History 2300 introduces students to the factual past of the United States as well as the broad themes by which that past can be interpreted. Students will consider the US from the perspectives of a variety of historical actors to ask: What privileges and sacrifices have Americans experienced as their nation became the planet’s only superpower? Has the United States been a place of liberty or repression, opportunity or disappointment? And who decides?

HIST 2300 trains students in:

• - broad knowledge of United States history
• - thematic interpretations of that history by way of the following concepts and the tension
• between them: race, capitalism, expansion, gender vs. liberty, equality
• - communicating research findings for scholarly AND public audiences
• - the practice of developing one’s writing skills by frequent creation of short pieces of writing on topics relevant to students and on a deadline, for a total of five over the semester
• - engaging in advanced secondary and primary source research
• - the practical skill of knowing how to figure out new technologies and systems, which we all need since it will be a fact of life in most lines of work this century.