We’re sharing some of our Fall 2021 course descriptions this week. Remember, Fall 2021 Registration starts Monday, March 29th!
HIST 141: The Historian’s Vocations | Dr. Lauren Janes | MW 12:00 pm – 12:50 pm
What are you going to do with a history major? Join us to start articulating some answers. This course introduces students to vocational exploration and discernment; connections between historical thinking, research skills, and writing to jobs and careers; and the skills necessary for successful pursuit of experiential learning opportunities. Our course will include reading and writing about careers using historical thinking, conversations with Hope history alumni, help from the Boerigter Center on resumes and applications, and setting forth a plan for experiential learning for the rest of your time at Hope. Required of all majors and minors, we recommend you take this course by the end of sophomore year if possible. 2 Credits.
HIST 200 – 01: Global Food History | Dr. Lauren Janes | MW 9:30 am – 10:20 AM
In this new class we will examine world history through the lens of global foods–foods and have moved from one part of the world to the other. These global foods have transformed diets, economies, and cultures around the world. This class will examine global connectivity through the history of potatoes, sugar, tacos, curry, corn and more. 2 Credits | GLI
HIST 200 – 02B: 20th Century Military History | Dr. Fred Johnson | TR 9:30 – 10:50 AM
During the 20th Century, the United States’ military became a major force confronting threats to America’s international interests while symbolizing the struggle to achieve justice at home. This course examines the activities and impact of the women and men who shaped the U.S. military into one of contemporary human history’s most potent instruments of power. Along with examining the military’s purpose and performance during periods of conflict, assessment will also be made of the institution’s role in advancing or stifling domestic socio-economic and political justice; its successes and setbacks as an instrument of foreign policy; its relevance and function during peacetime; and the evolution of the strategies, tactics, and technology that have positioned the United States military as one of the most well-trained and equipped, lethal armed forces of the 21st century. 2 Credits.
HIST-207: Introduction to World History to 1500 – Dr. Wayne Tan | MWF: 9:30-10:20 AM | Online Synchronous
What is world history? This is a question of great interest among historians across the fields and of relevance to all of us today. In this course, we will discover details and the broad canvas of world history. We will study major themes in world history from the ancient times until around 1500—from the foundations of the ancient civilizations through the rise of medieval empires and the early modern maritime global order. Who were the Greeks, Arabs, Mongols, and Chinese? How did various foreign cultures interact with one another? How were empires built and why did they go to war? These are some questions related to the themes we will regularly consider throughout this course. By the end of this course, we will learn that the world we live in today is (and continues to be) shaped by events from the distant past, and appreciate how texts, art, and digital media can help us tell our shared histories. 4 Credits| CH1, GLI
HIST 208: Intro World History since 1500 | Dr. Lauren Janes | Online Asynchronous
This course examines global connectivity in the last 500 years of world history. An online asynchronous course, students engage with the material through readings, asynchronous discussions of texts, video lectures, podcasts, and a digital textbook. Students also meet once a week, at a set and consistent time, in a required Google Meet with Dr. Janes for a small group tutorial session discussing the week’s material. 4 Credits | CH2, GLI
HIST-268: Russian History: Russia from Peter the Great to the USSR – Dr. Wayne Tan | MWF: 1-1:50PM | Online Synchronous
Russia is one of the most influential nations on the global stage today. With humble beginnings as a conglomeration of fragmented principalities, it grew into a vast empire spanning Asia and Europe by the 19th century and, as the core of the Soviet Union, dominated world politics for much of the 20th century. A land of untold riches, it was also a land of enigmas and contradictions. What is Russia’s identity today after the fall of the Soviet Union? What are the origins of Russia’s imperial traditions and institutions? How did the 1917 Revolution affect the rest of the world? What lessons does the story of Russia hold for the future of global diplomacy and conflict resolution? This course explores these questions by surveying Russian history from the reign of Peter the Great to the dissolution of the Soviet Union and recent developments in the 21st century. This course fulfills the regional requirement of the History major. 4 Credits | GLI
HIST 295: Classical Art and Archaeology | Maggie Burr | TR 1:30 – 2:50 PM
The cultures of the ancient Mediterranean—i.e., the classical world—left behind a vast material record, in the form of sculpture, architecture, wall painting, mosaics, painted pottery, burials, and objects of daily life. This course is designed to introduce the student to the range and variety of Greek and Roman art and archaeology and to examine how scholars use those artifacts to build a picture of the ancient societies that created them. The course will focus both on well-known ‘heavy hitters’ (i.e., the Parthenon and the Roman Forum) and on the humbler objects left behind by people like you and me. Throughout, we will examine how ancient art and visual culture can be used to understand the complex societies of ancient Greece and Rome, and the multitude of individuals who lived their lives there. 4 Credits.
HIST 370: Modern Middle East | Dr. Janis Gibbs | MWF 2:00 – 2:50 PM
To understand what is going on in the Middle East today, it is crucial that we understand its history. In this course, we will survey the social, political, religious, geographic, and economic history of the Middle East, broadly defined to include the regions of North Africa and Iran, as well as the core lands of the Middle East, from Turkey through the eastern Mediterranean to the Arabian Peninsula and Egypt. Most of our attention will be devoted to the modern period—that is, the period between the 19th century and the present. To understand the context of the history of the modern Middle East, we’ll spend the first few weeks considering the rise of Islam and some of the facets of the history of the earlier Middle East that influence the region today. 4 Credits |GLI
HIST 495: Seminar in History | Dr. Lauren Janes | T 6:00 pm – 8:50 PM
Note: This course is offered Fall 2021 and will not be offered Sp 2022. In this capstone to the history major, students will use the skills and capabilities developed during their time at Hope College to research and write a significant research paper on some aspect of the history of modern imperialism (c. 1800-1994). Modern imperialism provides us with a global framework to look at history from a wide variety of approaches including social, intellectual, gender, political, religious, military, scientific, and cultural history. We will create a supportive researching and writing community. 4 Credits.