Spring 2025 GAP Courses

This course treats West African history through the first part of the twentieth century. The student is provided with a perspective on the major historical patterns that gave rise to West Africa's development as an integral part of world history. Special attention is paid to anthropological, geographical, and technological developments that influenced West African political and socioeconomic changes. (Same as HIST 160.)

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This course examines the ethical frameworks developed for thinking about, using, and protecting the natural world. Examples of topics include indigenous approaches to nature, the history of ecological ideas, environmental movements, the role of the state in managing resources, utilitarianism and progressivism, environmental lawmaking, wilderness advocacy, nature and theology, the rights of nature, and environmental justice. Students are introduced to the theories of duty ethics, justice ethics, utilitarianism, and rights ethics, and required to apply ethical decision making to contemporary and historical environmental issues. Multiple perspectives on the history of human interactions with nature demonstrate the importance of reflecting upon the value systems inherent in human-centered environmental ethics and nature-centered environmental ethics. (Same as EVRN 336.)

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This course will examine how human dignity is preserved and violated in the modern age. Cast in a global framework, themes may include the history of human rights; the moral universe of health and wellbeing; narratives of genocide and collective resistance; the shifting status and treatment of the poor and the colonized; and the impact of changing technology on ethics in medicine, science, and the environment.

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A survey of the origins, course, and consequences of the war, 1930-1945. Political, economic, military, and social aspects will be dealt with in the context of their global effects. Extensive use will be made of motion pictures and other media.

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The systematic murder of the Jews of Europe by the Nazis during World War II is one of the most important events of modern history. This course studies the Holocaust by asking about its place in history. It compares other attempted genocides with the Holocaust and examines why most historians argue that it is unique. Other topics covered include the reasons the Holocaust occurred in Europe when it did, the changing role of anti-Semitism, and the effects of the Holocaust on civilization. The course also discusses why some people have sought to deny the Holocaust. The course concludes by discussing the questions people have raised about the Holocaust and such issues as support for democracy, the belief in progress, the role of science, and the search for human values which are common to all societies. (Same as JWSH 343.)

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A study of a specialized theme or topic in non-Western History. Students will examine major issues and methods of historical study through the study of a specific historical period or topical area. This course grants HIST Category II credit. May be repeated for credit when topic varies.

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Sushi, now served at Midwestern supermarkets and university cafeterias, reveals the transformation of an ancient Japanese dish into a global phenomenon. This course takes familiar Japanese dishes like sushi and ramen as starting points to ask how food accrues or sheds national characteristics in an age of globalization. To learn the origin of sushi and ramen, the class traces the evolution of the diet in the context of the development of Japanese civilization. Using the methodology of food history, course assignments include short research papers on Japanese foodstuffs; analyses of primary sources from statistics to comic books to movies; and short essays drawing from participant observation of Japanese foods now available locally.

View HIST 395 on Schedule of Classes

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