50:512:201 Development of the United States I (R) (3) Introduction to American history, with emphasis on political, economic, and social factors from the colonial period through the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.

50:512:202 Development of the United States II (R) (3) Continuation of 50:512:201, with emphasis on the development of industrial and corporate America, the evolution of politics and reform, and the role of the United States in world affairs.

50:512:203 African-American History I (D) (R) (3) An introduction to the history of black people in America, with a survey of African background, the history of slavery and resistance to slavery, and the evolution of black leadership through the Civil War.

50:512:204 African-American History II (D) (3) Continuation of 50:512:203, tracing black leadership and cultural development through Reconstruction, the period of official segregation, and the civil rights revolution.

50:512:225 American Popular Culture since 1900 (3) A study of popular culture--art, music, motion pictures, theater, and popular literature--in historical perspective.

50:512:230 Education in America (3) Ideas, institutions, and practices, from early times to present.

50:512:280,281 Introductory Topics in American History (3,3) A theme in American history.

50:512:300 Founding of British America (3) Study of British North America, emphasizing political, social, economic, and cultural developments and the formation of a British empire.

50:512:302 History of American Popular Culture (3) The goals of this course are to introduce students to a wide range of primary and secondary sources; to teach them about aspects of the past that often have gone unnoticed and unstudied; to provide them with a better understanding of American history in general, putting chronological events into a cultural context; and to have students improve their critical reading and writing skills.

50:512:305 The Age of the American Revolution (3) The American Revolution, with independence from England producing sharp changes in society, economy, and politics, and resulting in the establishment of a unique republican system.

50:512:315 The Early American Republic, 1789-1848 (3) The study of the United States from the start of the presidency of George Washington in 1789 to the end of the War with Mexico in 1848. Key issues the course considers are: the development of American capitalism, the rise of American democracy, social reforms, growing sectional conflict, and westward expansion.

50:512:320 Civil War and Reconstruction (3) The political, social, and economic history of the United States from 1850 to 1877; emphasis on the Civil War, its causes and effects.

50:512:322 U.S. Capitalism - 19th Century (3) American history is populated with narratives focusing on the rich, famous, and powerful: we like success stories. But thriving capitalists comprised only a fraction of the population. This course focuses on capitalism from the bottom up. How did "ordinary" people make do, get by, sometimes succeed, and often fail during the 19th century, a time marked by turbulent social and economic conditions during the transition to capitalism? We will learn about the lives of individuals who are not chronicled in most history textbooks but who in fact created and lived the more common American experience, including criminals and conmen like robbers, pick-pockets, counterfeiters, and drifters. We will also learn about the lives of marginal entrepreneurs such as junk dealers, professional beggars, rag pickers, boardinghouse keepers, and used goods dealers. We will pay special attention to the economic coping strategies of women, children, new immigrants, and African Americans. The class will discuss opportunity and failure in historical context and how people's ways of eking out a living changed over time, whether experienced in the pawnshop, tenement house, city street, orphan asylum, or bankruptcy court.

50:512:325 The U.S. in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era (3) This course examines the history of the United States from 1865-1918.

50:512:330 America in the Age of World Wars (3) World War I, the decades of the 1920s and 1930s, the evolution of economic policy during the Hoover and Roosevelt presidencies, and the events of World War II.

50:512:335 U.S. 1945-Present (3) Looks at the transformation of America in the years 1945 to today. From a country devastated by economic crisis and wedded to isolationism prior to World War II, America became an international powerhouse. Massive grassroots resistance forced the United States to abandon racial apartheid, open opportunities to women, and reinvent its very definition as it incorporated immigrants from around the globe. And in the same period, American music and film broke free from their staid moorings and permanently altered global culture. We will explore the political, social, and cultural factors that created recent American history with an emphasis on how popular films reflected that history.

50:512:336 America in the 1950s (3) Examines a wide range of evidence about the culture and meaning of the 1950s, and determines how this era transformed our culture and shaped the way we live today. Topics covered are the Cold War, the civil rights movement, the role of television, rock and roll, feminism, suburban lives, and the place of technology in society. Prerequisite: 50:512:202.

50:512:338 America in the 1960s (3) Explores the 1960s from the perspective of the baby boomers who came of age in the shadow of the bomb, who fought for social justice movements, who fought in and against the war in Vietnam, who experienced hope and rage, and who changed the culture, even as it changed them. Prerequisite: 50:512:202.

50:512:340 The Civil Rights Movement (D) (3) Intensive examination of the civil rights movement, including the legal strategy of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to challenge de jure segregation. Focuses on the period 1954-1968.

50:512:342 America since the 1970s (3) The most recent transformations in American politics, society, and culture seen in historical perspective.

50:512:362 Health, Disease, Medicine, and Society in America (3) Explores the rise of the American health care system, the development of medicine, the work of healers, the role of technology, and the patient's and community's experiences of illness, healing, death, and birth.

50:512:364 City and Suburb in American History (3) Examination of the central stages of development with metropolitan areas, from the colonial town to suburban sprawl.

50:512:365 Command History (3) This course is designed to acquaint students with, and to help them navigate, the difficulties of decision-making for commanders and for historians. While teaching both history and historical methodology, it is interdisciplinary, drawing on literature, philosophy, and science.

50:512:370 Women in American History (D) (3) Examines the cultural, social, economic, political, and intellectual roles women have played in American history. Focuses on critical events such as the movements for abolition, temperance, suffrage, and the equal rights amendment, and on critical ideas about the intersection of gender with issues of race, ethnicity, class, religion, and region.

50:512:371 History of Childhood in America (D) (3) Looks at what it has meant to grow up in America and at how the meaning of childhood has changed over time. Explores the roles children have played as workers, students, warriors, criminals, entertainers, and consumers; examines how children have experienced major life events such as war, illness, and migration.

50:512:375 The United States in the Wider World (3) Diplomatic, military, economic, and cultural relations with other countries.

50:512:376 U.S. Naval/Military History (3) Examines how Americans organize, think about, and fight war on land, sea, and in the air from earliest colonial militias to the latest hi-tech weapons systems.

50:512:380,381 Special Topics in American History (3,3) A theme in American history. Open to majors and nonmajors.

50:512:389 American Film History: 1890 to 1940 (3) Survey of economic and artistic origins of the American film industry. Includes discussions of major artists such as D.W. Griffith and Charlie Chaplin.

50:512:390 American Film History: 1940 to Present (3) Survey of major economic and artistic developments in the American film industry. Includes discussion of major artists such as Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Examines the relationship of history and biography. Explores how the lives of individual Americans can be used to illuminate critical themes in American history and demonstrates how individual lives are shaped by historical forces.

50:512:392 American Lives: History and Biography (3) Examines the relationship of history and biography. Explores how the lives of individual Americans can be used to illuminate critical themes in American history and demonstrates how individual lives are shaped by historical forces.

50:512:499 Independent Study in American History (BA) Independent reading under the direction of a member of the department. Prerequisite: Permission of a faculty supervisor.