May 21, 2024  
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog 
    
Catalog Navigation
  Publication Home
  Academic Departments, Majors & Degree Programs
  4-Year Degree Maps
  Course Descriptions
  Special Academic Programs & Opportunities
  Academic Policies and Standards
  The College Community
  The College Calendar
  Admission to the College
  Undergraduate Expenses
  Financial Aid
  Chancellor Award Recipients
  State University Of New York
  President’s Key Messages
  Policy on Student Records
  Directory of Faculty
  Archived Undergraduate Catalogs from 2012-2017
HELP
2019-2020 Undergraduate Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Course Descriptions

SUNY Oneonta offers students more than 1,400 courses—from Accounting to Zoology—from over 25 separate departments. Requirements for majors and minors and course descriptions are listed under the departments that offer them; and these departments are arranged in alphabetical order. See the “Course Index” for details.

Please note that requirements, courses, and course descriptions are subject to change after publication of this catalog. Contact the appropriate departments for updated information. Also note that some course descriptions have been edited for clarity and consistency. Complete descriptions are available from the instructors or the departments concerned.

Key to Course Descriptions

Abbreviation   Meaning
(PACT)   Activity course in Health & Fitness
(LA)   Liberal Arts (course is a Liberal Arts offering)
SUSF   Sustainability Focused Courses
AWR   Advanced Writing Requirement (pending)
s.h.   Semester Hour(s)
SoS   Sophomore standing
JrS   Junior standing
SrS   Senior standing

Course Numbering System

001 - 099   No credit; usually developmental in nature.
100 - 199   Lower-division undergraduate-level courses.
200 - 299   Upper-division intermediate undergraduate-level courses.
300 - 499   Upper-division advanced courses.
500 - 699   Graduate-level courses.
 

American History
  

  • AHIS 200 - Gods & Devils of the Atlantic World 3 s.h.

    This course explores the early modern Atlantic World, meaning the interconnected histories of Africa, Europe, North America, and South America in the Age of Exploration and the Age of Sail (ca. 1450-1850). It will examine the process through which these previously separate worlds collided and changed, resulting in bloodshed and conflict but also in the creation of new communities and cultures. Although providing a historical overview of the four centuries in question, the course mainly focuses on religion and religious encounters: the spiritual conquest of the New World, witchcraft beliefs and myths about “the other” among Europeans, Africans, and Indians, and related matters. Readings, lectures, and discussion will reflect a transnational approach to the study of history, moving beyond the traditional national narratives in an effort to reveal how imperial rivalries and intercultural contact shaped the world in which we still live. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS.
  

  • AHIS 204 - Sailors, Whalers, and Pirates 3 s.h.

    This course studies the lives of sailors and pirates in the Age of Exploration and the Age of Sail (1450-1850). Because so many sailors came from the lower social strata, the focus will be on poverty and class relations. Other topics include early modern maps and maritime technology, the North Atlantic fisheries, merchants and transnational merchant networks, privateering, smuggling, naval warfare, women at sea, the scramble for the Pacific Ocean in the nineteenth century, and the advent of steam. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Previously EHIS 304.
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 205 - LGBTQ U. S. Communities of Color 3 s.h.

    This course draws on the history of Sexuality, Women’s and Gender, Whiteness, Latino/as and Chicano/as, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, People Indigenous to the Americas, Arab Americans, and African Americans in order to explore lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people’s (lgbtqi) experiences in the United States from the colonial era to the present. In this course, students examine the ways in which discourses on sexuality and gender are fundamentally and inextricably enmeshed with race, class, ability, ethnicity, national identity, immigration status, and religion. Students also explore lgbtqi identity and community formation, racial, class, and ethnic conflict among lgbtqi people, the use of illegal and extra-legal violence to repress homoeroticism and gender nonconformity, and the ways in which lgbtqi communities of color endured in a context of oppression. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Cross-listed as ALS 205  and WMST 205 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 208 - The City in American Culture 3 s.h.

    Building on the work of urban and cultural historians, this course is designed to analyze and describe the “city’s” contributions to American “culture.” The course thematically surveys several cultural moments from the late 18th to the late 20th century through the perspective of a wide range of urban artists, poets, writers, journalists, and musicians. The course explores how city life influenced a variety of urbanites (both men and women) who put pencil to paper, brush to canvas, and lyrics to music, and, in so doing, played significant roles in the production of American culture. Offered Spring only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): Sos or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 217 - The Second World War 3 s.h.

    A social, political, military, and diplomatic global history of World War II. This course discusses the slow march to war, the years of fighting and devastation (1937-1945), and the aftermath (1945-1949), which paved the way for the Cold War. Offered Irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 220 - History of Crime and Prisons 3 s.h.

    This course draws on African American, Women/Gender, LGBTQ Studies, legal, social, cultural, and political history to explore the convergent racial, gender, economic, and sexual ideas and practices that animate criminal activity, prison reform, and penal administration from colonial times to the present. Students engage with primary/secondary sources as historians, critically analyzing the evolution of crime and punishment. Ultimately, students acquire knowledge of the mutually sustaining forces of crime and the prison-industrial system, and think critically and creatively about ways to address the social problems linked to both institutions. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Cross-listed as ALS 220 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 100-level course in ALS or HIST.
  

  • AHIS 233 - Cold War through Film 4 s.h.

    This course focuses on the Cold War through film, popular culture, politics, and strategy. Through lectures, discussions, group work, and numerous films and videos you will gain an understanding of the history of the Cold War from 1917-1991, with special emphasis on 1945-1990 - as well as an historical awareness of how the past influences the present. In addition, you will learn how to think critically, evaluate evidence, and construct arguments. Offered Irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 235 - African Americans and Islam 3 s.h.

    This course examines the history of Islam in the African American experience from the first Anglo-American settlements in North America to the present. Islam and Islamic cultural and spiritual symbolism have intersected with African American communities since before the founding of the United States. By providing students with the intellectual and academic proficiency to analyze the complex history of African Americans Islam and Muslims, the class will enable students to understand the significant contribution African Americans Islam and Muslims have made to contemporary American Muslim communities and the larger hegemonic American society.  Offered annually.
    LA
    ALS 235 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. of 100-level ALS or HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 240 - American Colonial History 3 s.h.

    U.S. history from the earliest settlement to 1763. Covers the development of British imperial policy and its influence on the colonies, colonial cultures, and the development of colonial society. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 241 - The American Revolution 3 s.h.

    A study of American history from the French and Indian War to the end of the American Revolution. Covers British colonial policy, the revolutionary movement, changes in American society during and after the War, as well as the social, economic, political, and military aspects of the War. Offered Spring only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 242 - Age of Jefferson 3 s.h.

    This course explores the history of the “New Republic” in two ways. First, the course focuses on the life and times of Thomas Jefferson. In so doing, the course merges historical biography and political history to examine Jefferson’s early life in Virginia, his political career (before 1800), his important writings, and the significant actions/ideas that shaped his presidency. Second, the course examines several social, economic and cultural changes that made the “New Republic” one of the most critical eras in US history. In so doing, the course weaves together recent social, cultural and economic interpretations to examine the changing role of women in society, the experience of African-Americans (both free and enslaved), the experience of indigenous people, the significant economic changes in urban and rural America, and the birth of an American culture. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 244 - The Civil War and Reconstruction 3 s.h.

    Causes of the Civil War; the war and its impact, North and South; and the heritage of the reconstruction era. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 245 - Emergence of Modern US 3 s.h.

    A study of political, social, and economic forces from 1877-1920. Topics include: political party development, the rise of big business and urbanism, the development of organized labor, agrarian discontentment, overseas expansion, and the progressive reaction. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 246 - Progressivism 3 s.h.

    Surveys the political, social, and economic forces that brought about the progressive reform movement of the early 20th century.   A-E only. Offered every other year.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 247 - The Jazz Age and New Deal 3 s.h.

    Examines the political, social, and economic forces from 1920 to 1941. Topics include: the revolt against Victorianism, the Republican prosperity of the 1920s and its limitations, the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal, the rise of organized labor, reform, and the conservative reaction. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 249 - History of the U.S. in the Sixties 3 s.h.

    This course examines the political, cultural, and social changes in the United States during the turbulent decade of the 1960s. Topics include civil rights, the women’s movement, expansion of the welfare state, the war in Vietnam, the formation and demise of the liberal consensus, the emergence of the counter-culture, and the conservative backlash. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Cross-listed as ALS 249 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 254 - Social and Intellectual History of the U.S. I 3 s.h.

    Examines the variety of lifestyles and subcultures that flourished in America between 1607 and 1865 and the shifting currents of American thought and belief. Emphasizes daily lives of representative men and women. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 256 - U. S. Foreign Relations since 1914 3 s.h.

    A study of American foreign relations since 1914. Includes formal diplomacy, development of policy, decisions to intervene in foreign countries or wars, and U.S. economic and cultural relations with individual nations and the world. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 258 - Athletics, Society, and History 3 s.h.

    Examines the historical development of athletics as a reflection of changes in ethnic and racial relations, gender roles, demography, economics, technology, media, values, and perceptions of the hero. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 259 - Slave Rebellions in NYC 1 s.h.

    Slavery played a crucial role in the history of New York City. This course explores two significant moments in that history: the slave insurrection of 1712 and the slave conspiracy of 1741. During the 1712 slave insurrection, dozens of slaves rebelled and with axe, knife and gun attempted to free themselves from bondage. In 1741 slaves, free blacks and poor whites conspired to burn the city and free all slaves; many were arraigned, tried, convicted and executed for arson and high treason. Further, the course explores how, in less dramatic ways, slaves rebelled and attempted to lay claim to their body and their freedom. The outcome of these actions and the response of New York City’s residents receives special attention. Note: students may participate in a one day field experience in New York City. Offered irregularly.
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 260 - Economic History of the U.S. from Colonial Times to 1865 3 s.h.

    This course surveys the economic history of the United States from the colonial times to 1865. The course begins with an examination of American colonial economic development within the context of the expanding economy of the Atlantic World. Attention will be paid to commerce, city/town building, merchants, artisans, agriculture and slavery. The course also explores the emergence of a national economy in the nineteenth century; and the impact of immigration, population growth, city building, transportation, and manufacturing will be examined. Particular emphasis will be placed on the everyday life of citizens (both rural and urban). Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 263 - Slavery and Resistance 3 s.h.

    This course explores the social, political, cultural, labor, and gender history of African Americans beginning with African origins and concluding with the Reconstruction era. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, students examine black women’s, men’s, and children’s experiences of the Middle Passage, the development of plantation slavery, the lives of free and enslaved blacks in the North and South, slave culture and resistance, interracial cooperation and conflict, African-American participation in the American Revolution and Civil War, slavery’s abolition, and Reconstruction. Major themes include African- American survival under and resistance to institutional oppression; alliances and interactions with whites and non-black people of color; African American interactions with non-black; class, gender, sexual, and political conflict among blacks; and personal identity, family, and community formation. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Cross-listed as ALS 263 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 264 - Jim Crow to Black Power 3 s.h.

    This course explores the social, political, cultural, labor, and gender history of African Americans since 1865. Through the analysis of primary and secondary sources, students examine: black women’s, men’s, and children’s experiences during and after Reconstruction; the lives of blacks in the Jim Crow South and those who migrated North and West; racial violence and anti- racist activism; black literature, music, and political thought; African American participation in U.S. government wars; the mid-20th century Civil Rights Movement; the urban rebellions of the 1960s; pan-Africanism; black feminism; and the Black Power Movement. Major themes include: African American survival under and resistance to institutional oppression; alliances and interactions with white and non-black people of color; class, gender, sexuality and political conflict among blacks; and personal identity, family, and community formation. By the end of the course, students gain an understanding of the various ways in which African Americans envisioned and pursued freedom as well as resisted efforts to limit or wrest freedom from them. Offered Spring only.
    LA
    Cross-listed as ALS 264 
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 266 - History of New York State 3 s.h.

    A survey of the significant political, economic, and social trends and institutions in New York State. Attention to colonial growth and change, the emergence of the independent state, the development of a democratic commonwealth, urbanism, immigration, industrialism, and political factions. Offered Fall and Spring.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 267 - U.S. Foreign Relations to 1914 3 s.h.

    A study of American Foreign Relations to 1914. Includes formal diplomacy, development of policy, manifest destiny, decisions to avoid foreign entanglements, and economic and cultural relations with individual nations and the world. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    SS3
    AM3
    Prerequisite(s): 100-level HIST course with a “C” or better or SoS.
  

  • AHIS 268 - History of Women and Women’s Movements in the U.S. 3 s.h.

    Survey of the changing status and role of women in American society. Main emphasis will be the origin and development of feminism from 19th century to the present, its ideology, and leadership and organization problems within the context of broader social change. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Cross-listed as WMST 268 .
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 273 - History of Canada 3 s.h.

    This course will examine the history of Canada from the first aboriginal contacts with European explorers to the modern era. It will focus on the development of distinct regional and ethnic identities within the framework of British and French colonization as well in an independent Canada. A key theme in this course will Canada’s relationships with larger powers such as France, Great Britain and the United States. Students will discover how Canadians forged a society in North America with significant differences from the United States including two official languages, a different form of democracy, greater state involvement in the economy, greater levels of unionization, universal state Medicare, higher taxation, lower levels of violence and greater social liberalism. Key topics to be studied include the treatment of aboriginal peoples, New France, the British Conquest, the War of 1812, Confederation, the Riel Rebellion and the settlement of Western Canada, urbanization and mass immigration, the changing roles of women, the World Wars, the Quiet Revolution and the threat of Quebec separatism and the debate over free trade with the United States. Offered Spring only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 280 - Crime in the Urban Atlantic 3 s.h.

    Crime and Punishment in the Urban Atlantic World explores the history of crime and punishment in the context of the Atlantic World to 1860. This course examines how what might be defined as a crime and how a perpetrator might be punished is influenced by a set of social, cultural, and economic factors. Using a comparative approach, the course focuses on how residents and local authorities construct urban crime (from thievery to murder) and punishment (from public whipping to execution) in New York City and London, England. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS, 3 s.h. of 100 level history courses.
  

  • AHIS 283 - History of the City of New York 3 s.h.

    This course surveys the history of New York City (New Amsterdam until 1664) from its origins as a trading post for the Dutch West India Company to its present status as America’s foremost metropolis. Building on the work of urban historians, this course weaves together evidence and interpretations from the fields of economic, political, social, ethnic and cultural history. Attention to the city’s growth in the colonial period, its emergence as the center of American commerce in the nineteenth century, and its current position as a center of the production of American popular culture. Offered Fall only.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 288 - Borderlands: Latino/Latinas in US 3 s.h.

    Course covers Latino & Latina society in the U.S. from the Spanish/ Mexican colonization of the U.S. Southwest to contemporary immigration. The focus will be on culture and history after 1848 emphasizing new urban culture; the concept of the borderlands; changing patterns in U.S. immigration; and the heterogeneous nature of a group that includes Mexicans, Chicanos/Chicanas, Domicans, Puerto Ricans, and many others. Offered irregularly.
    LA
    Cross-Listed as ALS 288 .
  

  • AHIS 294 - Special Topics in American History 1 s.h. - 3 s.h.

    Group studies on aspects of U.S. or Canadian History under faculty supervision.
    LA
    Prerequisite(s): SoS or 3 s.h. 100-level HIST course.
  

  • AHIS 396 - Research Assistant: New York History: A Quarterly Journal 3 s.h.

    This course offers students a hands-on experiential learning, opportunity. Working under the supervision of the Editors of New York History: A Quarterly Journal (a peer-reviewed, scholarly history journal), students actively engage in the process of historical writing, editing, and publishing. In addition, the course provides students the opportunity to integrate and apply knowledge, obtained in the classroom, by working with the State University of New York at Oneonta’s community partner, The New York State Historical Association. Experiential learning activities include the following: copy editing, proof reading, fact checking, scholarly research, bibliographic research, and the critical reading and discussion of scholarly essays. May be repeated for a total of 6 s.h. Approval of the advisor and department is required.
    Prerequisite(s): 6 s.h. history coursework.