Department of History
History is the systematic examination of the significant events, people, and ideas that have shaped human civilization. The study of history humanizes us by multiplying the range of experiences in which we share. It civilizes us by demonstrating how institutions and ideals, past and present, have developed; at the same time it offers critiques of those institutions and ideals. Finally, the study of history liberates us by freeing us from a narrow view of time and place. It offers a frame of reference for making critical judgments about the present and the future.
History trains our critical faculties to arrive at valid conclusions based on all available sources of information. The historical way of knowing is not narrow or technical. It is applicable to a broad range of human activities from business (case studies) to health (medical case histories). Historical method is a formal but very general means of discovery and insight with nearly universal application.
The department of history enthusiastically supports and contributes to Xavier University's commitment to being an institution for which the intellectual pursuit of the truth, enriched by value-oriented teaching and active scholarship, is the highest priority.
The history faculty engages in research and is active in a wide array of professional and civic organizations. It is, however, first and foremost a teaching faculty. The faculty is readily available to students during regularly scheduled office hours. Students are encouraged to participate in history-related activities outside the classroom. Classes are small, and students and faculty get to know each other on an individual basis.
1 Made in Cincinnati
Cincinnati is Famous as a City that has produced a number of outstanding and unique items, businesses and people. This course will give us an opportunity to select and examine some of the unique features and "firsts" in the history of the Queen City and some that have simply made a considerable impact on our city. Among these will be Proctor and Gamble, Milacron, Crosley, General Electric, and Cincinnati Reds and Bengals, the Symphony and Museums, Radio stations like WKRC, motion picture and TV stars such as Doris Day and Roy Rodgers, politicians like William H. Taft, and gastronomic experiences such as Cincinnati chili and Graeter's ice cream. The course will appeal to anyone from History majors to history buffs and will include lectures by Dr. Simon, as well as guest speakers who are experts in their various fields, videos and a wide range of fieldtrips to sites of local interest.
2 Beer, Baseball and Pop Culture
Examines popular culture in industrializing America as a means of exploring social change and cultural conflict. The course links such topics as temperance and prohibition, the rise of sports, and the emergence of mass culture as phenomena which both reflected and shaped the distribution and uses of political power.
3 The Great War and Modern Memory
This course will chart the impact of World War I on the social and political culture of Europe during the 1920's and 1930's. We will be looking at a wide range of social movements, from the origins of the pacifist movement to the rise of right wing authoritarian regimes in Europe to the creation of a new counter-culture throughout Europe. There will be a strong concentration on primary source material from the time period, including film, newspapers and magazines, and literature.
4 Women in European History
This course examines the central experiences of European women from the French Revolution to the Present. We will focus on women's involvement in social and political movements (progressive and reactionary), women's work, the changing relationship to the state (suffrage, welfare, legislation), the family, the emergence of modern feminism, women and war, and consumer culture. The course will also explore the evolution of the nature and meanings of masculinity and femininity.
Undergraduate Admission