History

This course introduces the fascinating field of environmental history, focusing on the tensions between economic growth, resource scarcity, and environmental degradation in the distant past as well as in present-day societies. The course pays ample attention to the transition from pre-industrial to industrial modes of production and the environmental consequences thereof - the making of the Anthropocene. Analogies are drawn from the collapse of ancient civilizations to contemporary environmental problems, such as global warming and mineral resource depletion. The course also specifically addresses the various strategies that historical civilizations have developed in order to survive climate change, deforestation, soil erosion, or other ecological threats to human livelihood. Finally, the course addresses the emergence of present-day environmental consciousness in the wake of modern urbanization, industrialization, and unprecedented demographic growth.

This course highlights the unique link between the school and the Republic. It first investigates the origins of the school in the West and the eventual establishment of elite education systems by the Church. It then examines how the political landscape throughout the centuries and the call for education for the masses evolved into the school model of today, particularly during the Fifth Republic following the election of the president by direct universal suffrage. The course addresses the web of crises and tensions surrounding the democratization of education that persist today.

This course discusses the main intellectual movements in the search for a modern Japanese identity. Since the Meiji period, Japanese intellectuals have devoted themselves both to introducing Western thought and to creating a Japanese identity in response. This course emphasizes the complicated interplay between Japanese traditions and modern Western thought. Following a discussion of the complex issues of tradition and reception, the course discusses Buddhism, Confucianism and Nativism (Kokugaku) and their impact on modern Japanese thought; then, the course explores liberalism and socialism in modern Japan. 

This course examines Hong Kong’s history since the early 1800s. Hong Kong sits at the intersection of Chinese history and world history. Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, it became a place with its own identity. Which persons or ideas influenced the shaping of Hong Kong? In what ways was Hong Kong connected to British empire and modern China? What were the main themes in Hong Kong’s development? How can historians make sense of Hong Kong’s past? How has Hong Kong’s past shaped its present?How should its past be represented? 

This course examines aspects of the cultural history of magic with a focus on the period of the witch-hunts in early modern Europe. The course explores how conceptions of magic, witchcraft, and trolldom changed over time; how they were put to use in philosophical reflections, demonological manuals, legislative texts, and oral traditions; and how these ideas became social realities. From the 1500s, combating witchcraft with legislation and judicial prosecution became an important concern for authorities all over Europe. Witchcraft trials consequently became a nexus between law, theology, and the culture of the common people. In this course, students address the cultural and social basis of this development, and review a selection of Norwegian witchcraft trials. The course also introduces later redefinitions of magic expressed in modern occultism and Neopaganism.

The course explores how gender, both masculinity and femininity, is given various meanings in different time periods and how gender intersects with other social categories. The course is thematic and incorporates a long time span as well as various geographical regions but with an emphasis on European history. The course focuses on developing independent and analytical thinking through reading articles on various topic. Students develop a deeper understanding of the role gender has played in history, and they improve their critical thinking through examining and assessing historical arguments.