European History
European History
01:510:269 Antisemitism
- Full Course Title: ANTISEMITISM
- Course Code: 01:510:269
- Academic Credits: 3
- SAS Core Certified: CCD, HST
- Predictability: Offered Regularly (Every 2-3 Semesters)
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
- Mode of Instruction: Lecture
- Cross-listed Course: 01:563:269
Course Description
Recent years have witnessed an upsurge in antisemitic rhetoric and incidents in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. Jews have been verbally and physically attacked and some have been murdered. The actions and statements of diverse social and political constituencies are labeled antisemitic.
This course invites students to think deeply about contemporary discourses of and about antisemitism in light of their historical precedents and resonances. Students will monitor current events and analyze their representations in the media. They will also study the complex history of antisemitism—a term that has been used to denote a constellation of phenomena that disparage Jews and Judaism. The historical portion of the course will proceed chronologically, starting with an analysis of negative attitudes toward Jews and Judaism in the ancient and medieval worlds and also considering modern Europe, the United States, and the Middle East.
Throughout, attention will be devoted to the wide-ranging contexts and content of antisemitism; the functions that anti-Jewish animus has served in different societies; the roles of religion, science, and politics in anti-Jewish ideologies and actions; factors that have intensified and mitigated anti-Jewish ideologies and their expressions; and the relationships that have existed between hatred of Jews and other forms of prejudice. Students will ponder continuities and turning points in the history of antisemitism as well as the significance of antisemitism as an analytic category. They will also consider the dangers of focusing on antisemitism at the expense of other dynamics in Jewish history.
Addressing urgent questions in historical perspective, students will emerge better equipped to navigate the challenges of the contemporary world.
Credit not given for both this course and 01:563:269.
01:510:271 Russia and the West (3)
- Full Course Title: RUSSIA AND THE WEST
- Course Code: 01:510:271
- Academic Credits: 3
- Semester(s) Offered: Summer
- Mode of Instruction: Lecture
01:510:291 Topics in History (3)
- Course Code: 01:510:291
- Academic Credits: 3
Study of special topics in European history at the intermediate level.
01:510:300 Greek and Roman Slavery (3)
- Full Course Title: GREEK&ROMAN SLAVERY
- Course Code: 01:510:300
- Academic Credits: 3
- Predictability: Offered Regularly (Every 2-3 Semesters)
- Before 1500C.E.?: Yes
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring
- Mode of Instruction: Lecture
- Cross-listed Course: 01:190:300
Credit will not be given for both this course and the cross-listed course.
Course Description
This course will offer an overview of ancient Greek and Roman slavery as a political, legal, economic, social, and cultural phenomenon. According to one expert, M. I. Finley, although human societies have exploited slaves as far back as records exist, there have only been five genuine slave societies in human history. Two of these were the principal societies of classical antiquity, those of classical Greece and of the Roman Republic and Empire. Understanding the place of slavery in classical antiquity is thus essential not only for understanding the ancient civilizations of Greece and Rome but also for comprehending slavery as a human institution. The course will address the following topics: definitions of slavery (including chattel slavery, eventually the predominant form of servitude); the sources and numbers of slaves; the slave mode of production and the significance of slavery in the ancient economy; domestic and rural slaves; the treatment of slaves; resistance to slavery and slave revolts; manumission and the position of ex-slaves in Greco-Roman society; the social position of slaves; the family life of slaves; slavery and the law (civil and natural); slaves in literature; ancient and new world slavery compared.
01:510:301 Early Greece (3)
- Full Course Title: EARLY GREECE
- Course Code: 01:510:301
- Academic Credits: 3
- Predictability: Offered Occasionally (Every 4-6 Semesters)
- Before 1500C.E.?: Yes
- Semester(s) Offered: Fall, Spring