This survey examines dramatic episodes in History from the Black Death to the Atom Bomb. Professor vividly illustrates the course, using art, architecture, and photography to give students a visual sense of historical change. The course focuses on critical topics, such as the Black Death, Religious conflict, European warfare, Women’s roles, Empire building, the rise of Totalitarianism, and the two World Wars. We end with an examination of the integrated, dangerous, and highly globalized world of today.

This course introduces key issues in environmental history in America from 1600 to present, with emphasis on long-term impacts. Changes to the physical environment shaped the direction of American politics, migration, society, and economy. American ideas about nature, wilderness, science, and geography defined the relationship between people and the land, sea, and sky. In this class, we will unpack the complicated history of the American environment to discover how the inhabitants of the continent understood and interacted with the land, plants, animals, and ecological and scientific ideas of their time. We will uncover how the environment itself was a historical agent, at times allowing and other times limiting migration, expansion, construction, and extraction. We will also give considerable attention to urban and built landscapes like Manchester, New Hampshire and the specific environmental issues they face in the modern day.

The United States and the Cold War

This course offers an introduction to the history of the United States during the period of conflict known as the Cold War, from the 1940s to the 1990s. For these fifty years, the superpower rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union dominated global events and left a legacy still evident in our lives today. Beginning with the origins of that rivalry, we will trace the development of Cold War strategies and their implementation in crises around the world, from the Berlin Blockade to the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, and Iran-Contra Affair. In addition to examining foreign policy and the actions of Americans abroad, we will also explore how the Cold War impacted life for Americans at home. Students will gain a greater understanding of the flow of American history in the second half of the twentieth century and learn to think critically about the role of the United States overseas.