History Courses
The mission of the department of History and Political Science at Olivet Nazarene University is (1) to provide students with a conceptual historical framework for a liberal arts education through the general education curriculum; (2) to pursue the integration of Biblically based philosophy of history and the best of current scholarship; and (3) to ground students in these disciplines in the requisite content as well as critical-thinking and research skills. To go to Political Science Courses, click here.
World History Courses
Hist 200 - Western Civilization. 3 hours. The course will survey the major themes of Western civilization and the contributions made by successive constituent civilizations beginning with the Greeks, Romans, and Jews. The course is designed to provide every student with a basic working knowledge of the major themes, trends, and figures in Western Civilization.
Hist 211, 212, 213 3 hours each
- World Civilization I - World History from the beginnings of written history in Mesopotamian Egypt, and China to around A.D. 1400, tracing political, social, technological, and religious themes. About two thirds of the course concerns the Mediterranean and Europe.
- World Civilization II - A survey of world history from approximately 1400, C.E. to 1800, C.E., tracing political, social, technological, and religious themes, namely the reformation and its wake. The course emphasizes developments in Europe, and the growing world domination of European nations.
- World Civilization III - A survey of world history in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, with an emphasis on Western cultural, political, and religious interaction with the rest of the world. Approximately one-half of the material will concern the non-Western "two-thirds" world.
Hist 306 - Wesley's Century: Enlightenment and Revival. 3 hours. This course explores social, political, and religious aspects of 18th century European civilization by concentrating on the parallel and somewhat interconnected, yet divergent, movements that historians have labeled the Enlightenment and the Evangelical Revival. In the former movement, selected English and French writers will be studied, as well be the Wesleys, along with Whitefield, Edwards, and the followers of Spener, in the later. Particular attention will be paid to the problems of human perfectibility, the nature of education, the citizen's relationship to authority, and the individual's obligation to society. Prerequisite: One lower division History course or permission of the instructor.
Hist 310 - History of Technological Change. 3 hours. An exploration into the world of inventions and their impacts on society since the Roman Empire, including the stirrup, water wheel, compass, sextant, plow, cam, crop rotation, and dozens more. The course will deal with the economic and philosophical requirements for and results of major discoveries. Prerequisite: One lower division History course or permission of the instructor.
Hist 360 - History of Russia. 3 hours. This course includes a survey of the history of Russia from the Kiev period to the election of Mikhail Gorbachev, and an intensive study of the social, political, and religious developments of the last decade.
Hist 379 - The Developing World. 3 hours. A critical historical analysis of the development of Third World countries in the modern period. Special focus is placed on the cultural and political responses of developing countries in Asia to "the West" and to the general developmental problems of national growth and equity. This course will be taught each semester with a different regional focus, including Latin America, Asia, and Africa. The course may be repeated, but with a different topic.
Hist 385 - Selected Topics in History. 3 hours. This course is a history/political science course in which the professor or professors choose a topic, event, or development and structure a one-time course around that specific interest. The topic will be given in the schedule of courses when the course is offered. Prerequisite: One lower division History course or permission of the instructor.
Hist 390 - Historiography. 3 hours. A study of the craft of the historian and social scientist, including traditional schools of interpretations; comparison of Judeo-Christian philosophies of history with past and present secular philosophies; and the exploration of the impact of philosophy on the conceptualization, compilation, and writing in the social sciences. The course will also involve the preparation of a proposal for the senior thesis. Taken concurrently with LSCI 300. Prerequisite: Junior standing.
Hist 401 - Darwin's Century: The Evolution/Creation Debate Since 1650. 3 hours. This course is a historiographical study of some of the major protagonists in the evolution/creation debate, including but not limited to James Ussher, Charles Darwin, William Jennings Bryan, Clarence Darrow (the Scopes Trial), Richard Dawkins, Henry Morris, Phillip Johnson, and Michael Behe. The context for this study is the aspect of modernization theory that postulates increasing secularization. This is not a study of scientific evidence but of changing positions and philosophical perspectives over time on both sides of the debate. Prerequisite: One lower division History course or permission of the instructor.
Hist 471 - Senior Seminar in History. 2 hours. Same as SSCI 471. Prerequisite: HIST 390.
Hist 494 - Readings in History. 1-4 hours. Selfstudy of historical readings under faculty direction in an area of special interest. Suggested for seniors and qualified juniors with a major in History/Political Science. All other students must secure permission of the instructor. No more than four hours of credit may be earned through readings in History and Political Science combined.
American History
Hist 231 - American Civilization I. 3 hours. Examines the basic political, social, economic, legal, intellectual, and religious trends in American history from the European explorations to the close of the Civil War (1865).
Hist 232 - American Civilization II. 3 hours. Examines the basic political, social, economic, legal, intellectual, and religious trends in American history, from the close of the Civil War (1865) to the present.
Hist 325 - Sports in American Society. 3 hours. Examines the major economic, cultural, and social trends in American history through professional and amateur sports. Major treatment will be given to baseball, football, and boxing, as well as basketball, hockey, tennis, and golf. The focus will not be on sports history for its own sake, but, as the title suggests, on what sports reveal about the broader American experience (urbanization, mass media, and race relations, etc.) in a particular period. Prerequisite: One lower division History course or permission of the instructor.
Hist 340 - American Military History. 3 hours. Same as MSCI 443.
Hist 344 - Recent United States History. 3 hours. A study of modern American since World War I examining such issues as government and business, reform, political change, foreign relations, and the United States' role in world politics. Major emphasis is placed on social change and race relations in the period since 1945. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: HIST 231, or 232.
Hist 357 - American Religious History. 3 hours. Same as THEO 357.
Hist 368 - American Civil War. 3 hours. A study of the causes, conduct, and outcomes of the Civil War between 1860 and 1874. The political, social, and military dimensions of the conflict, including the Reconstruction phase, will be covered. Offered alternate years. Prerequisite: HIST 231, or 232.
Hist 370 - American Social/Intellectual History. 3 hours. Surveys the major intellectual trends in American thought from the colonial period to the present. The subject matter will be organized both chronologically and topically around the following themes: Puritanism/atheism and the Enlightenment; secularization of American thought in teh colonial period; Romanticism and Naturalism in the 19th century; and Modernism in the 20th century. Offered alternate years. Two semesters of either American Civilization or Western Civilization or permission of instructor.
Hist 447 - American Constitutional Law. 3 hours. Same as PSCI 447.
