History

This course traces technological developments and cross-cultural influences of food production in human history and demonstrates the effect of the evolution of historical civilizations up to the present. Engaging with this long temporal view helps students to reflect on the origins and effects of technological developments in food production. The course consists of three thematic and chronological blocks: the origins of agriculture (Neolithic agriculture; systems of land exploitation); the global diffusion of plants and animals (separation between Old and New World; Columbian Exchange); and the development of modern industrial food technology (changes in food processing technologies and consumption practices; industrial revolution; role of science in food production). 

At an empirical level, this course provides a solid knowledge in Lebanese history, mainly in the major violent episodes of its trajectory: the civil war (1975-1990), Israeli occupation (1982-2000), and Hezbollah's intervention in Syria (since 2013). It also presents a specific understanding of a practice of power far removed from what can be observed in Western democracies. Without being an authoritarian regime, the Lebanese political staff has always had a particular definition of ruling, a special understanding of democracy, that goes beyond the usual features shared by consociational systems everywhere else in the world (Switzerland, Belgium, Bosnia). This course is hence thought-provoking in political science, as it introduces models of ruling usually unfamiliar, models that are more frequent than typically imagined. By doing so, the course also triggers a shared reflection on theoretical concepts of political science, and a questioning of the universality of some of what Western political sociology sees as basic elementary truths and rules of the game in politics-in-practice. The course addresses Lebanese contemporary history; the notion of militancy in contexts of violence; a critical notion of foreign intervention, peacemaking, peacebuilding, state building, reconciliation, and transitional justice; and a good command of a particular case of consociational politics.

In this course, students explore German history from the Reformation to the present day. The course covers major events in early modern times, including the Reformation and the Enlightenment, but the main focus is on the 19th and 20th centuries. Students engage with a variety of topics, including nationalism and nation-building, revolution and reaction, industrialization and urbanization, changing gender roles and social structures, empire at home and abroad, mass politics and culture, Germans’ roles and experiences in two world wars, Nazi racism and genocide, and Cold War division and unification. The common threads throughout are Germans’ persistent experimentation with defining "Germany" and the consequences for those variously included and excluded according to gender, class, religion, race, politics, and other categories. 

The intellectual challenge and historiographical novelty of this course lie in the change of perspective it proposes: a contemporary history of France seen from its extra-European extensions, which are the overseas territories of the Republic. It revisits significant social, political, economic, and cultural moments in order to gain a different perspective on the history of nation-building. In this sense, this course is part of the abundant renewal of a history of France, thought beyond the limits of the Hexagon and linked to a history of the colonial and imperial fact. A basic knowledge of French history is an essential prerequisite.

This course examines literary texts and films to explore different themes and topics related to Chilean culture and politics. It discusses Chilean films and literary texts from the late 1960's to the early 2020's in order to better understand and contextualize some of the main events and discourses that have characterized Chilean society during the past fifty years.

Thjs course examines European history from the eighteenth century to the present.

Through classroom study and field trips, this course embarks on a journey of Jerusalem through time and space, over the course of three thousand years, from a regional center to a national capital to the spiritual center for the world’s three great western monotheistic religions. It bulids an understanding and appreciation of its present and future, how the city developed, and how the city seems to touch everyone in the world today.

This course examines the history of early modern China and Japan (ca. 1600–1912) through the lens of gender and sexuality. By examining topics including Confucianism and the family, Samurai status, imperial expansion, commerce and leisure, medicine and religion, it makes a case for gender and sexuality as drivers of historical change in the early modern world. It examines not only women and women’s history, but also men and masculinity, gender-nonconforming communities, and the changing relationship between gender, sexuality and social, economic, and cultural power. It will introduce key questions and debates in the study of East Asian history and the history of gender and sexuality through a range of primary and secondary sources as well as film, fiction and multimedia.

The 19th century saw the birth of many revolutionary artistic practices that transformed the visual culture of Europe. Industrialization, urbanization, and colonialism brought about a new social order, and artists responded by developing artistic styles that addressed society's modern values. This course explores artistic innovations in Britain and France including Impressionism, Pre-Raphalitism, and the invention of photography. By examining individual art objects and wider art historical themes, students see how new artistic styles responded to issues like class, gender, and race. This course makes use of the rich art collections on offer in London, with seminars taking place at Tate Britain and the National Gallery.