women in the United States (3,3) The role of women in American life from colonial times to the present; the nature of men and women and their relations; women's roles in social change; and the organizational mechanisms by which their influence has been exerted.

21:512:297,298 American Foreign Affairs (3,3) Analysis of American foreign policy from the colonial period to the present; emphasis on power politics, geopolitics, world trade, public opinion, and the interrelation between domestic and foreign affairs.

21:512:308 Gay and Lesbian Lives (3) This course will use autobiographical writings to examine how sexual identity has been organized and articulated by those who self-identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, or queer. Approaching this theme from diverse angles in term of place, time, and demographics, how these identities emerge from and interact with these varying historical contents will be analyzed.

21:512:309,310 A History of American Thought (3,3) Origins and developments in American thinking on social, economic, and political questions and in the fields of the arts and sciences, religion, and philosophy.

21:512:311 Colonial America (3) The colonial origins of the United States and divergence from England; relations with the Native American Indians; slavery; Puritanism and the waning and revival of religion; family and gender roles; role of the colonies in the British Empire; and the transformation of colonial political culture, leading to the Revolution.

21:512:312 "Trash Cinema" and the Cultural Policies of the Sleaze (3) The history of American cinema is often framed around films of great aesthetic merit: Citizen Kane, Sunset Boulevard, The Godfather, etc. But what happens when we examine this history from the vantage point of its bottom rungs: the lowly, the disreputable, the trashy, the ephemeral, and the sleazy? What do these films--less important as works of art, perhaps, but equally important as windows into various moments of cultural history--tell us about American society? In this course, we will use several "trashy" films and genres to interrogate this and related questions, situating these forgotten or dismissed films in terms of historic conflicts over race, class, gender, and more. Along the way, we will also contemplate matters of aesthetics, analyzing why these films are considered "trash." Among the marginalized genres we will discuss are the "white slave" films of the 1910's, exploitation and "teenpics" of the mid-20th century, "sexploitation," pornography, erotic thrillers, "Blaxploitation," horror, and action films.

21:512:313 Visions of the City in America Cinema (3) "The city," as both actual geographic entity and imagined cultural phenomenon, provides a revealing historical window into numerous aspects of American society. Using representations of the city in American film history as our point of entry into these issues, we will explore what these depictions tell us about American cultural concerns. How are mainstream understandings of race, gender, class, and sexuality articulated or challenged through cinematic visions of the city? What understanding of the physical landscape of the nation have these images contributed to the collective American historical memory, and how has cultural representation interacted with politics and policy?

21:512:318 Labor History (3) The impact of industrialization on the workforce in the United States; examines economic pressures; technological developments; immigration patterns; entrepreneurial policies; ethnic and black subcultures; the emergence of urban institutions as they relate to the working class; and class consciousness.

21:512:337 History of the Family in the United States (3) The changing nature of the American family; the Puritan family; the Victorian family and the cult of true womanhood; the black family; and childhood, marriage, and old age.

21:512:343 The Creation of the American Republic (3) The history of the United States from 1776 to 1820. The Revolutionary War, the writing of the Constitution, establishment of political parties, and contrasting philosophies of Jefferson and Hamilton. Emphasis on changes in religion, gender roles, race relations, social structure, and political thought.

21:512:350 The Civil War and Reconstruction: The Unfinished Revolution (3) Making liberal use of computer technology and resources, this course explores the political, economic, legal, and social causes of the American Civil War and its aftermath.
Recommended: Although not required, a prior college course in American history--such as the survey--is highly recommended.

21:512:357,358 American Economic and Business History (3,3) Survey of the economic development of the United States from colonial times to the present; the nation's westward march; relationships between the American economy and the economies of other nations; the changing emphasis and growing complexity of American economic life.

21:512:361,362 Urban History of the United States (3,3) The history of the American city and its role in American social, economic, and political development.

21:512:367 The Progressive Era (3) Survey of American history from 1880-1920, focusing on economic and societal transformation and the populist and progressive response; industrialization; the rise of modern corporate power; and social and intellectual currents.

21:512:368 Modern America (3) Survey of the history of the United States between 1890 and 1945, with emphasis on immigration, migration, and battles waged over labor, leisure, and definitions of American identity.

21:512:371 Contemporary America (3) Survey of the history of the United States from 1945 to the present, with emphasis on corporate liberalism, McCarthyism, the rise of suburbia, the Vietnam War, the counterculture of the 1960s, and the "Reagan Revolution."

21:512:379 U.S. History in the Courtroom (3) Explores modern U.S. history through the lens of a number of celebrated court cases and the controversies surrounding them.

21:512:383 Culture and the Cold War (3) Examines the cold war as an ideological contest waged within the United States as well as between the United States and the U.S.S.R. Focuses on that competition's cultural dimensions, analyzing the ways in which cold war politics informed American popular culture; assesses the promotion of "the American way of life" overseas as a means to win adherents to the Western bloc. The course involves the close study of primary sources, including films as well as official documents.

21:512:385,386 History of American Politics (3,3) The formation and development of politics in the United States; function and history of political parties in America; changes in elections, campaigns, voting behavior, and the American party system; the rise of bossism and machine politics; periodic attempts to reform American politics.

21:512:387,388 History of Race and Ethnicity (3,3) An introduction to the history of race and ethnicity in the United States. The first semester covers the period up to ca. 1865. First semester: topics include European-Indian relations; the origins of slavery and racism; the crusade against slavery; sex across the color line; and race relations in both the North and South. Second semester: topics include the abolition of slavery; segregation and the response to it; and race and ethnic relations in the 20th century. Both semesters explore the construction of race and ethnicity.

21:512:389 The 1960s in America (3) Survey of the issues and events of the 1960s, including the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, the antiwar movement, the new left, the youth counterculture, the women's rights movement, and the gay- and lesbian-rights movement.

21:512:391,392 Honors Program in American History (3,3)

21:512:402 Topics in American Intellectual History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:403 Topics in American Political History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:404 Topics in American Business and Economic History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:405 History of Medicine (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:408 Topics in American Social and Cultural History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:410 Topics in the History of American Foreign Policy and Diplomacy (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:438 Internship (3) Prerequisite: Permission of department chair.

21:512:452 Topics in Legal History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:462 Topics in Recent American History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:472 Topics in African-American History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:473 Topics in Women's History (3) Prerequisites: 21:512:201,202, or permission of instructor.

21:512:499 Individual Study in American History (BA) Designed for the history major who desires to undertake extensive reading in a particular historical area, selected in consultation with a member of the department.
Prerequisites: Written permission of department chair and instructor. Limited to students whose grade-point average within the department is 2.0 or higher.