Historical Studies

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Professors K. Du Mez (history; William Spoelhof Teacher-Scholar in Residence), C. Hanson (art history), W. Katerberg (history), K. Maag (history), F. van Liere (history), K. van Liere (history; chair), E. Washington (history)
Assistant Professor D. Rohl (history)

The Department of Historical Studies offers a variety of majors, minors and courses that prepare students for a wide range of pursuits. Graduates pursue careers in teaching, public service, graduate or professional school (e.g., law and medicine), media, ministry, museums, and business. Our courses offer rigorous training in writing, research, critical thinking, and public speaking, and promote engagement with a broad range of cultures and eras.

We offer a robust History major that encourages students to select courses according to their interests while also ensuring they experience both depth and breadth of content. Students in History programs have opportunities for practical learning, including a hands-on Digital Humanities lab course and internships in museums and cultural organizations.History can readily be combined with a minor or second major, or with a pre-professional or professional track such as pre-law, pre-medicine, public health, or business.

Students pursuing certification for Secondary education must earn either a double major in History and Social Studies, or a major in one of these two disciplines with a minor in a different discipline.

The department also offers an array of courses in Art History, Classical Studies, and Digital Humanities. And we are home to the interdisciplinary minors of African and African Diaspora Studies , Archaeology , and Classical and Medieval Studies ; more information about these minor programs can be found in their own sections of the catalog.

Most of our courses fulfill core requirements in the Humanities, Arts and Rhetoric, or Christian Foundations II categories. Many also earn core tags in Global Regions and Cultures, Diversity and Difference, or Environmental Sustainability. The two-course sequence in introductory Latin fulfills the World Language I core requirement.

Programs

• History Major
• History Major: Secondary Education

• History Minor
• History Minor: Secondary Education

• Social Studies Group Major: Elementary Education
• Social Studies Group Major: Secondary Education

Courses

• ARTH 121 - Late Antique and Medieval Art, 300–1400
• ARTH 131 - Early Modern Art, 1400–1800
• ARTH 141 - Modern Art, 1800–1960
• ARTH 151 - Contemporary Art, 1960–2020
• ARTH 221 - History of Design
• ARTH 241 - Asian Art
• ARTH 320 - Classical Architecture from Antiquity to Now
• ARTH 330 - Art and Fashion

• CLAS 211 - Classical Literature
• CLAS 231 - Classical Mythology
• CLAS 383 - External Practicum

• GREE 101 - Elementary Greek I
• GREE 102 - Elementary Greek II
• GREE 201 - Intermediate Greek
• GREE 203 - Biblical Greek
• GREE 205 - Greek Prose
• GREE 206 - Greek Poetry
• GREE 300 - Readings in Greek Literature

• HIST 151 - History of the West and the World I
• HIST 152 - History of the West and the World II
• HIST 153 - Explorations in World History

• HIST 233 - Modern Middle East
• HIST 235 - India and Its World
• HIST 242 - Africa and the World
• HIST 245 - East Asia to 1800

• HIST 229 - Seminar in United States History
• HIST 251 - Early America
• HIST 252 - America from Republic to Empire
• HIST 253 - Recent America
• HIST 255 - African-American History
• HIST 256 - Women and Gender in US History
• HIST 258 - U.S. Military History
• HIST 259 - American Economic & Business History

• HIST 225 - England
• HIST 261 - Ancient Mediterranean
• HIST 262 - Early Medieval Worlds, 300-1000
• HIST 263 - Medieval and Renaissance Europe, 1000-1500
• HIST 264 - The Reformation in Historical Context (1500-1700)
• HIST 267 - Modern Europe

• HIST 271 - War and Society
• HIST 274 - Environmental History

• HIST 280 - Introduction to Archaeology
• HIST 293 - Public History
• HIST 294 - Research Methods of History

Enrollment in all 300-level courses presupposes two courses in history or permission of the instructor.

• HIST 331 - Studies in Middle Eastern History
• HIST 346 - Modern China

• HIST 353 - Studies in U.S. Religious and Intellectual History
• HIST 356 - American Social and Cultural History
• HIST 358 - Native American History

• HIST 362 - Studies in Ancient and Medieval Europe
• HIST 364 - Studies in Early Modern and Modern Europe

• HIST 372 - Studies of Modern Empires
• HIST 376 - Studies in the History of Women and Gender

• HIST 359 - Seminar in Secondary Social Studies Pedagogy
• HIST 380 - Field Work in Archaeology
• HIST 383 - External Practicum
• HIST 390 - Independent Study
• HIST 391H - Honors Senior Thesis
• HIST 393 - History Internship
• HIST 395 - Historiographical Perspectives

This section includes not only courses that are interdisciplinary (IDIS), but others also that do not fit logically into any single department or which are in disciplines not otherwise offered at Calvin.

• IDIS 198 - Classical and Medieval Palaeography
• IDIS 206 - Introduction to Medieval Studies
• IDIS 210 - Introduction to the Digital Humanities
• IDIS 240 - Introduction to Archaeology
• IDIS 340 - Field Work in Archaeology
• IDIS 375 - Methods and Pedagogies for Secondary Social Studies

• LATN 101 - Elementary Latin I
• LATN 102 - Elementary Latin II
• LATN 201 - Intermediate Latin
• LATN 205 - Latin Prose
• LATN 206 - Latin Poetry
• LATN 300 - Readings in Latin Literature

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