Reading and composition courses based upon primary historical documents and secondary historical scholarship. These courses provide an introduction to core issues in the interpretation of historical texts and introduce students to the distinctive ways of reading primary and secondary sources. Courses focus on specific historical topics but address general issues of how historians read and write. Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement.

Over the past two-decades, contentious, impassioned, and occasionally violent political debates have erupted within the United States over which groups of people, political parties, and moral worldviews best promote the national interest. Today, scholars, artists, politicians, and citizens all have begun to wonder whether the American republic now teeters, once again, on the precipice of civil war. One deceptively simple question lies at the core of America’s current political discord and contested national identity: who loves the United States more than themselves? To rephrase: who is a true American “patriot”? In this course, we will study the political, social, and cultural upheavals that informed the concepts of patriotism and treason in the United States from the mid-eighteenth century through the present. We will evaluate and interrogate how rhetorics of patriotism and treason served as the central criteria for not simply defining who should be considered an “American,” but also who should be excluded from full membership within the civic body of the United States. In addition to expanding our knowledge of American history, we will practice the craft of historical thinking and academic writing. We will learn how to engage with primary and secondary sources; develop historical questions and thesis statements; compose persuasive, analytical arguments; and participate in serious academic discussion. As this course satisfies the second half of the Reading & Composition requirement, it is designed to help you develop the skills necessary to become both a critical reader and a persuasive writer.

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.

Requirements class fulfills