HIST 215-01, Europe 1714 - 1815, Fall 2009

Abstract

This course will introduce students to some of the major political, social, economic and intellectual developments of eighteenth-century Europe. It seeks to give students both a broad sense of the nature of European society, as well as a solid idea of the specific forces for change that transformed Europe during this period, using a combination of lectures and assigned readings. Topics to be discussed include: the social hierarchy, political systems and religious life of eighteenth-century Europe; colonialism and its impact on domestic life; the Enlightenment; the origins and nature of early industrialism; the French Revolution and Napoleon; and the aftermath of revolution.