Morton Hall 206
Telephone: 256.824.6310
Email: history@uah.edu
The Department of History offers the following undergraduate degrees:
Mission
The faculty of the History Department is committed to our students and to teaching excellence. We are all active researchers who pursue publications and participate actively in local, national, and international historical organizations. We offer a wide-range of classes that foster student growth and accommodate diverse student interests. Undergraduate classes start with general surveys and proceed to specialized electives. Every course entails reading, discussion, and writing to build skills in investigating problems, analyzing information, and crafting narratives. The goal is to help students understand continuity and change, learn the complexity of judgment of past failures and successes, and become better citizens who know national patterns and cosmopolitan perspectives. Doing history, students will become skillful in research, separating important information from the inconsequential, weighing disparate interpretations, identifying and explaining trends, discussing complex topics, and presenting information orally and in writing.
The History Department offers an undergraduate B.A., as well as a minor. The department’s majors who complete Class A&B certificates in education meet all the requirements of Alabama teacher certification. We also offer courses supporting various interdisciplinary minors within the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.
History for Second Area of Study for Elementary Education Teacher Candidates
Students majoring in elementary education may select history as their second area of study. Requirements can be found in the Education section of the catalog. Preliminary counseling is available in the College of Education.
Advanced Placement Credit
Elective credit will be given to AP American History, European History, and/or World History. Students who have earned a score of 3 on Advanced Placement (AP) Program examinations of the College Entrance Examination Board will receive credit for HY 221, while a score of 4 or 5 will receive credit for HY 221 and HY 222 at UAH. For AP European History, students submitting a score of 3 will receive credit for HY 103, while a score of 4 or 5 will earn credit for HY 103 and HY 104. In World History, a score of 3 on the AP exam will receive credit for HY 103 and students submitting a score of 4 or 5 will receive credit for HY 103 and HY 104.
Transfer Credit
With the exception of those community colleges covered within the Alabama Articulation and General Studies agreement, only in exceptional circumstances will the History Department accept transfer credit for non-interactive telecommunications courses or correspondence courses in HY 103, HY 104, HY 221, or HY 222. Students who wish to receive such credit should petition the department chair.
CLEP/Departmental Examination Credit
A student who earns an acceptable score on the CLEP examination for World History (HY 103 and/or HY 104), or U.S. History (HY 221 and/or HY 222) may petition the History Department requesting an essay examination on the subject for which credit is desired. Acceptable scores on the CLEP examination are 56 for HY 103 and HY 104, and 60 for HY 221 and HY 222. The petition will not be reviewed until a satisfactory CLEP score has been reported. After consultation with a faculty member designated by the department chair, the student may take an essay examination. If he or she also receives B or better on the essay, credit will be granted for the appropriate course(s).
HY 103 - WORLD HISTORY TO 1500
Semester Hours: 3
Explore the historical development of peoples and cultures from their beginnings to 1500. Trace cross-cultural interactions among societies, states, and economies of Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas and Oceania.
HY 104 - WORLD HISTORY SINCE 1500
Semester Hours: 3
Explore global interdependence from the period of transoceanic exploration to the present. Trace cross-cultural interactions among societies, states, and economies of Asia, Europe, Africa, the Americas, and Oceania.
HY 221 - UNITED STATES TO 1877
Semester Hours: 3
Discovery of America through the Civil War and Reconstruction. Open to all students other than beginning freshmen, with exceptions as indicated.
HY 222 - UNITED STATES SINCE 1877
Semester Hours: 3
United States from the end of the Civil War era to the present. Open to all students other than beginning freshmen, with exceptions as indicated.
HY 300 - CRAFT OF HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Introduction to historical methods and thought, designed to prepare history majors for upper-level coursework. Required of all history majors, including transfer students. Open to non-history majors.
Prerequisites: HY 103 and HY 104.
HY 306 - COLLAPSE OF CIVILIZATIONS
Semester Hours: 3
This course will investigate why some cultures succeed and others fail.
HY 310 - INTRODUCTION TO PUBLIC HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Introduces the interdisciplinary field of public history, including historic preservation, cultural resource management, local and state history, methodology, historical archaeology, museum studies, oral history, and archival management through academic training and practical experience.
HY 311 - HISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY
Semester Hours: 3
Introduces intellectual and practical concepts using elements of research, fieldwork, analysis, and
interpretation to explore and recreate the documented and undocumented past.
HY 312 - CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Semester Hours: 3
Cultural resource management encompasses recognition description, maintenance, security, and overall management of historical items, places, and ideas through preservation and protection.
HY 318 - CONSTITUTIONAL HY OF THE U.S.
Semester Hours: 3
Growth and development of the American constitutional system with emphasis on those aspects, which relate to the fundamental structure of American government and social order.
HY 325 - HISTORY OF ALABAMA
Semester Hours: 3
The state's past from colonial times to the present with emphasis on its place in United States history.
HY 329 - IMPERIAL ROME
Semester Hours: 3
Roman Empire from the Principate to the barbarian invasions.
HY 331 - WORLD OF MIDDLE AGES
Semester Hours: 3
Survey of the origins and development of medieval society in Europe from the fall of Rome to the Age of Discovery, including the Latin West, Byzantium, and Islamic world.
HY 360 - AMERICAN HISTORY THROUGH FILM
Semester Hours: 3
This course will explore how motion pictures have shaped our views on American history and how the past has shaped movie making.
HY 363 - INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF AMERICAS
Semester Hours: 3
Surveys the history of Indigenous peoples of the Americas from the fifteenth century to the present.
HY 367 - WOMEN IN U.S. HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Women in the United States from the colonial period to the present.
HY 368 - AMERICAN ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Explores the interrelationship of people and the environment in American history from 1500 to the present.
HY 370 - TECHNOLOGY IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Explores the history of the interrelationship of people and technology in American history from 1600 to the present.
HY 371 - US MILITARY HY FRM INDP TO PRS
Semester Hours: 3
Explores the evolution of the U.S. military from the War of Independence to the present.
HY 373 - FOREIGN REL US TO 1920
Semester Hours: 3
American foreign relations from the Revolutionary era through World War I. American territorial and commercial expansion, imperialism, and emergence as a world power.
HY 381 - COLONIAL LATIN AMERICA
Semester Hours: 3
This course surveys the history of Colonial Latin America from the Hispanic period to the wars of independence in the nineteenth century.
HY 382 - MODERN LATIN AMERICAN
Semester Hours: 3
This course surveys the history of Latin America from the nineteenth century to the present.
HY 383 - FOOD AND WORLD HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Examines the role of food and drink in various historical settings.
HY 384 - ISLAMIC WORLD TO 1800
Semester Hours: 3
This course explores how Islam emerged as a civilization and connected geographic areas across the globe. Topics include: the prophet Muhammad; early Arab conquests; the Sunni-Shie split; the expansion of the Islamic world into Europe, Africa, and Asia; and the challenge of European imperialism.
HY 385 - MODERN MIDDLE EAST
Semester Hours: 3
This course seeks to establish a historical basis for understanding the current events of the modern Middle East (1800-present). Topics include: the making of the modern Middle East both before and after WWI; the Arab-Israeli conflict; and the relationship between the U.S. and the Middle East.
HY 390 - WOMEN IN MODERN EUROPEAN HIS
Semester Hours: 3
Explores European women's history from the Enlightenment to the present. Focus on gender and women's roles in different historical contexts.
HY 391 - EUROPE, 1500-1815
Semester Hours: 3
Examination of the economic, scientific, social, political, and cultural developments in Europe from the Renaissance to the French Revolution.
HY 392 - EUROPE SINCE 1815
Semester Hours: 3
Europe from the French Revolution to the present.
HY 399 - SPECIAL TOPIC IN HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Intensive examination of particular problems, periods, or topics in history.
HY 401 - DAILY LIFE IN ANCIENT ROME
Semester Hours: 3
This course will re-create the daily lives of the ancient Romans using secondary readings, ancient literature, archaeology, and film. It focuses on the lives of ordinary people, with an eye to their struggles, everyday practices, beliefs, values, and mentalities.
HY 410 - SPEC TOPICS IN PUBLIC HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Intensive examination of a particular problem, aspect, or methodology in public history.
HY 413 - THE OLD SOUTH
Semester Hours: 3
Southern society, economics, politics and culture concentrating on the nineteenth century South through Reconstruction.
HY 414 - THE NEW SOUTH
Semester Hours: 3
Post-Reconstruction South emphasizing the economic, social, and political readjustments made during the twentieth century. Open to students who have completed 12 semester hours in history or senior standing or have permission of instructor.
HY 424 - THE ATLANTIC WORLD
Semester Hours: 3
Examines interactions across the Atlantic Ocean among Africans, Americans, and Europeans. This course meets the requirements for either American or non-American credit in the history major.
HY 426 - COLONIAL AMERICA
Semester Hours: 3
Explores the founding of New World colonies, including political, social, economic, and religious developments during the colonial period.
HY 427 - AGE OF AMERICAN REVOLUTI
Semester Hours: 3
Explores the multinational connections and conflicts that lead some English colonists to revolt. Considers the political, social, and economic aspects of the time period.
HY 428 - EARLY AMERICAN REPUBLIC
Semester Hours: 3
Political, social, and economic changes between the American Revolution and the nineteenth century that laid the foundation for the United States.
HY 429 - CIVIL WAR & RECONSTRUCTION
Semester Hours: 3
An examination of the major political, economic, and social developments in the United States during the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.
HY 437 - THE RISE OF MODERN AMER
Semester Hours: 3
Economic and social changes, imperialism, and the growth in government in the United States from 1877 to the 1920s.
HY 438 - MODERN AMERICA
Semester Hours: 3
American society, politics, economics, and foreign affairs from the end of World War I to the origins of the Cold War.
HY 439 - RECENT AMERICAN HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Contemporary America from the 1950s to the present, analyzing both domestic and foreign affairs.
HY 440 - FOREIGN REL U.S. SINCE 1920
Semester Hours: 3
United States as a world power. American involvement in World War II, Vietnam, and the Cold War, and the growth of American presence in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.
HY 445 - COMPTVE MILITARY PLCY & STRAT
Semester Hours: 3
A comparative analysis of the military policy and strategy of states and empires in World History.
HY 451 - SCIENCE & RELIGION IN HISTORY
Semester Hours: 3
Integrated survey of the history of science and religion in mostly Western contexts from Greek. Antiquity to present debates.
Prerequisites: HY 300.
HY 472 - US MILITARY HISTORY SINCE 1920
Semester Hours: 3
The evolution of United States armed forces from 1920 to the present. The class will enhance understanding of the development and evolution of American strategy, doctrine, and operational issues.
HY 473 - U.S.-LATIN AMERICAN RELATIONS
Semester Hours: 3
This class focuses on the history of political, economic, and cultural interactions between Latin America and the United States from 1800 to the present. Topics include military intervention, trade, cultural exchanges, the Cold War, the drug war, and immigration.
HY 474 - RENAISSANCE & REFORMATION
Semester Hours: 3
Selected topics in the Italian Renaissance and European Reformation.
HY 475 - SECTARIANISM ISLAMIC WORLD
Semester Hours: 3
This course focuses on sectarianism, the practice and rhetoric surrounding marginalization of certain social-religious groups in the Islamic world. It explores the historical foundations of sectarianism (from early 7th century to today) both within the Islamic world and across the globe.
HY 476 - BEING YOUNG MODERN MIDDLE EAST
Semester Hours: 3
This course focuses on the lives of young men and women of the Modern Middle East. It explores how children and youth experienced historical phenomena in the region, the ways in which these experiences affected the foundations of their adulthood, and how their actions shaped historical events.
HY 480 - ROMANS&BARBARIANS LATE ANTIQTY
Semester Hours: 3
This course explores the dynamic world of Late Antiquity including political developments, social and religious transformation, and exchange patterns in the Mediterranean. It is a history of cultural interaction, continuity, and change during a formative period in western civilization.
HY 481 - EMPIRES AND NATIONS
Semester Hours: 3
Thematic focus on empires and nations as political and cultural constructs in European and world history. Students may take HY 481 more than once for credit ONLY IF 1) a different instructor teaches each offering, and 2) the temporal and/or geographic focus is distinct each time.
HY 482 - COMPTV SLAVERY & ABOLITION
Semester Hours: 3
Explore what slavery has meant in the ancient world, Indian Ocean, Africa, the United States, and/or other locations over time.
HY 483 - WOMEN & GENDER LATIN AMERICA
Semester Hours: 3
This course studies the history of women and gender relations in Latin America from the colonial period to the present.
HY 484 - LATIN AMERICAN HIST THRU FILM
Semester Hours: 3
Latin American history through the perspective of fictional films.
HY 485 - NAZI GERMANY AND THE HOLOCAUST
Semester Hours: 3
Seminar course on the historiography of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
HY 486 - COMMUNISM LEGCY RUSSIA EAST EU
Semester Hours: 3
Overview and analysis of communist states and post-communist legacies in Russia and Eastern Europe.
HY 490 - RESEARCH SEMINAR IN HY
Semester Hours: 3
Research and writing with primary sources and historiography. Required of all history majors.
Prerequisites: HY 300. Offered once annually.
HY 492 - PUB MEMORY & INTERP
Semester Hours: 3
Examines how public memory is created by looking at the social, political, and economic forces that shape public history and considers how historical knowledge is conveyed to the public. Prerequisites: 6 hours in History or Instructor's Permission.
HY 493 - FUNDAMENTALS OF ARCHIVES
Semester Hours: 3
Survey of basic archival theory and practice, with emphasis on the role of the archivist in contemporary society.
HY 494 - DEVELOPING DIGITAL ARCHIVES
Semester Hours: 3
Survey of the theory and practice of developing digital access tools in archives, libraries, and museums.
HY 495 - PUBLIC HISTORY INTERNSHIP
Semester Hours: 3
A semester-long public history internship for completing a significant project using historical skills as a professional usually in an off-campus setting. Students must complete 125 hours of work during their internship. Permission of instructor or chair is required.
HY 498 - STUDIES IN HISTORY
Semester Hours: 1-3
A readings or research class on a particular problem, period or topic in history. This course may be repeated for credit.
HY 499 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
Semester Hours: 3
In exceptional circumstances, a student and professor may work together on a specialized topic.
Baun, Dylan, Assistant Professor, History, 2016, PhD, University of Arizona.
Gandila, Andrei, Associate Professor, History, 2013, PhD, University of Florida.
Johnson, David, Associate Professor, History, 2005, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis.
Johnson, Molly, Associate Professor, History, 2003, PhD, University of Illinois.
Mohr, John, Lecturer, History, 2018, PhD, Auburn University.
Pacino, Nicole, Associate Professor, History, 2013, PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Sears, Christine, Associate Professor, History, 2007, PhD, University of Delaware.
Smith, Kelly, Lecturer, History, 2018, PhD, University of Cincinnati.
Waring, Stephen, Professor, History, 1988, PhD, University of Iowa.