Early Modern Global Empires

Catalog description

What is an Empire? This course is designed to study the advent and growth of “early modern” empires between ca. 1400 - 1800. Many of the exciting theories of empire in the last 30 years of historical scholarship have drawn disproportionately in the 19th and 20th centuries. Meanwhile, each early modern empire has tended to be studied separately, leaving the nature of early modern empires under-theorized. To what extent do existing arguments about empire fit with earlier imperial structures? Can new understandings of empire itself be inferred from the excellent monographic studies of specific empires published in recent years? We will explore key themes such as state formation, slavery, environment, law, science, religion, family, and gender. And, crucially, we will comparatively evaluate indigenous / colonizer interactions in America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The intent of the course is to enrich our understanding of the notion of early modern empire by reading and discussing widely together, while also deepening our knowledge of specific times and places through our research and writing.