Paris: Capital of Enlightenment and Revolution

Catalog description

By the 1720's, Paris was widely viewed as the center of European culture and politics. "How can anyone be Persian?" asked a fictional Parisian in Montesquieu's Persian Letters (the implication was that anything other than being Parisian was slightly ludicrous). Eighteenth-century writers, scientists, and aristocrats sought to burnish Paris's reputation as the capital of modern thought and worldly sophistication, from which Enlightenment radiated. Visitors eagerly sought admittance to the famous salons, attended the theater, and watched public scientific displays. But by the end of the century, the novelty promised by the French philosophes took on a revolutionary dimension. Now the streets of Paris provided the stage for some of the most momentous historical events in Europe, from the storming of the Bastille to the execution of Louis XVI. And the ramifications of this revolution echoed throughout the nineteenth century, both in Paris and beyond.In this course, you will study the cultural and political history of Paris using the city itself as a classroom. Whenever possible, you will explore the role of salons, scientific academies, museums, and coffee shops by both studying and visiting them in person. You will examine the sites of revolutionary events and consider how they are commemorated (or not). And you will discover how some of the most striking features of Paris -- its grands boulevards, with their elegant apartment blocks -- reflect lasting fears of a revolutionary people.