In the Wake of Destruction: Europe Since World War II

Catalog description

This course surveys the major political, social, and cultural trends that have swept Europe since 1945. Themes include the struggle to reconstruct a stable political order in the immediate aftermath of WWII, the conservative retrenchment of the 1950s, the New Left radicalism of the 1960s, the neo-conservative reaction of the late 1970s and 1980s, the alleged "end of history" following the revolutions of 1989, and Europe's political future in the post-9/11 age of globalization. Against the backdrop of these political trends, we examine how the trauma of war, the achievement of economic prosperity, the upsurge in anti-establishment radicalism, the emergence of a multicultural European society, and fears of decline have affected a wide range of cultural realms, spanning literature, philosophy, art, architecture, and film.