This course focuses on the origins and development of issues relevant to Americans today through the examination of the history of the United States from its earliest settlement through the Civil War. Students study themes and events ranging from Native American cultures and their contact with early European settlements, the triumph of British over French and Spanish settlers, the upheavals of the Revolution, the establishment of the United States, its expansion westward, and the development and growth of slavery which culminated in the Civil War. The focus of this class will be making connections between the past and the present day, recognizing historical themes, evaluating areas of conflict, and using evidence-based historical interpretation.

In this course, students develop and employ historical methodology appropriate to the study of events, figures, periods, and cultures of the past. Building on General Education coursework in thinking, research, and writing, the course helps to develop a historical mindset through student practice with methods and processes of the historian, in designing viable projects to explore further, and in substantive written work. The course frames key questions and concepts in the discipline and prepares students for upper-level courses in the major.

Students will have the opportunity to examine three decades of struggle in Southeast Asia beginning with the history of French Colonial Indochina that led Communist Vietnamese revolutionaries into conflict with France, and then the United States and its Vietnamese allies. The course presents primary sources to examine the impact and significance of the war on American society and to evaluate its causes and consequences. The complexities of the lived human experiences before, during, and after the Vietnam War are studied according to a multitude of perspectives and interpretations.

HLS 415 will introduce the student to the fundamentals of corporate security including the nature, scope, history, and essential elements of organization (or enterprise) security in the workplace, with emphasis on the private sector. Specific areas include the operational aspects of security strategies for identifying and controlling security exposures, risk management strategies, applicable legal issues, personal protection, property protection, role of intelligence, and concepts of disaster planning and management.