HIST 217-01, The Age of Extremes: European Culture and Society in the Twentieth Century, Spring 2007

Abstract

By focusing on the experiences of ordinary people and significant shifts in their values, we will study how Europe evolved through what one historian has called an “age of extremes” in the twentieth century. Central issues will include the experience and legacies of “total war,” daily life under Nazi rule and in the Communist countries of Eastern Europe, the psychological impact of the Great De-pression, and the various ways in which people struggled to redefine themselves as Europe faded from a position of world dominance. Successful historians must be able to master a specific body of factual knowledge, so I will stress learning important terms and key concepts. However, historians also practice a way of thinking about and analysing that factual information in order to make sense of what it means. We don't simply memorize facts. Rather we try to understand the realtionships between those facts and the larger flow of history. Therefore, this course will also introduce you to history as a way of thinking so that you can develop your analytical and historical thinking skills. I will ask you to engage in the kind of discussion that historians have with one another on a regular basis-- asking questions, analyzing documents, and interpreting events within their historical contexts.