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Undergraduate Programs

History Courses

• History Undergraduate Courses
• History Graduate Courses

HISTORY COURSES AT HOFSTRA (Spring 2024)

(WITH DESCRIPTIONS FOR Special Topics courses and seminars)

Core Distribution codes: (HP) History/Philosophy; (CC) Cross Cultural/ (WI) Writing Intensive

It is strongly recommended that students consult a professor in the Department of History prior to registration every semester.
Questions? Email: sally.charnow@hofstra.edu

• HIST 06D Sec 01: Life on Long Island 1840-1940 1sh, TR 2:40-4:05, Professor Sims
• HIST 010, sec 01 (CC/HP): Intro to Global History 3sh, MW 9:40-11:05, Professor Elsey
  This course is an introduction to major historical processes of global scope. Themes will vary but may include: diaspora and migration; the emergence of civilizations; worlds of slavery; gender and sexuality; empire and expansion; scientific revolutions; independence movements; and world wars.
• HIST 010, sec 02 (CC/HP): Intro to Global History 3sh, MW 11:20-12:45, Professor Elsey
• HIST 011, sec 01 (HP): Ancient and Medieval Worlds: Greece, Rome, Christendom, and the Rise of Islam, 3sh, MW 2:40-4:05, Professor Doubleday
  Formation of the western tradition from classical antiquity, merging Judaic, Greek, Roman and Christian elements, to the derivation of distinctive and dynamic European offshoots in medieval and early modern times. Topics include Hebraic religion, civilization of the Greek city-states, Roman imperialism and law, the role of Christianity in western life, institutions and ideas of the Middle Ages and early modern Europe.
• HIST 012, sec 01(HP)  Modern Worlds: The West from the Renaissance to Present, 3sh, MW 11:0-12:45, Professor Pugliese
  The rise of the modern west and the crises of the twentieth century: the struggles and contradictions which have led to continuing change in western civilization. Topics include the formation of the state, development of a capitalist economy, impact of technology on social change, development of science and philosophy, rise of industry and the emergence of a mass-society, modern nationalism, imperialism, and war. A recurrent theme will be the role of revolution and the attempts to reconstruct society according to various ideal models including socialism, fascism, and communism.
• HIST 012, sec 02(HP)  Modern Worlds: The West from the Renaissance to Present, 3sh, MW 11:0-12:45, Professor Pugliese
  The rise of the modern west and the crises of the twentieth century: the struggles and contradictions which have led to continuing change in western civilization. Topics include the formation of the state, development of a capitalist economy, impact of technology on social change, development of science and philosophy, rise of industry and the emergence of a mass-society, modern nationalism, imperialism, and war. A recurrent theme will be the role of revolution and the attempts to reconstruct society according to various ideal models including socialism, fascism, and communism.
• HIST 013, sec 01 (HP): U.S. Colonial to Civil War, 3sh, MWF 8:30-9:25, Professor Galgano
  Intensive study of controversial issues from the colonial period through the Civil War. The course is not chronological, but rather organized around themes of the faculty member's choosing. Conflicting points of view are addressed in lectures, readings, and discussions. 
• HIST 014S sec 02 (HP): 9/11 and its Aftermath, 3 sh, TR 2:40-4:05, Carolyn Eisenberg
  What happened on 9/11?  Decades later, we have a fresh opportunity to reflect on its causes and the impact.  In this course, we will consider the events as they unfolded in New York City and Long Island. What were the responses at the time, and how is that experience commemorated?  We will then move to Afghanistan and Iraq- how were civilians in those places effected by US policy? Class will use books, films, and oral histories, and will visit the 9/11 museum. 
• HIST 020, sec 01 (HP): Why History Matters: Immigration  3 sh, MW, 9:40am- 11:05am, Professor Ahr
  Through the centuries, our world has been defined by many migrations of scale—around the globe, back and forth. And the present is also such a moment of movement. Greece and Turkey, not to mention Mexico, have recently become conduits to the West for peoples fleeing poverty, oppression, and violence—in search of change, opportunity, and safety. What are the experiences of these migrants (emigrants come immigrants), their fates and futures? Classes will combine lecture and discussion; and our texts are a combination of fiction and non-fiction, primary and secondary.
• HIST 020, sec 02 (HP): Why History Matters: Immigration, 3 sh, MW, 11:20am-12:45pm, Professor Ahr
  Through the centuries, our world has been defined by many migrations of scale—around the globe, back and forth. And the present is also such a moment of movement. Greece and Turkey, not to mention Mexico, have recently become conduits to the West for peoples fleeing poverty.
• HIST 020 Sec A (HP) Why History Matters: Getting Medieval, 3sh, MW 4:20pm-5:45pm Professor Doubleday
  In the news we often hear about fanatical groups prone to “medieval” violence, ordinary twenty-first people subjected to appalling “medieval” justice, and lawmakers and citizens who show “medieval” levels of ignorance. But why are the Middle Ages invoked so often? What was the medieval period really like, and why is this word being used (perhaps misused ) to describe events in the twenty-first century? This section of History 20 will ask how ideas about the Middle Ages informs our contemporary discussions about intolerance, torture, race, Islam, antisemitism, sex, globalization culture, and the lives of ‘ordinary people’ in the US, Spain, Nazi Germany, Egypt, and elsewhere. We will ask what agendas are at work, find out how the past is imagined and distorted, and watch some truly bad “medieval” films.
• HIST 030 Sec 01(HP): Contemporary American Lives, 3 sh, MW 2:40-4:05 Professor John Munz
  In a biographical approach to historical understanding, the course considers the lives of four to six American men and women, chosen by the instructor to represent important aspects of American society since 1900. Individuals will be examined with regard to their interactions with society and one another, in the light of not only biographical and autobiographical texts but also of sound recordings, films, and visits to historical sites.
• HIST 032 Sec A (HP): The American Jewish Experience, 3 sh, MW 4:20-5:45, Prof TBA
  This course will explore the diversity of Jewish identities in the US from a historical perspective. Students will survey the creative paths that Jewish communities and individuals have taken to negotiate and reimagine memories, experiences, and traditions in conversation with each other and with other collectives in American society. Topics will include the relationship between immigration and assimilation, antisemitism and freedom, Zionism and diasporism, communal agreements and polemics, gender constructions and religious differences, ethnic crossovers and racial tensions, and political participation and popular culture.
• HIST 037 Sec 01 (HP): Genocide, 3sh MW 11:20-12:45, Professor Ruiz
  Genocide has destroyed populations across the world yet remains largely misunderstood with respect to its causes and motives. This course explores the history of organized mass murder from a twentieth-century U.S.-based perspective. What explains the murder of whole groups of people and how has the United States responded to such extremes of violence? Examples will be drawn across time and geography to include discussion of genocidal policies and events in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. 
• HIST 072C  Sec 01 (CC): China and Japan since 1800, 3 sh, TR 9:40am- 11:05am, Professor Terazawa
  An examination of the modern transformations of China and Japan in response to the challenge of the West and the quest for modernity. Emphasis on China’s and Japan’s contrasting approaches to the redefined problems of state and society, nation formation, cultural orientation, and modernization.
• HIST 102 WI: Investigating History: Genealogy as History, 4sh, MW, 2:40-4:35, Professor Elsey
  Do you wonder if anything you'll do will make a difference in the course of history? Or how historical factors have changed your life?  Historians think about these questions often. In this course, we will explore the relationship between what we often consider "private," and broader political and social history. Students will complete genealogies of their families. They will then connect their family history to pivotal events and processes. The goal of this course is to introduce students to the process of conducting original research and strengthen their understanding of historical analysis and context. When it comes to analyzing the mundane and making sense of the everyday, historians draw upon a wide range of sources including diaries, wills, tax records, census data, photographs, ship logs, newspapers, interviews, and so on.  Likewise, we will explore a variety of sources, from family photo albums to census records to local archives.
• HIST 103 WI: Debating History, 4sh, MW, 3:50-5:45, Professor Ruiz
  This course examines current historical debates and the process of writing modern history. We will discuss how the discipline of history has responded to multiple challenges in society–e.g., digitalization, globalization and environmental changes–as well as what history writing will look like in the future, how we can write the history of non-humans, and the challenges of crafting histories of memory, knowledge, and emotions.
• HIST 105 Sec 01 (HP): Ancient Egypt and the Middle East, 3 sh, TR, 11:20-12:45, Professor Keller.
  A historical examination of Ancient Egypt, Israel, and the wider Middle East from the first cities to the Persian Empire. Using evidence ranging from pyramids to the Old Testament, the course will examine topics such as religion, politics, slavery, and international relations.
• HIST 107 Sec A (HP): Medieval Europe, 3sh, MW, 6:00-7:25, Professor Doubleday
  Medieval Europe encompasses approximately 500-1400 CE.  In European culture, it was a dynamic period of Germanic migrations and invasions; Viking and Normans; crusades; cultural interaction with the Islamic world in Spain and the Mediterranean; chivalry and knighthood; popular uprisings; the Black Death; medieval science; heresy and inquisition; and Joan of Arc.
• HIST 124 DL: American Way of War, 3sh (meeting times tba) Professor Levy
  American military experience from the perspective of the “new” military history that is focused upon the complex interrelationship of warfare with political, economic, and social institutions.
• HIST 133 Sec A: Modern Germany, 3sh, MW4:20-5:45, Professor Ahr
• This course explores the history of Germany from unification in 1870 to the present, with emphasis on World War I and World War II, the Holocaust, the partitioning of Germany, the nation’s reunification of “East” and “West” in 1989, and the fall of “the Wall.”
• HIST 148 Sec 01: US: 1945 to Present, 3sh, TR 9:40-11:05, Carolyn Eisenberg
  This class will examine the changing character of American society and politics, along with the evolving role of the U.S as a world power. We will look in-depth at some controversial topics: the origins and character of the Cold War, McCarthyism, growth of the suburbs, racial discrimination North and South, the rise of the civil rights movement, liberal reform under Kennedy and Johnson, the Vietnam War, rebellions of the Sixties, roots of contemporary feminism, and the rise of the political Right.
• HIST 154 Sec 01: US Foreign Policy, 3sh, TR 11:20-12:45, Carolyn Eisenberg
  The end of World War II brought a profound change in America’s global role. Themes may include the origins of the Cold War, the Korean Conflict, U.S. interventions in Latin America, Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, end of the Cold War, and the ongoing war on terror.
• HIST 165 Sec A: American Civil War and Reconstruction, TR 4:20-5:45, Professor John Staudt
  The disruption of the Union, an intensive study of the war, with emphasis upon its nonmilitary aspects, and the restoration and readjustment of American society after the war.
• HIST 169 Sec 01: Immigration and American Society, 3sh, TR, 2:40-4:05, Professor Terazawa
  An appraisal of the greatest movement of people in the history of the world. Experiences of immigrants and ethnic adjustments over generations are analyzed from comparative perspectives. Focus primarily on immigration of the 19th and 20th centuries. This course is mostly centered on Asian immigration and the Japanese American Internment.
• HIST 174 Sec 01 (CC): Modern Japan, 3sh, TR, 1:00-2:25, Professor Terazawa
  Political and social history since 1867, with emphasis on the selectivity of and contradictions within the Japanese response to the western challenge, culminating in the post-World War II synthesis. Independent research an option.
• HIST 183 Sec 01: Semi-modern European History, 4sh, MW 2:40-4:05, Sally Charnow
  The course focuses on a selected theme, issue, problem, region, country, or period in the history of European peoples in the period 1600 c.e. to the present.

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