NSU 2014-2015 Undergraduate Catalog

375 Nova Southeastern University • Undergraduate Student Catalog • 2014–2015 COURSE DESCRIPTIONS and Africa’s relations with the outside world. European colonization of Africa and the extent to which it shaped the modern history of the continent; and the history of South Africa and the rise and fall of the Apartheid Regime. Prerequisite: COMP 1500 or COMP 1500H. HIST 2900 Historical Methods (3 credits) This course is designed to familiarize students with the methods and procedures used by historians in researching and writing about important historical trends and events. Students in this course will be required to complete a semester-long research assignment with an emphasis on using primary and secondary sources, developing interpretative skills grounded in creative and responsible scholarship, improving writing skills, using the Chicago Manual of Style, and delivering oral presentations. Prerequisites: one HIST course and COMP 2000 or COMP 2020 or COMP 2000H. HIST 3010 Constitutional History I (3 credits) A study of the origin and development of the American constitutional system from the colonial period to 1870. The course will examine seminal decisions of the United States Supreme Court during this period in their political, social, and economic context. Prerequisites: one HIST course; and COMP 2000, COMP 2010, or COMP 2020 or COMP 2000H. HIST 3020 Constitutional History II (3 credits) Continuation of the study of the constitutional system of the United States. The course covers the period 1870 to the present with special emphasis on Supreme Court decisions in the areas of federal-state relations, individual liberties, and civil rights. Prerequisite: HIST 3010. HIST 3130 Vietnam (3 credits) This course takes an interdisciplinary approach to examine the origins and causes of the Vietnam War, explore the ways it was fought, and evaluate its impact on American society, politics, and life. Specific focus will be on the way that the Vietnam conflict inspired feelings of strife and anger, confusion and frustration to an entire generation of Americans as America’s first “lost” war. Prerequisites: one HIST course; and COMP 2000, COMP 2010, or COMP 2020. HIST 3140 The Holocaust (3 credits) A study of the history of the Holocaust. This course will look at the causes, reasons, results, and implications of the Holocaust from both a European and American perspective. Prerequisites: one HIST course; and COMP 2000, COMP 2010, or COMP 2020. HIST 3230 The Great Depression (3 credits) This course will examine the origins and causes of the Great Depression, exploring its impact on American society and life and evaluating its effects on the politics of reform that grew up in response to this crisis. Specific topics, such as this era’s impact on confidence about the future, the New Deal, the welfare state and modern liberal politics, and how events of the era have helped form contemporary American society, will be covered. Prerequisite: one HIST course; and COMP 2000, 2010, or 2020. HIST 3240 Irish History (3 credits) This course will study Irish history from the Neolithic era to the 21st century, focusing on the colonial relation between Britain and Ireland, including the 17th-century Plantation, the Cromwellian and Williamite wars, the United Irishmen and the 1798 Rising, the Act of Union, the Great Hunger (Famine) and emigration to America, and the formation of the Irish Republic and the Northern Irish state in 1922. Prerequisites: one HIST course; and COMP 2000 or COMP 2010 or COMP 2020 or COMP 2000H. HIST 3300 Contemporary U.S. History (3 credits) This course follows a thematic approach to the history of the United States since 1945. The course will involve some general background on many of the major political, cultural, and social themes of this period, such as the civil rights movement, the politics of the welfare state, Watergate, the culture wars of the 1980s, etc. Four specific social and cultural issues will be emphasized: the impact of the Cold War on modern American culture; the social and cultural implications of the post-war growth of the middle class and suburbia; the counterculture of the 1960s and its impact on contemporary society; and the influence of the “moral majority” and the religious right on contemporary politics. Prerequisite: one HIST course and COMP 2000 or COMP 2020 or COMP 2000H. HIST 3400 U.S. Foreign Relations (3 credits) This course will examine the emergence of the United States as the dominant political, economic, and military power on the world stage in the twentieth century. Students will attempt to identify reasons for this development and endeavor to come to a fuller understanding of the nature and scope of America’s global commitments. The course will trace the development of American foreign relations from the Spanish-America War of 1898 through the Cold War, concluding with an examination of the evolution of American foreign policy in the post-Cold War and the ramifications of recent developments at home and abroad. Prerequisite: one HIST course and COMP 2000, 2010, or 2020 or COMP 2000H. HIST 3430 Renaissance and Reformation Europe (3 credits) This course examines the reemergence of Europe in the fourteenth century as a center for political, intellectual, economic, and artistic developments. It also explores the religious, political, and social upheavals of the sixteenth