Major in History Course Description 1 at University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown Pennsylvania
HIST 0111 HEBREW SCRIPTURE & CHRISTIAN OLD TESTAMENT 3 cr.
An examination of this body of literature, which two major religions claim as their scriptures. The course includes study of the ancient composition and collection of the documents as well as the two major theological systems built upon them. Cross-listed as RELGST 0111.
HIST 0120 WESTERN CIVILIZATION 1 3 cr.
This course explores the origins of the Western traditions and the changes that occur in the political, social, economic, intellectual, artistic, and other realms over time and with shifts in geographical focus. The course begins with the Bronze Age and ends with the Reformation and the Age of Exploration. Writing skills are emphasized. Students are trained in the writing of essays.
HIST 0130 WESTERN CIVILIZATION 2 3 cr.
Explores the changes that occur in Europe from the Age of Absolutism to the late 20th century. Writing skills are emphasized.
HIST 0176 CHRISTIANITY 3 cr.
Historical survey of Western Christianity, its beliefs, practices, and forms of social organization from the first century to the present. Cross-listed as RELGST 0176.
HIST 0303 RUSSIA TO 1860 3 cr.
Examines the social, political, economic, and intellectual developments of Russia from the great reforms of Peter to the emancipation of the serfs in 1861.
HIST 0424 CLASSICAL EAST ASIA 3 cr.
This course deals with geography, government, society, economy, philosophy, and religions of China, Japan, and Korea from prehistoric times to the 18th century. It emphasizes the role of China and its influence on its neighbors.
HIST 0425 MODERN EAST ASIA 3 cr.
Presents the history of China, Korea, and Japan in the 19th and 20th centuries. Traces the Western impact on East Asia and the responses of these states as they become modern.
HIST 0610 UNITED STATES TO 1877 3 cr.
An introductory, lower division course that develops the history of United States from the 1400s through the Civil War and Reconstruction.
HIST 0620 UNITED STATES 1877–PRESENT 3 cr.
An introduction to American history from 1877 to the present that emphasizes selected topics on changes in American society and politics as an earlier agrarian society became an industrial-urban one and as the nation took up an ever-larger role in world affairs.
HIST 0753 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY 3 cr.
An examination of the diverse strands of Christianity as developed both in the Christian Bible and outside of it. Cross-listed as RELGST 0753.
HIST 1002 WRITING SEMINAR FOR MAJORS 3 cr.
This course will reinforce the proper techniques of historical research in the development of a major research project. Students are required to write a long research paper or develop another historical application. For history majors only; usually taken during the senior year.
HIST 1011 RELIGION AND EARLY AMERICA 3 cr.
This course examines the role that various religious traditions, Western Christianity, Judaism, Native Americans, and Africans played in creating an American religious tradition in the Colonial period. Cross-listed as RELGST 1011.
HIST 1013 RELIGION AND REFORM IN ANTEBELLUM AMERICA 3 cr
This course examines the history of the Second Great Awakening in America and its attendant impulses toward moral and social reform in American society. Cross-listed as RELGST 1013. Prerequisite: HIST 0610.
HIST 1113 MEDIEVAL EUROPE: 1100–1500 3 cr.
This course covers the role of nobility, peasantry, church, development of towns, beginnings of nation-states, education, and culture.
HIST 1127 MODERN BRITAIN 3 cr.
A seminar that examines the history of Britain in the 20th century. Topics discussed include the British constitution, Parliament and parties, the monarchy, the economy, social classes, Britain and the two world wars, “the Troubles” in Ulster, the British Commonwealth, Britain and the European Union, and Britain and America.
HIST 1130 MODERN GERMANY 1866–1945 3 cr.
This course covers German history from the foundation of the North German Federation to the present. In addition to the main political changes, considerable attention is given to the evolution of society and to cultural and intellectual life.
HIST 1170 RENAISSANCE AND REFORMATION 3 cr.
This course covers the revival of classical thought, literature, and art in 14th- and 15th-century Italy; development of humanism with its secular tendencies and emphasis on the human personality; the northern Renaissance of the 16th century; movements for reform in the church; Luther, Calvin, and the Protestant Reformation; the spread of Protestantism; and the Catholic Reformation (Counter-Reformation).
HIST 1171 THE WORLD SINCE 1945 3 cr.
Analysis of the principal problems of world order in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, including the role of the superpowers, attempts at social engineering, problems of the newly independent states, and international wars and tensions.
HIST 1253 THE AMERICAN CITY 3 cr.
Study of the American city through examination of historical, legal, political, geographical, economic, cultural, and literary sources. Emphasis is on the evolution of cities from the colonial period through the present day. Cross-listed as PS 1253.
HIST 1342 RUSSIA SINCE 1860 3 cr.
This course covers prerevolutionary Russia, its social structure, political tensions, beginnings of industrialization, 1905 revolution, Bolshevik Revolution, establishment of the Soviet state, civil war, the Stalin period, World War II, and the post-war “thaw.”
HIST 1345 RUSSIAN/EAST EUROPEAN POLITICS 3 cr.
This course gives an overview of recent Russian political history and the problems of the Russian state; discusses the attempts to reform the Communist political and economic system under Khrushchev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin; and analyzes the collapse of the Soviet Union into independent states. It also reviews the rejection of Communism in the former USSR and Soviet bloc in East Central Europe (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc.). Particular attention is given to events as they occur. Cross-listed as PS 1344.
HIST 1350 EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE 3 cr.
A survey of the origins of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Albania. Emphasis on these nations’ relationships with their powerful neighbors, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Developments since 1815 are stressed, with particular attention given to World Wars I and II and their aftermath
HIST 1381 EUROPE 1914–1945 3 cr.
History of both western and eastern Europe from World War I through the end of World War II, with emphasis on national and ethnic tensions, the failure of democracy, depression, the growth of fascism, international conflicts, and war.
HIST 1385 EUROPE SINCE 1945 3 cr.
History of western and eastern Europe: the postwar reconstruction, Communism in eastern Europe; Europe in the cold war; economic, social and cultural changes; the Revolutions of 1989.
HIST 1400 UNITED STATES COLONIAL 3 cr.
An upper-division course that develops the history of the North American English colonies from around 1400 through the early 1760s.
HIST 1405 SLAVERY IN AMERICA, 1619–1865 3 cr.
This reading/discussion seminar will consider a variety of issues relating to the enslavement and emancipation of African Americans in Colonial America and the United States, including but not limited to: African origins, the Atlantic slave trade, the middle passage, early Colonial slavery, varieties of Colonial slavery, slaves and free Blacks and the American Revolution, slave religion, slave society, slave families, the politics and law of slavery, slave resistance and rebellions, slaves and free Blacks and the Civil War, Abolitionism, and the Abolition.
HIST 1409 THE EARLY REPUBLIC: UNITED STATES 1783–1815 3 cr.
This course examines the social, ideological, political, diplomatic, geographic, and religious atmosphere that influenced the founding of the United States of America. Completion of HIST 0610 United States to 1877 is recommended before taking this course.
HIST 1410 AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1763–83 3 cr.
An upper-division course that considers the history of revolutionary America between the 1750s and the 1790s.
HIST 1411 ANTEBELLUM AMERICA 1815–48 3 cr.
Examines American history from the Early National Era through the age of the Mexican War through the lenses of political, diplomatic, military, social, gender, racial, and ethnic issues.
HIST 1412 WOMEN AND AMERICAN HISTORY 3 cr.
This upper-division seminar will explore the roles and experiences of women—White and Black, European and Native American, Anglo-Saxon and other ethnicities, wealthy and working class—in the social and political development of America from the Colonial era to the present. Prerequisite: HIST 0610 or HIST 0620.
HIST 1413 AMERICA LABOR HISTORY 3 cr.
This upper-division reading seminar will explore the development and implementation of labor systems and the roles and experiences of American workers within those systems from the Colonial era to the present.
HIST 1414 SUFFRAGE IN AMERICA 3 cr.
A reading, writing, and discussion seminar that focuses on major suffrage movements in American history from the Revolution through the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Class projects include essays, a term paper, and a group voter registration project.
HIST 1415 LEWIS & CLARK AND THE INDIANS 3 cr.
Exploration of the ideas, myths, and realities about the American West around the birth of the Republic as seen through the prism of the famed Lewis & Clark expedition. A reading seminar focusing on issues of physical expansion, Native American and foreign relations, trade, national defense, slavery, multiculturalism, and the environment.
HIST 1416 AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY TO 1877 3 cr.
Exploration of women’s themes in American history, including changing expectations of gender roles, evolving nature of work and family life, race relations and ethnic differences, and the participation of women in important social and political movements.
HIST 1417 AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY SINCE 1877 3 cr.
Continuation of topics covered in History 1416.
HIST 1430 CIVIL WAR HISTORY 3 cr.
This is an upper-division course that considers the impact of the Civil War upon the development of the United States.
HIST 1505 FILM AND HISTORY 3 cr.
A seminar on the moving visual image as historical artifact. Examines the impact of film and video on the historical profession. Seeks to provide expertise in the technologies of filmmaking required for scholarly use of visual resources.
HIST 1520 WORLD WAR II 3 cr.
A detailed study of the causes and course of the second world war (the first of two sequential courses). Diplomacy, military strategy and tactics, the “home front” in the United States, and historical interpretations are examined.
HIST 1521 THE PACIFIC WAR 3 cr.
An examination of the conflict between the United States (and its allies) and the empire of Japan, 1941–45. Both American and Japanese perspectives are explored.