Special Topic Descriptions

Fall 2023: Descriptions of Special Topic Courses

HIS 481: Civil War to Civil Rights

This course explores the long history of a movement for racial equality in the United States from the pre-Civil War era to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The course, covering from the era of Frederick Douglass to Martin Luther King, Jr., emphasizes African Americans’ leadership both on the federal and state levels. An interpretation of gender, race and class oppression will lay at the heart of the study along with an examination of the complex history of citizenship in the United States.