History
- HIST 1001Amer Civ to 1865This course considers the development of the Americas and the United States from the pre-Columbian era to the Civil War, with emphasis on the ideas and institutions that shaped U.S. Americans' experiences. Students will work with primary sources and additional materials to deepen understanding of the relationship between the U.S. and the world. Assignments further develop students' written communication skills. This course fulfills the American History and Government general education requirement.
- HIST 1002Amer Civ 1865 To PresThis course examines the development of the modern United States from Reconstruction through the present. It considers the ideas, institutions, economic and social changes that shaped Americans' experiences. Students work with primary sources and additional materials to deepen understanding of the relationship between the U.S. and the world. The course further develops students' written communication skills. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
- HIST 1007African and African Am StudiesThis course draws from history, literature, sociology, art, and economics to survey the impact of African migrations on the Americas. It highlights the movements, conditions, and experiences that have shaped the development of African American history, culture, and society. This course fulfills American History and Government General Education Requirement.
- HIST 1020St. Louis People Place FoodIn this course, students will explore the history of St. Louis's many residents and immigrants, it neighborhoods, cultural foodways, and political and race relations in the past to understand the region in the present. The class features community based learning through several field trips to historic sites, museums, neighborhoods, and restaurants, in addition to student completion of a digital storytelling project.
- HIST 1030Ancient Greece and RomeThis course surveys the history of ancient Greece and Rome in the context of the larger Mediterranean world. Topics may include politics and economy, war and society, and culture. The chronological span is from the establishment of the Minoan and Mycenaean civilizations (2000-1500 BCE) to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century CE.
- HIST 1034Intro Ancient Egypt CivilizatiSame as ANTHRO 1034. This course will survey ancient Egyptian history and culture from predynastic times to Greco-Roman rule, roughly 3000 BCE to 30 BCE. Students will discuss archaeological sites, mummification, religion, architecture, texts, and more. Through comparing ancient Egyptian culture with our own, students will explore what has changed in the world and what has endured for millennia.
- HIST 1037Wndrs Greece:Intro Grk Hst&CulSame as ANTHRO 1037. Our democracy and culture have been heavily influenced by Greek civilization. This course will introduce students to the culture and civilization of Greece in order to provide a better understanding of our own society. The course will cover the political and military history, art, literature, philosophy, and science of Greece from prehistoric to modern times, with special emphasis on Greek civilization's enduring democratic and cultural ideals. The course will include screening of films and use of online resources.
- HIST 1040Sex and GenderSame as ANTHRO 1041. This course considers womanhood, manhood, third genders, and sexuality in a broad cross-cultural perspective. It examines gender roles and sexuality within the broader cultural contexts of ritual and symbolism, family, marriage and kinship, economy, politics, and public life. This course will help students understand the cultural logics that separate females, males, and sometimes third genders into different groups in different societies. It also satisfies the Cultural Diversity Requirement.
- HIST 1062Modern AfricaThis course uses film, fiction, music, and historical sources to explore the history of twentieth century Africa, focusing on African experiences of the colonial and postcolonial periods. This course fulfills the Cultural Diversity Requirement.
- HIST 1076World History Since 1500A survey of the history of humankind since 1500, emphasizing the growing interdependency of regional economic, political, and social systems. Topics will include imperialism, industrialization, and globalization.
- HIST 1999Big HistorySame as INTDSC 1999. An introduction to the humanities, social science, and science disciplines through a sweeping overview of natural and human history from the Big Bang to the present. Course will include lectures from faculty in various Arts and Sciences units, films, and group discussions.
- HIST 2000Selected Topics in HistoryThis course covers various special topics in history to be determined by the field, availability of instructors and interest of students. The course may be repeated for credit with the consent of the instructor.
- HIST 2002Intro to Latinx StudiesThis course introduces the experiences and conditions of U.S. Latinx of Caribbean, Latin American, and, especially, Mexican descent. Students will examine how people from Hispanic- and Indo-America are both incorporated into American culture, history, and occupational life and often marginalized as either outsiders or foreigners. The course studies how historical forces push and pull people from Latin America to the United States, where they create new U.S. ethnic, racial and local identities. Using films, novels/memoirs, music, and art as windows, students will identify patterns of identity formation, ethnic culture, community politics, labor struggles, and social mobility, and will map the heterogeneous mosaic of Latin American and Caribbean migrations and communities. This course fulfills the Cultural Diversity requirement.
- HIST 2004Civil War EraPrerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent of instructor. This course examines one of the most significant experiences in U.S. history across three chronological units: American slavery and debates over it; historical explanations for U.S. slavery's demise; and the broader meaning and legacies of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Students will pay particular attention to Civil War St. Louis. This is a hands-on course with field trips and community engagement. This course fulfills the University's general education American history and government requirement.
- HIST 2021War and ViolenceSame as MVS 2021. Prerequisites: Sophomore standing or consent of the instructor. This course examines the connections between warfare and resistance, gangs and poverty, and state and non-state officials as enactors of violence. It explores the effects of war and violence on the poor in Brazil and the United States, prisoners of war in Asia, and resistance fighters in Latin America and northern Africa. Students will watch films/short videos, read academic and newspaper articles, and listen to short podcasts to grapple with the issues underlying structures of violence.
- HIST 2025U.S. Foreign RelationsSame as MVS 2025. This course surveys the development of American land, sea, air, space, and cyber power from the start of the colonial era to the present, with an emphasis on the interrelationship between U.S. foreign and military policies and between diplomacy and force.
- HIST 2050Museums and MonumentsThis course introduces students to the foundations, theory, and practice of public history, which is the study of whose history is preserved, remembered, and celebrated in American society. It explores how everyday people engage with history, the diverse venues in which history is presented and produced, and the efforts public historians must make in order to respectfully represent the histories of underrepresented groups. Students will acquire knowledge about the practices of public history and its professional opportunities, as well as the challenges faced by public historians today.
- HIST 2101Hot Topics in HistoryIn this course students examine a current issue in the news from an historical perspective. Topics vary each semester. It may be repeated as the topic changes.
- HIST 2102Introduction to Gender StudiesSame as GS 2102, SOC WK 2102, POL SCI 2102, and SOC 2102. This core class is required for all Gender Studies Certificate earners. This class introduces students to cultural, political and historical issues that shape gender. Through a variety of disciplinary perspectives in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, the course familiarizes students with diverse female and male experiences and gendered power relationships.
- HIST 2112Democracy, Freedom, EqualityThis course uses historical game simulations built around key moments and texts from the past that explore issues of democracy, freedom, and equality in the U.S. In each simulation, students are assigned a role and develop their character for game sessions. The course offers students a rigorous academic experience in which they conduct historical research, work collaboratively, speak, and write extensively. The course may be repeated for credit once provided that the topic is substantially different. This course fulfills the American History and Government general education requirement.
- HIST 2219Working Peoples' HistoryThis course examines the evolution of work and workers in the United States since the Early American Colonial period. The course traces the transformation from an agrarian, to an industrial, to a technological age with an emphasis on the changing demands that the workforce and society faced. This course explores the evolution of class culture in the United States with an emphasis on the political and economic conditions and how labor strategically responded to those evolving forces. Students will come to understand how when social change occurs there is impact on the workforce and workers.
- HIST 2430Ghosts, Goblins, and GodzillasThis course explores the spirits, ghouls, and animal tricksters who populate the historic and modern Japanese imagination. Students will learn about the supernatural beings, and the exceptional humans who interact with or control them, who are found in centuries of Japanese religion, folklore, literature, and art, and are also frequent themes in modern art, film, anime and manga. This course satisfies the Cultural Diversity requirement.
- HIST 3000Special Topics in HistoryPrerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor. This course covers various special topics in history to be determined by the field, availability of instructors and interest of students. The course may be repeated for credit with the consent of the instructor.
- HIST 3041Topics Amer Const HistSame as POL SCI 3041. Prerequisite: Junior standing or consent of instructor. Origins and development of the principal institutions and ideas of the American constitutional systems; the role of the Constitution and the Supreme Court in the growth of the nation; important Supreme Court decisions; great American jurists and their impact upon the law; historical background to current constitutional issues.
- HIST 3093Europe 1950 - PresentPrerequisites: Junior standing or consent of instructor. This course surveys the main social, economic, political, military, and cultural trends in Europe from the end of World War II. Topics may include the postwar settlement, the development of the social welfare state, the establishment, development, and collapse of communism, and the various phases of the European Union.
- HIST 3199Intro to Historical InquiryPrerequisites: ENGL 3100 (may be taken concurrently). This course is designed to develop historical thinking and research skills. Students will read historical sources, exploring the rhetoric of history, identifying perspectives in historical sources, and the process of formulating historical questions, and building research plans. Other topics covered may include proper citation procedures and historiography. The course is writing intensive and will involve primary source research at libraries and archives.
- HIST 3901Capitalism in American HistorySame as POL SCI 3901. This course offers students the opportunity to approach America's political economy with tools different from those offered by more quantitative economic constructs. Students will analyze market processes through a three dimensional approach that focuses not just on market competition but also on relationships of command; the exercise of power in firms, among nations, and between social groups; and on processes of historical change from the late colonial era through the twentieth century.
- HIST 3999InternshipPrerequisites: Consent of supervising instructor and institution offering the internship. This supervised practicum in a museum, historical agency, or other institution offers an opportunity for hands-on experience in public history. Contact the History Department undergraduate advisor for information on arranging an internship.
- HIST 4001Special ReadingsPrerequisite: Consent of the instructor. Independent study through readings, reports and conferences.
- HIST 4142Inquiries in U.S. HistoryPrerequisites: HIST 3199. This course will develop historical thinking and writing skills through investigation in topics in National History.
- HIST 4143Inq in World HistoryPrerequisites: HIST 3199. This course will develop historical thinking and writing skills through investigation in topics in World History.
- HIST 5142Adv Inq in U.S. HistoryPrerequisite: Graduate standing. This course will develop historical thinking and writing skills through investigation in topics in United States history.
- HIST 5143Adv Inq in World HistPrerequisite: Graduate standing. This course will develop historical thinking and writing skills through investigation in topics in World history.
- HIST 6000The Historian's CraftPrerequisites: Graduate standing. This course will introduce incoming students to graduate work, both in the field of history generally and to the M.A. program at UM-St. Louis in particular. It will familiarize them with the fields of historical study and the UMSL faculty who teach them, protocols of the profession, and methodologies of historical research, writing, and analysis. It will also help students learn about and prepare for careers outside the academy and/or Ph.D. programs in the field. Students may be required to attend colloquia off campus.
- HIST 6001Intro to Pub Hstry&Cltrl HrtgePrerequisites: Graduate standing or consent of instructor. This seminar will introduce students to the theory and practice of public history and cultural heritage. Readings will acquaint students with these fields of study and offer commentary on a variety of strategies for making the past relevant for contemporary audiences.
- HIST 6121Directed ReadingsPrerequisites: Consent of a member of the Doctoral Faculty. Directed research at the graduate level.
- HIST 6122Collaborative ResearchPrerequisites: Graduate Standing and consent of instructor. Faculty-student collaboration on a research project designed to lead toward the publication of a jointly-authored article. The faculty member will direct the research.
- HIST 6123Thesis SeminarPrerequisites: Graduate standing and consent of instructor. Thesis research and writing on a selected topic in history.
- HIST 6124Graduate InternshipPrerequisites: Consent of supervising instructor and institution offering the internship. Supervised practicum in a museum, historical agency, and other instituion offering an opportunity for hands-on experience in public history.
- HIST 6131Museum Origins and EvolutionPrerequisites: Consent of Director of Museum Studies Program. This course traces the social and cultural history of museums from their origins in curiosity cabinets, princely collections, freak shows, and exhibitions, through their late 19th and early 20th century institutionalization, to present-day developments such as blockbuster exhibitions, community collaborations, masterpiece architecture, and the spread of museal and heritage institutions around the globe. Topics include colonialism, modernity, and the production of taxonomical knowledge; museums and nationalism; theories of culture, patrimony, and ownership; manufacture, marketing, and museums; the relationships between museums and academia; identity politics and culture wars; community-based initiatives; and virtual and digital museum spaces.
- HIST 6138Museum Studies CapstonePrerequisites: Consent of Director of Museum Studies Program. This course serves as a degree-culminating experience, as students will choose to either complete an internship or an exit project. It will support students as they fulfill this degree requirement and in preparing their portfolio and job-seeking materials as they seek post-graduation placement.
- HIST 6143Rdgs in World HistPrerequisite: Graduate Standing. Directed readings and writing on selected topics and areas in World History.
- HIST 6491Appraisal and Archival SystemsPrerequisites: Graduate Standing or consent of the instructor. The course explores the core archival activity of appraisal through discussion of appraisal theory, documentation strategies, and microappraisal applications. Students learn strategies for collection preservation and access using ArchiveSpace, and relate the records continuum and lifecycle theories to the archival mission.