Required Courses in the minor are: Foundations of Military History and Strategy I & II, and American Grand Strategy. Elective courses are topical studies such as The Just War Tradition in the West, Case Studies in the Origins of War, Counter-Insurgency and Counter-Terrorism, and courses about specific conflicts, such as The Vietnam War and the Two World Wars.
This course examines the relationship between the three pillars of military activity—people and systems, institutions and processes, and religious and intellectual traditions—in Western history, from classical antiquity through the early Middle Ages. The course examines the perennial causes of war, the relationship between political and military institutions, strategy, and the tendency of warfare to test and expose the first principles of a community. Throughout, students examine the idea of a specific “western way of war.” As an introduction to military history, the course provides a foundational knowledge of military history in the premodern world, the role of military action in shaping Western history, and those perennial themes that remain central to the study of war up to the present day.
A continuation of Foundations I, this course addresses the same set of questions by examining relationships among the three central pillars of military activity—the people and systems employed in combat, the institutions and processes which direct their activities in peace and in war, and the religious and intellectual traditions which shape both men and institutions—from the High Middle Ages to the First World War. The course emphasizes major military and naval innovations, strategy and culture, and the military revolutions.
A broad introduction to the American naval experience from the colonial period to the eve of World War I. In addition to the major land campaigns of American history, we examine the role of foreign activities and naval warfare, considering the changing cultural, political, economic, and religious norms of the United States.
Offered on odd years in the spring.
Survey of US military history, broadly conceived, from World War I to the wars of the early twenty-first century. The course addresses military strategy, the interplay of force and diplomacy, technological innovation, civil-military relations, leadership, and the cultural and social underpinnings of military power.
Offered on even years in the fall.
This course examines a single American war, which will vary each term. Usual subjects include the American Revolution, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the American Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Korean War, or the Gulf Wars. Students may repeat this course with different wars.
A survey of the major military campaigns of both wars, with emphasis upon strategies, operations, tactics, and generalship. Attention is also given to the ordinary soldier and civilian, as well as the home fronts.
Offered on odd years in the spring.
Covers the military, diplomatic, political, and cultural dynamics of the struggle for South Vietnam from 1954 to 1975. Students will evaluate competing interpretations of the war and their ongoing relevance to debates on US foreign policy and national identity.
Offered on odd years in the fall.
This course examines the static nature, yet changing character, of strategy in war. We scrutinize the strategists such as Sun Tzi and Carl von Clausewitz, as well as the strategies such as annihilation and attrition to counterinsurgency and nuclear deterrence. Global in scope, primary source readings cover all continents, strategists, and major empires, whilst reflecting on the sociocultural influences on war's conduct. From antiquity to the present, this course challenges students to craft their own definitions of strategy and examine how the art of war instructs the future of American foreign policy.
Offered on odd years in the fall.
Utilizing primary source readings, this course surveys the key minds who constructed, influenced, and shaped the ethical implications of warfare in the West. We begin in antiquity with ancient Greece and Rome and end in the present. Whilst examining case studies from major wars throughout history, we face the herculean task of confronting war through a theological and philosophical lens.
Offered on even years in the spring.
Historical consideration of five case studies-four sets of developments that eventuated in war, and one that did not. Study of the origins of the Peloponnesian War in Pericles' day precedes consideration of the origins of World War One. The origins of the Second Punic War in the time of Hannibal are compared with those of the Second World War. The course concludes with a consideration of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War.
Since the end of World War II, the United States has sought to strengthen allies and alleviate suffering through foreign assistance programs ranging from military support to humanitarian aid. This course examines the theories underlying these programs, the implementation of programs, civil-military cooperation, and aid effectiveness.
Offered on odd years in the spring.
This course provides a history of governmental efforts to thwart insurgents and terrorists with all the instruments of national power. The course considers the causes of insurgency and terrorism as well as the strategies, tactics, leadership, and interagency collaboration employed against them.
Offered on even years in the fall.
This course traces the rise of the American national security state from its humble origins in the American Revolution to its massive growth in the twentieth century and its transformation in the twenty-first century. Students will explore the national debates over the need for national defense, the growth of defense spending and taxation, the rise of the defense industry, the inefficiencies and abuses of the national security bureaucracy, and the compromises to American liberty resulting from perceived national security threats.
Offered on odd years in the fall.