HIST 1511

The Making of Modern Europe, from 1500 to the Present

Course Description

Course information provided by the 2014-2015 Catalog.

How do we make sense of the recent controversies around Islam and the "veil" in France, the reform of the Welfare State in Great-Britain, the anti-globalization protests in Davos, the rise of demagogic anti-immigrant parties from the Netherlands to Italy, or the fact that Swedes get more than thirty paid days off per year? This course seeks to answer these questions by exploring the history of modern Europe. Among other themes, we will discuss the Protestant Reformation, the rise of absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, industrialism, colonialism, the Russian Revolution, the two world wars, decolonization and immigration, May '68, and the construction of the European Union. In conjunction, we will examine how modern ideologies (liberalism, Marxism, imperialism, conservatism, fascism, totalitarianism) were developed and challenged. Through a wide array of historical documents (fiction, letters, philosophy, treatises, manifestos, films, and art), we will consider why "old Europe" is still relevant for us today.

Distribution Category (HA-AS)

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (HB)

Comments Each student must enroll in a section.

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