Online History & Political Science Courses

Course Description

A survey of the organization, administration, and function of the three primary components of the American criminal justice system: law enforcement, the courts, and corrections. The course examines the processes and implementation of justice in historical, legal, and contemporary context. An emphasis is placed on both offenses and offenders at each stage of the process.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Review the historical development of the various agencies that comprise the criminal justice system.
• Explore the philosophical premises that underlie the American system of justice.
• Articulate and assess the goals and functions of each separate component of the system.
• Examine the ways in which the elements of the justice system interact with offenders, victims, and the community.
• Evaluate the structure and inner workings of the system of justice in light of the Christian faith.
• Understand the prison/jail culture from the perspective of an offender and analyze effective models of ministry to the incarcerated.

• Criminal Justice: A Brief Introduction, 9th Edition

This course consists of 8 written assignments, 4 exams, and 3 field reports.

Each assignment is between 40 and 45 points each, except the field reports which are 125 apiece, and the exams are 75 each, for a total of 1,000 points possible.

Jeff Wallace

• MA, Higher Education & Student Development, Taylor University
• BA, Social Work/Sociology, Taylor University

Course Description

This course will examine the American court system and the components of the legal system that feed cases into the system, in both the civil and criminal legal process. Students will learn about the many elements of the court system and their interlocking relationships to the judicial process. Jurisdictional issues between state and local and federal courts will be examined, as well as the trial and appellate process. Students will have the opportunity to do a paper on a high profile case and review the social impact of decisions. Emphasis will be on the criminal justice system, since criminal cases make up the vast majority of court cases.

• Understand and be knowledgeable with an overview of the American court system.
• Understand the foundations and functions of law.
• Understand the roles and relationships of the court’s participants.
• Examine the roles of law, judges, lawyers and litigants in the court.
• Be familiar with the right to a jury trial and understand the role of jurors and witnesses in the trial process.
• Understand the trial process, including rules of evidence, testimony, introduction of exhibits, and the role of the judge in sentencing and rendering verdicts.
• Be conversant with court structure by understanding limitations of jurisdiction, types of cases, and geographical limitations.
• Understand the appellate process at various levels of appellate jurisdiction.
• Review and understand issues facing the courts in contemporary society including the influence of politics in the process through judicial appointment.

• America’s Courts and the Criminal Justice System, 11th Edition

This class includes chapter quizzes, a research paper, and a court trial critique.

The quizzes are worth 400 points, the research paper is worth 300 points, and the court trial critique is worth another 300 points, for a total of 1000 points for the class.

John Grant

• DHL Causa Mortis, Trinity College of Florida
• JD, Stetson University (1968)
• MS, Florida State University (1965)
• BA, University of South Florida (1964)

Course Description

This course investigates the foundations and developments of the major world civilizations and complex societies from approximately 3500 BC to AD 1500. It provides an overview of the key developments in the history of global peoples and cultures during this time period.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Explain the importance of primary sources, textual and visual, in interpreting historical events.
• Discuss the role that economics and religion have played in shaping world history.
• Understand the role of geography in shaping world civilizations.
• Compare and contrast the major world religions.
• Trace the rise and fall of early civilizations through the tenth century.
• Discuss how Islam helped create the first global civilization.
• Describe the axial age and its ramifications for world history.
• Integrate faith and learning through critical analysis of your own insights into world history.

• Confucianism and the Succession Crisis of the Wanli Emperor
• The Essential World History, Volume I, 9th Edition

*You must get the 9th Edition

This course consists of 17 assignments and 2 exams.

Assignments range from 25 to 100 points each and the exams are 100 and 150 points, for a total of 950 points possible.

Timothy Kneeland

• PhD, University of Oklahoma (1996)
• MA, University of Oklahoma (1993)
• MA, State University of New York (1989)
• BA, State University of New York (1987)

Course Description

HIS 104 World History II is a survey of the early modern and modern world (AD 1500 to the present), with attention given to international economic, political, and cultural contact, and its consequences for peoples and cultures. Thus our attention will be on the dynamic interactions of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We will consider how Europe became the center of global power during the early modern and modern eras, which was not by any means inevitable but has made an indelible impression on the world of today.

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:

• Explain the importance of primary sources, textual and visual, in interpreting historical events.
• Discuss the role that economics has played in shaping world history
• Identify two theories about the impact of globalization.
• Trace the rise of Europe as a hegemonic power from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century.
• Describe how non-western cultures resisted and transformed European systems of power.
• Identify three key events that shaped world civilizations since 1650.
• Integrate faith and learning through critical analysis of your own insights into contemporary global relations.

• Reacting to the Past: India on the Eve of Independence
• The Essential World History, Volume II, 9th Edition

*You must get the 9th Edition

This course consists of 13 assignments and 2 exams.

Assignments range in worth from 25 to 125 points each, and the exams are 100 and 150 points apiece, for a total of 1,000 points possible.

Timothy Kneeland

• PhD, University of Oklahoma (1996)
• MA, University of Oklahoma (1993)
• MA, State University of New York (1989)
• BA, State University of New York (1987)

Course Description

A survey of the social, political, and cultural development of the people of the United States from the colonization period through reconstruction.

This course deals with the history of the United States from the earliest "discoveries" of North America by Europeans up through the Reconstruction period at the close of the Civil War. With some exceptions, we will proceed basically in a chronological order. The course will not place major emphasis upon rote memorization of names and dates, although there will, of course, be some emphasis upon significant historical people. A greater emphasis will be placed upon various interpretations of the historical events with which you probably became familiar in high school history courses.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have:

• Demonstrated the ability to analyze and synthesize the ideas of various historians and determine and defend your own position on historically significant events.
• Used sound critical thinking skills in determining why certain events are considered to be historically significant.
• Related these events and your interpretation to your Christian faith, while, at the same time, also demonstrating an awareness of the religious diversity of this nation.
• Analyzed cultural clashes that characterized American society throughout our early colonial history.

• The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, Volume I, 9th Edition

This course consists of 12 assignments and 2 exams.

The assignments are worth either 20 or 40 points each and the exams are 100 points apiece, for a total of 500 points possible.

Russell Baker

• EdD, Ball State University (2001)
• MA, Kent State University (1983)
• BA, Huntington College (1981)

Course Description

A survey of the social, political, and cultural development of the people of the United States from Reconstruction to the present.

This course deals with the history of the United States from 1877 to the present. This course will focus on American history since Reconstruction. With some exceptions, we will proceed basically in a chronological order. The course will not place major emphasis upon rote memorization of names and dates, although there will, of course, be some emphasis upon significant historical people. A greater emphasis will be placed upon various interpretations of the historical events with which you probably became familiar in high school history courses.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will have:

• Demonstrated the ability to analyze and synthesize the ideas of various historians and determine and defend your own position on historically significant events.
• Used sound critical thinking skills in determining why certain events are considered to be historically significant.
• Related these events and your interpretation to your Christian faith, while, at the same time, also demonstrating an awareness of the religious diversity of this nation.
• Analyzed cultural clashes that characterized American society throughout our early colonial history.

• The Brief American Pageant: A History of the Republic, Volume II, 9th Edition

This course consists of 12 assignments and 2 exams.

Each assignment is worth either 20 or 40 points and the exams are 100 points apiece, for a total of 500 points possible.

Russell Baker

• EdD, Ball State University (2001)
• MA, Kent State University (1983)
• BA, Huntington College (1981)

Course Description

A study of the Protestant and Catholic Reformations in Europe between 1500 and 1650. The course includes a review of the major social, political and religious events of the Reformation era, an examination of the fundamental changes in Christian beliefs and practices prompted by the Reformation, a study of leading religious figures of the period such as Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin, and an assessment of the impact and effects of Reformation on European religion and society.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Explain the context and causes of the European Reformation, including the nature of late medieval Catholic belief and practice.
• Describe the main emphases and goals of the Protestant reformers and differentiate between different varieties of Protestantism, particularly Lutheranism, Anabaptism, Calvinism and Anglicanism.
• Analyse the life and teachings of major European figures of the Reformation era, including Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox and selected Anabaptist leaders such as Menno Simmons.
• Describe the main features and impact of the Catholic Reformation.
• Evaluate the impact of the Reformation on ecclesiastical, social, and political structures, including an assessment of the effect on the religious status of women.
• Explain some of the ways in which Reformation debates shaped European history until 1650, including an assessment of the Synod of Dort, the Wars of Religion, the Puritan movement, and the British Civil Wars.

• Fire from Heaven
• Reform and Conflict: From the Medieval World to the Wars of Religion, AD 1350-1648
• The Voices of Morebath: Reformation and Rebellion in an English Village
• Women and the Reformation

This course consists of 12 modules with various assignments, evaluations, analyses, and tests, as well as two Church Visits/Reports.

Each assignment is worth between 1% and 15% of the final grade.

Martin Spence

• PhD, Oxford University (2008)
• MSt, Oxford University (2004)
• BA, Oxford University (2002)

Course Description

A survey of women in America from the colonial era to the present. Emphasis is placed on the historical experience of women in terms of perceptions, restrictions and resistance, and activities. Fulfills credit in the Foundational Core. 3 credits

Upon satisfactory completion of the course students will be able to

• Explain and evaluate women’s contributions to the development and progression of the United States from pre-contact to the present.
• Analyze how historians write history and use that understanding to design, manage, and complete their own research project.
• Develop and defend their own evidence-based argument regarding the usefulness of women’s history to our current understanding of the present.

All required reading is available on Blackboard. This course uses Open Educational Resources (OER), which are free for all to use. 

Elizabeth George

• PhD, Stony Brook University
• MA, Stony Brook University 
• BA, Houghton College 

Course Description

History 376 considers the development of judicial review in relation to the powers of the President and Congress. The course focuses on judicial interpretations of the commerce and taxing clauses as well as state powers under the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court was considered the “least dangerous branch” by Alexander Hamilton, but the power of the Court to affect policy and expand or check the power of the other branches has grown tremendously since the Constitution was first written. This course will examine the important role that the Court played in interpreting the Constitution to allow for this growth in the institutional powers of the federal government.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Trace the historical alteration of the concept of federalism.
• Discuss the role of judicial review in altering the role of the US Supreme Court in the American political system.
• Identify and describe how the due process clause in the 14th Amendment enhanced the power of the
  federal government in the 20th century.
• List key court cases critical for understanding US constitutional development.
• Summarize historical developments in the legislative, judicial and executive branches.
• Detail how judicial decisions regarding the commerce clause have shaped congressional power in the 20th century.
• Identify the "Constitutional Revolution of 1937."

• Constitutional Law & Politics: Struggles for Power & Governmental Accountability, 7th Edition
• The Supreme Court: The Personalities and Rivalries that Defined America

This course consists of 14 assignments, the majority of which are essays, with no exams.

Each assignment ranges from 25 to 125 points, for a total of 1,000 points possible.

Timothy Kneeland

• PhD, University of Oklahoma (1996)
• MA, University of Oklahoma (1993)
• MA, State University of New York (1989)
• BA, State University of New York (1987)

Course Description

A course offering basic ideas and supporting facts about contemporary world geography. Students study twelve world regions: North America, Middle America, South America, Europe, Central Asia, North Africa / Southwest Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Austral, and Pacific.

Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to: 

• Examine the major regions of the world, including their similarities and differences.
• Understand how humans use and are limited by their location and geography.
• Use geography to answer real world questions.

All required reading is available for purchase on Blackboard through WileyPLUS.

The course consists of 11 modules (each includes a quiz, map analysis, map labeling, map drawing, and an investigation), a Feature Presentation forum post, a Midterm project, and a Final project.

Assignment Weights for Grading:

• Quizzes: 7.5%
• Map Analysis: 7.5%
• Map Labeling: 10%
• Map Drawing: 5%
• Investigations: 25%
• Feature Presentations: 10%
• Midterm Project: 15%
• Final Project: 20%

Elizabeth George

• PhD, Stony Brook University
• MA, Stony Brook University 
• BA, Houghton College