History & Culture   

At times, America has fallen into the so-called "Thucydides Trap," where a rising nation will challenge an established one.  Examples are replete in American military history (American Revolution, Mexican American war, WW1, WW2 Vietnam).  Students in this course will discover how the concepts of this famous Greek historian have impacted American military history over the past and still do so in the present day.

At times, America has fallen into the so-called "Thucydides Trap," where a rising nation will challenge an established one.  Examples are replete in American military history (American Revolution, Mexican American war, WW1, WW2 Vietnam).  Students in this course will discover how the concepts of this famous Greek historian have impacted American military history over the past and still do so in the present day.

The success of the American nation can be tied, in large measure to its continuous growth westward.  From the first movement west from the colonies, to the land in the Louisiana Purchase, to the Texas frontier to the area opened by the Mexican American War, America has moved west.  What caused this migration and how did it affect the citizens and the world?

The success of the American nation can be tied, in large measure to its continuous growth westward.  From the first movement west from the colonies, to the land in the Louisiana Purchase, to the Texas frontier to the area opened by the Mexican American War, America has moved west.  What caused this migration and how did it affect the citizens and the world?

The relationship between colonizing European peoples and the native cultures of what is now the United States has ranged from policies of racism and genocide to well-intentioned (at the time) paternalism and much between. This class will provide a broad overview of the ever-shifting attitudes and policies of the English colonists and, after the Revolutionary War, of the United States towards the native inhabitants of North America. We will talk about treaties (most broken), forced migrations, warfare and cultural suppression - an uncomfortably true American tragedy, in the early days, of which the instructor’s ancestors played a significant role.