History

This course provides a study of the development of the international economy and the interaction between economic actors and agents from a historical perspective. It examines the different economic causes, effects, and policies related to the movement of people, goods, capital, and ideas in market integration, as well as the processes of economic specialization, convergence and divergence in history. Topics covered include: the first globalization of the 19th century (1820-1913); withdrawal and rupture of international integration (1914-1945); reconstruction of the international economy and second globalization; the world economy at the beginning of the 21st century.

This course presents a historical and contemporary study of European integration and the role of the European Union in global politics. Some of the key concepts explored include Europeanization, Atlantism, supranationalism, intergovernmentalism, sovereignty, integration, interdependence, globalization, security, conflict and cooperation. Topics also include: the European Union as a global actor; the academic study of European integration; Europe after the end of the Second World War; birth and evolution of Atlanticism; the Soviet sphere of influence; dissension in bipolar Europe; Europe in the 1980s; the first European Community; the failure of the political and military community; Gaullist approach to European integration and the enlargement of the EC; reformulation of the European map and the creation of the European Union; the Common Foreign and Security Policy; the EU in a globalized world; the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on EU foreign policy; challenges of the future. Assessment is based on participation, a midterm exam, three short essays, and a final exam.

The debate between Enlightenment and Romanticism has an enduring impact on discussions of today in art, politics, science, human identity, and social values. The Western world is hardly understood without knowledge of these two decisive periods. This course is a systematical introduction to these two, formative, opposed intellectual traditions. First, a historical context is presented to the political and ideological ambitions of the Enlightenment (enlightened despotism, Voltaire at the court of Frederick the Great, censorship and the diffusion of the Enlightenment). Secondly, the opposed approach to "Nature" is introduced; the influence of Newton, the rise of modern science, the Encyclopédie vs. Romantic science (e.g. Goethe’s criticism on Newton’s Theory of Color) and the role of the arts in the new approach to nature (such as landscape painting and romantic poetry). Then, the changes in the visual arts illustrate continuity and discontinuity in cultural history (Romanticism and Neo-Classicism). In the fourth place, human subjectivity in the Enlightenment (based on Lockean psychology and Self-love) is confronted to new approaches to the romantic soul (the unconsciousness, irrationality, Weltschmerz). This is also discussed with an analysis of the classic movie DANGEROUS LIAISONS (Stephen Frears, 1988). Finally, discussions about morals and politics are presented (Rousseau, the Social Contract, the slogans of the French Revolution vs. Romantic values concerning the State and personal relationships like love and friendship, nationalism).

This course introduces contemporary India through a study of society and culture. Taking a thematic approach, it examines caste and class, religion and identity, language and region, displays of modernity and popular forms of culture. It assesses the social and cultural change that India has undergone since 1947 and the remarkable continuity of its social institutions. Factors and processes that have held India together despite its diversity and cultural heterogeneity are highlighted.

This class introduces the most recent academic results in the study of Korean history. Subjects and issues under current critical investigation are emphasized and further studied.

This is a reading and discussion-intensive course that examines the development of modern Korea in the context of modernity, imperialism, and capitalism. Using a combination of lecture and class discussion, the course examines the facts and arguments surrounding the transitions from Chosŏn Korea to colonial Korea to the postwar divisions of North and South Korea. Special attention is paid to the dominant arguments surrounding key moments in modern Korean history.