LARTS 319 — Europe in the 19th Century
The story of European society in its greatest age. Students will examine the social and cultural forces making for European supremacy in the 19th century, looking at the rise and triumph of the middle classes, the decline of religious belief and emergence of secular societies, the ideas of nation and nationalism, imperial ambitions, and the ascent of urban societies and urban culture. We will also study the artistry behind European culture, including works by David, Hoffman, Balzac, and Wells. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 343 — Race for the Presidency
This course follows the presidential campaign as a way of learning more about the U.S. electoral process, the structure of party politics, the role of such intermediary groups as contributors, political action committees, and the media, and the economics, political psychology, and sociology of American voters. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 344 — Issues and Elections: Electoral Politics in Modern America
This course studies the methods, issues, and goals of the 2008 national elections. The class will read about partisan leadership, party organization and media politics, focusing on such issues as the war on terror, the American presence in Afghanistan and Iraq, the shaping of the Supreme Court, the looming issue of corruption and government oversight, and the changing American economy. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 411 — The Travels of Marco Polo
A close reading of The Travels of Marco Polo, an iconic text in world history and literature, is a journey of discovery. Through Marco Polo’s eyes students will encounter the cultures along the Silk Road as they were at the end of the 13th century. In addition to the study of the text itself, students will be required to undertake guided research pertaining to Polo’s travels in multiple contexts— historical, cultural and geographical. The results of these research projects will be presented in class. (2 credits) Row
LARTS 413 — Europe in the 18th Century
This class will survey Europe’s political, social, and cultural history from England’s Glorious Revolution to France’s epic Revolution of 1789, focusing on the transition from a rural, agrarian world to a modern, urban, and industrial society, as well as its rejection of absolute monarchy in favor of modern notions of rights and representation. Topics will include the European political rivalries and the great wars that dominated the century, the development and growth of the modern state, the emergence of a new, urban, popular culture, the triumph of the Enlightenment, as well as the reaction to it expressed in both the Wesleyan ‘religion of warmth’ and the literature of Sturm und Drang, and the newly global economy, centered on European slave colonies and international trade. Students will discuss writings by Jonathan Swift, the Grimm brothers, Isaac Watt, Goethe, and David. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 414 — From Revolution to Empire: Topics in 19th c. American History
From Revolution to Empire traces the contours of 19th C. American History, as the nation grew from impoverished colonies clinging to the Atlantic Seaboard to world power. Students will have the opportunity to follow that growth, tracing America's political, social, economic, intellectual, and cultural history during the great age of expansion, paying particular attention to the monumental changes in its history: the rise of democratic politics, the end of slavery, the emancipation of women, the massive wave of late 19th c. immigration, the conquering of native peoples, and the fight for empire. The course will also examine wider themes of American liberty and government, optimism and fear, individuality and mass society, cultural ambition and resentment of European hegemony. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 415 — Wealth and Poverty of Nations
Globalization, the housing crisis, inflation, energy costs, financial leverage, income disparity, national debt, foreign debt, consumer debt, and – for us – student debt. What does it all mean? How can we come to understand global, national, and personal economic issues in a way that helps us to make decisions about our own – and our nation’s – future? The Wealth and Poverty of Nations looks at our own individual finances as a way of better appreciating the larger economic challenges facing us today, then explores those challenges through readings in major economic thinkers of the past two centuries. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 416 — China and Japan in the 20th Century
This course explores the political, social, and cultural transformation of China and Japan in the 20th century, tracing their rise from insular, traditional societies threatened by the Western Powers to Great Powers with imperial ambitions of their own. Students will analyze the fall of China’s imperial government, the rise of warlordism, and the eventual triumph of Mao Zedong’s Communism, with its legacy of the Cultural Revolution. We will also examine Japan’s equally dramatic shift from insular feudal regime to modern industrial state, its quest for empire through military conquest, and its emergence as a democratic regime in our own age. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 417 — Europe in the 20th Century
The story of Europe’s decline from great power into civil war, totalitarianism, and cultural confusion. Students will read and discuss such issues as the alienation of the “Lost Generation,” the appeal of fascist and communist ideologies, the emergence of anti-democratic thinkers, the retreat from liberal ideals, loss of empire, and collapse of Soviet-styled socialism. We will read and discuss such 20th-century artists and thinkers as Ernst Junger, Picasso, Jean Paul Sartre, Fredrich Hayak, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Franz Fanon. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 418 — Post War World
This course will explore how since the end of World War II, national and international politics have transformed the world and its citizens: the transformation of colonial empires into independent nation-states; the growth of ideologies from Communism to ‘Islamic fundamentalism’; the role of war in places as near as Bosnia or as remote as the Congo; the rise and fall of challenged, weak, and failing states; and the place of new actors in a system where these nation-states were once all-powerful: the traditional forum of the United Nations, the recent emergence of popular political pressure groups such as Amnesty International and Rights Watch, and the international courts that work to limit the sovereignty – and the violence – of nations today. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 419 — American Foreign Policy since 1945
The United States emerged from the Second World War as the unrivaled superpower of the day. Over these last 60 years, though, the United States has struggled to make sense of its place in world affairs, as it has debated the implications of decolonialization, anti-Communist ideology, economic globalization, and, increasingly, its security in a world system marked by failing states, war, and terrorism. Students will examine the changing perspectives of American foreign policy as this country’s leaders pursued American strategic goals from ‘containment’ of Communism in the 1950s to the destruction of terrorism today. We will analyze evolving American ‘Doctrines’ – including those of Truman, Kennedy, Powell, and Bush – then look at their consequences for the nation and the political forces supporting and sustaining them. Students will consider such issues as the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, the efforts to balance conflicting economic and political interests in the Middle East, and finally the American outlook on international cooperation and responsibility, as represented in the contrasting views of Presidents Clinton and Bush. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 423 — Holocaust: Germany and the Destruction of the European Jews
This course will examine the German program of genocide from 1933 until 1945, focusing on the rise of fascist and anti-Semitic ideology, the political successes of Hitler and his National Socialist Party, the creation of the Nazi totalitarian regime, and the construction of that regime’s supposed enemies – critics, outsiders, social deviants, and, above all, Jews. We will then turn to the program of ‘the final solution’: how it emerged out of the chaos of Nazi ambitions, when it became policy, where it was carried out, who exercised responsibility, and why a program of such violence and destruction met so little resistance. Students will analyze the roles of perpetrators, victims, and by-standers to understand better the implications of this genocide, both for modern Germany and for politics in the 21st century. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 424 — Genocide: The Political Crime of the 20th Century
This course will examine the role of genocide in 20th century national and international politics, stretching from the destruction of Armenia in 1915-6 to the ongoing program of repression and atrocity in Darfur. We will study the decision by political regimes to use violence against their own peoples, how they have worked to justify that violence, and the ambitions they have entertained for creating a new state, rid of their alleged enemies. Looking at such 20th Century examples as the Ottoman Empire of ‘the Young Turks,’ Stalin’s Soviet Russia, the Cambodia of the Khmer Rouge, East Timor, Rwanda and Burundi, the failing state of Yugoslavia, and the violence in today’s Sudan, we will explore not only the causes of modern genocide, but the course of action – and popular participation – that sustains genocide as policy. Finally, we will turn to the efforts, both national and international, to prevent such crimes, to limit their scope, and, ultimately, to bring the perpetrators to justice. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 438 — Civil Rights: The Era That Transformed America
Students will explore the history of the civil rights movement in the 1960s and ‘70s, as the nation came to terms with its legacy of racial discrimination. We will focus not only on the rise and development of that movement and its leaders, but the social and economic background to the struggle, the partisan politics that helped to shape it, the debate about strategies and goals that animated and divided the movement, and the long-term implications of the civil rights movement for American rights. (2 credits) Klein
LARTS 442 — The American Century
A study of the rise of America from frontier nation to world empire. Topics include conservation, the Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, America’s rise to world power, the protest movements of the 1960s, and the development of contemporary American literature, art, and music. (2 credits) Klein
2010-09-16
MILES DAVIS