History
Introduction
The faculty of the History program believes that all persons, whatever their selected role in life, require an understanding of their past in order to prepare for their future. The faculty firmly believes that the liberal arts preparation, which encompasses courses from the discipline of history, provides the student with the most appropriate educational background for lifelong learning by integrating knowledge from the broadest range of disciplines. It is the mission of the faculty in the History program at LaGrange College to facilitate the growth of students’ critical, analytical, creative and communicative faculties through curricular and co-curricular methods in an ethical and caring environment.
The faculty of the department believes that students who select to complete a major course of study in History should have the foundation knowledge and understanding of the discipline, developed by classroom instruction and individual study, necessary to provide them with the opportunity to:
- pursue graduate study within the discipline;
- pursue a professional degree in a selected field of study;
- pursue employment as a teacher in pre-collegiate education;
- seek employment in a field such as government, entry-level historic documentation and preservation, social or historic entry-level research, or a field where their liberal arts preparation can be beneficially utilized.
Graduates of the History program may be found pursuing careers in business, law, education, politics and government, broadcasting, journalism, the ministry and other fields of endeavor. In all of these endeavors, our graduates have found that their education has provided a foundation for their careers and for their growth in life.
Program Objectives
The History Faculty strives to:
- Provide students opportunities through its curricular and co-curricular programming to develop their appreciation for and understanding of the complex nature of the human past.
- Provide students an opportunity to gain a deeper appreciation of the liberal arts and history’s contribution to it.
- Provide students with opportunities to improve their creative, critical and communicative abilities through both curricular and co-curricular programs.
- Encourage student engagement within the discipline through curricular and co-curricular programming that occurs in an ethical and caring environment.
Student Learning Objectives
To achieve the mission and objectives set forth above, all courses seek to help each student ultimately demonstrate:
- grounding in and familiarity with basic historical narratives;
- ability to master and analyze primary sources;
- awareness of historiography and the ability to critically assess it;
- capacity to creatively synthesize material from a variety of sources;
- mastery of oral, written, and electronic communication skills;
- facility in locating and critically assessing both digital and print source materials.
Assessment of Student Learning Objectives
Students graduating with degrees in history are required to successfully complete the capstone senior history seminar, research and defend a senior thesis, and create a major field portfolio. Through these requirements, students must demonstrate their mastery of the major’s objectives.
Course of Study
The History program offers both a major and minor course of study in history. In addition, the following programs of study in Public History are offered: a Public History concentration for History majors and a Public History minor for non-majors.
Those wishing to major in History are encouraged to declare their major by the the beginning of the Spring semester of their sophomore year.
Phi Alpha Theta
The history department is home to an active chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, the national history honor society. It is open to students of any major who meet the following requirements: a 3.0 GPA overall, a 3.1 GPA in history courses, and a minimum of 12 hours of history courses completed.
Combined B.A. and M.A.T. Program of Study
Undergraduate students who meet the admission requirements for the M.A.T (passing GACE Program Admissions Assessment or a combined SAT score of more than 1000 and completing the Georgia Code of Ethics for Educators Assessment) and those who have a GPA of 3.0 or higher in their undergraduate studies are eligible to participate in a combined B.A. and M.A.T. program of study after the completion of 90 semester hours. Once accepted, candidates may take entering MAT cohort graduate courses the Summer Semester following their junior year of study. Upon gaining senior status, candidates may take one (1) three-credit graduate course during the Fall, Interim, and Spring semesters only if enrolled with twelve (12) undergraduate credits.
Course Descriptions (HIST)
*Denotes HIST courses that may substitute for a CORE Humanities course in the Core Curriculum.
*HIST 1101 World Civilization I. (3) Fall
Survey course on the development of world civilization up to 1660.
*HIST 1102 World Civilization II. (3) Spring
Survey course on the development of world civilization from 1660 to the present.
*HIST 1111 History of the United States to 1865. (3) Fall
Emphasis on the Colonial, Revolutionary, early national, and Civil War periods.
*HIST 1112 History of the United States, 1865 to the Present. (3) Spring
Emphasis on Reconstruction, liberal nationalism, New Deal, and postwar periods.
HIST 2000 Research Methods in History. (3) Spring
This course is required of all sophomore history majors. It acquaints the student with the basic components of historical methodology and research.
HIST 2200 Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought. (3) on demand
This course considers the works of key figures in the history of strategic thinking, both on and off the battlefield. Figures studied include: Sun Tzu, Alexander of Macedon, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Alfred Mahan, Mao Tse-Tung et al. The course can serve as part of the military history minor or must be taken as HIST 3200 to count as an elective in the History major.
HIST 2305 The Islamic World to 1500. (3) on demand
This introductory survey course will examine the development of Islam, its growth and diversification from its birth in seventh century C.E. Arabia through the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453.
HIST 2331 Colonial Latin American History. (3) on demand
An introductory survey of the history of Latin America from the pre-Conquest era through the independence movements of the early nineteenth century.
HIST 2380 Intro to the History of East Asia. (3) on demand
This course is an introductory survey of East Asian history from the earliest historic periods to the close of the twentieth century and will cover a variety of topics throughout multiple periods in East Asian history from the origins of East Asian civilization, pre-imperial China, early Korean confederations, and Yamato Japan to the vicissitudes of East Asia in the twenty-first century.
HIST 2499 Special Topics. (3) on demand
A course off ered at the first-year/sophomore level, focusing on a specialized topic in the field of history. Also offered as HIST 4499 for junior/senior level credit.
HIST 2500 Military History Studies: Special Topics. (3) on demand
Military History Studies topics course offers students the opportunity to study not just warfare, its battlefield tactics and strategy, but the social, economic and political forces that shaped the specific conflict being examined. The courses seeks to encourage students to consider the human equation in all its complexity through a careful analysis of the specific conflict and its historical significance. Also offered as HIST 3500 for junior/senior level credit.
HIST 3000 Public History. (3) on demand
This course provides an overview of public history, exploring the many arenas in which one can apply the practical use of historical research, analysis, writing, and presentation in non-teaching fields. Students learn what constitutes public history, understand the techniques and practices associated with it, and develop a critical assessment of the public history field and the contemporary issues facing public historians. The course also aims to improve students’ abilities to apply historical skills and knowledge, especially in their presentation of information to general audiences outside of academia.
HIST 3200 Masters of War: Classical Strategic Thought. (3) on demand
This course considers the works of key figures in the history of strategic thinking, both on and off the battlefield. Figures studied include: Sun Tzu, Alexander of Macedon, Machiavelli, Clausewitz, Alfred Mahan, Mao Tse-Tung et al. The course can serve as part of the military history minor when taken as HIST 2200 or must be taken as HIST 3200 to count as an elective in the History major.
HIST 3301 The Greco-Roman World. (3) Fall
A study of Greco-Roman civilization from its birth in ancient Greece through the collapse of the western Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D.
HIST 3302 The Middle Ages, 350-1350. (3) Spring
This course offers a comprehensive study of the development of medieval civilization from the late fifth century to the late fourteenth century.
HIST 3306 History of the South. (3) on demand
Emphasis on the colonial, antebellum, Civil War, Reconstruction, and/or New South periods.
HIST 3310 Constitutional History of the United States to 1900. (3) on demand
An analysis of fundamental constitutional development from 1776 to present.
Prerequisites: HIST 1111 and HIST 1112
HIST 3311 Constitutional History of the United States, 1901 to the Present. (3) on demand
An analysis of fundamental constitutional development from 1901 to the present.
HIST 3315 Georgia History. (3) on demand
A study of Georgia History from the pre-colonial period to the present, with emphasis on the historical, social, economic, and political development of the State.
HIST 3317 Colonial America. (3) on demand
This course examines the colonial history of British North America during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
HIST 3319 Nineteenth-Century America. (3) on demand
This course examines the history of the United States over the course of the 1800s, tracing its developments from a fledgling nation, through internal divisions, to its rise as an industrial world power. Themes may include race, gender, Jeffersonian republicanism, popular democracy, territory and war, the frontier, expansion and imperialism, and industrialization.
HIST 3320 The Renaissance and the Reformation, 1350-1600. (3) Fall
This course offers a detailed study of the civilization of Renaissance and Reformation Europe. Primary focus is on the artistic and religious achievements of the period 1350 to 1600.
HIST 3330 The Medieval Church and Papacy. (3) Spring
This course examines the institutional and cultural history of the medieval church, with special emphasis on the role of the papacy and its impact on medieval civilization.
HIST 3332 Comparative Colonization and Slavery. (3) on demand
This course offers a comparative examination of colonial contact in the Americas, including the interaction of Europeans, natives, and Africans within the French, Spanish, and British empires of the New World.
HIST 3341 Russia to 1856. (3) Fall
A comprehensive survey of the Russian historical development from the appearance of the Kievan State in the 9th century through the Crimean War.
HIST 3342 Russia, 1856 to the Present. (3) Spring
An examination of the Imperial Russian state.
HIST 3350 Renaissance and Renascences. (3) Spring
An examination of the great cultural revivals from the age of Charlemagne to the age of Michelangelo.
HIST 3361 History of England to 1689. (3) Fall
A political, economic, social, and cultural history of England from 55 B.C. to 1689.
HIST 3362 History of England, 1689 to the Present. (3) Spring
A political, economic, social, and cultural history of England from 1689 to the present.
HIST 3372 Europe, 1660-1870. (3) Fall
A comprehensive survey of European history from the reign of Louis XIV through the rise of the modern German state in 1870.
HIST 3374 Europe, 1870 to the Present. (3) Spring
A comprehensive survey of European history from the Bismarckian Era to the present.
HIST 3378 European Diplomatic History, 1890 to the Present. (3) on demand
A detailed examination of European international relations from 1890, the end of the Bismarkian system, to the present.
HIST 3380 History of China. (3) on demand
This course is a survey of Chinese history from the earliest historic periods to the close of the twentieth century and will cover a variety of topics throughout multiple periods in Chinese history including philosophies of Confucianism, Legalism, Daoism, and Buddhism, Chinese statecraft, political and economic history, the intersections of society and commerce, gender, technology, agriculture, institutional history, diplomacy, and trends in Anglophone China historiography.
HIST 3382 History of Korea. (3) on demand
This course provides an overview of the contending histories of Korean politics, thought, religion, and culture from legendary origins to contemporary states and societies. Course readings place a strong emphasis on historical sources in English translation.
HIST 3416 Twentieth-Century America. (3) on demand
An intensive study of the United States during the twentieth century.
HIST 3500 Military History Studies: Special Topics. (3) on demand
Military History Studies topics course offers students the opportunity to study not just warfare, its battlefield tactics and strategy, but the social, economic and political forces that shaped the specific conflict being examined. The courses seeks to encourage students to consider the human equation in all its complexity through a careful analysis of the specific conflict and its historical significance. Also offered as HIST 2500 for credit towards the Military History minor.
HIST 4485 Internship in Public History. (1-6) on demand
This course allows students practical experience in the field of public history. Internships consist of a minimum of 120 hours (per 3 credits) of work in areas such as archival management, historical editing and publication, exhibit design, historical tourism, and collections processing. May be repeated for a maximum of six (6) credits, but only three (3) credit hours may apply to the major requirements.
HIST 4486 National History Day Service Seminar. (3) on demand
This service seminar combines a focused study of applied public history with service ‘in the field.’ Students will actively engage in public history by providing mentoring services to middle and high school students through the National History Day Program.
HIST 4490 Senior History Seminar. (3) Spring
A study of historiography and research methods and materials.
Prerequisites: Senior History Major or permission of the professor and the Chair of the Department. This course may be attempted only twice.
HIST 4499 Special Topics. (3) on demand
A course offered at the junior/senior level, focusing on a specialized topic in the field of history.
Majors and Minors
Major Minor
B.A. in History Minor in History