United States History Courses

152 The American Experience. (4)
A thematic survey of United States History. Topics and period to be emphasized varies, but major developments in political, social, intellectual and economic history are examined. Fall and spring.

350 Early America. (4)
This course analyzes the interactions of Native Peoples, Europeans, and Africans on the North American continent to 1763. We will look especially at the social, cultural, and economic interdependencies and conflicts among these people with an eye toward how these shaped the later United States. Alternate years.

351 The American Revolution. (4)
The colonial period from 1763 to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 with emphasis on the social, economic, intellectual and political sources of the independence movement, confederation and nationalism. Alternate years.

352 United States in the Early 19th Century. (4)
The birth and development of the American Republic. Emphasis on political, economic and social developments. Highlights range from the struggle over the Constitution to westward expansion, industrialization and sectionalism. Alternate years.

353 Civil War and Reconstruction. (4)
An examination of the issues, personalities and military developments leading to war. The Civil War, the emancipation controversy and Lincoln’s role. The terms of peace and reconstruction. Yearly.

354 United States in the Late 19th Century. (4)
A review of America’s forgotten era, including such topics as industrialization, urbanization, the birth of the modern labor movement, the beginnings of an empire and the political stalemate. Alternate years.

357 United States From World War I to 1960. (4)
Political, economic and social change at home from World War I through the Cold War. Topics include the impact of World War I, World War II and the Cold War on the civilian society, cultural conflict in the 1920s, economic changes and the Great Depression, evolving conceptions of the proper role of the Federal government and the role of race and gender. Alternate years.

358 United States Since 1960. (4)
Political, economic and social change in recent America. Topics include the baby boom generation, the struggle for equal rights for minorities and women, social divisions of the Vietnam era, issues of affluence amid poverty, and arguments over the power of the Presidency and the primacy of the Federal government from John Kennedy through George W. Bush. Alternate years.

360 U.S. Environmental History. (4)
Environmental history is the study of the relationship between humans and nature over time. This course examines the changing American understanding of nature in the 19th and 20th centuries with particular attention to the development of public policies toward natural resources and wildlife, the emergence of a new set of values recognizing non-utilitarian values in nature, and to the evolution of the conservation and environmental movements. Intellectual, political, economic, scientific, and social evidence will all be examined in the process of placing nature back into the human history of North America. Yearly.

361 American Women to 1920. (4)
Images and experiences of American women from the colonial period to 1920, concentrating on the 19th-century. Topics include the evolution of feminine images from Eve to nurturing mother, the rise of early women’s rights and development of the suffrage movement, and female experiences in the family, at work, in politics and in the churches. Alternate years.

362 American Women Since 1920. (4)
American women’s experiences, roles and images since winning the vote in 1920. Examines women’s work, the evolution of new images through film, changes in women’s status during the Depression, World War II and the 1950s, challenges to traditional views through the development of feminism, and the role of gender in recent public policy. Alternate years.

364 American Popular Religion. (4)
Not a history of churches but an analysis of the changing cultural meaning and experience of religion in America. Considers why American religious experience has been so diverse, how religiosity has shaped our society, and how in turn society’s values and structure have shaped religion. Primary focus on the 19th and 20th centuries. Yearly.

365 American Indian History, 1865 to Present. (4)
This course explores the commonality and the diversity of American Indian experiences in the United States since the late nineteenth century. Themes include federal Indian policies and their economic, political, social, and cultural consequences; relationships between Indian and non-Indian people; dynamics of cultural change, persistence, and revitalization; and the ways in which Native people, families, and communities have responded to and shaped their changing worlds. Students will contribute to class discussions; write reflective responses to course readings, films, lectures, and other presentations; analyze primary documents; and participate in a group project. 

366 Minnesota Regional History. (4)
Minnesota’s past in the context of the Canadian and American Midwest. Analysis of the impact of immigration, urbanization, industrialization, political alignments and changing values on the state and region. Emphasis on how and why Minnesota is like/unlike surrounding states and provinces, and the consequences of those similarities and differences. Alternate years.

368 The United States and the World. (4)
An examination of the U.S. role in world affairs since 1929. Topics include isolationism, World War II, the Cold War, Vietnam and post-war adjustments, Reagan’s efforts to restore primacy, involvement in the Middle East, the search for a post-Cold War role, and the roots of the war on terrorism. Alternate years.