Department: History

Randall Law

Assistant Professor of History

Office:

Berte Humanities Building 305

Contact Information:

Box 549031
Birmingham-Southern College
900 Arkadelphia Rd
Birmingham, AL 35254
Office Phone: (205) 226-7836
Office Fax: (205) 226-3089
E-mail: rlaw@bsc.edu

Brief Career Background:

While finishing my dissertation, I taught at Westminster College and the University of Utah, both in Salt Lake City. From 2001 to 2003, I taught as a sabbatical replacement at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. I've been at BSC since August 2003.

Educational Background:

B.A. in Russian, Amherst College, 1991
M.A. in Russian Studies, Yale University, 1993
Ph.D. in History (concentrations in Russia and modern Europe), Georgetown University, 2001

Areas of Academic Interest:

• Russia (particularly late 19th and 20th centuries)
• modern Germany
• Europe since the French Revolution
• history of education
• history of terrorism

Courses Taught:

HI 102 European Civilization I (1)
The historical development of European social and political attitudes and institutions through the Age of Enlightenment.

HI 103 European Civilization II (1)
The historical development of European social and political attitudes and institutions from the French Revolution to the late twentieth century.

HI 120 The History of Terrorism (1)
An examination of the history of terrorism with the twin goals of explaining its contemporary prevalence and its historical significance. Emphasis will be placed on the political, social, and cultural contexts of terrorism and political violence; critical, literary, and popular responses to terrorism; changing definitions of terrorism; and the interrelationship between terrorism and modernity. Particular attention will be paid to revolutionary terrorism in Europe and Russia in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; ethno-nationalist terrorism in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa in the second-half of the twentieth century; anti-imperialist and left-wing terrorism in the 1960s and 1970s; and the recent upsurge in religiously-inspired terrorism.

HI 245 Russian Civilization (1)
An introduction to the history of Russia and its distinctive political, social, and cultural institutions and expressions, from the formation of Russia in the first millennium common era through the breakup of the Soviet Union (an IC designated course).

HI 248 Modern Germany, 1870 to the Present (1 )
The political development of Germany since 1870: national unification, Germany’s role in the two world wars, the Nazi period, West and East Germany after 1945, unified Germany since 1990. Prerequisite: at least sophomore standing.

HI 342 French Revolution and Napoleon (1)
Analysis of the causes and course of the Revolution in France and the spread of revolutionary ideas and institutions in Europe, 1789-1815. Prerequisite: at least sophomore standing.

HI 344 [317] Europe, 1914-1945 (1)
The development of the major European countries and of international relations in the era of the world wars. Prerequisite: at least sophomore standing.

HI 346 Russia in the Twentieth Century (1)
A study of Russia and its transition in the 20 th century from a “backward behemoth,” to the world’s first socialist state, and finally to a struggling post-communist nation. Topics include the crises of late Imperial Russia, the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, official and popular culture in the Soviet Union, the construction of “mature socialism,” and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Prerequisite: at least sophomore standing.

HI 349 The Cold War (1)
A study of the Cold War from both the U.S. and Soviet perspectives, from its origins during the closing days of World War II to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Emphasis is placed on the Cold War’s political and cultural impact on the home fronts, as well as the interrelationship between foreign and domestic policy.