Summer sessions are a great way to earn credits quickly and knock out some of those course requirements. History courses are offered during all three sessions, in a variety of intriguing topics. Check out the list below.

Looking to fulfill specific core or major credit requirements? Refer to our Group Satisfying and Multicultural Credit chart to find the right course for you.

Session I (June 21–July 18)

HIST 192, Japan Past & Present

An introductory survey of Japanese history and culture from its premodern past to its present. Utilizing lecture, art, film, and translated texts from Japanese authors, this course will explore themes of overseas contact, political change, and culture and society. does not require the purchase of a textbook. All course materials will be provided via Canvas.

HIST 363, American Business History

This class will both chronologically and thematically trace the history of American business from the colonial era up to the twenty-first century. We will focus on various topics such as the brutal businesses of slavery, colonialism, and imperialism; the development of modern management and accounting techniques; the shifting relations between employers and employees; the role of business in underrepresented communities; the rise of the military-industrial complex; business and environmental justice; and the rise of the Silicon Valley and the gig economy.

HIST 396, Samurai in Film

Examination of the image of Japan’s warrior class, the most prominent social group in Japan for over seven centuries. Combines films, readings, and lectures.

HIST 463, Sports in U.S. History

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, sports tell us a lot about who we are and where we’re going. This class examines histories of opportunity and oppression in American sports history, inviting students to be both celebratory and critical. We conclude with a special unit on sports history at the University of Oregon.

HIST 468, Pacific Northwest History

Regional history to the mid-twentieth century. How the Pacific Northwest mirrors the national experience and how the region has a distinctive history and culture.

Session 2 (July 19–Aug 15)

HIST 190, Foundations of East Asian Civilizations

What is East Asia, and how has its history shaped our contemporary world? This course serves as introduction for tackling these big questions by exploring aspects of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean traditional cultures from prehistory to the seventeenth century. This survey requires no prior knowledge of East Asia and all course materials will be available on Canvas.

HIST 309, Women in the U.S. II

Survey of the diverse experiences of American women from 1870 to the present.

HIST 352, U.S. in the 1960s

This course will be an online space to read, think, and talk about the Sixties as both a watershed in modern U.S. history and an era whose contested reputation continues to preoccupy current observers. Specific topics include American popular culture and countercultures, politics and presidential elections, the evolution of social activism and rights agitation, breakthroughs in science and technology, foreign policy, and national economic and environmental transformations…and much more!

HIST 368, The American West in Popular Culture

Examines the American West as reflected through popular culture of the 18th–20th centuries. The course
utilizes primary & secondary source writings, art, music, radio, television, and numerous films set in the Western genre in dialogue with one another.

HIST 449, Race and Ethnicity of Asian American Histories

How have Asian immigrants and Asian Americans shaped the U.S. today? What are the commonalities and differences across this large and diverse racial group, and how have Asian American communities defined themselves and their histories outside of mainstream racial narratives and stereotypes? This course examines these questions by exploring histories of Asians in America with a critical eye toward race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, citizenship, and class.

HIST 469, 20th Century Indigenous America

Variable chronological, thematic, and regional topics. Repeatable twice when topic changes for maximum of 12 credits.

Session 3 (Aug 16–Sep 12)

HIST 202,19th Century U.S. History

Creation and development of the United States and its social, economical, political, and cultural consequences. Jacksonian era, expansion, commercial and industrial revolution, slavery, Civil War, Reconstruction, Gilded Age, imperialism, and the Progressive Era.

HIST 273, Environmental History

How have humans and the natural environment shaped one another over time? Environmental history is a relatively new, interdisciplinary field that examines this deceptively simple question. This course introduces students to key concepts and methods in environmental history, which explores the changing relationships between humans and nature. This course will be asynchronous to fit with students’ summer schedules.

HIST 470, Slavery in U.S. History

Explores aspects of the African American experience in the age of slavery and Reconstruction. Key topics include the origins of slavery and the slave trade; evolution of race and racism; communities and cultures of the enslaved; acts of resistance, evasion, and rebellion; racial slavery and capitalism in U.S. history.