HIST - HISTORY
Offered through the College of Arts and Sciences
Administration/Humanities Building (ADM), Room 147, 786-1539
www.uaa.alaska.edu/history
HIST A101 Western Civilization I 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
A survey of the developments in Western Civilization from its origins in the ancient
Near East to 1650. The major social, political, economic, intellectual and cultural
characteristics will be emphasized.
HIST A102 Western Civilization II 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
A survey of the developments in Western Civilization from 1650 to the present. The
major social, political, economic, intellectual and cultural characteristics will be
emphasized.
HIST A121 East Asian Civilization I 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
Provides a broad understanding of the historical, cultural, and social development of
Chinese, Japanese, and Korean civilization from their prehistoric origins through
approximately 1600 (the decline of the Ming Dynasty in China, the successful unification
of Japan under the Tokugawa, and the end of the Japanese invasions of Korea).
HIST A122 East Asian Civilization II 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
Provides a broad understanding of the historical, cultural, and social development of
East Asian civilization from approximately 1600 (the rise of the Qing Dynasty in China,
the successful unification of Japan under the Tokugawa, and the revival of the Yi
Dynasty in Korea) through the twentieth century.
HIST A131 History of United States I 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
A chronological overview of United States history from ancient America through the
Civil War. Examines social, political, and economic forces that have shaped the country
during the period. Students will be introduced to primary sources and interpretations in
American history.
HIST A132 History of United States II 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
A chronological overview of United States history from Reconstruction to the present.
Examines social, political, and economic forces that have shaped the country during the
period. Students will be introduced to primary sources and interpretations in American
history.
HIST A225 Ancient History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: HIST A101 recommended.
A survey of the origins and development of western civilization from beginnings in
ancient Near East through end of the Roman Empire. Emphasis on interrelationships of
political, social, economic, cultural, and intellectual movements in various cultures.
HIST A226 Medieval History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: HIST A101 recommended.
A survey of the evolution of Western Civilization from end of the Roman Empire to
beginnings of Renaissance. Emphasis on interrelationships of political, social, economic,
cultural, and intellectual movements.
HIST A237 American Civil War 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Study of North-South differences causing American Civil War, war itself in
considerable detail, and legacy of that war for today.
HIST A238 Black History I 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Afro-American history from colonial times to 1865. Social, economic, psychological,
religious, and racial aspects of Africa. Slave trade, slavery, slave trading nations, and
Civil War. Impact of various racial theories and practices on black/white relations.
HIST A239 Black History II 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Afro-American history from 1865 to present. Impact of technology, changing social
and economic conditions, and international scene on Black Americans. Consideration of
leaders, organizations, concepts and issues that affect blacks and society at large.
HIST A244 Studies in Film History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
May be stacked with: HIST A444.
Special Fees
Special Note: May be repeated once for credit with a change of subtitle.
Selected topics in motion picture history. Ranges from genre studies (musicals,
comedies, science fiction) to special areas of film history (animation, special effects,
major stars and studios, significant directors). Subtitle varies.
HIST A257A A Gold Rush Era: Alaska and the Yukon 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Western United States, Canada, and Alaska will be studied in detail to determine
their significance as a part of the overall evolution of the Yukon-Alaska gold rush
during the period of 1846-1920. California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia
stampede activities will be considered as an introduction leading to culminating the
gold rush era of the Yukon and Alaska.
HIST A261 Russian History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Origins of early (Kievan) Russia, Mongol Era, and rise of Moscow. Modern Russia
to 20th century.
HIST A306 The Roman Empire 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101 and HIST A225.
The Roman Empire from the assassination of Julius Caesar to the “fall” of the
Empire in AD 476. Its principal focus is upon the political and social history of the
Empire.
HIST A310 Renaissance/Reformation Europe 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101.
Examines the key political, social, economic and cultural developments in
Renaissance and Reformation Europe. Emphasis will be placed on the medieval legacy;
Renaissance art, power and family life; European encounters and conquests; the
emergence of a new world economy; religious reform and revolution; and daily life in
Reformation Europe.
HIST A312 Early Modern Europe: 1600-1789 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
Examines the key political, social, economic and cultural developments in Early
Modern European history. Special emphasis will be placed on religious warfare and the
military revolution; absolutism and constitutionalism; colonies and empires;
commercial and agricultural revolutions; scientific revolution and enlightenment;
witchcraft; social estates and daily life; and the Ancien Regime on the eve of Revolution.
HIST A314 Nineteenth Century Europe 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
Examines the key political, social, economic and cultural developments in 19th
century Europe. Special emphasis will be placed on the French and Napoleonic
revolution; restoration and reaction; industrialization and urbanization; romanticism,
liberalism and socialism; nationalism and national unification; imperialism; fin de siecle
culture; and daily life.
HIST A316 Twentieth Century Europe 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
Examines the key political, social, economic, intellectual and cultural developments
in 20th century Europe. Special emphasis will be placed on the broad historical forces
at work during the 20th century—such as war, revolution, fascism, communism,
democracy, modernization, decolonization and globalism - and how both elites and
ordinary people responded to a changing world.
HIST A320 The Rise, Fall, and Reinvention of the Samurai 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A121 and HIST A122 and HIST A231.
An analysis of the historical origins, rise to prominence, dominance, and the fall of
the warrior caste of Japan. Principal focus on the constant reinvention of the samurai
and the “spirit of the samurai” was used in Japan’s modernization.
HIST A321 Modern China 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A121 or HIST A122.
Chinese history from the middle of the Qing (Manchu) Dynasty, about 1800,
through the 1990s. Designed to provide a broad understanding of the historical,
cultural, and social development of China as it made the transition to a modern state.
HIST A322 Modern Japan 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A121 or HIST A122.
Japanese history from the last decades of the Tokugawa Shogunate, about 1800,
through the 1990s. Designed to provide a broad understanding of the historical,
cultural, and social development of Japan as it made the transition to a modern state.
HIST A323 Communist China 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A122 and HIST A321.
Analysis of the historical origins, rise, struggles, and eventual triumph of the
Chinese Communist Party in taking control of China in 1949. Examines the wrenching
upheavals of the People’s Republic under Mao Zedong and its transformation under
Deng Xiaoping from 1949 through the 1990s. The principal focus will be on the constant
reinvention of Chinese communism to face perceived challenges in China’s
modernization, sometimes with spectacular results and at other times with disastrous
consequences.
HIST A325 Northeast Asia in 21st Century 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: Junior standing. Completion of GER Tier 1 (basic college-level
skills) courses. Six credits of Tier 2 GEOG, HIST, or PS courses.
Crosslisted with: INTL A325 and PS A325.
Course Attributes: UAA GER Integrative Capstone.
An interdisciplinary examination and analysis of Northeast Asia covering China, the
Koreas, and Japan, designed to provide students with the means to understand how the
societies of this region have developed separate and distinct identities despite their
common cultural and philosophic roots.
HIST A330 Russian in East Asia 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102 or HIST A121.
History of the relationships between Russia and its neighbors in East Asia and the
Pacific. Among the major themes to be explored are the impact of the Mongol conquest,
contact and colonization in the “borderlands,” historical debates on the importance of
East Asia and the Pacific to Russia, and the articulation and pursuit of Russian geopolitical
interests in the region.
HIST A341 History of Alaska 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: Junior standing.
May be stacked with: HIST A641.
Course Attributes: UAA GER Humanities Requirement.
Introduction to background of Alaska and its relationship to America and the world,
including anthropological aspects of Native groups, land bridge theory, Russian
discovery, occupation and management, orthodoxy, purchase, American organization
and development, gold rushes, congressional definition and federalism, Native claims
history, statehood, oil and the disposition of Alaska lands.
HIST A345 Across This Land: 3 CR
The Historical Geography of North America
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131.
Crosslisted with: GEOG A345.
Special Note: GEOG A205 recommended.
Explores the European settlement of North America (U.S. and Canada), the impact of
geography on this settlement, and the impress of culture and political process on the
land. A significant part of the course compares and contrasts the American and
Canadian geographic experience and the creation of distinct regional cultures.
HIST A354 Eyes On the Prize: 3 CR
America’s Civil Rights Movement
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Telecourse based on the much acclaimed PBS/blackside history of the modern Civil
Rights Movement. Eyes I (“America’s civil rights years”) consists of six one-hour
programs from the landmark school desegregation case, Brown v. Board of Education, to
the student sit-ins and voter registration drives at Selma and elsewhere. Eyes II
(“America at the racial crossroads”) consists of eight one-hour programs from the rioting
in Watts and Detroit to the new racial politics of the 1980’s. Covers the years 1954-1985.
HIST A355 Major Themes in US History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: Sophomore standing.
Time, continuity, and change in American history from the Colonial period to the
21st Century with an emphasis on case studies. A speaking and writing intensive
course.
HIST A360 Modern Economic History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102 and ECON A201.
Crosslisted with: ECON A360.
A survey of the economic history of the modern era (1600 to present). Emphasis will
be placed on Western Europe and the United States. Additional coverage will be given
to Japan, the Soviet Union and one Third World Nation.
HIST A377 Historiography: The Uses 3 CR
and Abuses of History
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: [HIST A101 and HIST A102] or [HIST A131 and HIST A132].
Explores how historians “do” history by examining the various historical methods,
theories, and approaches used to interpret and to understand the human past and its
significance. Investigates the relationships between experiencing, remembering, and
reconstructing the past.
HIST A381 American Women’s History to 1870 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131.
Explores the nature of American women’s history and how women’s lives in North
America have changed over time. Major topics include the impact of the economy,
family, sexuality, the community, and politics from the 17th century through the Civil
War, and the rise of the women’s movement.
HIST A382 American Women’s History Since 1870 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A132.
Explores the nature of American women’s history from the Civil War to the present
focusing on the political, economic, and social conditions of the past one hundred years
which have shaped women’s lives in the U.S. Readings will center on autobiographical
sources as well as scholarly articles and books. The class will be run as a seminar with
introductory lectures or comments for each weekly topic.
HIST A390A Themes in World History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: GEOG A101 and [HIST A101 or HIST A102 or HIST A121 or HIST A122 or
HIST A131 or HIST A132].
Registration Restrictions: Completion of GER Tier 1 (basic college-level skills) courses
and junior standing.
Course Attributes: UAA GER Integrative Capstone.
Special Note: May be repeated once for credit with a change of subtitle.
Provides students with opportunities to analyze patterns of meaning in the
accumulated record of the human experience from prehistory to the present,
contemplated on the most inclusive scale, that of the entire world. The course is
comparative and interdisciplinary.
HIST A401 The History of Warfare 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101 and HIST A102.
A study of the history of warfare from the classical age to the present. The following
topics are examined: the relationship between war and social, political and economic
organization; the evolution of weapons systems; the growth of modern professional and
mass armies; the “Laws” of war; the development of modern strategic and tactical
thought; and the impact of the atomic age.
HIST A402 The Second World War 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
The origins of the war in Europe and Asia. The grand strategies of the belligerents,
the principal military operations, the relationship between science and war, and the
mobilization of societies and economies for total war. Wartime diplomacy and the
postwar settlements are also emphasized.
HIST A411 History of Modern Germany II 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
The history of Germany from World War I to the present. The Weimar Republic, the
Third Reich, World War II, occupation, and the origin, development, and relationship of
the two existing German states will be the basic units studied.
HIST A415 Anglo-Saxons and Vikings: 3 CR
History & Geography in Early Medieval North Atlantic
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101.
Crosslisted with: GEOG A415.
Special Note: GEOG A205 recommended.
A study of Anglo-Saxon and Viking society, territorial expansion, and settlement
from the 7th-11th centuries. Focus on historical impacts on the human landscape,
political arrangement, and the effects of climate and environmental modification on
population growth and migration.
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101.
The history of England from accession of Henry VII down to the death of Anne.
Major topics are the development of modern instruments of government, the English
Reformation, and the ensuing religious struggle, the Civil War and Revolution, and the
establishment of parliamentary government.
HIST A423 Medieval Russian History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101.
Explores the socio-economic, political, and cultural foundations of Medieval Russia
beginning with ancient Slavic settlements and foreign invasions and concluding with the
creation of the Romanov dynasty in the 17th century. Major topics include the impact of
foreign invasions (e.g. Mongols), the influence of the Byzantine Empire, the rise of
Muscovy, and the internal dynamics of Muscovite society.
HIST A424 Imperial Russian History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A101 and HIST A102.
Explores the socio-economic, political, and cultural foundations of imperial Russia
from Peter the Great and concludes with the February Revolution of 1917. Major topics
include the nature of autocracy, the role of serfdom, and the roots of Russia’s
revolutionary tradition.
HIST A425 Soviet Union 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Russian history from the origins of the Bolshevik Revolution and concentrating on
Lenin and his contribution to Marxism; the struggle between Trotsky and Stalin;
Stalinization (purges and collectivization of agriculture); World War II and the Cold War;
detente; and the arms race.
HIST A427 Post-Soviet Culture and Society 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
Registration Restrictions: Completion of all Tier I GER (basic college-level skills) courses;
and Junior standing. Prerequisite HIST A102 or any RUSS prefix course.
Crosslisted with: RUSS A427.
Course Attributes: UAA GER Integrative Capstone.
Interdisciplinary examination and analysis of contemporary Russian culture and
society. Explores major themes in post-Soviet society including shifting identities and
changing social, cultural, political, and economic realities, and examines how these are
expressed in a variety of contemporary sources. Conducted in English.
HIST A431 Colonies and Revolution 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131 and HIST A132.
Settlement of British America, social, political, economic and ideological development
of American colonies, prelude to revolution, the American revolution, drafting of the
Constitution, and the Federalist Era.
HIST A434 Early National Period, 1800-1850 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131 and HIST A132.
Jeffersonian policies and ideology; struggle with England and the War of 1812;
transcontinental treaties and the Monroe Doctrine; The Age of Jackson and Westward
Expansion; the Era of Reform; and the Mexican War.
HIST A440 The American West Since 1850 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131 and HIST A132.
Study of major themes in Western American history, including economic, social and
ideological change, and the historiography of the American West.
HIST A444 Advanced Studies in Film History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: Junior standing.
May be stacked with: HIST A244.
Special Note: May be repeated once for credit with a change of subtitle. Only 3 credits of
HIST A444 may be applied to either a major or minor in history.
Advanced studies in selected topics in motion picture history. Topics range from
genre studies (musicals, comedies, science fiction) to special areas of film history
(animation, special effects, major stars and studios, significant directors). Subtitle varies.
HIST A451 Populists and Progressives: America, 1877-1917 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A132.
The development of the reform state, from the rise of the People’s Party to the
progressive era presidencies of Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson.
HIST A452 America in War and Peace, 1917-1945 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A132.
An examination of Americans responding to the crises of war and depression.
HIST A477 Senior Seminar 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
A course in research methodology intended for history majors and others, normally
taken in the senior year of study. Students will prepare a major research paper,
utilizing primary research material under the direction of department faculty.
HIST A478 Studies in Early American History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131.
Special Note: May be repeated for credit with a different subtitle.
An examination of selected fundamental topics in early American history. Areas
will be studied as student need and faculty expertise indicate. Subtitle varies.
HIST A479 Studies in Modern American History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A131 and HIST A132.
Special Note: May be repeated for credit with a different subtitle.
This course is intended to provide an intensive examination of selected fundamental
topics in American history. Specific areas will be treated as student need and faculty
expertise indicate. Subtitle varies.
HIST A486 Studies in Modern Europe 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Prerequisites: HIST A102.
Special Fees
Special Note: May be repeated for credit with a change of subtitle.
This course is a study of selected important topics in modern European history.
These include World War I, European Fascism and National Socialism, European
Marxism, and World War II. The course will be offered as student need and faculty
expertise indicate. Subtitle varies.
HIST A641 Studies in Alaska History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
May be stacked with: HIST A341.
Special Note: Not available for credit to students who have taken HIST A341.
Advanced study of various topics in Alaska history, including Russian exploration,
occupation and development, social conditions in the Russian period, the U.S.
Purchase, American development and economic relationships, political development,
Native issues, environmental history, and changing perceptions.
HIST A690 Studies in History 3 CR
Contact Hours: 3 + 0
Registration Restrictions: Graduate standing.
Special Note: May be repeated for credit with a change in subtitle.
An examination of an aspect of history from the perspective of a major field in the
discipline.
History of Alaska Class
