Required Courses:
HIS 392 Colloquium (Minors in History may choose the option of taking a seminar rather than a colloquium. They should note that enrolling in HIS 393 Seminar entails taking its corresponding pro-seminar as well.)
At least one course from Group I (previous page).
At least one course from Group II (previous page).
At least one course from Group III (previous page).
Two other courses from Departmental offerings.
A Major in History provides students with the opportunity to understand life in the present by comparing and contrasting it with the rich and varied experiences of people who lived in the past. It also trains the mind to think on many levels, using analytic skills required for balanced reflection. It provides excellent training in the assessment and interpretation of evidence and requires the development of strong writing skills. With this undergraduate training, History majors are prepared to pursue graduate studies or law school. In addition, the History major prepares students for careers in business, journalism, government, and many other fields that draw upon the analytic and communication skills, deepened perspective, and breadth of vision that come from the study of the past. The Major in History consists of a minimum of 10 courses in the field of History.
Required Courses
HIS 393 Seminar (Taken in conjunction with a pro-seminar—a course providing background and context for the seminar topic. The pro-seminar is taken in the same semester as the seminar, usually during the junior or senior year.)
At least three courses, with a minimum of one from each of the three groups:
Group I
HIS 201 Ancient Greece
HIS 202 Ancient Rome
HIS 204 Early Modern Europe
HIS 205 Age of Revolution, 1770-1870
HIS 206 Rise and Decline of European Primacy
HIS 208 Early Medieval Europe
HIS 209 Late Medieval Europe
HIS 210 Diplomatic History of Europe in the 20th Century
HIS 212 Women in Europe
HIS 221 Great Britain, 1485-1760
HIS 222 Great Britain since 1760
HIS 232 Baroque Europe, 1600-1789
HIS 234 France since 1789
HIS 241 History of Russia: Pre-Revolutionary Period
HIS 242 History of Russia since 1917
HIS 243 Totalitarianism and Everyday Life
HIS 272 Germany since 1890
Group II
HIS 213 Women and the American Experience
HIS 254 The North American Indian
HIS 255 Interactions with Indians in North America
HIS 257 History of Canada
HIS 258 Colonial America
HIS 259 Revolutionary America
HIS 260 19th-Century America
HIS 261 20th-Century America
HIS 262 Civil War and Reconstruction in the United States
HIS 264 The United States since 1960
HIS 267 United States Foreign Relations since 1898 HIS 268 The History of the Cold War
HIS 269 The History of African-Americans
HIS 270 Immigration and American History since 1815
HIS 276 Science and Technology inAmerican History
HIS 283 Modern China
HIS 285 Women’s Studies I: Images
Group III
HIS 250 Colonial Latin America
HIS 251 Modern Latin America since 1821
HIS 280 Asian History to 1800
HIS 281 Asian History since 1800
HIS 282 Japan since 1868
HIS 290 The Islamic Middle East I (to 1800)
HIS 291 The Islamic Middle East II (since 1800)
Five other courses from Departmental offerings Electives While History majors may take up to 14 courses in History, they are urged to take courses in related fields, such as Indian Studies, Women’s Studies, Political Science, Anthropology, Sociology, Economics, Geography, Literature, Philosophy, and Theology, while seeking to acquire a broad liberal arts background.
Students intending to pursue graduate work should note that a reading knowledge of French, German, or Spanish is often required of doctoral candidates and in some cases of master’s candidates.
Major: History
The department of history provides students with opportunity to understand life in the present by comparing and contrasting it with the rich and varied experiences of people who lived in the past. It also trains the mind to think on many levels, using analytic skills required for balanced reflection. It provides excellent training in the assessment and interpretation of evidence and requires the development of strong writing skills.
The department has moved from offering primarily American and European history courses, to offering Asian, Russian, and Latin American additions.
Most faculty have published at least one book.
Almost one-third of history majors are education concentrators planning to teach.
Recent Graduate Schools
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Course of English Department at Assumption College
ART/POL 150-151:Foundations of Western Civilization: Art and Politics I & II
A two-semester interdisciplinary course in politics and art. The two semesters concentrate on the study of the worlds of politics and art in ten successive periods of Western Civilization. The first semester studies Ancient Greece through the Renaissance. The second semester studies Modern Europe through 20th-century Europe and the United States. Both semesters emphasize the reading and interpretation of works which form the foundations of the West’s political and artistic achievements in each historical period. Students earn three credits in Art when registered as ART, and three credits in Politics when registered as POL. Beall and Opanasets/ Three credits each semester.
(Fulfills requirement in ART/MUSIC/THA when registered as ART, and a Social Science requirement when registered as POL.)
Requirements: (6 courses total) for Minor in Foundations of Western Civilization:
ART/POL 150 Foundations: Art and Politics I
ART/POL 151 Foundations: Art and Politics II
Four other semesters of Foundations courses from the following:
CLT 205 or 206 Literary Foundations of theWest I and II
PHI/THE 205-206 Foundations: Religion and Philosophy I and II
HIS 116-117 H/F Foundations: History of Western Civilization I and II
FND 300 Special Topics in the Foundations of Western Civilization Requirements (7 courses total) for Honors
Certificate in Foundations of Western Civilization:
ART/POL 150 Foundations: Art and Politics I
In 1979, the College inaugurated a program of interdisciplinary studies for all beginning students seeking an integrated introduction to liberal education at Assumption College. The Program’s goal is to help students reflect upon the heritage of the Western world, principally through a study of primary sources. It is intended for students of all majors as an excellent beginning to whatever course of study they pursue at the College. Moreover, the skills and knowledge that the students acquire by completing the Program satisfy more than half of the College’s general education requirements. Assumption’s Foundations Program is unique among interdisciplinary introductions to Western Civilization in its emphases on cities, on tensions among Western accounts of human excellence, on the debate between ancient and moderns, and on the study of the finest human accomplishments.
The Program is a set of four two-semester courses; each begins with the founding cities of our time. The historical repetition and overlap of the courses enable the student to firmly grasp the sequence and interaction of the major movements and achievements of the West. Through the History of Western Civilization and the Foundations of the West: Art and Politics courses, the first year of the Program initiates students into the study of the principles of Western Civilization. Together, these courses study the political and artistic achievements of cities from Athens to Washington, D.C. Through a study of the deeds, speeches, architecture, sculpture, and painting of exceptional citizens, students come to appreciate the need for human beings to be in a political community in order to achieve human excellence. Through the Literary Foundations of the West and the Foundations of the West: Religion and Philosophy courses, the second year of the Program studies the various and conflicting accounts of human excellence. The tensions among politics, philosophy, and revealed religion are central to the first semester; those among modern politics, Christianity, modern science, and modern philosophy are the concern of the second. These tensions give Western Civilization its vitality. The great works of Western Literature which are read at the same time support and image these theoretical accounts. By joining with the faculty in this integrated study of Western Civilization, students acquire excellent habits of inquiry, analysis, and writing. The Program gives students the opportunity to be thoughtful about the issues and complexities that educated people must address. It increases the students’ self-understanding and makes the excellence they study on their own. Public lectures and special Foundations events beyond the classroom, such as trips to New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and plays at Worcester’s Foothills Theatre, also help to foster the development of an intellectual community among the students and faculty involved in the program.
For further information on the Foundations Program, contact Dr. Patrick Corrigan, director (corrigan@assumption.edu)
Students who find Foundations courses rewarding and wish to pursue them in an extended way have two options, the Minor in Foundations of Western Civilization and the Honors Certificate in Foundations of Western Civilization. The purpose of these further options is to enable students to expand and to integrate their knowledge of these primary works, bringing them to bear on their own lives.
Course of English Department at Assumption College
ENG 425 Seminar In Service Learning
This interdisciplinary community service learning course is offered jointly by the Department of Sociology and Anthropology and by the Department of English. The course combines analytical readings, critical thinking and analysis, and community service. Students are engaged in 45 hours of community service throughout the semester, and do readings from contemporary American fiction and cultural analysis, and from qualitative sociological monographs. They are engaged in a research project on a topic of their choice. In this course, the capstone course for Community Service Learning minors, students are encouraged to explore the connections between text and experience, between ideas and lived events. The culmination of the seminar is a research paper and a formal research presentation. (Same as SOC 425) (Spring) Melia/Three credits NOTE: Internships and the Practicum course are to be taken at the same time in the Fall and Spring Semesters. The requirement for taking the Practicum and Internship: 2.8 minimum GPA in the major. Those who do not fulfill this requirement must consult the Department Chairperson.
Course of English Department at Assumption College
ENG 420 Mass Communications Practicum
The Practicum consists of a seminar and an internship. The seminar provides interns with opportunities to reflect on the internship experience and to examine issues of the field of Communications relevant to that experience. The purpose of the Internship that goes with the Practicum course is to provide Communications majors with practical, hands-on experience in the field. A list of sites for internships is available in the English Department Office. Students must complete an application form (available also at the English Department Office) and set up an interview with the Department Chairperson or the designated internship advisor before the deadlines set for Fall and Spring.
Course of English Department at Assumption College
ENG 415 Seminar In Writing And Mass Communications
The capstone course for English majors completing the concentration in Writing and Mass Communications, this course is intended to help students make the transition from the academic world to the professional world. In addition to studying key issues in the field of communications, participants in the seminar will complete a series of projects culminating in the construction of a professional portfolio. (Offered each semester) DiBiasio, Santos/Three credits
Course of English Department at Assumption College
ENG 413 Seminar: Renaissance Tragedy: Shakespeare And His Contemporaries
This seminar will explore Renaissance conceptions and articulations of the tragic form and will concentrate especially on the drama of the years 1585-1635. Roughly one third of the plays included will be Shakespeare’s, with the remainder consisting of examples from Beaumont and Fletcher, Ford, Jonson, Kyd, Middleton and Rowley, Tourneur, and Webster. (Area: 2) (Spring) Aspinall//Three credits