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), D. Rohl (history, archaeology), F. van Liere (history), K. van Liere (history; chair), E. Washington (history)
Lecturer N. Cunigan (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, medicine, public health), 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 should select the appropriate grade band(s) and concentration(s) in consultation with an education advisor. The appropriate grade bands for teaching history are Social Studies Education 7-12 Major  and Social Studies Education 5-9 Minor . These two programs overlap considerably, so students are encouraged to pursue both.  

Social studies education students must also choose a disciplinary concentration in history, geography, or civics. Students choosing the history concentration are strongly encouraged also to pursue a history minor (which can be attained with only 2 additional hours of history hours beyond the social studies 7-12 major) or a history major (which can be attained with only 12 additional hours—three courses—of history credits beyond the social studies 7-12 major).

The department also offers an array of courses in art history, classical studies, and digital humanities and oversees the interdisciplinary minors of Africana studies , archaeology , and Classical and medieval studies ; more information about these minor programs can be found in their own sections of the catalog.

Most historical studies (ARTH, CLAS, HIST) 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.

Programs

• History Major, BA
• Social Studies Education 7-12 Major

• History Minor
• Social Studies Education 5-9 Minor

Courses

• ARTH 121 - Late Medieval Art, 1250-1400
• ARTH 131 - Renaissance and Baroque Europe, 1400-1700
• ARTH 133 - 18th- and 19th-Century European Art
• ARTH 141 - Modern Art, 1900-1960
• ARTH 151 - Contemporary Art, 1960-2020
• ARTH 221 - History of Design
• ARTH 241 - Chinese Art History
• ARTH 243 - Japanese Art History
• 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

• 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 154 - Explorations in the History of World Christianity

• HIST 233 - Modern Middle East
• 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 and 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 380 - Field Work in Archaeology
• HIST 383 - External Practicum
• HIST 390 - Independent Study
• HIST 393 - History Internship
• HIST 395 - Historiographical Perspectives

This section includes not only courses that are interdisciplinary (IDIS) but also others that do not fit logically into any single department or that 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

• LATN 101 - Elementary Latin I
• LATN 102 - Elementary Latin II

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