MA Courses

MA Courses

MA students can choose from a wide variety of courses each semester. Browse courses below to watch lecture previews, meet your professors, and see course details.

 

Upcoming Spring Semester Deadlines

  • Courses StartThursday, May 30, 2024
  • Course Registration Begins: Saturday, March 16, 2024
  • Course Registration Ends: Wednesday, April 5, 2024

 

Image source: Photograph of Illinois Soldiers College, 1866 (The Gilder Lehrman Institute, GLC05111.01.0010)

photograph from ca. 1866 of Illinois Soldiers College
  • $750 per Course

  • 9 Courses in Summer 2024

Summer 2024 Semester

The Early Republic

Alan Taylor, University of Virginia

This course explores the American struggle to establish a republic on a national scale. We will examine the politics, economy, social structure, and culture of the union created by the American Revolution and the bitter but creative debates over the meaning of the Revolution and the proper form of republican government. 

  • New Course

The American West

Elliott West, University of Arkansas

This course will trace the expansion of the United States to the Pacific, the exploration of the West, the defeat and dispossession and profound tragedy of its Native peoples, and environmental transformations matched at few if any other places on earth. 

  • AMHI 632

The History of American Protest

John Stauffer, Harvard University

This interdisciplinary course examines the rich tradition of “protest literature” in the United States from the American Revolution to the present. The primary focus is on three enduring strands of protest: civil rights (beginning with antislavery); women’s rights; and workers’ rights. Using a broad definition of “protest literature,” we pay particular attention to the cultural production and consumption of dissent as a powerful “voice” of both individuals and movements.

  • AMHI 691

Reconstruction and Resistance: Constructing a Nation

Kermit Roosevelt III, University of Pennsylvania

This course will place Reconstruction and the resistance to it in historical context, illuminating how Reconstruction broke from America’s past, how its radicalism was undermined and its promise beaten down, and how the struggles of that era continue today.

  • New Course

World War I (A Six-Week Compressed Course, Term I)

Michael Neiberg, US Army War College

This course explores American reluctance to enter the war as well as the forces that caused it to abandon its stance of official neutrality; the country’s involvement in the war on the home front and on the fighting front; and its emergence into the post-war world.

  • AMHI 655
  • Term I

World War II (A Six-Week Compressed Course, Term II)

Michael Neiberg, US Army War College

This course builds context and nuance into the traditional views with which Americans have seen World War II. Although keeping the American experience at the center, it will always view that experience through a global lens. 

  • AMHI 656
  • Term II

Black Women's History (A Six-Week Compressed Course, Term II)

Kellie Carter Jackson, Wellesley College

This course focuses on African American women’s history in the United States with certain aspects of Black women’s activism and leadership covered within the African Diaspora. We will examine the ways in which these women engaged in local, national, and international freedom struggles while simultaneously defining their identities as wives, mothers, leaders, citizens, and workers. 

  • AMHI 675
  • Term II

Required Courses (Available Every Semester)

Historiography and Historical Methods

Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and The Graduate Center, CUNY

Students will read and discuss historical interpretations of the American past as they have changed over time.

  • AMHI 698

Capstone in American History

The course is the capstone seminar for students completing their MA in American History and its sole focus is the production of either a substantial original research paper or a capstone project of comparable significance as determined by the MA program director and faculty.

  • AMHI 699

Register for Courses

Enrolled students can register for courses on Campus Experience on the Gettysburg website. If you need assistance navigating the course registration platform, please follow these instructions available as a pdf.

Previous Course Offerings

2023-2024 Academic Year

Fall 2023

Spring 2024

2022-2023 Academic Year

Fall 2022

  • The Declaration of Independence, Prof. Eric Slauter, University of Chicago
  • Presidential Leadership at Historic Crossroads: From Founding to Current Challenges, Prof. Barbara Perry, University of Virginia
  • Narratives of Illness: The History of Medicine and Public Health in the U.S., Prof. Jim Downs, Gettysburg College
  • The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Prof. Peniel Joseph, University of Texas at Austin
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2023

  • Black Women's History, Kellie Carter Jackson, Wellesley College
  • Voting and Elections in American History, Allan Lichtman, American University
  • America's First Civil Rights Movement: From Revolution to Reconstruction, Kate Masur, Northwestern University
  • The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, David Blight, Yale University
  • Making Modern America: Business and Politics in the 20th Century, Margaret O'Mara,University of Washington
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2023

  • Capitalism in American History, Prof. David Sicilia, University of Maryland
  • The Great Depression and the New Deal, Prof. Eric Rauchway, University of California, Davis
  • The History of Latina and Latino People in the U.S., Prof. Geraldo Cadava, Northwestern University
  • American Indian History: 1900 to the Present, Prof. Donald L. Fixico, Arizona State University
  • The Presidents vs. The Press, Prof. Harold Holzer, Hunter College
  • The Vietnam War, Prof. Fredrik Logevall, Harvard University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2021-2022 Academic Year

Fall 2021

  • American Immigration History, Prof. Madeline Hsu, University of Texas at Austin
  • The American Civil War, Prof. Allen Guelzo, Princeton University
  • Capitalism in American History, Prof. David Sicilia, University of Maryland
  • The 1960s in Historical Perspective, Prof. Michael Flamm, Ohio Wesleyan University, and Prof. Michael Kazin, Georgetown University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2022

  • American Colonies: A Continental History, Prof. Alan Taylor, University of Virginia
  • The History of Childhood in America, Prof. Steven Mintz, University of Texas at Austin
  • Social Change in the Civil War Era, Prof. Catherine Clinton, University of Texas at San Antonio
  • Chinese in the United States, Prof. Madeline Hsu, University of Texas at Austin 
  • Making Modern America: Business and Politics in the 20th Century, Prof. Margaret O’Mara, University of Washington
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2022

  • The Declaration of Independence, Prof. Eric Slauter, University of Chicago
  • Presidential Leadership at Historic Crossroads: From Founding to Current Challenges, Prof. Barbara Perry, University of Virginia
  • Narratives of Illness: The History of Medicine and Public Health in the U.S., Prof. Jim Downs, Gettysburg College
  • The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., Prof. Peniel Joseph, University of Texas at Austin
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2020-2021 Academic Year

Fall 2020

  • American Indian History, Prof. Ned Blackhawk, Yale University
  • The American Enlightenment, Prof. Caroline Winterer, Stanford University
  • The Fight For Women's Rights: 1820 to 1920, Prof. Catherine Clinton, UT San Antonio
  • The Revolutionary Lives of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr., Prof. Peniel Joseph, UT Austin
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2021

  • Lives of the Enslaved, Prof. Daina Ramey Berry, UT Austin
  • Democracy in the Early Republic, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College
  • The Presidents vs. the Press, Harold Holzer, Hunter College
  • The Vietnam War, Prof. Fredrik Logevall, Harvard University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2021

  • Legacies of the Age of Revolutions, Prof. Nora Slonimsky, Iona College
  • The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Prof. David Blight, Yale University
  • Black Women’s History, Prof. Kellie Carter Jackson, Wellesley College
  • The History of American Protest, Prof. John Stauffer, Harvard University
  • Conflict and Reform: The United States, 1877–1920, Prof. Michael Kazin, Georgetown University
  • The Great Depression and New Deal, Prof. Eric Rauchway, University of California, Davis
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2019-2020 Academic Year

Fall 2019

  • Lives of the Enslaved, Prof. Daina Ramey Berry, UT Austin
  • The History of American Protest, Prof. John Stauffer, Harvard University
  • The Civil War Rank and File, Prof. Robert Bonner, Dartmouth College
  • Conflict and Reform: The United States, 1877–1920, Prof. Michael Kazin, Georgetown University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2020

  • American Immigration History, Prof. Madeline Hsu, UT Austin
  • Women in the American Revolution, Prof. Carol Berkin, Baruch College
  • Origins of the Civil War, Prof. James Oaks, CUNY Graduate Center
  • The American West, Prof. Elliott West, University of Arkansas
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2020

  • Black Women's History, Prof. Kellie Carter Jackson, Wellesley College
  • The American Revolution, Prof. Denver Brunsman, George Washington University
  • The Kennedy Era, Prof. Barbara Perry, University of Virginia
  • World War I, Prof. Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
  • World War II, Prof. Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2018-2019 Academic Year

Fall 2018

  • Women in the American Revolution, Prof. Carol Berkin, Baruch College
  • The American Civil War, Prof. Allen Guelzo, Princeton University
  • World War II, Prof. Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
  • Race and Rights in American History, Prof. Lucas Morel, Washington and Lee University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2019

  • The American Revolution, Prof. Denver Brunsman, George Washington University
  • The Life and Writings of Frederick Douglass, Prof. David Blight, Yale University
  • The Kennedy Era, Prof. Barbara Perry, University of Virginia
  • The Vietnam War, Prof. Fredrik Logevall, Harvard University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2019

  • American Indian History, Prof. Ned Blackhawk, Yale University
  • Democracy in the Early Republic, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College
  • Social Change in the Civil War Era, Prof. Catherine Clinton, UT San Antonio
  • Slavery and the Americas, Prof. Jim Walvin, University of New York
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2017-2018 Academic Year

Fall 2017

  • US Presidents, Profs. Julian Zelizer and Meg Jacobs, Princeton University
  • Democracy in the Early Republic, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College
  • Famous Trials, Prof. Jack Ford, Yale University
  • The Era of Theodore Roosevelt, Prof. Bruce Schulman, Boston University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2016-2017 Academic Year

Fall 2016

  • Immigration, Prof. Vincent Cannato, UMASS Boston
  • Civil War, Prof. Allen Guelzo, Gettysburg College
  • American Revolution, Prof. Denver Brunsman, George Washington University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2017

  • Amazing Grace, Prof. James Basker, Barnard College
  • Women and Politics in the 20th Century, Prof. Linda Gordon, University of New York
  • American Indian History, Prof. Colin Calloway, Dartmouth College
  • Hamilton’s America, Prof. Carol Berkin, Baruch College
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2017

  • State History, Prof. Rich Loosbrock, Adams State University
  • World War I, Prof. Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
  • Lincoln and Leadership, Prof. Michael Burlingame, University of Illinois
  • Historiography, Profs. Karl Jacoby, Carol Berkin, David Blight, Nancy Wolloch, Martha Hodes, and Denver Brunsman
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2015-2016 Academic Year

Fall 2015

  • Colonial North America, Prof. John Fea, Messiah College
  • The Age of Jefferson, Prof. Peter Onuf, University of Virginia
  • The World at War, Prof. Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2016

  • African American History since Emancipation, Prof. Peniel Joseph, University of Texas at Austin
  • Women & Gender in 19th-Century America, Prof. Stephanie McCurry, Columbia University
  • The Supreme Court and the Constitution in the 20th Century, Prof. Melvin Urofsky, Virginia Commonwealth University
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2016

  • Black Writers in American History, Prof. John Stauffer, Harvard University
  • Understanding Lincoln, Prof. Matthew Pinsker, Dickenson College
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

2014-2015 Academic Year

Fall 2014

  • How Writers Helped End Slavery, Prof. James Basker, Barnard College
  • The American Civil War, Prof. Allen Guelzo, Gettysburg College
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Spring 2015

  • The South in American History, Prof. Ed Ayers, University of Richmond
  • The Global Cold War, Prof. Jeremy Suri, University of Texas at Austin
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History

Summer 2015

  • Emancipation, Prof. Jim Oakes, CUNY Graduate Center
  • The Kennedy Presidency, Prof. Barbara Perry, University of Virginia
  • Historiography and Historical Methods, Prof. Andrew Robertson, Lehman College and CUNY Graduate Center
  • Capstone in American History