642: Political Parties
2026-06-22 18:15 - 2026-07-02 21:30 UTC | Online
HIST 642 O4B / POLSC 642 O4B: Political Parties (2)
This course examines the development of American political parties, focusing on the meaning of parties and historic moments in the rise and fall of political parties from the Founding era to the present. Topics may include re-aligning elections, changing coalitions within American parties, and the contemporary Democratic and Republican parties.
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:15-9:30 p.m. ET
Course Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

613: Postwar America, 1945-1973
2026-06-22 20:15 - 2026-07-02 23:30 UTC | Online
HIST 613 O4A / POLSC 613 O4A: Postwar America, 1945-1973 (2)
An examination of the United States during the three decades following the Second World War. The social, economic, political, and diplomatic development of the country is stressed with a thematic emphasis.
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 8:15-11:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

643: Administrative Power and Law
2026-06-28 - 2026-07-03 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 643 2B / POLSC 643 2B: Administrative Power and Law
This class will examine the constitutional and legal questions surrounding the emergence of the administrative state, which is the primary way that public policy is made in contemporary America. We will examine how Congress grants authority to agencies, who oversees those agencies, how those agencies make and implement rules, and how federal courts review the rules and policies that agencies make. Specifically, we will examine legal controversies surrounding the nondelegation doctrine, appointment and removal of agency heads, and how the Administrative Procedure Act governs the administrative state.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

642: Political Parties
2026-06-28 - 2026-07-03 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 642 2A / POLSC 642 2A: Political Parties
This course examines the development of American political parties, focusing on the meaning of parties and historic moments in the rise and fall of political parties from the Founding era to the present. Topics may include re-aligning elections, changing coalitions within American parties, and the contemporary Democratic and Republican parties.​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

632: The American Presidency I – Washington to Lincoln
2026-06-28 - 2026-07-03 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 632 2A / POLSC 632 2A: The American Presidency I – Washington to Lincoln
This course is an examination of the political and development of the office of president from the Founding era through the Civil War. It focuses on how the presidency shaped American political life as the country grew and struggled with rising sectional tensions.​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

506: The Rise of Modern America, 1914-1945
2026-06-28 - 2026-07-03 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 506 2A / POLSC 506 2A: The Rise of Modern America, 1914-1945
With the exception of the Civil War era, it is difficult to find another thirty-year period in U.S. history during which the nation underwent such dramatic change. In 1914 the United States was no more than a regional power, with a primarily rural demography and a relatively unobtrusive federal government. Thanks to the experience of two world wars, a major cultural conflict (the 1920s), and a disastrous economic crisis the country was transformed into the global economic and military power that it remains to this day. This course will examine the cultural, economic, military, and diplomatic events and trends of the period 1914-1945.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

503: Sectionalism and Civil War
2026-06-28 - 2026-07-03 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 503 2A / POLSC 503 2A: Sectionalism and Civil War
A study of the sectional conflict beginning with the nullification crisis. The course will not only examine the political, social and economic developments in the period leading to the civil war, but will emphasize the political thought of Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, and John C. Calhoun.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

610: American Foreign Policy
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-10 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 610 3A / POLSC 610 3A: American Foreign Policy
Students examine events and issues in the foreign policy of the American republic. Topics include the major schools of thought and approaches, the connection between domestic and foreign politics, and the connection between the principles of the American regime and its foreign policy.​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

608: Civil War and Reconstruction
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-10 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 608 3A / POLSC 608 3A: Civil War and Reconstruction
This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era.​​​​​​​
Instructor: Robert Colby (University of Mississippi)

605: The Age of Enterprise
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-10 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 605 3A / POLSC 605 3A: The Age of Enterprise
In the last decades of the 19th century, the United States took decisive steps away from its rural, agrarian past toward its industrial future, assuming its place among world powers. This course examines that movement, covering such topics as business-labor relations, political corruption, immigration, imperialism, the New South, and segregation and racism.​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

510: Great American Texts – Democracy in America
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-10 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 510 3A / POLSC 510 3A: Great American Texts – Democracy in America
Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America is the best book on democracy and the best book on America. He recognized the justice of democratic equality but also was concerned how the passion for equality could degrade human dignity, undermine liberty, and sap public spiritedness. As a friendly critic of democracy, Tocqueville looked for principles, practices, and institutions that are both compatible with democracy but also support excellence, freedom, and the civic virtues. This course will examine as much of the book as we can and will focus on Tocqueville’s reflections on the Puritans, political institutions, civil associations, slavery, Native Americans, women and the family, public opinion, happiness, and religion.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

502: The American Founding
2026-07-05 - 2026-07-10 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 502 3A / POLSC 502 3A: The American Founding
This course is an intensive study of the constitutional convention, the struggle over ratification of the Constitution, and the creation of the Bill of Rights. It will include a close examination of the Federalist Papers and the antifederalist papers.

641: The Supreme Court
2026-07-06 18:15 - 2026-07-16 21:30 (America/Halifax) | Online
HIST 641 O5B / POLSC 641 O5B: The Supreme Court
The course is an intensive study of the highest court in the federal judiciary, focusing on the place of the Supreme Court in the American constitutional order. Areas of study may include the relationship between the Court and the other branches of the federal government as well as the states; the Court’s power of judicial review; and judicial politics and statesmanship. We will examine these kinds of issues by investigating how the Court has interpreted the Constitution in some of its most historic decisions.​​​​​​​
Instructor: Stephanie R. Davis
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:15-9:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

608: Civil War and Reconstruction
2026-07-06 20:15 - 2026-07-17 23:30 (America/Halifax) | Online
HIST 608 O5B / POLSC 608 O5B: Civil War and Reconstruction
This course will examine military aspects of the war, as well as political developments during it, including the political history of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Gettysburg Address and the Second Inaugural. The course also examines the post-war Amendments and the Reconstruction era.
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 8:15-11:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus

633: The American Presidency II – Andrew Johnson to the present
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-17 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 633 4A / POLSC 633 4A: The American Presidency II – Andrew Johnson to the present
This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the office of president from Reconstruction to the present. It focuses on how changing conceptions of the presidency have shaped American political life in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially as America has become a global power.​​​​​​​
Instructor: Joseph Griffith (Ashland University)​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

631: American Political Rhetoric
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-17 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 631 4A / POLSC 631 4A: American Political Rhetoric
This course examines the principles and practice of American political rhetoric through the careful reading of the speeches of its leading statesmen.​​​​​​​
Instructor: Elizabeth L’Arrivee (Rosary College)

614: Contemporary America, 1974 to present
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-17 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 614 4A / POLSC 614 4A: Contemporary America, 1974 to present
Examines the United States from the end of Watergate to the present, with emphasis on the rise of the new conservatism, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the search for a new foreign policy. The social, economic, political, and diplomatic development of the country is stressed with a thematic emphasis.​​​​​​​
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

505: The Progressive Era
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-17 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 505 4A / POLSC 505 4A: The Progressive Era
The transition to an industrial economy posed many problems for the United States. This course examines those problems and the responses to them that came to be known as progressivism. The course includes the study of World War I as a manifestation of progressive principles. The course emphasizes the political thought of Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and their political expression of progressive principles.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

501: The American Revolution
2026-07-12 - 2026-07-17 | Ashland, OH, 340 Samaritan Ave, Ashland, OH, 44805, United States
HIST 501 4A / POLSC 501 4A: The American Revolution
This course focuses on three topics: political developments in North America and the British empire and the arguments for and against independence, culminating in the Declaration of Independence; the Revolutionary War as a military, social and cultural event in the development of the American nation and state; and the United States under the Articles of Confederation.
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

602: The American Founding
2026-07-20 18:15 - 2026-07-30 21:30 (America/Halifax) | Online
HIST 502 O6B / POLSC 502 O6B: The American Founding
This course is an intensive study of the constitutional convention, the struggle over ratification of the Constitution, and the creation of the Bill of Rights. It will include a close examination of Federalist and Antifederalist writings.
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:15-9:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus

510: Great American Texts – The Federalist
2026-07-20 20:15 - 2026-07-30 23:30 UTC | Online
HIST 510 O6B / POLSC 510 O6B: Great American Texts – The Federalist
The Federalist is a complex political work comprised of arguments about war, economics, national unity, and liberty (among other things) based on appeals to human nature, history, reason, and prudence. In this course we will examine and discuss The Federalist as fully and as deeply we can, aiming to understand how (or whether) its parts fit together in a coherent whole and its enduring contribution to our understanding of politics.​​​​​​​
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 8:15-11:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack

633: The American Presidency II, Andrew Johnson to the Present
2026-08-03 18:15 - 2026-08-13 21:30 (America/Halifax) | Online
HIST 633 O7B / POLSC 633 O7B: The American Presidency II, Andrew Johnson to the Present (2)
This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the office of president from Reconstruction to the present. It focuses on how changing conceptions of the presidency have shaped American political life in the 19th and 20th centuries, especially as America has become a global power.
Schedule: Monday through Thursday, 6:15-9:30 p.m. ET
Materials: Syllabus Course Pack
