Modern Europe Colloquium: Europe and Empire

Catalog description

The goal of this course is to introduce graduate students to major recent works of history on the theme of "Europe and Empire." We will explore how Europeans' understanding of and engagement with the wider world changed during the period of industrialization, nation-building, imperial expansion, war, and decolonization. We will consider varieties of colonial expansion, the challenges posed by possessing (and losing) colonial territory, and how race, class, and gender in the empire in turn shaped European society and politics. As European imperial and colonial history in the modern period is very much a subject under constant review, the course will aim to identify and outline some of the major historiographical themes of the past while focusing on very recent scholarship that hints at new directions.