Degrees & Programs Offered
Undergraduate Degree Programs
Bachelor's Degree Program
The History Department's undergraduate program represents a balance between student choice and the need for breadth and logical intellectual development. This is achieved first by requiring majors to complete three geographic survey courses in addition to History 100X. Students may then proceed to upper division courses at both the 300 and 400 level.
Whether fulfilled through survey or advanced courses, students must complete coursework in at least three areas, currently defined as American, European, and other areas (women, Asia, military, Northern, etc.). To develop historiographic sophistication, students must complete both an introductory course in historical methods (Perspectives on History) as well as a two-semester capstone sequence (Historiography and Senior Thesis). History courses generally blend lecture and discussion with 400 level courses including more aspects of a research seminar. History courses provide a range of learning opportunities both with regard to subject and course format.
3 Credits
Offered Fall and Spring
Significant aspects of modern world history. The chronological approach will examine major global developments in the twentieth century, while the issues approach will deal with such aspects of the modern world as revolutionary change, the interaction of peoples, ideology and the historical background of significant contemporary events.
Prerequisites: Placement in WRTG F111X.
Special Notes: Either a chronological or an issues approach to be announced when scheduled.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req, UAF GER Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Origins and major political, economic, social and intellectual developments of western civilization to 1500.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring
This course examines the origins and development of key social, political, economic and cultural trends in Western civilization from 1500 to the present. Students will learn to read and interpret historical documents, how the interplay of historical factors conditions subsequent events and different approaches and perspectives for understanding the past. Special Notes: Topics to be examined include the Reformation, the scientific revolution, the Enlightenment, the French and Industrial revolutions, nationalism, imperialism, communism, fascism, World Wars I and II, and the Cold War.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req, UAF GER Social Sciences Req
1 Credit
Offered As Demand Warrants
Cultural history of the Seward Peninsula peoples for the last 10,000 years using physical anthropology, ethnography, ethnohistory, linguistics, archaeology, social anthropology, ecology and climatology. Eskimo and Euro-American cultures which have existed in western Alaska.
Cross-listed with ANTH F105.
3 Credits
Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years
Surveys Alaska Native history to the present. This course introduces students to Alaska Native knowledge and foundations, the impact of colonialism on Alaska Native life and the survivance of Alaska Native peoples and sovereignty. The continuity and contributions of modern Alaska Natives will be emphasized.
Attributes: UAF Alaska Native Theme, UAF Degree Social Sciences Req, UAF GER Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
A survey of Alaska from earliest days to present, its peoples, problems and prospects.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Origin and development of the civilizations of China, Japan and Korea from the beginning to 1800, with emphasis on traditional social, political and cultural institutions.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring
This survey course on East Asian civilization history from 1800-present focuses on political, economic and intellectual history. Students will identify broad trends in this history based on analysis of primary sources from governmental officials, political leaders and intellectuals. Current relations among East Asian countries will be examined.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req, UAF GER Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall and Summer
The discovery of America to 1865. Colonial period, revolution, formation of the constitution, western expansion, Civil War.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring and Summer
Surveys U.S. history from post-Civil War reconstruction to the present. Focus on cultural, social, political, and economic changes that shaped American life in the twentieth century and beyond. Develops critical thinking and writing skills, introduces methods, theories, and approaches; and considers primary sources.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req, UAF GER Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
A chronological approach to the history of women in America. Introduction to major issues of concern to historians of women, as well as different approaches used in analysis of women's past. Consideration of multiracial backgrounds of American women.
Cross-listed with WGS F202.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
World history using the medium of film to highlight cultural, economic and political conditions of each country. Films will be from the USA, Mexico, Central America, South America, England, France, Russia, Turkey, India, China, Japan, Australia, Africa and the Arctic.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall
An introduction to the variety of historical approaches and to the "uses" of history.
(Course is required for history majors and should be taken soon after declaring a History major as possible; non-majors are strongly discouraged from taking this course.)
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
The French Revolution, Napoleon, the Industrial Revolution, the Revolutions of 1848, their impact on political, economic, social and intellectual history.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
The European Imperium: industrialization, nationalism, imperialism and their impact on political, economic, social and intellectual history.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Even-numbered Years
Europe through two world wars, the Russian Revolutions the depression, the development of fascism, the evolution of Russian communism.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Germany and problems of the peace, the Soviet Union and the satellites, the Cold War, economic problems and recovery, European integration and the common market, Europe and the world.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
The history of sexuality from a worldwide comparative perspective. Theories and debates about the history of sexuality in selected times and places, with an emphasis on the modern period.
Prerequisites: HIST F100X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X.
Cross-listed with WGS F325.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
Just as China is home to one of the world鈥檚 oldest traditions of statehood, it is home to some of the oldest traditions of violent resistance to the state. This course will examine over 3,000 years of Chinese history, focusing on some iconic rebellions and revolutions inspired by these traditions.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
From 1600 to the present: change within tradition, rise to world power and the position of Japan in the modern world.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years
The history of Japan from earliest times to 1600: the aristocratic culture of classical Japan, the rise of the samurai in medieval Japan, the "warring states" period and national unification. Myths, religion and philosophy, and culture, arts and literature will also be covered from a historical point of view.
Prerequisites: HIST F100X.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years
An advanced survey that examines the cultural, economic, political and social developments related to Indigenous America, the colonial era, American slavery, the American Revolution, the U.S. Constitution and Early Republic through 1815.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
An advanced survey that examines economic, political and social developments related to Jacksonian America, western expansion, slavery and sectionalism, the Civil War and reconstruction to 1877.
Recommended: HIST F131; sophomore standing.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Even-numbered Years
An advanced survey that examines economic, political and social developments related to the failure of Reconstruction, the Gilded Age, Imperialism, the Progressive Era, the Great Depression and the United States during WWI and WWII.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
An advanced survey course that examines economic, political and social developments related to the Cold War, Civil Rights movement, rise of a counter-culture, Vietnam war and its legacy, and America after the fall of Soviet Union.
Recommended: HIST F132X; sophomore standing.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
American film and how it shapes and warps popular perceptions of America's past. A historical contrast according to Hollywood with the views and interpretations of historians. Content will vary depending on the specific genre or period of focus, such as World War II, the Vietnam War or the Great Depression.
Prerequisites: FLPA F217X or FLPA F308; HIST F131 or HIST F132X.
Cross-listed with FLPA F368.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Examines geographical, political, economic, cultural and social forces, as well as the impact of individuals, on the transformation of Scandinavian states from autocratic monarchies to some of the most democratic and egalitarian states in the world.
Stacked with ACNS F604; HIST F604.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Discussion of significant works of environmental history. Cultural history of the landscape in world civilization with emphasis on Western Europe and North America. Discussion of interdisciplinary approaches to the history of environment and cooperative work across disciplines.
Stacked with ACNS F611; HIST F611.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Even-numbered Years
This course will examine the relationships between minority groups and contemporary East Asian nation-states, including gendered state policies, importance of gender to ethnic and other identities. Course content will cover all East Asia but will focus especially closely on the minority populations of Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Siberia.
Prerequisites: HIST F100X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X.
Recommended: HIST F122X.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
An in-depth seminar on a specific topic of current interest. Topics may change and may cover the history of European or American women from the 18th century to the present.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Cross-listed with WGS F424.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
An advanced survey of the modern Middle East from the 19th century to the present. It will focus on the birth of the modern Middle Eastern states out of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire and the Oajar Dynasty, and the impact of the Western colonial powers on Middle Eastern societies and culture. Special attention will be given to the birth of modern secular Turkey, Egypt under military governments for the past half-century and the Iranian Revolution of 1979, the partition of Palestine. The origins of the Jewish state and the impact of the on-going Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the political dynamics of the entire Islamic world will also be carefully examined. The contestation between secular nationalisms and the religious nationalisms as well as trans-national Islamic movements will also be given special attention. The impact of radical Islam on the other non-Western countries will be discussed.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
An in-depth seminar on various topics in History. Approach will vary depending on the subject of the study, but will emphasize reading, critical analysis and writing on a major issue in history. Content will vary to take advantage of different directions in history, such as cultural, intellectual or economic history.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
The military's place in American life and society from the Colonial era to the present. Role of the military institution in shaping the nature of American society while reflecting the character of the society it serves.
Prerequisites: HIST F275.
Cross-listed with MILS F442.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Even-numbered Years
Seminar with an emphasis on reading and analysis of primary and secondary sources dealing with the American West to present. Major themes include the Indigenous West, American expansion, the Federal government, environmental change, immigration, cultural interactions and economic development.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Seminar with emphasis on the Indigenous Peoples of North America from the foundations of Indigenous America to the present. Major themes include Indigenous sovereignty, cultural interactions, colonialism, survivance, boarding schools and contemporary issues.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring
This course examines how energy regimes and climatic changes have structured the history of the world, with a focus on North America. From the Little Ice Age to the Atomic Age and the Anthropocene, energy and climate have contoured the fate of humanity.
Cross-listed with ACNS F453; HONR F453.
Stacked with ACNS F653.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Warfare from classical times to the present: the interrelationships of warfare and society, the role of technology and the development of tactics and strategy.
Prerequisites: Junior standing.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Alaska from prehistoric times to the present, including major themes such as Native Alaska, colonial and military Alaska, statehood, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and the Alaska National Interest Lands Act of 1980.
Stacked with HIST F662; ACNS F661.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
This course covers Russian history from the reign of Peter the Great (1682-1725) until the collapse of the Tsarist regime in February 1917. Topics will include Russia's complex relationship with Western Europe, the challenges posed by modernization, the Russian Empire as a multi-national state, and the emergence of revolutionary movement.
Stacked with HIST F663; ACNS F663.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring Odd-numbered Years
Russia from the 1917 Revolution to the present. This course examines the attempts to build a socialist utopia in the former Russian empire and its impact on the peoples of that region and the modern world. We will consider the political, economic, social and cultural nature of the Soviet state. Stacked with HIST F664; ACNS F664. Special Notes: Major themes include cultural transformation, industrialization, Stalinism, the Soviet Union as a multi-national empire, the Cold War, the collapse of the Soviet state, and the new Russia of Yeltsin and Putin.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall Odd-numbered Years
Through readings, discussion and writing this course will explore topics such as: the Russian Empire鈥檚 and the Soviet Union鈥檚 exploration and colonization of the Arctic, Indigenous peoples, and the ways in which the Arctic was imagined in Imperial, Soviet and post-Soviet Russian culture.
Cross-listed with ACNS F466.
Stacked with ACNS F666.
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Exploration of major issues and concepts in development and governances of modern Latin America and the Caribbean region, including legacies of colonialism, revolution, military rule, economic challenges and the quest for democratic stability. Includes a historical overview of region and cases drawn from the Caribbean, Mexico, Central and South America.
Prerequisites: WRTG F111X; WRTG F211X, WRTG F212X, WRTG F213X or WRTG F214X; HIST
F275.
Cross-listed with PS F467.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
A survey of polar exploration efforts of all Western nations from A.D. 870 to the present and a consideration of the historical sources of this effort.
Stacked with HIST F681; ACNS F681.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Spring
A comparative history of the circumpolar North, including Alaska, Siberia, Scandinavia, Greenland and Canada. Focus on social, economic, political and environmental issues of the 20th century, such as exploration, aboriginal land claims, subsistence, military strategy, transportation, oil development, Arctic haze and scientific research in the Arctic.
Stacked with HIST F683; ACNS F683.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered As Demand Warrants
Exploration of the craft and methodology of historical research in the North. Course may be repeated for credit when content varies.
Stacked with .
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Explores topics of interest and concern throughout the circumpolar north, including social, historical, environmental, ethnocultural, economic, political and geographic issues in Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and Russia. Readings represent a variety of perspectives on the topics, including Indigenous and non-Indigenous, as well as insider and outsider, geographic/national and gender.
Cross-listed with ACNS F600.
Stacked with ACNS F484.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
3 Credits
Offered Fall
Alaska from prehistoric times to the present, including major themes such as Native Alaska, colonial and military Alaska, statehood, Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and the Alaska National Interest Lands Act of 1980.
Cross-listed with ACNS F661.
Stacked with HIST F461.
Attributes: UAF Degree Social Sciences Req
HIST F453 Fire, Ice, and the Fate of Humanity: A History of Energy and Climate
Change (s)
3 Credits
Offered Spring
This course examines how energy regimes and climatic changes have structured the history of the world, with a focus on North America. From the Little Ice Age to the Atomic Age and the Anthropocene, energy and climate have contoured the fate of humanity.
Minor in History
A history minor trains you in critical analysis, writing, research, public presentation and other very marketable skills that will be an asset in almost any career.
Graduate Degree Program
Although there is no graduate program in history at UAF, most faculty members work closely with interdisciplinary programs on campus. Many of the history faculty chair or serve on Northern Studies graduate committees. Ties to the School of Education, the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program, and interdisciplinary programs in Arctic Biology and Resource Management (RAPP and IGERT) also exist and are being expanded.
Asian Studies
A minor in Asian studies provides interdisciplinary instruction in the varieties of Asian languages and cultures. It enables students to consolidate various course offerings into a meaningful and cohesive program relevant to several major fields of specialization. (Combining a Japanese Studies major with an Asian Studies minor requires approval from both programs.)