HIS - History

This course examines topics from the Paleolithic Era to the dawn of the Age of Globalization, including: early foraging, pastoral, and agricultural societies; the emergence of urban societies in Eurasia, Africa, and the Americas; trade and cultural transmission; concepts of gender; technological transfers; and the emergence of transcontinental and global interconnections through the Saharan trade, the Pax Mongolica, and Malay, Chinese and Iberian ocean explorations. Equally importantly, the course introduces students to the methods of the historian, involving critical thinking, the analysis of source texts, and the use of evidence to address historical questions.

This course examines topics from the 16th through 20th centuries, including: state-building, commerce, and society in Eurasia and Africa; the creation and integration of the Atlantic World; new ideologies; industrial revolutions; changing conceptions of gender, class, race, ethnicity, and nation; political revolutions, genocides, and wars; imperialism and decolonization; and the global impact of the Cold War. Equally importantly, the course engages students in the methods of the historian, involving critical thinking, the analysis of source texts, and the use of evidence to address historical questions.

Surveys the cultural, political, social and economic developments in this country from the discovery of America through Reconstruction.

Surveys the urbanization and industrialization of the nation and its rise to world power.

A study of North American Indian history and culture from pre-contact times to the present. Covers Native American contributions to civilization; wars, removals and forced assimilation; and modern political activism.

A study of the development of slavery and relations between European Americans and African Americans in British, Spanish, and Portuguese America from the beginning of European settlement in the New World until the abolition of slavery in the mid-19th century.

A study of the development of witchcraft accusations, beginning with continental Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries and continuing with the later scares in England and New England. Particular emphasis will be given to international comparisons and to the changing social, cultural and economic positions of women.

This course surveys the political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural and diplomatic history of Russia in the Imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet periods.

A survey of women's accomplishments, lifestyles, changing image and struggle for equality and recognition from colonial times to the present.

A study of American economic developments and their impact on social and political conditions.

This course surveys the interplay between China and the outside world from before the Opium War through the late Imperial period, early Republic, Nationalist regime, Japanese invasion, Nationalist-Communist civil war, and the People's Republic, to the present.

A study of Muslims in world history from the 7th to the 21st centuries. This course explores the history of Islamic societies and of Muslims in local and global contexts, including the Middle East, Africa, Central and South Asia, and the West. The course addresses selected topics such as politics and statecraft; religious and cultural traditions and varieties; gender roles; and the challenges and choices that Muslim societies and individuals have faced in classical, early modern, and modern times. Materials include film, fiction and political writing as well as primary historical documents and secondary history textbooks.

An exploration of the history of Africa from the rise of the great Sahel empires to the struggle for independence from European imperialism, with an emphasis on the period from 1500 to 1975. Major topics include the role of Islam, colonialism, nationalist movements, Pan-Africanism, decolonization and the challenges facing newly independent states and societies.

This course surveys Japanese history from the coming of the Western gunboats in the 1850s through the Meiji restoration, the early development of international trade and democracy, the rise of militarism in the 1930s, World War II, the American Occupation, the economic "miracle" and the troubled 2000s.

A study of the rise and fall of the Third Reich and the legacy of Hitlerism.

A study of mid-19th century America, with particular emphases on the political developments, changing regional economies, patterns of interracial, interethnic and interclass relationships, as well as the course of military events during the Civil War.

This course covers an examination and analysis of traditional Chinese history.

This course examines the history of Japan from its pre-historical origins until the rise of modern Japan in the mid-nineteenth century. Special focus is given to indigenous Japanese beliefs, the influence of Chinese political and social values on Japanese life, Buddhist religious culture, the military ethos of the samurai, and the material cultural and attistic achievements of the Tokugawa period. In addition to a conventional textbook, literature and film are used to immerse students in the worldviews of traditional Japan. Group work and collaborative learning is emphasized. Blackboard is used to facilitate ongoing, active engagement.

This course surveys major trends and turning points in the history of sexuality since 1500. We will examine the governing regimes (legal, religious, medical, etc.) that defined sexual behavior and reproductive practices in mainland North America, paying particular attention to the changing relationship between sexual regulation and politics over time. The course will also explore the ways that official pronouncements differed from the actual practices and perceptions of ordinary woman and men. We will ask how factors such as race and ethnicity, class, and gender shaped sexual understandings and behavior.

This course covers the abuse and systematic extermination by the Nazis and their collaborators of millions of Jews, Gypsies, Slavs and other peoples of Europe. It deals with Germany and other parts of Europe under Nazi domination.

This course focuses on the struggle for racial equality and freedom in the American South after World War II. It also helps students comprehend this struggle within the broader context of post-Civil War American race relations.

Special courses are offered each year.

An examination and analysis of America's role in the Vietnam Conflict.

A study of Islamic tradition and the challenge of modernization. Covers Arab nationalism, Zionism, Pan-Arabism, Imperialism and the development of OPEC from its origin to the present. Also examines Middle Eastern lifestyles, values and economic relations.

European history from the French Revolution to the Russian Revolution and the end of World War I. The rise of Nationalism, Liberal Democracy, Socialism and the vast expansion of the colonial empires in Africa and Asia are major topics of this course.

The objectives of this course are to develop historical analysis beyond the level of the lower-division survey and to introduce students to experiential learning within the arena of local history practice. Students should master the historigraphy that structures the study of Florida’s past, gaining an awareness of how, over time, political history, social history, spatial theory and transnational studies have altered state history. Student research topics will be drawn from local history sources and celebrations, encouraging community engagement as well as independent analysis.

A study of Western culture in the ancient Near East and the Greco-Roman world.

A study of European society from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance.

A study of the origins, progress, interrelationships and impact of new forms and ideas that characterized the Renaissance and the Reformation in Europe from 1400 to 1650.

A survey of English political, cultural and economic development, with emphases on the Tudor-Stuart era and the British Empire.

European history from the end of World War I to the present. The second half of the course (post-midterm) is entirely devoted to the New Europe that emerged from the ashes of World War II.

A study of Latin American history from the colonial period to the present.

This course offers an introduction to the methods and approaches that structure the presentation of history in public venues, including museums, historic venues and archives. Tools that facilitate collaboration between historians and communities to preserve local memory will also be examined. Finally, we will explore critically the political, financial and professional pressures that have shaped some of the most prominent displays of the nation’s past as well as the pressures that structure representations of history in Tampa. Students will attempt to reconcile these concerns by crafting exhibition proposals that would allow a local museum to engage multiple history publics.

A study of the history of the United States before, during and after the Revolutionary War. Focuses on the role of ideology and the patterns of change in religion, racial relations and the status of women.

This course surveys the Spanish-speaking Caribbean (Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic) from the Taino world of the pre-Columbian period to today. Topics include the creation of colonial plantation societies and the rise of sugar and coffee economies; movements for abolition, reform, and national self-determination; the persistence of Caribbean borderlands in the U.S. gulf south; the Caribbean’s neo-imperial economies, social structures, and political institutions; the impact of the Cuban Revolution; and the Caribbean’s tourist trade and diasporas in the global economy.

This course explores the history of narcotic drugs and modern society, focusing on America. The course also examines the history of U.S. drug policy.

Studies the formulation of American foreign policy and issues in American diplomatic history.

This course covers the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, the war in Vietnam, the concern about nuclear warfare, the civil rights movement, and the student movement of the late 1960s.

Involves practical work in museums, historical preservation and historical archives. Requires permission of area coordinator. Graded on a pass/fail basis.

This course investigates the impact of catastrophes — earthquakes, epidemics, hurricanes, fires, accidents — on society, politics and culture in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas since 1624. Natural disasters often transform relations between nations and among social groups, while revealing social conditions and cultural attitudes kept hidden under normal circumstances. Natural disasters can create the conditions for revolutions, lead to wars over scarce resources, provide pretexts for imperial intrusions and expose the inequalities and tensions in society. Students will develop their knowledge of world history and disaster studies by reading and writing about selected case studies.

The course traces the diplomatic and economic events leading to the outbreak of war in 1914 and follows the progress of the war, revolution and peace.

The course traces the political, economic, social and diplomatic events leading to the outbreak of hostilities and the military and diplomatic aspects of the war itself. It concludes with the Nuremburg Trials.

Involves guided readings, research and criticism.  Materials covered must be different from those included in current courses.  May be repeated for credit if subject matter varies.

A substantial research and writing project.  The subject matter must be determined through student-faculty consultation.  A senior thesis can be written under the guidance of any full-time professor in the HIS department.

Advanced study of a selected historical topic.  This course will count toward the upper-level requirement for the History major, and, depending on the topic, either toward the American or the Non-American Requirement.  May be repeated for credit if the topic differs.