The Age of Revolutions, 1775-1848 (264-0-20)

Instructors

Robin Duffin Bates
847/467-4839
Harris 242

Meeting Info

Fisk Hall 217: Tues, Thurs 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

Why do revolutions start?
What factors make them succeed or fail?
How have people sought to unleash and seize control of massive historical change - or, less grandly, simply tried to survive it?

We will consider these questions as we examine the era of modern revolutions, beginning with the outbreak of the interlinked American, French, and Haitian Revolutions of the late 1700s, then following their decades-long aftershocks as a wave of revolutions sweeps the globe from Europe to Latin America to the Middle East.

This cascade of dramatic struggles between democracy and aristocracy, freedom and slavery, independence and colonialism, created a new world order as well as key components of our ongoing social reality: socialism, capitalism, liberalism, conservatism, terrorism, and perhaps most importantly revolution itself - an eruption of sudden and epochal social transformation which ever since has electrified some but terrified others.

Learning Objectives

1. Identify, explain, and critically interrogate the historical actors, events, and ideas that shaped world revolutions during the transition to modernity.
2. Assess competing explanations of historical transformations, showing an awareness of how claims are supported by evidence and how arguments are structured by analytic categories.
3. Formulate and meaningfully contextualize your own original arguments based on your independent interpretation of sources.

Evaluation Method

Class participation (25%), research essay (30%), revision assignment (20%), in-class exam (25%)

Class Notes

History Major Concentration(s): Americas, European, Global
History Minor Concentration(s): Europe, United States, Latin America

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Foundational Discipline
Historical Studies Distro Area
Global Perspectives on Power, Justice, and Equity

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: Registration is restricted to History Majors and Minors only until the end of pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites (if any)

Associated Classes

DIS - University Hall 412: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM

DIS - University Hall 312: Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-435: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - University Hall 412: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-329: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 3-410: Fri 3:00PM - 3:50PM

DIS - Harris Hall L07: Fri 9:00AM - 9:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 2-420: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - Kresge Centennial Hall 3-410: Fri 2:00PM - 2:50PM