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HistoryThe History Department members believe that the serious study of history teaches students to examine the multicultural and interdependent character of the world. We value the principles of toleration, openness, civility and fair play that are the hallmarks of a liberal education. We share a preference for the inquiry approach to learning. In using this method we lead students in a process of discovery by asking open-ended, interpretive questions that are linked to watershed events in history. We encourage our students to form their own questions and response strategies. We provide some of the background resources and introductory materials for understanding the chronology and context of the question, but we expect students to develop the evidence, analysis, and conclusions in the formation of their opinions about each issue. We implement this approach through a variety of instructional styles including reading and discussion, group work, debate, simulation and lecture.
Research
Writing and Speaking
Assignments
Outcomes
Department Requirements
Required Courses
Elective Courses
Early World History This course is a prerequisite for all other courses in the History Department. The course deals with the development of early civilizations through the early medieval period, roughly 1350. All areas of the development of world civilizations are considered, with special focus on the ways in which cultural developments in any period are built on previous achievements, contemporary geographic factors, contacts with other societies, and new inventions. The political, social, economic, technological, religious, and artistic aspects of societies are examined to help illustrate the periods and peoples under considerations. The course is designed to introduce students to the rudiments of social science research and writing. It is taught in a problem-solving format, requiring students to build their analytic and critical-thinking skills. The department also believes that every student should learn essential geography concepts, skills and knowledge. Therefore, students in Early World History will be required to demonstrate mastery of basic geography skills and information.
Modern World History In Modern World History, you learn about events and ideas that link cultures across space and time. The course uses primary source readings, great literature, film, and readings from the new field of global history. Its global scope includes analyses of change across political, intellectual, and economic spectrums; gender and social issues also receive attention. We begin Fall Quarter in 1300, prior to the rise of the West. We examine non-Western countries closely and pay particular attention to linkages fostered by trade that surmount cultures, religion, and politics. Literature for this period may include Juang Chang's Wild Swans and the film To Live, through which we will explore the similarities between Maoism and Confucianism. Winter Quarter we will examine the global impact of major forces, such as revolution, industrialization, the rise of capitalism, and nationalism. In the area of literature, we might seek expressions of Western imperialism and racism in The Raj Quartet, which will be read in conjunction with viewing selected episodes of The Jewel in the Crown. Finally, Spring Quarter we will consider the emergence of a new global order that was forged by world war and expressed in the heated acts of the Cold War. Included in this study will be that of linkages of movements across continents, such as the movement of non-violence started by Ghandi and applied in Africa and the United States. Literature selected for this quarter will offer insights and perspectives of particular historical moments within these movements of global change. For example, we might explore the important idea of European integration through the work of Stefan Zweig's The World of Yesterday. Coursework will emphasize writing and research, of course, but there will also be an emphasis on debate and collaborative work among your peers as a means of evaluation.
Modern World History AP This year-long course prepares students for the Advanced Placement examination in World History. The course is based on the recognition that we operate in a global context and that an understanding of basic world processes is, therefore, essential. The course is also based on the recognition that changing demographics in the American population require a more inclusive and, therefore, a wider approach to our historical studies. The central focus of this course will be upon the larger patterns of change that connect individual societies and civilizations across space and time. Included in these changes are patterns of trade, migrations of peoples, political crises and change, economic and social systems, and other comparative features of societies. Students will learn how to recognize and define these larger patterns and apply them to an understanding of local incidences. They will also master skills in comparing the impact of these patterns across societies and historical periods. Course materials will largely consist of journal articles and primary sources. There will be a textbook. Frequent tests will prepare students for the multiple choice section of the AP examination while regular essay assignments, both in and out of class, will offer preparation for the exam's more analytical and interpretive portion. Fall Quarter will introduce the historiography of world history and will study trading networks and political systems that predominated prior to the rise of the West. Linkages among the trading countries will be analyzed in order to understand how global patterns function. Issues of gender, religion, and social position and their significance in this historical context will also be considered. Winter Quarter will compare divergent experiences of the major civilizations–China, India, the Ottoman Empire and the West–with political, intellectual and economic systems. Included in this study will be the rise of capitalism, revolutions as national and international events, the impact of the Industrial Revolution, and Western imperialism. Relevant gender, social, and cultural issues will be incorporated into this study. Spring Quarter will focus on the use of violence and threats to violence as mechanisms for resolving global conflict. This study will cover WWI and WWII, the Cold War and their social, economic, and political impacts. Gender issues will figure prominently in this study. Our study will then move to more recent patterns, including those of non-violent resistance as a mechanism of change, the fall of communism, and the rise of a new global economy.
Modern European History AP This course prepares students for the Advanced Placement exam in European History. Success on the AP European History examination (receiving a 3 or better) normally leads to advanced placement and/or credit in college history. In addition there is a profound rationale for taking the course because it is difficult to understand today's world without having a working knowledge of how events in Europe from 1450 onwards have deeply influenced and shaped not only Europe but the rest of the globe. Sometimes its impact during this period has been beneficial to an extraordinary degree. But often, simultaneously, Europeans have shown the rest of the world the darkest side of humankind. We try, in the Modern European History course, to weigh and to balance the good and the evil that have come out of Europe and we try to do this in both engaging and thought-provoking ways. There are a number of other accents to the course as well. The great personalities, such as Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, Napoleon, and Hitler, will not be neglected. Nor will the impact of ideas on European history, such as liberalism, conservatism, nationalism, and fascism. Indeed, for the student interested in intellectual history, this is one of our major themes. But the course is not simply designed for those students who have an interest in history. There are 10 art lectures whose purpose is to show how the past is reflected in art. These are given by an outside lecturer and will include several trips to the Art Institute as well as an architectural tour of Chicago buildings to illustrate their European heritage. We may also create a magazine during the year that enables students to use good computing and editing skills. The idea of loss will also be examined, both in its trivial form–is there any truth in Churchill’s comment that “the substitution of the internal combustion engine for the horse marked a very gloomy milestone in the progress of mankind”–and in its most disturbing form–the attempted annihilation of the Jews. Finally, we will look at what is happening in Europe today. What is the significance of the Houdini-like disappearance of the Soviet Union? Whither Eastern Europe and a united Germany? What of the splintering savagery of the former Yugoslavia? And will the European community be able to reinvent and invigorate Europe itself?
United States History
Fall Quarter - The Development of National Institutions, 1607-1865
Winter Quarter: Modern America: Reconstruction to the World War I
Spring Quarter: Modern America: 1920 to the Present
American History AP
Fall Quarter:
Winter Quarter:
Spring Quarter: The issues of race, class, and gender receive special attention throughout the three quarters of the course. Students taking this course will be encouraged to form study groups to work through the three quarters in preparation for the Advanced Placement Test in May. During the third quarter, special review tests will be utilized for test preparation.
African-American History
Fall Quarter: 1500 - 1860 The skills acquired in this course include critical thinking, oral communication, precise reading, and concise writing.
Winter Quarter: 1860 - 1915
Spring Quarter: Twentieth Century Students will also prepare an oral history of their family’s genealogy, tracing their family’s migration to the Midwest. This not only develops skills in historiography but also allows students to better understand the role that they and their families play in the continuously unfolding drama of history. The skills acquired in this course include critical thinking, oral communication, disciplined precision reading, and concise writing.
Electives
AP Macro And Micro Economics (Year-long) In case you haven't noticed, it is becoming increasing difficult to operate in today’s world without a thorough knowledge of economics. As Adam Smith would say, it is in your self-interest to become informed about economics and, if you don't have the foresight to understand this, let his invisible hand sweep you into this full year elective. By enrolling in this course, you will be taking the equivalent of college courses in both micro and macro economics, and many universities will give you one semester credit in both these areas if you achieve a 3 or better on the AP exam. In the macroeconomic part of the course, we will learn about economic concepts and how they affect public policy. What, for example, are the best economic principles to get us out of the current economic recession in this country? Should we turn to Keynesian or supply side theory–perhaps, monetarism? And, what are the proper roles for the government and Federal Reserve in guiding us out of this slump? Should they also take some responsibility for solving the global slowdown as well? The microeconomics section of the course will focus on you, the individual, and how economic principles can help you become a better consumer and, at some later date, a producer. For example, what are the opportunity costs and benefits of the economic decisions that you make and how do you calculate them? Did you know that you are only supposed to “undertake any [economic] activity up to the point at which the marginal benefit equals the marginal cost”?
The Holocaust (Fall) This is a reading and discussion seminar. An introduction to the study of the Holocaust, it provides a forum for analyzing and reflecting on the origins, development and affect of the German and Jewish experiences in Europe, 1933-1945. In addition to the basic text, students purchase Primo Levi's Survival in Auschwitz, Elie Wiesel's Night and Simon Wiesenthal's Sunflower. Supplementary readings come from works by leading scholars in the field of Holocaust studies. Guest speakers and film selections (both documentary and dramatic) punctuate the dialogue in the class. In Lieu of tests and quizzes, this course requires regular participation in the daily conversations, short research assignments that are presented in class, and a final paper, on a topic of the writer's choosing, within the framework of the subject. In researching their final papers, students will visit the main collection and research facilities at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC in mid-November.
Islam and The West (Winter) This course investigates the origins and development of Islam over the last 1500 years. We will examine Islamic civilization in the context of its essential beliefs and practices, recognizing the great diversity in modern Islamic life as Muslims have assimilated the cultures and traditions of the regions where they have settled. We will also look at the struggle between religion and politics in the Islamic world, Arabic and non-Arabic. Guest speakers and film selections (both documentary and dramatic) will also supplement our discussions. As in the fall seminar, this course is based on reading and discussion. Participants are expected to contribute to daily conversations, having read the pertinent materials and prepared to reflect on their meanings. Each student will prepare one research project for presentation in seminar and one final research paper on the topic of the writer’s choosing.
Political Philosophy (Spring) From Republic to republic: this course provides an introduction to defining texts of ancient and modern political philosophy. Beginning with Plato’s Republic, we investigate the foundations of ancient political thought as it developed through Aristotle and then into the Christian era with St. Augustine. Machiavelli’s The Prince forms the basis for our analysis of the transition to modern thought, followed by the great Enlightenment thinkers, Hobbes, Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau. We complete our study with the thinking behind the American republic as reflected in The Federalist Papers. Again, this course is conducted in small seminar format with emphasis on reading and discussion. Students select a specific philosopher or problem on which to prepare a seminar presentation and final paper
Independent Study in History Students may arrange an independent study project with any department member. The student must submit a written proposal for the approval of the department. Projects should concern topics within history and the social sciences that cannot be pursued through the department's regular course offerings. Students may choose to receive a regular grade or pass/fail for independent study. This decision concerning grading preference must be made at the outset of independent study. | |
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