HIST - History

An overview of history requirements, expectations, methods, resources, and opportunities within the context of the overall college experience. This course does not count toward the total hours required for graduation.

A survey of World History to early modern times.

This course was previously listed as HIST 1131 World Civilization and Society I.  Students may not earn credit for both HIST 1111 and HIST 1131.

A survey of the history of the world from the eighteenth century to the present.

This course was previously listed as HIST 1132 World Civilization and Society II.  Students may not earn credit for both HIST 1112 and HIST 1132.

A survey of the history of the world from the beginnings down to the eighteenth century. HIST 1131 and 1132 need not be taken in numerical order but cannot be taken concurrently.

Effective Fall 2024, this course will be replaced by HIST 1111 World Civilization and Society I. HIST 1111 will automatically fulfill any requirement that previously required HIST 1131. Students may not earn credit for both HIST 1111 and HIST 1131.

A survey of the history of the world from the eighteenth century to the present. HIST 1131 and 1132 need not be taken in numerical order but cannot be taken concurrently.

Effective Fall 2024, this course will be replaced by HIST 1112 World Civilization and Society II. HIST 1112 will automatically fulfill any requirement that previously required HIST 1132. Students may not earn credit for both HIST 1112 and HIST 1132.

A general study of American history from early exploration through Reconstruction. Required of majors, who should take it before taking more advanced courses in American history. Satisfies the legislative requirement in U.S. and Georgia history.

A general study of American history from Reconstruction to the present. Required of majors, who should take it before taking more advanced courses in American history. Satisfies the legislative requirement in U.S. and Georgia history.

Prerequisite: Sophomore or higher standing and admission to University Honors Program. A general interdepartmental seminar.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A study focusing on the methods of historical research in both primary and secondary sources and the skills necessary to organize and write effective research papers.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 ,1132. The history of women in modern society, with special emphasis on the changes in the role of women accompanying the transition to industrial societies in the United States and England. (Cross-listed as WMST 3010.)

A study of the African-American experience from enslavement in Africa until the end of Reconstruction. Major themes will include: the creation of African American identity, black resistance, white oppression, the impact of gender on the black historical experience, African American cultural expression, and black community life in both slave and free communities. This course is non-repeatable.

A study of the African-American experience from the end of Reconstruction until the present. The topics covered will include: African-American political activism, economic and labor struggles, and cultural and intellectual life. This course is non-repeatable.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A survey of the history of England from earliest times to the Restoration.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. The history of England from the Restoration to the present.

This course is a unique study away course that gives students in-class learning and real-world experiences during the annual spring break. Students will learn about various ethnic groups that comprise the population of the American South through a historical approach that utilizes foodways concepts. Combined with an academic approach, students will participate in hands-on activities in a teaching kitchen and during a week-long field experience in places like Savannah and Sapelo Island.

Introduction to Global Food Studies is a course that provides students with the knowledge and skill to examine the role, and importance, of food in historical and contemporary settings. Using a global perspective, this class examines the complex ways food has influenced human history. The class focuses on both the large-scale patterns as well as the more intimate ways that we experience food in our daily lives. Some of the major questions posed in this class are: How has food, or the lack of it, influenced human history; How is it produced and distributed?; Who produces the food and who controls it?; How can you use food to understand the changes in a society over time?; How does food create meaning and identity?; what is the impact of environment and weather on what we eat; and how is culture influence or represented by foodways.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A historical survey of America during its formative period. Emphasis is placed on the change from colonies to mature provinces.

A survey of slavery in the United States from its origins until its demise with a particular emphasis on slave culture and the slave community.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. An examination of basic factors in Southern life such as the agrarian economy and racial dualism.

This course will examine the prominent place religion has occupied in the region’s history. It will involve an in-depth analysis of religion’s role in shaping the region’s most significant historical moments, from its pre-colonial beginnings to the dawning of the twenty-first century, with a particular emphasis on issues of race, gender, and class as reflected in and influenced by these religious developments.

This course will address issues relating to gender ideals, conventions, and prevailing social norms by examining the South’s history through a gendered analytical lens. It will involve an in-depth analysis of gender’s role in shaping the region’s most significant historical moments, from its pre-colonial beginnings to the dawning of the twenty-first century.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. Economic, social and political developments in the South from the end of Reconstruction to the present.

Prerequisite: HIST 2112. A study of the U.S. politically, economically, socially, culturally, and diplomatically in the period between World War I and World War II.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course examines the social, political, economic, and environmental issues that arose in the second half of the twentieth century.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course investigates the different cultures and civilizations on the Asian continent from antiquity to 1500, including their interactions with one another and the wider world.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course considers cultures and civilizations on the Asian continent from 1500 to the present, focusing on their interrelations with one another and the wider world.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132 This course surveys the rise and decline of Spanish and Portuguese imperial systems in the Americas from the sixteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course surveys the history of modern Latin America from the early nineteenth century to the present.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A survey of the significant developments in establishment and growth of various ancient civilizations and cultures including economic, social, political changes from the pre-historic period until 500 C.E.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This class will explore oral history as a form of cultural documentation, a way of preserving local knowledge about the past, a means of opening up discussion of a community’s history and values, and a gift of public voice to those from whom we seldom hear.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. An introduction to a methodology of exploring regional history by focusing on the history of the Milledgeville-Oconee River area.

This course offers a historical and cultural interpretation of coffee. Together, we will trace the history of coffee from its origins in Ethiopia to its global popularity as a speciality drink. We'll examine the role of coffee as an agent of change and its evolution as an economic commodity. We will study the basics of coffee production in Latin America, Africa, and Asia as well as its impact on globalization, farmers, and the environment. Along the way, we'll learn different brewing techniques, flavor profiles, and coffee rituals around the world. Finally, we will discuss how to support local roasters and make conscious choices when purchasing coffee.

This course focuses on contested perspectives on alcohol production, consumption, and associated cultural meanings and social movements from the advent of sectional animosity in 1820 through the end of Reconstruction to 1880. Students will examine issues of race and ethnicity, class, gender, and religion as seen through these competing perspectives and perceptions of alcohol's place in American society and culture.

This course focuses on the ways that barbecue simultaneously reinforced and undermined the South's racial hierarchy and prejudicial cultural ideals rooted in white supremacy. Students will analyze the ways that barbecue functioned in the antebellum, wartime, and post-bellum periods.

This course focuses on patterns of food production, consumption, and associated cultural meanings in shaping sectional identity and animosity in the United States from 1820 through the postwar Reconstruction period to 1880. Students will analyze the ways in which food became a battleground for the larger social, cultural, and political debates and conflicts of the era.

This upper-division course is intended to be an in-depth analysis of the history of Jewish foodways from pre-Biblical times to the present. We will examine kosher law, famine, ethical vegetarianism, poverty food, alcohol, ceremonial meals, and other topics related to the experiences of Jews and Jewish culinary culture. No prior knowledge of Jewish history or food is assumed, but students are expected, upon completing the course, to be able to present critical analyses of both the general course of Jewish history and the role of food in relation to it, using a variety of primary and secondary sources.

This course examines the Salem Witch Trials as an historical event from multiple angles, considering the roles that economics, gender, politics, religion, warfare, and other factors played in causing this infamous event. We will also examine the witch trials in their larger historical context, including witch trials in Europe and the colonies; the larger New England cultural landscape; and the particular religious context in which the actors in the witch trials operated. In addition to these broader themes, we will pay close attention to select individuals and groups, trying to better understand their world and why they made decisions and acted in ways that seem strange to us today.

This course will focus upon the contentious creation and evolution of the collective memories of the U.S. Civil War from the wartime beginnings of such remembrances through the postwar Reconstruction Era and the Jim Crow Era. Throughout, we will discuss the ways in which this history of Civil War memory reverberates through contemporary debates on issues of race and region.

This course will focus upon the contentious creation and evolution of the collective memories of the U.S. Civil War as reflected in and inflected by film. We will examine the dynamic and evolving ways in which these competing and contested memories of the Civil War Era in popular culture shaped Civil War themed films as well as the way that these films influenced prevailing memories.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A study of theory and practice of historic preservation including background survey of historic architecture.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of the field of public history emphasizing three major areas: museums, archives, and historic preservation.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A study of archival concepts and functions, as well as the nature of archives and their role within organizations and society.

The study of how humans and nature have interacted over time. Examines the ways that the natural landscape has shaped human societies and has been transformed by developing human civilizations. Global, regional, and local histories detail environmental changes due to shifting socio-economic forces. Also presents the development of the American conservation movement and its modern expressions.

An introduction to different types of museums/historical organizations, standards to which museum professionals adhere, and the basic functions and operations of museums including collections management, conservation, education, exhibition.

An introduction to the research and design of interpretations for various types of public historic sites.

This course explores the integration of Latin American and US Southern foodways. Using food and food production as a framework, the class will also explore the influence of migrant communities, farmworkers, food insecurities, gender roles and cultural identities on local and regional cuisines. Students will participate in multiple field trips and/or culinary experiences, and learn from regional scholars and chefs about the complex networks of food systems that over time have shaped this emerging food culture.

Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1825) said "tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are." What he meant by this statement is that food—more largely interpreted as what is eaten, who eats it, who cooks it, how it is prepared, where it is eaten, and why it is eaten—provides an historic and culture image of a specific area of the world and a distinct, but also diverse, group of people who share many cultural traits. This course utilizes this concept and examines the culture, history, and traditions of the American South using food as a lens.

This course explores the food culture of Mesoamerican peoples, including the Olmecs, Aztecs, and Maya. Through lectures, readings, and hands-on activities, we will explore the symbolic ingredients of corn, beans, chili peppers, chocolate, and mescal. Using the lens of food and agriculture, we will also discuss gender roles, household economies, religious practices, political structures, war and conquest, and the material culture of daily life in the ancient Mesoamerican world.

This course explores the significant role of food in Mexican national and regional identities. Beginning with ancient Mesoamerican societies, the class traces the evolution of cuisines used for feasts and celebrations through Spanish colonialism, independence, and the Mexican Revolution to modern examples influenced by migration and global food systems. Students will have many opportunities for hands-on experiences and tastings to supplement the lectures and readings.

This course examines the Mediterranean World through food traditions with an emphasis on the Italy-Greece region and the sea itself as the most important geographic features. Using foodways, along with historical research, students will come to understand how technology and innovation in the production of food crops, migration patterns, warfare, empire building, the Renaissance era, religion, modernization, weather, and cross-cultural exchanges contributed to today’s unique, and varied, Mediterranean food culture.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course considers worldwide changes in economic organization, technology, society, culture, and politics since the First Industrial Revolution (1760-1830), focusing on how these changes are related to one another.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will survey the major social, political, economic, and religious trends and developments in ancient Egypt from the pre-historic period through the Roman conquest.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. Greece and the Aegean through Alexander the Great, with emphasis on political, social and cultural history.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. Rome from its origins until the Empire became Christian, with emphasis on political, social and cultural history.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will survey Crusader movements beginning in the eleventh century and continuing through the Crusades of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Attention will be paid to the development of the Latin Kingdoms, to cross-cultural exchanges and influences and to the impact of the Crusades on the modern world.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. Europe from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance. The Byzantine and Islamic Empires are also considered.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will survey the social, political, legal, economic, and religious roles of women in various western and non-western cultures from prehistory through 1500 C.E. Students will survey important historigraphical and other theses relating to women's issues and methods for analyzing cross-disciplinary resources.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will examine in depth the society, culture and politics of Europe from the end of the medieval period to the end of the eighteenth century. The approach will be thematic, focusing on subjects such as economy and society, political and scientific revolutions, the role of gender, and political thought. This course proposes not merely a narration of the events of European history, but also an in-depth exposure to primary sources.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. An examination of relationships between men and women in pre-industrial society and the impact of social and religious change on women's lives.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will look at both monarchs and those they ruled from the height of the religious wars to the eve of the French Revolution. We will be especially focusing on the development of the modern state and society and the intellectual revolution that is known as the Enlightenment.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. Europe from 1789 to 1815, emphasizing the role of France in the events of the period.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. This course will addresses the history of Europe from the Napoleonic era to the end of the nineteenth century. It will be organized around three themes and main readings: Revolution and Restoration, Liberalism & National Unification and Modernity.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course considers important political, socioeconomic, and cultural changes in Europe since the French Revolution.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course analyzes key issues in contemporary French history from the Napoleonic era to the present. Particular attention will be placed on the interplay between political, social and cultural developments.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course focuses on the emergence of a modern German nation-state, its role in World War One and the Holocaust, the impact of Germany’s postwar division and the Cold War, reasons behind German unification in 1990, and Germany’s role in today’s world.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course considers important political, socioeconomic, and cultural changes in Russia from late imperial times to the end of the millennium, focusing in particular on the rise and fall of the Soviet Union.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of the major trends in philosophy, literature, social and political thought, and the arts in Europe from antiquity through the Reformation era. Attention will be paid to the cross-cultural influences on European thought.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of the major trends in philosophy, literature, social and political thought, and the arts in Europe from the Reformation to the present. Attention will be paid to the cross-cultural influences on European thought.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A study of the transition of England from small island-nation to major power during the sixteenth century.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A study of English history during the age of transition to Parliamentary government and the Scientific Revolution.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. An analysis of forces contributing to the development of contemporary British civilization.

Prerequisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A study of the nature and structure of modern English society, with an emphasis on the changes which accompanied the move to an industrial society.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of the development of Celtic civilization focusing primarily on the fringe areas of the British Isles, but including overseas experiences.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A study of the origins and development of the British Empire and its evolution into the British Commonwealth of Nations.

Pre-requisites: HIST 1131 or HIST 1132. A study of the historical significance of religion in shaping American society and culture.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. Major trends and events from the Indian background to the present.

This upper-division course surveys the history of Eastern Europe from the eighteenth century to the post-communist era. It examines the evolution of multinational empires (Russian, Habsburg, Ottoman, and German) that defined the region. It addresses the rise of nationalism as a modern ideology and the challenges it posed to such empires on the eve of World War I. The course then highlights nationalism's contribution to two world wars and the Holocaust and concludes with problems nationalism poses to the region since the fall of communism.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of America during its formative period. Emphasis is placed on the national and comparative perspectives of the Revolution.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. The United States from adoption of the Constitution to the death of Jefferson. Major themes include origins of political parties, evolution of foreign policy, and westward expansion.

Prerequisite: HIST 2111. A study of the major events, figures, and political struggles during the Jackson period from the 1820s until the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. The course will not only examine traditional history-politics, diplomacy, and wars-but also social, cultural, economic, and demographic patterns and trends as well as the lives of the average American, male and female, slaves, and Native Americans.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. The background of the war, followed by a detailed examination of the conflict between 1861 and 1865.

Prerequisite: HIST 2112. A study of the United States politically, economically, socially, culturally, and diplomatically from Reconstruction to World War I.

Prerequisite: HIST 2111 or HIST 2112. This is a course in the cultural history of the African diaspora, the construction of the Atlantic World, and the ways in which music was an important carrier and repository of the culture of peoples of African descent. Through music, lectures, film, and readings, we will explore the impact of the transatlantic slave trade through sound, and the ways in which the victims of this historical trauma reimagined and remade communal identities, and the ways this sociohistorical process has shaped diasporic cultures to the present day.

An overview of the experience of African-Americans during the era of de jure segregation in the United States South. The course will also broach the topic of segregation in the north and continued patterns of de facto segregation in the post-civil rights era. This course is non-repeatable.

An examination of the major figures, organizations, campaigns, and ideological debates associated with the Civil Rights and Black Power era of the 1950’s-1970’s.

A comparative study of the thought and work of major African-American writers, intellectuals, artists, and musicians with a particular emphasis on the protest tradition apparent in black intellectual and cultural life.

Prerequisite: HIST 2111 or HIST 2112. This course explores themes in American history through the lens of social photography and non-fiction film. Through lectures, readings, photographs, and seminal documentary films, students will learn visual literacy, and the historiographic interpretation and application of photos and films as "texts" in historical research and writing. These historical methods will be contextualized against the backdrop of political, economic, social, and technological changes over time and in specific historical time periods.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. An examination of American cities from the pre-Revolutionary period to the present day.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course investigates how the United States has gained the reputation for being the most violent nation in the industrialized world.

Prerequisite: HIST 2111 or 2112. This course provides an overview of the impact of the automobile on American history and culture in the past one hundred years.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This is a survey of the relationship between the United States and Latin American countries from the early nineteenth century to the present day.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A survey of the interaction between Europeans and Latin American peoples from the discovery and conquest in the sixteenth century to the end of colonization in the early nineteenth century. The course will also focus on the impact of Latin America on European society.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. A study of the history of the modern Middle East, with some attention to the historic background and to adjacent areas. Special attention is given to the twentieth century.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course considers important political, socioeconomic, and cultural changes in China from about 1600 to the present.

This class will introduce the Islamic cultures of South, South East Asia and the Middle East from its early history to contemporary times. It will provide an in-depth understanding of the Islamic art, architecture and music in the history of the modern world; and the relationship within the various Muslim communities and their interaction with the non-Muslim world.

This upper-division course is intended to be an in-depth analysis of the history of women and gender in China from the Han dynasty onwards. We will examine footbinding, sexuality, gender identity, motherhood, women’s rights, ethnicity, gender discrimination, power, marriage, and other topics related to the experiences of women in China. No prior knowledge of Chinese history is assumed, but students are expected, upon completing the course, to be able to present critical analyses of the role of women in Chinese culture and history.

Constructing the "Orient" introduces the diverse cultures of South and East Asian history from the early modern times to the present, with a focus on the modern period. This course examines the politics and aesthetics of representation in Asian history. The course is organized around three units, divided chronologically and thematically. Travelers accounts, the Worlds of the Indian Ocean, Colonial encounters.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This is a survey of Mexican history from the end of the colonial period in the early nineteenth century until the present day.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course studies the origins and development of the wars of independence throughout mainland Spanish America from the late eighteenth to the early nineteenth centuries.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. This course examines the modern history of the Caribbean from the early nineteenth century to the present day.

This course is an introduction to teaching history. Through practice, observation, reading, and discussion, students will become familiar with a range of techniques and styles of teaching. Class meetings will also provide an open forum for students to share ongoing experiences and concerns regarding both the classroom and the role of teaching in the historical profession. Each class meeting will focus on a specific aspect of teaching history, including leading discussion, lecturing, responding to student writing, and practical aspects of attaining a teaching position. At the end of the course, students will have the opportunity to reflect on their experiences and to begin assembling a teaching portfolio.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132 and approval of chairperson of department. Independent reading and reports arranged by the instructor according to the individual student's preparation, background, and needs.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132. Consideration of topics in which courses are not offered otherwise, but for which there is current need. Subject matter varies.

Prerequisite: HIST 1131 or 1132 and selection for participation in a University-approved Internship program. An individually designed off-campus course involving study, research and/or work in a government agency or business organization.

Prerequisites: HIST 3001 with grade of C or better, submission of a prospectus to the department (contact the History and Geography department or your advisor for instructions), and approval of the department. This course will be taken during the first or second semester of the student's senior year in conjunction with an appropriate upper division course. This course is designed to offer the student an opportunity to investigate a historical question, developed in close consultation with the course instructor. Special attention will be devoted to refining the student's writing skills and to integrating knowledge from previous courses.

Pre-requisites: HIST 3110 and approval by Department Chair and Graduate Coordinator for History.