HIST 2454 The FBI: A Legal & Cultural History

Fulfills US History requirement for History Majors. This course will examine the history of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, from its creation out of the Secret Service in 1908 to the present. It will tell the story of the Bureau by combining the foci of significant legal cases with the cultural indicators that either pushed FBI expansion or civil rights restriction. Legal cases under review include the Mann Act, the Dyer Act, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping, the Smith Act, the Rosenberg case, the PATRIOT Act and Operation Crossfire-Hurricane. The course will situate Bureau cases within pop culture, religion, media, and the movies.

Data freshness

Course and evaluation data last updated 2026-10-09. Source details and limitations are documented in Data Sources and Methodology.

Instructors

Sections

  • Section 01
    Spring 2027 · Charles Gallagher · Stokes Hall 401N TuTh 09:00AM-10:15AM · Offered