CRES The Certificate Program

Description


The Certificate in Revolutionary Era Studies allows students of any major to pursue concentrated, interdisciplinary study in the Age of the American Revolution (1763-1815).  The certificate is open to any student with an interest in the causes, process, values, ideals, sacrifices and achievements of the American Revolution.  Certificate students complete six courses:
 

Required Courses:

 
HIST 311: North American Colonies and the Atlantic World (Fall 2010)
HIST 312: The American Revolution and the Atlantic World (Spring 2011)
HIST 480: An internship in a regional historic site.   Students work with the director of the CRES, Dr. Jennifer Dorsey, and the internship coordinator, Dr. Karen Mahar, to choose an appropriate site.
 
Certificate students will also complete three electives from a list of approved courses.
 

Courses available to CRES students in the Fall 2010 include:

HIST 311 North American Colonies and the Atlantic World, 1492-1763 (MW 3:40-5:00)

This course explores the history of British North America in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.  We will examine and discuss patterns of immigration and settlement, cultural exchange and conflict with Native Americans, the origins of American slavery, and the economic and political maturation of the colonies on the eve of the American Revolution.  
 

HIST402/AMST 401  Making History!  (MWF 1:30-2:25)

This class will introduce students to the work of Historical Interpretation.  Historical interpreters preserve, promote, and explain history for a general audience in museums and historic sites.  Their work helps the public to understand and make connection to local and national history.  In MAKING HISTORY students will be historical interpreters, developing their own walking tours (or biking tours) of the Albany Rural Cemetery.  This historic cemetery is the final resting place of Dutch and English settlers, Revolutionary war heroes, anti-slavery activists, Civil War veterans, inventors and entrepreneurs, governors and Congressmen, and a United States President.  Over the course of the semester, students will study interpretation, tour local history sites, and conduct research to develop thematic tours of the cemetery.  Students can choose to develop tours around historical themes (historical figures or historical events), or around funeral practices (vaults, caskets, gravestone art, burial rituals), or they can propose alternative themes for a target audience.  In the spring of 2011 the students’ tour information will be incorporated into a GIS map of the Albany Rural Cemetery created by Environmental Science students. Students will also take a field trip to the Farmer’s Museum in Cooperstown, NY.
 

AMST/HIST 480 "Internship"

Students work with the director of the CRES, Dr. Jennifer Dorsey, and the Internship Coordinator, Dr. Karen Mahar, to choose an appropriate historic site.