|
Spring 2008 HH104 - American Naval History - This course examines the antecedents, origins, and development of the United states navy and Marine Corps within the frameworks of America's growth as a continental and, eventually, global power, with particular emphasis on the development of Naval and maritime strategy. HH215 - The West in a Global Context - Origins through the Enlightenment - Analyzes the historical evolution of ethical thought and its impact upon European society and culture from Antiquity to the Enlightenment. The course sets the evolution of Western values in a larger, comparative context of world religions and values. By studying the cultural expressions of Western Ethical concerns, ideals and aspirations in light of other civilizations, this course broadens knowledge of the West's global context and cultivates the development of critical thinking about human beings and their societies. HH215 examines the critical moral and political choices made by societies and individuals through the ages in order to illuminate and deepen the student's understanding of the competing values, institutions and challenges of the modern West. HH215P - The West in a Global Context - Analyzes the historical evolution of ethical thought and its impact upon European politics and culture from the Classical Age to the Enlightenment. Given that a society's culture expresses the ethical concerns, ideals and aspirations of its members, this course approaches the development of Western civilization to 1776 through a study of its ideas and institutions. By studying the critical moral and practical choices made by societies and individuals through the ages, this course examines the ethical legacy of the past in order to illuminate and deepen the student's understanding of the values and institutions of contemporary Western society. HH216 - The West in the Modern World - Focusing chiefly on the period from the 18th century to the present, this course analyzes the most significant political, social, intellectual and economic trends that have shaped contemporary societies. HH216 examines the global impact of European and American cultures over the past three centuries and explores the most important reactions to modernity in both Western and non-Western societies. In doing so, the course situates the West in a global context and prepares students to think critically and comparatively about a changing world. HH262B - Interwar Germany - The purpose of the course is to introduce midshipmen to the history major at the U.S. Naval Academy. Midshipmen will become familiar with the basic methodology of historical research and writing, and especially with historiography, or the interpretive approaches of scholars to historical questions and problems through time. Fundamental is the development of the technical skills required for research and writing on an advanced level. Through case-studies on specific events or problems in the history of Germany between the world wars, midshipmen will evaluate secondary and primary sources critically, discriminate between interpretive strategies, and make informed judgements regarding the merits of different analyses. The course also aims to sharpen their ability to think analytically and write clearly. HH262C - The Early Cold War: Foreign Policies of Truman - HH262, "Perspectives on History," is a course designed to help History majors develop skills in the areas of critical analysis, synthesis, and communication. In pursuit of these objectives, the course calls upon students to do significant amounts of reading, writing, speaking, and in-depth research. This section of HH262 examines the early years of the Cold War, during the presidency of Harry S. Truman: 1945-1953. Hence an additional objective for the course is that students become familiar with some of the most important issues, events, and individuals during this critical period in our nation's history. The principal assignment for students will be to research and write a paper of 15 to 20 pages in length (plus notes and bibliography), using both primary and secondary sources. They gather, evaluate, and organize evidence, and develop a thesis supported by that evidence. In the process, they confront the raw materials on which historians base their interpretations. Students also contend with conflicting interpretations among established scholars, and among their classmates, about how and why the past unfolded as it did. Other assignments include a book review as well as short papers based on specific research assignments, on Graham Greene's The Quiet American, and on Frederick Jackson Turner's "frontier thesis." HH262D - History of Religion - This course is designed as an introduction to the modern, academic, secular study of religion through the examination and comparison of concepts and themes central to human cultures. Students will focus primarily on examples from the biblical book of Leviticus in the context of the ancient Near East (including ancient Israel and Iran), but will include comparisons with examples from contemporary non-literate cultures, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, China, and Japan, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Judaism, Christianity, and Zoroastrianism. Students are challenged to think in broad comparative terms, bringing together both details and generic categories. This is an introductory course, and students are not expected to have prior knowledge or experience with the academic study of religion. Students are encouraged to approach the materials in this course with an open but critical academic perspective. The history of religions, within the context of the Humanities and Social Sciences, puts particular emphasis on an analytical understanding of culture as a human and particularly social construct. In its attempts to compare diverse cultural products and generalize about the human condition, the history of religions is more appropriately described in relation to anthropology rather than theology. HH312 - Imperial Rome - Study of the most successful of Western states with emphasis on models for bureaucratization, military defense and the incorporation of various ethnic groups. HH316 - Age of Religious Wars - Focuses on the emergence of modern civilization (1500-1763) from the discoveries and rediscoveries of the Renaissance, the sweeping changes brought by the Reformation and Counter-Reformation and the excitement of both scientific and political revolution. HH322 - Rise and Fall of Soviet Communism - An examination of the Revolution of 1917 and the development of the Soviet Union, emphasizing the institutions and policies adopted to meet domestic and foreign problems. HH326 - Ireland and the Irish - This course presents the history of Ireland from the early Christian era to the present, with concentration on the past two centuries. The Great Famine, the independence movement, and the recent "Troubles" are examined in depth. Themes include Ireland's status as Britain's first colony, the role of literature and religion in forming Irish identity, and the "diaspora" of Irish people abroad. HH331 - Art and Ideas in Modern Europe - Explores the transformation of culture in the modern world. Examines how artists and intellectuals reacted to the long-range impacts of the democratic and industrial revolutions. Emphasis is placed on development of the fine arts in relation to pivotal ideas from 1750 to present. HH346 - Revolutionary America and the Early Republic - Covers the remarkable transformation in American society from 1760 to 1820 as thirteen separate and distinct colonies struggled ideologically, militarily, and politically to establish a governmental and social system that would suit the needs of a large, diverse, and rapidly expanding population. The background to the Revolution, the actual conduct of the war, and the construction of state and national governments are treated in detail. HH350 - The United States since World War II - A detailed examination of American history since 1945, including the onset of the Cold War in the 1950s, the domestic and foreign policy issues of the 1960s, Vietnam, Watergate and the Reagan era. HH352 - Film and American Society - This course explores the relations between motion pictures and the political/cultural life of a selected period. Films are studied as documents of an era and the extent to which they offer insights for historical understanding are considered. HH355 - Art and Ideas in American Society - Examines the growth and development of intellectual concepts and artistic creativity in America from colonial times to the present. Emphasizes both the peculiarities of American creative and intellectual accomplishments and the place of those achievements in the broader Western tradition. HH362 - History of the Middle East - A long-range historical approach to the Middle East's role in world affairs and the development of its cultural, political and military institutions. Emphasis is placed on strategic and diplomatic considerations. HH363 - Modern Latin America - The evolution of Latin American societies from independence to the present will be studied. Analyses of social and political issues like slavery, race, immigration, popular religion, militarism, dictatorship, and revolution will be the focus of the course. Particular emphasis will be placed on Argentina, Mexico, Brazil Peru, Chile, and Cuba. HH364 - History of Africa - A survey of social, cultural and political developments on the African continent from the era before European colonization to the present. HH367 - The History and Culture of Iran - A survey of the history and culture of Iran from the Achamaenid Era to the Islamic Republic. Students examine this topic using primary and secondary sources. HH367A - Modern India: Mercenaries, Empire and Independence - This course covers modern Indian (South Asia: India, Pakistan, Afghanistan) history looking at the establishment of the Mughal Empire, the transition to British colonial rule, the roles of Indian intermediary groups, the emergence of anti-colonial nationalism, Gandhi and the partition of British India into Pakistan and India. Themes covered include economics, cultural, political change, mercenaries and the military labour market, changes in Islam and Hinduism, the role of the British-Indian army overseas, and contemporary history of the rise of Islamist politics in Pakistan, the Taliban in Afghanistan and the role of terrorism in South Asia today. HH367B - History of Japan - Japan sits among readily recognizable world cultures, but what do we know about the long history of Japan and its people? This course invites students to examine the key events and ideas that have defined Japanese civilization from earliest times to the present. Using written texts available in translation as well as visual materials drawn from the past, students will explore the rich diversity of sources that ascribe multiple meanings to Japan, its history, and its place in the world. Four themes related to this goal are, first, the organization and transformation of Japan's cities - particularly its historical capital cities - as centers of power, culture, and civilization; second, the interplay between Japan and the wider world; third, continuity and change within Japanese traditions and beliefs; and fourth, the relationship between self and society in Japan. HH367C - The Vietnam War: An Indigenous History - Explores the social, cultural, and political upheavals of the three Indochina Wars (1946-1991) from a largely Southeast Asian perspective. It analyzes the development of the Vietnamese communist movement, its leaders, followers, opponents, and victims. Using local sources in translation, students learn about Asian cultures as they critique the important conflicts and alliances that affected the region in the post-colonial era. HH379 - History of IT Revolutions - Every age in human history has been an "information age" because in each historical period technologies were devised to gather, process, and disseminate information. This course identifies the most dominant information technologies from the printing press to the palm pilot and attempts to assess their broad historical implications. Special attention will be given to the military-IT nexus. HH383 - The Age of Total War - Surveys the dimensions of warfare and civil-military relations from the end of the Napoleonic era through World War II. HH384 - Recent Military and Naval History - Surveys the dimensions of warfare and civil-military relations from the end of the World War II to the present. HH385 - The U.S. Marine Corps - The historical development of the U.S. Marine Corps is examined by tracing the evolution of its roles and missions, organization, capabilities, and institutional culture. Emphasis is placed on how the Marine Corps has perceived its role in American Society, and how it has been perceived by American society. HH386 - Royal Navy- Crimea to the Cold War - This course studies the Royal Navy from the age of supremacy, in the long calm lee of Trafalgar, through the return of Great Power competition and the demands of the two world wars. It focuses on the RN's changing role, and on how technical and strategic innovation were used to fend off growing challenges and delay decline. HH386A - American Social and Cultural Military History - While most military history deals with strategy, tactics, logistics, weapons, leaders, and campaigns, this course examines the historic function of the American military as a social and cultural institution that is shaped by (and in turn) shapes society. A variety of topics will be considered including race, gender, sex, class, religion, value inculcation, combat motivation, professionalism, recruitment, conscription, training, socialization, morale, propaganda, GI protests, prisoners of war, the home front, and veterans' issues. HH386B - The History of Airpower - This course examines the military exploitation of the third dimension, and its consequent effects on warfare development in the twentieth century. While readings focus predominantly on U.S. air power history, the course also exposes students to the efforts of other western and nonwestern nation states to acquire the ability to fight in the skies. HH386C - The Malvinas (Falklands) War - This seminar will review several aspects of the war between Great Britain and Argentina over the Malvinas/Falkland islands (April-June 1982). This war confronted one NATO power, with a solid democracy and professional armed forces, with a Latin American country ruled by a military government and with an armed forces heavily based in conscription. It is the aim of the seminar to understand the roots of the conflict, its origin, the military operations and its outcome. Particular emphasis will be placed in some aspects of the war, such as the role the internal Argentinean situation in the conflict, goods and mistakes from both sides on its planning and during operations itself, at its naval (including amphibious) and land phases. As most of the sources to be used by the class are from the British side, the students will have to cope with an additional challenge to understand a war confronting two western countries with some cultural differences. For that reason, students will be encouraged to use Argentinean sources. HH462A - Winston Churchill - This course offers a biographical survey of the esteemed British statesman. HH462B - War, Humane Behavior & Morality - The purpose of this seminar is to examine through the eyes of history the fundamental tensions involved in war between expediency, morality, and humane behavior. To do so we will be examining the implications of those fundamental human issues involved in the Western Way of war on the conduct of war as well as on the participants themselves. HH462D - History of Communist China - This capstone seminar is designed for graduating midshipmen majoring in History to engage in an in-dept study of the history and historiography of Communist China since 1949. While we cover major events in this period of history, the preponderant emphasis will be give to analyzing various interpretations of Communist history. In other words, this is an advanced seminar of "interpreting interpretations." Structurally, our weekly reading and discussions of the representative writings by a great variety of authors on major themes and events of the tumultuous decades of Communist China constitute the main components of this semester’s undertaking. HH486A - Collaboration in Vichy France HH486B - Liberty, Equality, Fraternity - The French Revolution HH486C - Discipline in the Roman Military HH486D - History and Society of Empires: The Ottoman Case HH486F - History of Old Regime France HH486G - European Cultures and Ideas HH486H - Food in Historical Societies HH486I - 20th C. American Financial Markets HH486K - Emergent Naval Warfare HH486L - Asia: World War II and After HH486M - Islamic Ritual and Legal Texts HH488A - History of Western Hemisphere Revolutionaries HH488B - Evolution of American Warfare HH508 - Honors Colloquium - Students will propose, conceptualize, and refine their 1/C independent research projects. In the process, they will test different historical interpretations, and evaluate different philosophies of history. They will submit a series of short essays culminating in a precis specifying both the topic of their Honors research projects and the arguments these projects will advance. HH512 - Honors Thesis Readings - After selecting a research topic and advisor, history honors students will engage in intensive reading of primary and secondary works related to the topic.
|
