200
Arts & Letters-History. Intermediate Writing. This course examines the Renaissance (approximately 1350 to 1620) thematically as we study together this tumultuous time of great art; new ideas; lively mercantile piazze, busy merchants and traders, bloody vendettas; foods and material goods from distant places, and the encounters that took place between people in the East and the West. We will consider the religious turmoil of the age, the effects of plague, political upheaval, and warfare on people's daily lives, and take some time to think about love, marriage, family, and sex, coming to understand the Renaissance as a time of ordinary and extraordinary people whose lived experiences shaped the age.. Cross listed with HI 303; students may not get credit for one course if they have taken the other.
Arts & Letters-History. This course begins as the Western Roman Empire is collapsing, c. 410 and ends with the arrival of the plague in 1348. We will encounter philosophers and saints, nobility and peasants, merchants and pirates, knights and many others. Against the backdrop of daily life in Medieval Europe, we will follow the romances of courtly love, the paths of Crusaders, and spend some time with heroes such as King Arthur and Robin Hood (and of course, Maid Marion), as well as with the ordinary men and women who are often forgotten. Get ready for more than just the Dark Ages Fall semester, even-numbered years
Arts & Letters-History. This course covers the history of Modern Europe from 1789 to the decade before World War I, organized around political, social, and economic developments and conflicts. As we explore the ways nineteenth-century Europeans grappled with the creation of the modern world, the course will address several specific themes, including the tension between liberty and control in modernizing states, new belief systems (ideologies), migrations, imperialism, reform movements, and cultural developments.
Arts & Letters-History. Two Reformations, one Protestant the other Catholic, a host of explorers, often behaving badly when viewed through our 21st century lens, and the daily life of ordinary people in the early modern age occupy our study this semester. More than just the reforms of Martin Luther and the travails of Christopher Columbus, this course looks critical and analytically, and at times even with great humor, at the people, events, ideas, values, cultures, and perspectives of this turbulent and fascinating time in history. We will consider carefully topics including the body and the spirit, sex and gender, the plight of the poor, and of course witchcraft. . We will venture beyond the confines of Europe in an attempt ascertain what might be learned about both the "discovered" and the "discoverer" from a wide array of travel narratives. We will consider the use of maps as both ideological statements and navigational tools, and we will conduct our own search for the elusive Prester John. Monopods, Atlantic Flying Fish, and a Ninety-Five Theses are sure to remind us that we are not in the Renaissance anymore. Cross listed with HI 304 - students may not get credit for one course if they have taken the other.
Arts & Letters-History. This course examines Europe's 20th century, starting with Europe at the height of its relative wealth, power, and population in 1900 and continuing through war, trauma, division, and resurgence to the year 2000. We will survey major political, economic, social, and intellectual events and trends from several perspectives including individual experience, culture, and geopolitics, emphasizing the role of ideology. The course includes lectures, discussions, readings, and two papers. Country assignments will help students bring national perspectives to class, and special assignments will help students tie past events to present-day issues and controversies.
This course will examine some of the most significant presidents in American history and their legacies, including Lincoln, Washington, FDR, and many others. Questions to be explored include the following: Which presidents have made the greatest impact on American history, and in what ways? Are there common traits that make for a "great" president, as opposed to a failed president? How have the presidency and its powers evolved over time? Which presidents do historians typically rank as "great," and why? Which presidents rank among the worst in American history? Ultimately, to what extent do we agree or disagree with the rankings of the experts? We will also keep a close eye on current events to help students arrive at a fresh appreciation of how presidential history can inform our understanding of the present.
Arts & Letters-History. A topical study of the American West from the late 18th through the 20th centuries. Special emphasis on the myths and symbolism of the West, and on the West's impact on the nation's attitudes and values.
Arts & Letters-History. Russia has become a major player once again in the political affairs of the world, generating controversy through its annexation of territory, its intervention in foreign conflicts. its resurgent anti-Western nationalism, and its attempts to undermine the integrity of leading Western democracies. Understanding the dramatic sweep of Russia's history helps us to understand the challenges the country faces and poses today. This course will begin with Tsar Alexander II's authoritarian attempts to modernize Russia in the 1860s, explore the Russian Revolution and the resulting coercive utopian project of the Soviet Union, and then study the solutions Russia has embraced to find a post-Communist identity. By reading, analyzing, and discussing texts, students will sharpen their critical reading and analytical skills, writing skills, and ability to debate concepts in a group situation. Crosslisted with HI 320 - students can't take or get credit for one course if they have taken the other.
Arts & Letters-History. An introductory survey of Montana's past and its importance in the development of the West, from the period of exploration to the present.
Arts & Letters-History. The history of the Mediterranean is a survey of ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean basin, specifically Greece, Rome and the Near East to the rise of Islam in the seventh century AD. Consideration will also be given to Ancient Egypt and Mediterranean connections to the Silk Road. The course focuses on the cultural interactions and exchanges that took place around the Mediterranean: material, cultural, religious and social; the importance of merchants and trade networks; and the Mediterranean Sea as a space both connected and conflicted.
Cultural Diversity, Arts & Letters-History. For purposes of this class, the modern Middle East is defined as 1914- present, territorially and politically stretching from North Africa to Iran, including Israel/Palestine, the Arabian Peninsula, and Turkey. As time allows, we will consider Afghanistan, and Pakistan. This course carefully considers how history, culture, politics, economics, and geography, as well as all three Abrahamic faiths-Judaism, Christianity, and Islam-shaped the region's past, are inextricably tied to its present, and help us think about what the future might hold. This class also addresses matters of gender, violence, terrorism, and the chances for a lasting peace. Finally, colonialism and imperialism continue to resonate throughout the Middle East, making it necessary to exam the roles of such countries as Britain, France, Russia, and the United States.
Arts & Letters-History. All History Study Abroad courses. Study Abroad also fulfills the Cultural Diversity
CORE requirement and the Sed Vitae
CORE requirement.
Arts and Letters History. This course begins in the Arabia of the centuries preceding the birth of the Prophet Muhammad in 571CE, and continues through the spread of the faith first under the four Righteous Caliphs, then far beyond Arabia, the Golden Age of Islam, and the schools of jurisprudence that exist. We will end our study with how understanding the history of Islam, its sacred text, the Qur'an, the Hadith, and the law, or Shari'a, might lead to a better understanding of Islam in the contemporary era. Over the semester, the topics we will encounter include the world of pre-Islamic Arabia, the influences of polytheism, interactions with the two other monotheisms that share Abraham as their religious ancestor - Judaism and Christianity - the place of Islam's mystics, the Sufi, the divide between Sunni and Shi'a, family and society, art and architecture, political Islam, the rise of groups such as al-Qaeda and ISIS, reflections on gender, and what the future might hold for all of us who seek to better understand one another.
Arts & Letters-History. Food. It has the power to conjure comforting memories of past meals, of loved ones, and of travels to places near and far. It is also, at the very least, necessary for survival. Writ large, however, food is about so much more than sustaining life. What people eat, how they eat it, and with whom they eat it are windows into the societies, cultures, values, and histories of all people. This course examines this history of food, beginning with our earliest human ancestors and culminating with the questions of food security and food equity that exist in the twenty-first century. Along the way, we will consider the many ways the study of food and foodways informs history in complex yet fascinating ways, as well as engage in considerations of what food might tell you about your own family's history. From time to time I will prepare food for the class, because after all this is the focus of our work as an intellectual community, and we will also do some cooking
together. Our final class project will be a meal, with lively conversation enhanced by food and drink.
Cultural Diversity. Arts & Letters-History. This course is a survey of the relatively recent histories of China, Japan, and Korea, from the 19th century to the present. Through readings, lectures, and films, we will chronicle the transformation of these three East Asian countries from quasi-medieval dynasties to subordinate semi-colonies of the Western powers in the 19th century, to the revolutionary and bloody upheavals of 20th century nationalism and communism that led to human suffering and war on an almost unimaginable scale. Today, Japan is an economic power that still hasn't fully come to terms with its wartime past, Korea is divided between a prosperous South that only recently embraced democracy and a bizarrely anachronistic Communist North, while China is finally emerging from more than a century of turmoil to become a global power that will do much to shape the course of the 21st century. The fascinating stories of how and why all of this occurred will be the subject matter of this course.
Arts & Letters-History. A survey of the major trends in the political, social, economic and intellectual development of Latin America since independence. The primary focus will be on the histories of Mexico, Cuba, Brazil and Argentina, although examples from across the region will be studied.
Arts & Letters-History. World War II was the most destructive conflict in human history. By the time the guns fell silent in 1945, approximately 60 million people had been killed worldwide. What can possibly explain the extent of such bloodshed? While a comprehensive answer may require us to explore some of the most difficult existential questions about what it means to be human, history offers us a clear guide as to why this conflict occurred when it did, the ways in which it unfolded, and how it came to an end. This course will explore the historical origins of World War II in both Europe and the Pacific, the major political and military turning points of the conflict, and issues related to the war's lasting impact, including the Holocaust. We will also seek to balance the stories of some of the more compelling personalities of the war (e.g., Hitler, Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt) with the experience of the millions of everyday soldiers and civilians who endured unspeakable suffering during this most terrible war. Cross listed with HI 382; students may not get credit for one course if they have taken the other.
Arts & Letters-History. Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.
Arts & Letters-History. Special Topics courses include ad-hoc courses on various selected topics that are not part of the regular curriculum, however they may still fulfill certain curricular requirements. Special topics courses are offered at the discretion of each department and will be published as part of the semester course schedule - view available sections for more information. Questions about special topics classes can be directed to the instructor or department chair.
Cultural Diversity, Arts & Letters-History. A survey of Sub-Saharan African history from the eighteenth to the twenty-first centuries with an emphasis on formal colonization, colonialism, decolonization, and post-colonial developments.
Arts & Letters-History. 'Saving Strangers': The History of Humanitarianism International humanitarianism has come about to assist the victims of man-made and natural disasters, sometimes in the form of lobbying, sometimes as direct aid, and sometimes as military intervention. The current practice of humanitarianism is of unprecedented size and scale, but it is built on the foundations laid by pioneers over a hundred years ago. Since the beginning, it has been critiqued as naïve, open to self-interest, colonial in its practices, and sometimes doing more harm than good. Yet international humanitarianism is also the mark of humanity at its best: making sacrifices to assist suffering strangers in faraway lands. We will examine the motives, methods, and effectiveness of humanitarian action by studying examples such as Congo reform, Armenian relief, Oxfam, Biafra, and LiveAid. At the same time, we will consider critiques of relief efforts from different perspectives in order to develop a better understanding of the factors contributing to success and failure. Successful students will understand the types of humanitarian action, will be able to think about present practices in historical context, consider how governments can promote or thwart humanitarian impulses, and analyze the factors tending to make a humanitarian action successful.