Core Curriculum Guide: Knowledge Areas
Historical Knowledge
Learning Outcome: Demonstrate historical understanding.
History is a form of inquiry and understanding that encompasses all aspects of the human experience and illuminates how the past causes the present and thus the future. Graduates should demonstrate understanding of the importance of chronology, sequential development, and geography; be able to evaluate historical evidence; understand the forces and processes of historical change and continuity; and have the capacity to handle diverse historical interpretations.
Competencies: By way of example, Loyola graduates should be able to:
- Demonstrate the ability to evaluate and explain the forces of historical continuity and change.
- Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among historical events, culture, and social forces.
- Demonstrate an awareness that human values, ideas of justice, and methods of interpretation influence and are influenced by time, culture, and personal perspective.
- Differentiate among historical and contemporary perspectives about the world with a view to fashioning a humane and just world.
Historical Knowledge Courses
| Ancient Worlds | ANTH 107 |
| This course explores the cultures and civilizations that rose and fell in our distant past; its coverage is global in character and historical in content. Outcome: Students will understand the varied geographical, historical, and cultural contexts in which ancient civilizations rose and fell. |
View syllabus Skill Area: critical thinking |
| The World of Archaic Greece | CLST 274 |
| This course focuses on the history, as well as the literature, art, culture and society of Archaic Greece (c. 750-480 B.C.E.), the crucible of Classical Greece and (so) of western civilization. Outcome: Students will be expected to master the chronology of the period, know its signature political, cultural and social events (e.g., the Olympic games, trade and colonization, introduction of science, etc.) and the significance of major historical figures of the age (e.g., Hesiod, Archilochos, Thales, Croesus, etc.). |
View syllabus Skill Area: critical thinking |
| The World of Classical Greece | CLST 275 |
| This course focuses on the history, literature, art, culture and society of Classical Greece from c. 480 B.C.E. to c. 300 B.C.E., with a necessary focus on Athens. Outcome: Students will be expected to master the chronology of the period, know its significant political, cultural, and societal events (e.g., Peloponnesian War) and the major figures and their significance for the period (e.g., Pericles, Aristophanes, Socrates). |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| The World of Classical Rome | CLST 276 |
| This course focuses on the history, literature, art, culture and society of Rome from earliest times through the 2nd century CE. Outcome: Students will be expected to master the chronology of the period, know its significant political, cultural, and societal events (e.g., Punic Wars) and the major figures and their significance for the period (e.g., Caesar, Vergil, Nero) and through which they will trace sequential developments in the systems and ideologies of Roman government (e.g., Senatorial authority, tensions between aristocracy and populism, etc. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| The World of Late Antiquity | CLST 277 |
| This course will investigate the historical development of the Roman Empire and adjacent lands in the 3rd to 5th centuries C.E., when the Mediterranean basin and Europe re-evaluated their Classical past and decisively set their course toward Medieval and later governmental, religious, and cultural history. Outcome: Students will be expected to master the chronology of the period, know its significant, political, cultural, and societal events (crisis of the 3rd cent. CE., the triumph of Christianity, etc.), and the major figures and their significance (e.g., Julian, Augustine, Claudian, etc.). Through these they will trace the sequential developments in the systems and ideologies of the late antique world. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| History of Computing | COMP 111 |
| This course will provide a venue for students to learn about history through the evolution of number systems and arithmetic, calculating and computing machines, and advanced communication technology via the Internet. Students who take this course will attain a degree of technological literacy while studying core historical concepts. The relationships between social organization, intellectual climate, and technology will be examined and stressed. Outcome: Students who complete this course will learn the key vocabulary of the computing discipline, which is playing a significant role in modern human thought and new media communications. The History of Computing will be organized around the historical perspective. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral), critical thinking, technological literacy |
| American Education | ELPS 219 |
| This course will examine American education with an emphasis on the history, aims, organization, and control of public and private schools. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate their understanding of American history and specifically the history of American education, examine the historical origins of educational policies and practices in the United States and articulate how history shapes current and future educational policies and practices. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| The Evolution of Western Ideas and Institutions to the 17th Century | HIST 101 |
| This course is an introduction to history as a discipline, and an analysis of the origins, early development and structure of Western civilization from the ancient world to the 17th century. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the period and to conduct historical investigations. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| The Evolution of Western Ideas and Institutions from the 17th Century | HIST 102 |
| This course is an introduction to history as a discipline, and an analysis of the development and structure of Western civilization from the 17th century to the present day. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the period and to conduct historical investigations. |
View syllabus Skill Area: critical thinking |
| American Pluralism | HIST 103 |
| This course is an introduction to history as a discipline, and an analysis of the origins, development and structure of the United States as a pluralistic and multiracial society from 1609 to the present. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the development of the United States as a pluralistic society and to conduct historical investigations. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| Global Perspectives on History from 1500 to the Present | HIST 104 |
| This course deals with the emergence of the modern world by describing and analyzing the encounters and interactions between and among various political entities, cultures, and societies that have over the last several centuries produced this world. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the development of the Modern World and to conduct historical investigations. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| Survey of Islamic History | HIST 109 |
| This course consists of a survey of Islamic History from the emergence of the Islamic religious tradition in the 7th century until the contemporary period. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the historical events, cultures and social forces of Islam. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| United States to 1865 | HIST 111 |
| This course is an introduction to the history of the United States from the colonial era through the Civil War. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the growth and development of democratic government, the formation of a diverse society; the expansion of the national territory; and the crisis over slavery and secession. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |
| U.S. History Since 1865 | HIST 112 |
| This course is an introduction to the history of the United States from the end of the Civil War to the present. Outcome: Students will be able to demonstrate historical understanding of the growth and development of modern industrial society; the development of the general welfare state; the emergence of the United States as a world power; the debate over civil rights and civil liberties; and the evolution of the political culture of the United States. |
View syllabus Skill Area: communications (written) (oral) critical thinking |