Seminar in Historical Analysis (405-0-24)
Topic
Comparative Empires
Instructors
Jonathan Brack
Meeting Info
Harris Hall room 101: Mon 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
Empires have been transformative forces in world history, setting historical processes in motion on a grand scale. Establishing and maintaining empires presented significant challenges, as these durable polities needed to exert authority over diverse populations and across vast distances, often competing for resources with other powers. This course delves into the intricate nature of sovereignty by examining the creation, dominance, persistence, and eventual decline of empires. Using a comparative approach, we will analyze the structures and trajectories of various empires, focusing on the adaptive strategies sovereigns and their administrations employed to secure and sustain control over resources and govern heterogeneous populations over extended periods. Unlike self-proclaimed homogeneous nation-states, empires maintained distinctions and hierarchies even as they incorporated new populations, whether by force or through other means. This course will scrutinize the central aspects of empires through recent scholarship on the Roman, Chinese, Xiongnu, Mongol, Ottoman, Mughal, Habsburg, Russian, and British empires. Additionally, the course aims to underscore the significance of a comparative approach as an essential part of the historian's toolkit.
Registration Requirements
Graduate Students Only
Learning Objectives
Students will become familiar with key themes related to empires in world history and the main scholarship on the topic. They will develop analytical skills that graduate students require to advance to dissertation writing stage. Students will develop their discussion and writing skills throughout the course. We will work on evaluating research and arguments in world history. One of the course's main goals is exploring the role of historical comparisons as a methodological approach in historical research.
Evaluation Method
weekly essays
Class Materials (Required)
Materials will be available on Canvas.