Course Descriptions

HIS 263 American Women’s History

In 1946, Mary Ritter Beard, the pioneering feminist historian, categorized women as a force in history. Utilizing both primary and secondary source materials by and about women, this course will examine the myriad ways that women have helped to shape the course of United States history. The experiences of a broad socio-economic and ethnic cross-section of American women will be examined, including housewives, labor organizers, farm women, professional women, political activists, civil rights leaders, feminists, and antifeminists.

Course Requirements

• In-class quizzes and occasional written assignments will constitute 15% of your total class grade.
• A mid-term exam, made up of identifications and essay questions, based on all course materials, will constitute 25% of the total grade.
• A final cumulative exam, made up of identifications and essay questions, based on all course materials, will constitute 30% of the total grade.
• Class Participation will constitute 10% of the total grade.
• Collaborative Group Reports on Women and Gender Issues in the News will constitute 20% of the total grade.

HIS 462 U.S. Women and World War II

Early in 1943, Max Lerner, the well-known author and journalist, writing for the New York newspaper, PM, predicted that "when the classic work on the history of women comes to be written, the biggest force for change in their lives will turn out to have been war."

This course will explore the question of whether or not World War II served as a major force for change in the lives of American women. The experiences of a broad socio-economic and ethnic cross-section of wartime women, including war workers, women in uniform, and volunteer war workers as well as the war brides/war wives, daughters, mothers, sisters, aunts, grandmothers, and female friends of the 16 million Americans who served in the military, will be examined.

Course Requirements

• Weekly short papers (500-750 words in length), based on the assigned readings and other class materials, will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• Class participation will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• A comprehensive exam, composed of identifications and essays, based on all course materials (including assigned readings, class discussions, and class films) will constitute 25 percent of the total course grade.
• An original research paper and oral presentation will constitute 35 percent of the total course grade.(25 percent for paper and 10 percent for oral presentation.

HIS 365 the U.S. and World Politics, 1890 to the Present

At the dawn of the twentieth century, the United States emerged as a great world power. The origins of this rise to power can be traced to the Revolutionary and Early Republic eras when leading American politicians began to speak about the enormous potential of the “rising American empire.” This course traces the century-long transformation of the U.S. from a great power to the world’s sole superpower.

This course will emphasize how events at home intersected with events abroad as the U.S. widened its potential, economic, and social sphere of influence throughout the world. It will examine the thought and actions of the nation’s political, military, and diplomatic leaders. In addition, it will show how the decisions of these “great” leaders affected the lives of “ordinary” Americans and vice versa. The course will also analyze how the issues of race, gender, ethnicity, and class have profoundly influenced the foreign policy decisions of the United States throughout the twentieth century.

Course Requirements

• Weekly writing assignments, based on assigned readings, will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade. When averaging this grade, the lowest grade will be dropped.
• Collaborative group reports: “The Week in Review: The U.S. and World Politics,” will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• Class participation will constitute 10 percent of the total course grade.
• A comprehensive exam, composed of identifications and essays, based on all course materials (including assigned readings, class discussions, and class films), will constitute 25 percent of the total course grade.
• An original research paper and oral presentation, will constitute 25 percent of the total course grade.

HIS 376 Cultures and Economies in Transition

This course will explore the origins and evolving complexities of the enormous cultural and economic transformations that are underway in the Newly Independent States of Europe and Central Asia as well as in China. In particular, it will carefully situate the ongoing economic transformation within a broader cultural, historical, and political context. Emphasis will be placed on how the rapid collapse of the command economy of the Soviet Union and the resulting cuts in defense spending has created critical problems for both the West and the Newly Independent States. In addition, the course will focus on the causes and consequences of the rise of militant Islam in Central Asia and the on-going economic transition occurring in China.

Course Requirements

• Occasional in-class essays and writing assignments will constitute 10 percent of the total course grade.
• Class participation will constitute 10 percent of the total course grade.
• “The Week in Review: Cultural and Economic Transition Issues in the News” collaborative group reports will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• A comprehensive exam composed of identifications and essays, based on all course materials (including assigned readings, class discussions, and class films), will constitute 25 percent of the total course grade.

HIS 368 Gender and American Culture in the 1950's

This course will provide students with the opportunity to examine the cultural complexity of the 1950s and to appreciate it as a period of conservatism and restraints as well as a time of notable social change for women. It uses the enormously popular I Love Lucy television series (1951-1957) and Betty Friedan’s classic work, The Feminine Mystique (1963), as well as related readings, to show how many women of the fifties challenged the stereotype of domestic, quiescent, suburban womanhood as they engaged in multifarious and diverse activities that helped pave the way for the social protest movements of the 1960s.

Course Requirements

• Writing assignments, based on assigned readings, will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• Collaborative group reports, including a 5-7 paper based on your report, will constitute 30 percent of the total course grade.
• Consistent and active class participation, including occasional in-class writing assignments, will constitute 10 percent of the total course grade.
• A mid-term exam will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.
• A cumulative final exam will constitute 20 percent of the total course grade.

HIS 461: U.S. and China, 1931-1950

This course will examine the cultural, political, and military dimensions of the complicated wartime alliance between the United States and China during the World War II era. It will focus on the period from the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in September 1931 until early 1950 when the Chinese government seized the U.S. consulate in Beijing after the United States refused to recognize the People's Republic of China. Students will explore both primary and secondary sources as they untangle the multifaceted relationship between the United States and China during this critical era in history. The course will also examine how and why a major wartime ally became a major adversary during much of the Cold War era.

This is a web-based course that requires students to check the Blackboard web site each day for assignments, announcements, etc.

Course Requirements

• Class Participation will constitute 20 percent of the total class grade.
• Analytical writing assignments (both in and out of class) will constitute 20 percent of the total class grade.
• Midterm Exam will constitute 30 percent of the total class grade.
• Collaborative Research Projects and Oral Presentations will constitute 30 percent of the total course grade.

FFL 101H Foundations for Learning

This Honors course is designed to provide a topical seminar as a way to introduce students to the Bryant academic community. The course is a seminar on the topic of Global Politics in the World Today. In discussing this question, we will ask: How do other regions of the world report on critical global political issues? Using a variety of on-line sources, such Aljazee, China’s People’s Daily and The Moscow Times and SCOLA, the non-profit educational organization that receives and re-transmits television programming from around the world in native languages, we will examine critical global political issues from a variety of perspectives. As a class, we will determine which global issues that we would like to examine. We will also regularly read in The New York Times and/or other U.S. media sources in order to compare the U.S. perspective of key global issues with that of other regions of the world.

As we address the topic of Global Politics in the World Today, we will use it as a way took at what it means to “claim an education” at Bryant. We’ll talk about the process of “learning how to learn.” We’ll also look at what it means to cultivate the habits for lifelong achievement and success.

Course Requirements

• Class participation and regular attendance required
• Co-Curricular Activities. Participation in 10 “outside of class” Co-Curricular activities is required
• Weekly journal entries. Each weekly journal entry will include an assessment of the Co-Curricular activity you attended and comments on the readings and class discussions as well as any in-class site visits.
• Global Politics in the World Today Presentation. Students will choose one significant global issue and present a 30 minute presentation to the class that examines the complexity of the chosen global issue from a variety of world perspectives.
• These four elements are graded equally. Using the standard ratio of 2 to 3 hours of work outside of class for every hour spent in class, the expectations for “out of class” effort is 4 to 6 hours a week for the 10 weeks of this course.

IDIS 200 Sophomore International Experience – Cultures and Economies in Transition Study Tour to Russia and Ukraine

The purpose of the Sophomore International Experience is to provide students with an understanding of the diverse cultures, different economic and political systems, business practices, and various social issues in one or more countries outside the U.S. In this course, we will focus on Russia and Ukraine, culminating with a 14 day cultures and economies in transition study tour to these two countries in late May/early June. However, while the trip component of the course occurs in May-June, this course will run throughout the spring and into the summer semesters. Participants are expected to be fully engaged in all phases of the course.

Course Components

Language training: During the spring semester, each student is expected to become familiar with basic Russian. A good web site for basic Russian is http://www.spoonfulofrussian.com/

Film and Cultural Series: Over the course of the spring, a series of films, speakers, and formal discussions will be arranged. You are expected to attend and actively participate in these events.

Participation in Bryant University’s World Trade Day: Prior to departure, students will return to campus and have the opportunity to interact with a number of leading Russian political and business leaders during the events surrounding World Trade Day.

Pre-trip Team Research Presentations: In consultation with your instructors, you should form a small team (3 to 4 members) and research a relevant topic relating to our trip. Topics can be cultural, economic, business, social, historical or political in nature but should be selected to enhance the class’s understanding of and appreciation for the countries we will visit. Late in the semester, each team will have the opportunity to make formal presentations of about 12 to 15 minutes. Additionally, each team will prepare and distribute a two-page (maximum) briefing document for classmates to take on the trip for review prior to in-country visits.

Final Research Projects: Students are required to participate in the completion of a final course project. In many instances, this will be a continuation of your pre-trip team research project that will allow you to do on-site research. This can be a research paper or students may want to undertake a creative project leading to a slide show, a picture exhibit, poster paper, or some other form of presentation. The idea behind the project is to get involved in some focused pre-departure research that will provide the basis for completing the project while “in-country.” Finally, the project should lend itself to public presentation – poster paper, PowerPoint, photo album, etc. - as part of the post trip activities.

IDIS 200 Sophomore International Experience – Cultures and Economies in Transition Study Tour to Prague and Budapest

This course will explore the origins and evolving complexities of the enormous cultural and economic transformations that are underway in the Central European states of the Czech Republic and Hungary. In particular, it will carefully situate the ongoing transformations within a broader cultural, historical, economic, and political context. Both the Czech Republic and Slovakia (formerly Czechoslovakia) and Hungary were part of the Soviet Bloc of nations during the Cold War years (1945-1991). By visiting the capital cities of Prague and Budapest, we will discover how life and culture in these two cities was transformed by the lessening of Soviet control and ultimately the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. For Economics or History Majors and Minors, this course may count as a 200-level elective. For other students, it may count as a liberal arts elective or free elective