History

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Professors: Barnes, Berkey, Edmondson, Krentz, Levering, McMillen (Chair), Thomas
Associate Professors: Aldridge, Dietz, Wertheimer
Assistant Professors: Dennis, Guasco (On leave), Mangan, Tilburg,

Core Requirement

Any course in history numbered below 395 may be counted toward the core curriculum requirement in history.

Cultural Diversity Requirement

History 162, 163, 171, 175, 176, 183, 184, 302, 303, 350, 361, 364, 375, 381, 383, 384, 451, 464, 465, or 471 fulfill the cultural diversity requirement.

Advanced Placement Credit

Students normally receive credit for History 122 or 141 when they have earned a score of 5 or 4 on the Advanced Placement Examination in European or American History of the College Entrance Examination Board. (Only a 5 will be accepted beginning with the Class of 2008.) Students normally receive credit for a 100-level course, as appropriate, when they have earned a score of 7 or 6 on The Higher Level Examination in History of the International Baccalaureate Program. No more than two such courses may count toward the major.

Major Requirements

Eleven courses in history, including:

At least three, but no more than four, 100-level courses above 101, normally to be completed by the end of the second year, divided among at least three of the following areas (see note 2):
1. Pre-Modern Europe (109, 110, 112, 119, Humanities I)
2. Modern Europe (120, 121, 122, Humanities II)
3. United States (141, 142)
4. Latin America, India, Far East, Middle East, China (162, 163, 171, 175, 176, 183, 184)
  Note: Students who have completed the Humanities Program receive credit for one 100-level course in either a or b, but not both.
One course numbered between 200 and 298, to be taken at Davidson College and normally to be completed by the end of the second year.
Five or six courses between 299 and 479, at least one of which must be a topical seminar at the 400-level. See note (2) below (excluding 480 and the Kelley Program).
History 480 (Senior Research Seminar), or History 488/489 (Kelley Honors Seminar).
Notes: (1) One regular course applied to the major must deal substantially with the pre-modern period (109–119, 162, 171, 175, 183, 215, 311-319, 321, 322, 414, 416, 421, 422, 475, HUM I or suitable transfer course).
(2) Most courses numbered below 300 are not open to seniors; those 300 and above are normally not open to first-year students. Seminars are open only to juniors and seniors.
(3) History majors may elect to apply the following course toward requirements at the 300 level: GER 231 (only the Denham/Holocaust section).
(4) Normally, at least seven (7) of the courses used to satisfy the major are to be taken at Davidson.
(5) If you go abroad or attend another institution, you can receive up to two credits for a semester away from Davidson: for a year, up to three courses. Any history course taken at another institution for which you desire credit toward the major must be discussed with the department chair before you leave and after you return.
(6) Davidson’s Cambridge Summer Program counts as one history credit at the 300-level.

Honors Requirements

Candidates for admission to the honors program in history must have an overall grade point average of 3.2 after the fall semester of the junior year. Honors candidates must write an honors thesis and defend it orally, in History 488/489 (the Kelley Seminar) during the senior year. To qualify for honors at graduation, candidates must have earned an average of 3.5 or above in the major, an “A” or “A-” on the thesis (History 489), and an overall average of 3.2 or above.

The Kendrick K. Kelley Program in Historical Studies represents a living memorial to Ken Kelley, Class of ’63, an honors history graduate who was killed while serving in Vietnam in 1968. The Kelley Program seeks to enrich the academic experience of students majoring in history and to encourage them to emulate Ken Kelley’s virtues and achievements.

The program has three components. First, junior history majors who have a minimum overall grade point average of 3.2 are invited to apply to the Kelley Scholars program during the spring semester. Those admitted to the program enroll in a year-long Kelley Seminar (History 488/489) for seniors which culminates in the writing of a thesis, which authors defend orally. Travel funds enable Kelley Scholars to pursue research in distant libraries and archives. Second, the Kelley Lecture Series brings distinguished historians to the Davidson campus. Third, the Kelley Award annually recognizes the senior history major who best exemplifies Ken Kelley’s personal qualities—superior academic performance, self-effacing leadership, and personal integrity.

100-Level Courses

HIS 100W - (Comp) First-Year Seminar Credits: 1
HIS 109 - Greek History Credits: 1
HIS 110 - Roman History Credits: 1
HIS 111 - Greek And Roman History Credits: 1
HIS 112 - The Medieval Millennium: Europe, C. 500–1500 Credits: 1
HIS 119 - England To 1688 Credits: 1
HIS 120 - Britain Since 1688 Credits: 1
HIS 121 - Early Modern Europe Credits: 1
HIS 122 - Europe Since 1815 Credits: 1
HIS 141 - The United States To 1877 Credits: 1
HIS 142 - The United States Since 1877 Credits: 1
HIS 162 - Latin America To 1825 Credits: 1
HIS 163 - Latin America, 1825 To Present Credits: 1
HIS 171 - India Credits: 1
HIS 175 - Islamic Civilization And The Middle East, 600–1500 Credits: 1
HIS 176 - Islamic Civilization And The Middle East Since 1500 Credits: 1
HIS 183 - East Asian History Until 1600 Credits: 1
HIS 184 - East Asian History, 1600 To The Present Credits: 1

200-Level Courses

Courses at the 200 level emphasize research methods, interpretive approaches, and writing. Only one course at this level may count toward completion of the major.

HIS 215 - Magic And Witchcraft In Pre-Modern Europe Credits: 1
HIS 218 - Jihad and Crusade Credits: 1
HIS 225 - Women And Work: Gender And Society In Britain, 1700-1918 Credits: 1
HIS 228 - The Modern Body: Gender, Sex, And Politics In France Credits: 1
HIS 232 - Origins Of World War I Credits: 1
HIS 244 - Settlement Of The American West, 1800–1900 Credits: 1
HIS 252 - The United States From 1900 To 1945 Credits: 1
HIS 253 - The United States Since 1945 Credits: 1
HIS 255 - American Popular Culture Credits: 1
HIS 256 - The 1960S: An Explosive Decade Credits: 1
HIS 257 - African Americans And Us Foreign Policy Credits: 1
HIS 262 - Piracy In The Americas Credits: 1
HIS 264 - Rebellion And Revolution In Latin America Credits: 1

300-Level Courses

HIS 302 - African American History To 1877 Credits: 1
HIS 303 - African American History Since 1877 Credits: 1
HIS 306 - American Women To 1870 Credits: 1
HIS 307 - American Women, 1870 To The Present Credits: 1
HIS 314 - Athenian Law Credits: 1
HIS 317 - The European Renaissance Credits: 1
HIS 321 - The Explosion Of Christendom: Europe In The 16Th Century Credits: 1
HIS 322 - The Age Of Discovery, 1492-1700 Credits: 1
HIS 325 - Britain From 1688 To 1832 Credits: 1
HIS 328 - Bohemian France; Art, Culture, And Society, 1789-1945 Credits: 1
HIS 332 - European Metropolis, 1870–1914 Credits: 1
HIS 333 - The Era Of The World Wars Credits: 1
HIS 334 - The Contemporary World, 1945-1995 Credits: 1
HIS 336 - European Women And Gender, 1650-Present Credits: 1
HIS 339 - Twentieth-Century Russia Credits: 1
HIS 340 - Colonial America Credits: 1
HIS 341 - The Era Of The American Revolution Credits: 1
HIS 343 - The Old South Credits: 1
HIS 344 - The South Since 1865 Credits: 1
HIS 346 - The Civil War And Reconstruction Credits: 1
HIS 349 - The Vietnam Experience Credits: 1
HIS 350 - African American Intellectual History Credits: 1
HIS 354 - United States Foreign Policy Since 1939 Credits: 1
HIS 355 - American Legal History Credits: 1
HIS 357 - The Civil Rights Movement In The United States Credits: 1
HIS 364 - Gender And History In Latin America Credits: 1
HIS 375 - Nationalism And Colonialism In The Modern Arab World Credits: 1
HIS 381 - Asia And Western Dominance Credits: 1
HIS 383 - Topics In East Asian History Credits: 1
HIS 385 - History of Imperial China, 900-1800 Credits: 1
HIS 390 - Davidson Summer Program At Cambridge University Credits: 1
HIS 395, 396 - Independent Study Credits: 1

400-Level Courses

History 480 and 488/489 are offered every year. Topical seminars are offered on a rotating basis.

HIS 417 - Roman Imperialism Credits: 1
HIS 420 - The English Civil War Credits: 1
HIS 421 - Everyday Life In Reformation Europe Credits: 1
HIS 422 - Gender In Early Modern Europe (C. 15Th – 18Th Centuries) Credits: 1
HIS 424 - The French Revolution Credits: 1
HIS 426 - Victorian People Credits: 1
HIS 433 - Twentieth-Century Germany Credits: 1
HIS 435 - The Russian Revolution Credits: 1
HIS 440 - Slavery In The Americas Credits: 1
HIS 441 - Natives And Newcomers In Early America Credits: 1
HIS 445 - America In The 1940S Credits: 1
HIS 448 - The 1950S: A Critical Decade Credits: 1
HIS 451 - African American Cultural History Credits: 1
HIS 455 - Law And Society In American History Credits: 1
HIS 464 - Religion And Social Change In Latin America Credits: 1
HIS 465 - Colonialism and Imagination in Early Latin America Credits: 1
HIS 471 - Gandhi Credits: 1
HIS 472 - Law, Justice, and Human Rights in China Credits: 1
HIS 475 - History of the Book Credits: 1
HIS 480 - Senior Research Seminar Credits: 1
HIS 488, 489 - Kelley Honors Seminar: Research And Thesis Credits: 1