HST201 US History I, Colonial Era to 1840

This course explores the varying experiences of American peoples, native and immigrant, rich and poor, male and female, enslaved and free. It covers the major events of the era through its environmental, cultural, social, economic, and political changes, from the colonial era through the early republic (1840). Topics range from colonial livestock and native disputes to dueling and concerns over damnation.

HST202 US History II, 1840-1918

This course explores the varying experiences of American peoples, native and immigrant, rich and poor, male and female, enslaved and free. It covers the major events of the era through its environmental, cultural, social, economic, and political changes, from the westward expansion of the 1840s through the start of US involvement in WWI. Topics will range from slavery, the Oregon Trail, and the Civil War to Gilded Age income disparity and the development of National Parks.

HST203 US History III, 1918 to the Present

This course explores the varying experiences of twentieth-century Americans of all genders, ages, ethnicities, races, sexualities, and classes. It covers the major events of the era through its environmental, cultural, social, economic, and political changes, from the end of WWI to the present. Topics will range from the Roaring Twenties to Jello Molds and Civil Rights Movements.

HST333U Food & Power in US History

The power of food reaches beyond grocery bags and dinner plates. Food helps to define the boundaries between cultures, social classes, and even generations. The production and consumption of food shapes local and global landscapes and typically involves legislation, preparation, marketing, and transportation. Moving chronologically from the colonial period through the twenty-first century, this course will focus on the role food played in relationships between European colonists and Native Americans; slavery and plantations; western expansion and transportation developments; urban growth and technological innovation; immigration and ethnic foodways; gender relations; and the development of far-reaching agribusinesses. 

HST339U Environment & History

This course is an introduction to the global history of human interactions with the environment with a special focus on the history of political, social, cultural, and economic forces that have structured relationships with nature. Organized thematically, the course covers topics that range from water to waste, and food to fuel. We will address large questions about the underpinnings of humans’ relationships with their environment by looking at a variety of case studies from around the globe, sometimes jumping back and forth in time over the term. By the end of the course, you will have a stronger understanding of not only how humans have dealt with environmental issues in the past but also the historical background for modern environmental issues.

Cristina Rojas, “History Class Tells Stories of Forgotten Women Scientists,” PSU News, March 1, 2021.

“Want to help forgotten women scientists get their due? PSU has a course for that.” Inside PSU, March 14, 2023.

HST495/595 Public History laB & HST427/527 Topics in the History of Science: Women Scientists & Wikipedia

The story usually goes that with few exceptions women could not be scientists until late into the twentieth century when they finally elbowed their way into laboratories. This course, focusing primarily on American scientists, will show that women have been actively studying and advancing the sciences for centuries, though their legacies have often been ignored or erased. Going beyond the celebrity scientists who make their way into popular biographies, we will read about the multiple ways common women and men have practiced science; how race, gender, and class impacted credibility; how educational access transformed over time; and how scientists fought for space to follow their passion. More than just learning about the historical erasures and inequities, students will actively counter them. Over the course of the term, students write new articles or significantly edit existing articles on women in science on Wikipedia. Through that process, students will mine the digital resources and databases at PSU’s library, learn how to evaluate these sources for accuracy and authority, and discover how Wikipedia works behind the scenes.

HSt440/540 American Environmental History

A survey of North American history that explores the relationships between ideas of nature, transformations of the environment, and the effect of the environment on humans. Topics include colonialism; links between ecological change and race, class, and gender relations; the role of science/technology; agriculture, industrialization, and urbanization; and environmentalism.

HST491/591 & HST492/492 Readings and Research in Environmental History: The Nature of American Cities

Cultural critic and urbanist Lewis Mumford once claimed that “as the pavement spreads, nature is pushed away.” This course will turn that notion on its head. Focusing on urban environmental history, students will read extensively in that field covering topics as wide ranging as the history of weeds, environmental justice, urban animals, public health, disposal studies, natural and unnatural disasters, city parks, and more. Over the course of two terms, students read deeply in the field, develop plans for, and then complete their own research paper.

HST491/591 & HST492/592 READINGS & RESEARCH IN THE HISTORY OF PORTLAND & THE AMERICAN URBAN EXPERIENCE

By reading extensively about the history of Portland and the other cities throughout the United States, students will be asked to think critically about what makes Portland unique, what makes it a typical American city, and what all of this says about the city today. The class will investigate the city’s history from a range of perspectives—political, social, economic, environmental, and cultural—with an eye to reading the city’s built and natural environment and the long history of the people who have called the city home.

HST494/594 Public History Seminar: Historic Preservation

This course examines the history and theory of historic preservation in the United States. We will look at how laws, public policies, and cultural perceptions have shaped what is preserved and what is forgotten. Historic preservation is a negotiation between the past and the present. Looking primarily at the built environment but also the natural environment, the class will investigate the controversies that have developed over time regarding gentrification, commercialization, whose history is commemorated, and whether a city has room to grow and innovate when buildings and neighborhoods are protected.

Laura Gleim, “Portland’s History Told Through Its Trees,” PSU News, August 23, 2017.

Beyond Footnotes Podcast: Heritage Trees, 2015.

HST495/595 Public History Lab: Heritage Trees

Trees are physical evidence of the transformation of both a place and people’s intentions over time.  In Portland, the Heritage Tree program protects roughly 300 trees, recognized for their historical significance or horticultural value. Partnering with Portland Parks and Recreation foresters, the class will use local archives to delve into the history of the city’s trees, helping to expand the historical programming and documentation of the city’s program. Students will work both individually and collaboratively to bring the history of the city’s trees to a broader public audience.

HST495/595 Public History Lab: Peninsula Park

Partnering with the Friends of Peninsula Park, students will research the history of the park, its use, and the changing Piedmont neighborhood to help create new signage and other public-facing projects that reflect the diverse people who have used the park over time.

Cassie Duncanson, “Students Write and Record Podcasts with KBOO Radio,” PSU Vanguard, November 25, 2017.

HST495/595 Public History Lab: Podcasts & History

In this course students will do archival research, write scripts, and learn production skills as they create podcasts for KBOO. The podcasts will focus on historical events in a “this week in history” format. Check out the Fall 2016 student work on the PublicHistoryPDX blog and subscribe on iTunes.

AMHI616: Gilder Lehrman Institute: American Environmental History (MA Program in American History)

This course is an introduction to the history of human interactions with the environment in the United States with a special focus on the history of political, social, cultural, and economic forces that have structured relationships with nature. Organized chronologically, the course covers topics that range from water and waste to food and fuel. We will address large questions about the underpinnings of Americans’ relationships with their environment by looking at a variety of case studies. By the end of the course, you will have a stronger understanding of not only how humans have dealt with environmental issues in the past but also the historical background for modern environmental issues.