History

Over the course of the Cold War, the city of Berlin was frequently at the center of global tensions and a potential front line should the superpower rivalry descend into actual war. This course utilizes the city of Berlin as a laboratory in which to examine the origins, nature, and conclusion of the Cold War that defined international relations between 1945 and 1991. The Allied occupation of the city following the Nazi defeat is analyzed, along with the Berlin blockade and airlift that helped solidify the divisions between East and West. Next, the course examines the workers' uprising of 1953 that provoked a Soviet military response. The following sessions deal with the emigration crisis of the late 1950s that led the Soviets to first threaten a military takeover of the city and eventually to construct the Berlin Wall. Finally, the fall of the wall and the subsequent reunification of Berlin and Germany is analyzed. Field trips to important Cold War sites permit students to gain a deeper appreciation of how the Cold War changed Berlin, and how events in Berlin influenced the wider international struggle. In order to place the interests and goals of the superpowers in context, students also discuss the ways in which the Cold War rivalry affected Europe as a whole, as well as Asia and Latin America. Attention is given to the role of international organizations such as the United Nations in world affairs, and the changes brought about by the collapse of communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. In this way, the roots of contemporary crises are examined. Students ain an understanding of the recent past, which will help equip them to evaluate the current and emerging international order.

The Celts once occupied large parts of Europe including areas such as modern France, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland, and Britain. This course introduces the early history of the Celts and discovers what kind of society they had, including the king, the druids, the position of women, what the Greeks and Romans thought about the Celts, and Celtic mythology.

This course examines how the history of political ideology and social conflict in France since the Middle Ages has been embodied in the urban landscape of Paris. More than in any other city, the meaning, message, and significance to state and nation of most Parisian sites was – and continues to be – violently contested. The course looks at the histories of the conception, construction, and public perception of Parisian monuments and places their stories within the larger context of the development of the French state and of French national identity. Major events of French history form the chronological backbone for this course, with emphasis placed on the forces that literally shaped some of the city's most emblematic neighborhoods and monuments. The readings are selected from works by specialists in French political, urban, and social history; and the course includes weekly visits to sites in Paris, as the student learns to “read” architecture and to use the city as a rich primary source for historical analysis. Be advised: while no prior knowledge of French history is required, a high level of commitment to learning about France is required. All of the writing for this class demands careful consideration of both readings for class and information given during site visits. This is a class that engages in the complex history of Paris and France. Students are evaluated on the richness and clarity of their engagement with that history.

One of the tools required in order to successfully interpret a medieval Celtic text, is to know as much as possible about the circumstances under which it was produced. This historicist approach is common in the field of Celtic studies. In the first four lectures of this course, students are given a brief overview of medieval Irish literature; medieval Irish history; medieval Welsh literature, and medieval Welsh history. After this, important concepts and themes relating to medieval Welsh and Irish history and literature are examined, compared, and contrasted. This is done by reading background literature, and by closely analyzing texts relating to a particular weekly topic, for example the king, the hero, the role of women, the role of the poet, the saint, and children.

This course explores the representations and topographies of Berlin between the first German reunification and the second. The course focuses on the major events and conflicts that have had lasting presence: the rise of the modern metropolis; economic depression and social unrest; the two world wars; Nazism and the Holocaust; and the Cold War and its aftermath - the most disruptive and defining events of the 20th century. Students examine the conflicting identities, ideologies, and aesthetic theories informing the events that have shaped collective history. Of central concern are the conflicting identities, ideologies, and aesthetic theories informing the events that have shaped the history of Berlin. Part of the course involves developing strategies for reading and walking through this multi-layered and contradictory landscape. In addition to discussing the regular reading assignments, students devote some time to discussing the complex relations between space, text, history, and memory. Relevant films are watched and city excursions are organized outside of regular class times.

The course is part of the Laurea Magistrale program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrolment is by consent of the instructor. This course examines the history of women and gender relations in contemporary times. Through lectures and critical reading of original sources, the course develops the emancipation process and construction of female citizenship on both a social and then political level. In particular, the crucial issues of the relationship between historical women's associations and neo-feminisms through the last decades of the twentieth century are addressed, in a framework of national and transnational comparison.