Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Catalog description

Until very recently much of the world has lived under colonial rule. Major colonial powers shaped social, religious, and institutional life in countries that they controlled. This course explores the legacies of colonial rule. In it, students encounter the markedly different perspectives of the colonizers and the colonized and ask whether these can be reconciled both historically and in the context of more contemporary postcolonial discourse. Asking how colonial practices have shaped the causes of global inequality and have influenced the dynamics of recent conflicts, the class also engages with the notion of justice in postcolonial contexts and asks whether former colonizers might have contemporary obligations toward their former subjects. This is a multidisciplinary course drawing on sources from the social sciences, history, and literature.