Undergraduate Courses

This course analyzes the evolution of England and the British Empire from the early Stuart period through contemporary times. Through engagement with primary documents and scholarly debates, students investigate political transitions, imperial administration, cultural encounters, and economic systems. The course emphasizes methods for interpreting diverse source types and assessing historical arguments related to colonialism, globalization, and national development. Students practice evaluating competing historiographical approaches and constructing evidence‑based interpretations of major developments in British and imperial history.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the varied experiences of women in the United States from 1877 to the present through historical analysis and interdisciplinary inquiry. Students investigate how social, economic, political, and intellectual developments shaped women’s lives across different regions, communities, and identities. Using primary sources, scholarly interpretations, and case studies, the course analyzes how women engaged with changing public and private spheres. Students evaluate shifts in labor, education, citizenship, family structures, and cultural expectations, developing skills in interpreting evidence and assessing how historians construct narratives about gender in U.S. history.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the history of Latin America from independence to the present. Students explore the struggles for independence, the formation and consolidation of new nations, and economic and political developments shaping the region, including the rise of Liberalism, Populism, reform, and revolution. The course considers the international forces that have shaped modern Latin America and the opportunities and challenges of the present. Students develop evidence-based approaches to interpreting how Latin American governing institutions, cultural expressions and society changed over time.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the history of Scotland from the wars of independence to the present day, analyzing political, social, and cultural transformations. Students investigate the development of Scottish nationalism, the wars of independence in the 13th and 14th centuries, Scotland’s role within the British Empire, and historical movements advocating independence in the post–World War II era. Through analysis of primary and secondary sources, the course evaluates historical interpretations of sovereignty, union, and identity, emphasizing the factors that shaped Scotland’s political trajectory over time.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course investigates the history of American culture from the colonial era through the Civil War by examining the formation and evolution of religious, political, social, and philosophical ideas. Students analyze how intellectual movements, public debates, and everyday cultural practices contributed to, and were shaped by historical change. The course evaluates a variety of historical and cultural sources to understand how different groups interpreted events and articulated their beliefs. By engaging with contrasting scholarly interpretations, students explore competing explanations for cultural change and assess how historians reconstruct intellectual and social developments.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the historical developments of the region encompassing Texas, California, the Great Basin, the Southern Rockies, and northern Mexico since the beginning of Mexican Independence in 1810. Students analyze cultural, economic, political, and environmental themes that shaped change across diverse communities and different regions. The course investigates topics that may include, but are not limited to, the ways shifting borders, migration patterns, environmental constraints, resource extraction and other factors influenced economic growth, conflict, national identities and community formations. Through extensive use of primary and peer-reviewed secondary sources, students evaluate competing interpretations of regional history and assess how local developments intersected with national and transnational processes. Emphasis is placed on evidence‑based analysis and understanding methodological approaches to studying broad, multi‑state regions.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course examines the history of the early national era from 1788 to 1828, analyzing political, social, and economic developments that shaped the new republic. Students investigate topics that may include, but are not limited to, the formation of the first party system, key debates over governance, and the regional tensions that influenced policymaking, as well as issues such as the expansion of southern slavery, the emergence of market networks, and patterns of westward migration. Through primary and secondary sources, students assess competing interpretations of early American political culture and institutional growth. Emphasis is placed on evidence‑based reasoning and understanding how historians explain continuity and change during the nation’s formative decades.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course surveys the history of Texas from prehistory through the twentieth century, analyzing political, economic, social, and cultural developments that shaped the region. Students investigate Indigenous societies, European exploration and colonization, the Texas Republic, incorporation into the United States, and the state of Texas's position in national and global affairs since the 19th century. The course evaluates major transformations related to migration, labor, land use, governance, and regional identity. Using primary and secondary sources, students assess differing interpretations of key events and long‑term patterns in Texas history. Emphasis is placed on evidence‑based inquiry and understanding how historical processes influenced the development of communities, institutions, and economic systems across the state.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the historical development of religious beliefs and practices in what is now the United States from pre‑European encounters to the present. Students analyze belief systems alongside the social and political contexts that shaped them, investigating how diverse communities adapted and interpreted religious traditions over time. The course explores major patterns in religious life, including institutional formation, cultural exchange, and responses to demographic and political change. Using primary and secondary sources, students evaluate differing scholarly interpretations and practice evidence‑based reasoning. Emphasis is placed on understanding how historians interpret continuity and change in religious thought, practice, and community organization.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the historical development of rock and roll and its relationship to broad social, cultural, political, economic, ethnic, and demographic forces in society. Students analyze how musical forms emerged from earlier traditions, how regional communities contributed to stylistic change, and how technological and commercial developments shaped production and consumption. The course evaluates multiple interpretations of how artists, audiences, and industries interacted within shifting historical contexts. Using recordings, primary materials, and scholarly research, students practice evidence‑based analysis to understand how historical conditions influenced musical innovation and how rock and roll both reflected and responded to societal change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course examines the interactions between democratic thought and public education in the United States from the Enlightenment through the late twentieth century. Students analyze how political ideals, social change, and economic conditions shaped debates about schooling across different eras. Topics include constitutional developments, emancipation, industrialization, immigration, and demographic change, with attention to how these forces influenced competing visions of educational purpose and governance. The course evaluates local, state, and federal initiatives alongside public debates about citizenship, authority, and access. Using primary documents and scholarly interpretations, students assess differing explanations for the historical relationship between democracy and education.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines Roman history from the Republican period through the fall of the Western Empire, analyzing political, social, economic, and cultural developments across the Mediterranean world. Students evaluate primary and secondary sources to understand how Rome expanded, governed, and adapted to Mediterranean societies. The course investigates major institutions, patterns of conflict, and regional diversity within Roman influence. Through readings, lectures, and discussions, students assess scholarly interpretations and develop analytical approaches for interpreting long‑term change across the Roman Mediterranean.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the history of Britain from the Roman arrival to 1603, analyzing major political, social, religious, economic, and cultural developments. Students evaluate primary and secondary sources through readings, discussions, and virtual excursions to develop an evidence‑based understanding of Roman and medieval Britain. The course investigates key institutions, governance structures, and historical actors while assessing long-term patterns of continuity and change. By engaging with diverse historical methodologies, students analyze how scholarship constructs interpretations of Britain’s past and gain practice in evaluating historical arguments using disciplinary methods.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course examines major developments in the history of the Indian subcontinent from antiquity to the processes that produced modern state formations. Students analyze primary sources in translation alongside contemporary scholarship to investigate empire building, commercial expansion, technological change, and political mobilization across different periods. The course emphasizes methods of historical interpretation, encouraging students to evaluate multiple scholarly arguments and compare diverse types of evidence. Through thematic and chronological analysis, students develop tools for interpreting continuity and change in South Asian societies and for understanding how historians construct narratives about the region’s past.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the global history of piracy from medieval seafaring to the present, analyzing how maritime raiding and seaborne violence developed across varied historical contexts. Students evaluate primary and secondary sources to investigate the relationship between piracy, commercial networks, state power, and naval regulation. Through comparative case studies that may include but are not limited to the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, and East Asia, the course explores how different societies defined, responded to, and represented piracy. Students assess competing scholarly interpretations and consider how evidence shapes historical understandings of maritime activity across regions and periods.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines European colonial expansion from the fifteenth century onward, analyzing the formation, administration, and variation of imperial systems across global regions. Students work with primary and secondary sources to investigate economic, political, social, and cultural developments in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. The course evaluates how different populations interacted within imperial structures and how historians interpret these encounters. Through comparative methods, students assess major patterns of continuity and change while gaining experience with evidence‑based historical analysis and scholarly interpretation.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the historical transformations of the regions stretching from Ukraine to eastern Siberia under Soviet rule. Students analyze the rise of Bolshevik power, the development of Soviet institutions, and the political, economic, and social transitions that followed the USSR’s collapse. The course evaluates how historians interpret the experiences of various populations through social, cultural, intellectual, and gender-related approaches. By engaging primary sources and scholarly debates, students assess differing explanations for continuity and change across the Soviet and post Soviet eras, with attention to governance, ideology, and regional diversity.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines German history from 1918 to 1945 with particular attention to the emergence and consolidation of National Socialism. Students analyze the historical conditions that led to the Weimar Republic and Hitler’s ascent to power, the practices of governance in Nazi Germany, everyday life during peace and war, and state policies culminating in the Holocaust. Engaging with primary sources, scholarly debates, and historiographical approaches, students evaluate differing interpretations of continuity, change, and agency in this period.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines major historical developments in Africa from the early nineteenth century to the present. Students analyze social, cultural, political, and intellectual transformations across diverse regions. Topics may include the expansion of Islam and Christianity, patterns of Atlantic and Indian Ocean trade, the dynamics of colonial rule, and the emergence of anti‑colonial nationalist movements. Through primary and secondary sources, students evaluate how African societies responded to external influences and internal changes, and they develop analytical tools for interpreting long‑term historical processes and their relevance to contemporary Africa.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines major political, social, economic, and cultural developments in Japan from 1600 to the present. Students analyze significant transformations in governance, social structure, cultural identity, and economic organization from the seventeenth to the twenty-first centuries, and evaluate how these changes shaped Japan’s modern institutions and global relationships. The course incorporates primary sources, historiographical debates, and comparative approaches to assess long‑term patterns of continuity and change. Through critical examination of diverse scholarly interpretations, students develop analytical skills for understanding Japan’s historical trajectory and its evolving role in regional and international contexts.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines Japan’s political, social, economic, and cultural development from the 1940s to the present. Students analyze continuities and changes between the wartime and postwar eras, investigate the role of U.S.–Japan relations in shaping policy debates after the occupation, and evaluate scholarly interpretations of wartime legacies in contemporary culture and society. The course also considers the historical consequences of rapid economic growth in the late twentieth century. Through engagement with primary sources and historiographical scholarship, students assess multiple explanations for Japan’s evolving institutions, identities, and international relationships.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines major political, social, economic, and intellectual developments in modern Korea from the late nineteenth century to the present. Students analyze Korea’s interactions with foreign powers between 1876 and 1910, evaluate the structures and policies of Japanese colonial rule from 1910 to 1945, and investigate the formation of two Korean states in 1948. The course explores subsequent North–South political, socioeconomic, and cultural trajectories. Students also assess contrasting interpretations of state formation, colonialism, modernization, and regional dynamics while developing methodological tools for historical inquiry.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the economic, social, political, and cultural developments that shaped the United States from the end of World War II through the 1968 presidential election. Students analyze how historians interpret major transformations in governance, public policy, demographic patterns, and cultural expression during this period. Drawing on primary documents and secondary scholarship, the course evaluates competing arguments about the significance of these decades and the factors contributing to national change. Students develop analytical skills for assessing evidence and interpreting historical debates about the postwar United States.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter
 

This course examines the historical and religious contexts of peace movements that employed nonviolent strategies in the twentieth century. Students analyze theoretical perspectives on activism and direct action through global case studies. Topics include Gandhi’s Indian Independence Movement, the Danish Resistance during World War II, the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, Chile’s No Campaign, Poland’s Solidarity Movement, and South Africa’s Anti-Apartheid Movement. Using scholarly analysis, films, and primary sources, the course evaluates how cultural, political, and religious frameworks influenced these movements and their approaches to social and political change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course explores rotating topics in military history, focusing on how historians analyze warfare, state formation, military institutions, and strategic decision making. Students investigate a range of primary and secondary sources to evaluate interpretations of conflict, leadership, logistics, and the societal impacts of war. The seminar introduces major historiographical debates and methodological approaches, enabling students to assess how different scholars construct arguments and use evidence. Through guided discussion and analytical writing, students practice comparing interpretive models and situating individual case studies within broader historical patterns. This course may be repeated with new topics for up to nine credit hours.

This course examines major political, economic, and constitutional debates in the United States from the early nineteenth century to the Civil War. Students analyze disputes over federal authority, economic development, territorial expansion, and the institution of slavery, evaluating how contemporaries understood these issues within a democratic framework. Using primary documents and recent scholarship, the course investigates how competing interpretations shaped national discourse and contributed to sectional division. Students assess differing historical arguments and develop analytical skills for interpreting conflict, governance, and long‑term structural change.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines the historical development of music in Texas and the American Southwest, analyzing how scholars interpret musical traditions within broader social, political, and economic contexts. Students investigate how regional musical forms emerged, evolved, and interacted with patterns of migration, community formation, and cultural exchange. Using recordings, archival materials, and secondary scholarship, the course evaluates interpretations of ethnic identity and regional diversity in shaping musical practices. Students develop analytical tools for assessing how music reflects and responds to historical change across different communities and time periods.

3 Credit Hours. 3 Lecture Contact Hours. 0 Lab Contact Hours. 
Course Attribute(s): Writing Intensive
Grade Mode: Standard Letter

This course examines museums and material culture as sites for interpreting and constructing history. Students analyze how museums, collections, objects, and professional practices contribute to historical narratives and public understandings of the past. Through the study of objects as primary sources, students evaluate evidence, assess change over time, and develop historical arguments grounded in material culture. The course investigates the creation, use, collection, exhibition, and interpretation of objects in diverse contexts and analyzes debates concerning provenance, heritage claims, repatriation, and museum standards. Case studies from art, history, and natural history museums provide opportunities to apply methods of historical and museum analysis.