History

This course is divided into two parts: civilization and literature. The civilization part covers the history of Australia since the beginning of the 20th century. It studies the major events that shaped Australian identity: the world wars and their impact on Australia's place within the British Empire, the major stages of indigenous activism, and the socio-cultural impact of immigration. The literature part of the course introduces the main paradigmatic change of 1980s Britain: the advent of shifting, plural, unstable identities. Hanif Kureishi’s THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA is the perfect introduction to these themes and also, at the time, brought a new light on the political and cultural period. The importance of drama and television writing is also discussed. Additional topics include Thatcher’s Britain, postcolonialism, marketing marginal voices, suburbia, and the pop scene.

Using Roman society and criminal law as an example, this course explores the impact of socio-cultural values on the concept of condemnable behaviors, judgment, and punishment.

This course introduces the language, culture, and society of Catalonia and builds basic linguistic and cultural competence. It offers practical notions of the Catalan language, as well as general information about the culture and society: traditional festivals of Catalonia, customs, and distinctive characteristics of this autonomous community, which has its own language and culture.

This course introduces basic aspects of modern Japanese history, emphasizing the international and domestic factors that shaped Japan's historical development. Lectures cover the period from the 1840s to the present.  

As the historical interpretation of World War II is still controversial in Asian countries as well as in Japan and the U.S., the course discusses various historical perspectives in class sessions. 

This course focuses on the history of Rome from the foundation of the Republic until the commencement of the imperial era. It explores how the Roman Republic’s political structures allowed it to become the primary power of the Mediterranean and Western worlds. It also explores in depth the authors and historiography of this period.

This course introduces key themes relating to global business history. It considers how business and enterprise have contributed to the making of the modern world. It looks at key economic actors, agents and institutions of historical change, their forms of organization, their strategies and culture, their relations with state and society, and at how economic practices have been shaped by culture. Some of the themes covered include: the business firm; the nineteenth century revolution in production, distribution, transport, and communication; the rise of retailing; integration of mass production and distribution; managerial capitalism; multinationals; state -business relationships; and culture and capitalism.

The course outlines media history with an accent on the 17th, 18th, and the first half of the 19th century. The broad themes are the formation of a mediated public sphere and the emergence of media markets in relation to the growing industrial capitalism. The course takes a closer look at oral and written news media, the freedom of speech and censorship, the postal system, and the popular culture of chapbooks.

This course focuses on the history of Central and Eastern Europe during the mid-15th to mid-17th centuries. Topics include the Holy Roman Empire, The Ottoman Empire, the protestant reformation, Scandinavia, and Russia at this time. Furthermore, it explores the complex relations between these states after the Middle Ages and the creations of the states that would continue into the contemporary era.

This course examines Asia's cultures, track its political evolution from pre-colonial to post-colonial times, and explains its renewed prominence in contemporary global affairs.