Historical Studies

The College of Letters and Science Seven-Course Breadth requirement and American Cultures Breadth requirement are the foundation of the college's liberal arts program. It can only be fulfilled with college coursework; AP exams and other high school work do not count toward this requirement.

Perspectives on the human condition and an appreciation of the origins and evolution of the numerous cultures and social orders that have populated the earth. Courses fulfilling this requirement deal primarily with the human events, institutions, and activities of the past.

* - Courses that also fulfill the American Cultures Breadth requirement

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American Studies 10—Introduction to American Studies (4 units)

Department Abbreviation: XAMERSTUD 10

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: American culture and cultural change, with attention to the multicultural basis of American society and emphasis on the need for multiple methods of analysis. The course will consistently draw on the arts, material culture, and various fields affecting cultural production and meaning. Those areas include literature, film, history, architecture, history of art, religion, music, engineering, environmental studies, anthropology, politics, economics.

Class Description: Making in America - By focusing on the concept of “making” as a practice, a process, and a theory of meaning, this course provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of America. We will look at the historical, political, economic, and cultural meanings of “making” in the U.S as expressed and experienced in literature, popular culture, material culture, and the built environment.

Schedule of Classes

Ancient Greek and Roman Studies 10A (formerly known as Classics 10A)—Introduction to Greek Civilization (4 units)

Department Abbreviation: XAGRS 10A

Prerequisite: None; however, this is a writing- and reading-intensive course, and your writing skills should exceed the College Writing course level

Satisfies: Either the Arts and Literature, Historical Studies, or Philosophy and Values breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Study of the major developments, achievements, and contradictions in Greek culture from the Bronze Age to the 4th century BCE. Key works of literature, history, and philosophy (read in English translation) will be examined in their political and social context, and in relation both to other ancient Mediterranean cultures and to subsequent developments in Western civilization.

Schedule of Classes

Asian American Studies 20A—Introduction to the History of Asians in the United States (4 units)

Department Abbreviation: XASAMST 20A

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Examine critical aspects of Asian-American histories and experiences from 1848 to the present. Gain a historical framework for a basic understanding of the experiences of the major Asian-American groups and an analytical foundation for comparative analyses. You will understand national and international factors that have an impact on migration and related policies; intersecting issues of race, class and gender relations; interclass conflicts between labor and capital; and intraclass conflicts as evidenced by labor agitation against Asian migration and resettlement. Three hours of lecture and one hour of discussion per week.

Schedule of Classes

Environmental Science Policy and Management 50AC—Introduction to Culture and Natural Resource Management (4 units)*

Also Fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XESPM 50AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies, Philosophy and Values, or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: An introduction to how culture affects the way we use and manage fire, wildland and urban forests, rangelands, parks and preserves, and croplands in America. The basic concepts and tools for evaluating the role of culture in resource use and management are introduced and used to examine the experience of American cultural groups in the development and management of western natural resources.

Schedule of Classes

Ethnic Studies 21AC—A Comparative Survey of Racial and Ethnic Groups in the United States (4 units)*

Also Fulfills AC Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XETHSTD 21AC

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Examine the historical experiences of European immigrants, African Americans and Latinos, emphasizing the themes of migration and economic change since the late-19th century. You will also learn about the experiences of Asian Americans, Native Americans and recently arrived immigrants in the context of the course themes. Throughout the course, discuss intragroup differences such as gender, socioeconomic stratification and cultural variation.

Schedule of Classes

History 7B (AC)—The United States From Civil War to Present (4 units)*

This course fulfills the American History requirement, as well as the American Cultures Requirement

Department Abbreviation: XHISTOR 7B

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Both the American Cultures requirement and either the Historical Studies or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C- or better or a Passed grade. It also fulfills the American History requirement.

Course Description: Examine the experiences and conflicts that comprise American society's history. You will be exposed to a wide range of historical actors and dialogues in order to understand the past, from the perspective of the men and women who experienced it and to gain some insight into the daily lives of Americans: work and leisure, cultures and ideologies, relations with one another, and the political and economic system under which they lived. Lectures and readings focus on the complex interplay among political, economic and cultural interests, and will examine, in particular depth, race relations, the laboring classes, reform movements, the interior of American lives, the changing conditions for success and survival in the culture Americans were shaping, and the emerging role of the United States as a world power.

Schedule of Classes

History 30—Science and Society (4 units)

Department Abbreviation: XHISTOR 30

Prerequisite: None

Satisfies: Either the Historical Studies, Philosophy and Values, or Social and Behavioral Sciences breadth category if completed with a C− or better or a Passed grade

Course Description: Science as we know it is the product of a historical process. In this course, we will explore the emergence of its concepts, practices, goals, and cognitive authority by surveying its roots in their social and cultural setting. We will trace the development of conceptions of the natural world from antiquity through the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment and up to the modern age. All the sciences fall within our purview, from their early forms up to today.

Schedule of Classes