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 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 423 — Holocaust: Germany and the Destruction of the European Jews
Holocaust traces the origins of the Third Reich’s program for genocide, from the first shouts of anti-Semitism in the Munich streets to the Endlosung at places like Sobibor, Treblinka, and Auschwitz. We will read and discuss original documents, historical analyses, and personal accounts, tracing out the development of the ‘final solution’ from brutal discrimination and dispossession through forced emigration, ghettoization, ‘special action,’ and – ultimately – physical annihilation. Students will examine not only the plight of the victims, but the motives and ambitions of the perpetrators, as well as the roles of allies, enemies, and by-standers in the years of war and in the wake of Nazi defeat. (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 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
LARTS 444 — Presidential Campaign: Party Politics in the 21st Century
The Presidential Campaign introduces students to American electoral politics through prism of contemporary candidates' efforts to win their parties' nominations and to prepare for the looming national elections. The class will focus on the coming election, yet will do so by exploring the historical development of such campaigns: the emergence of the primary system; the changing roles of parties and media; the complex legalities of fund-raising and spending; the development of issues and issue advocacy; and the mobilization of supporters, activists, and voters. (2 credits) Klein
2013-04-16
SARAH VAUGHAN