This course examines the revolutions that defined the Atlantic world from England’s Glorious Revolution to the Haitian Revolution. It explores the meaning of “revolution,” constitutionalism, and human rights theory. Finally, we will look at the ways revolutionaries confronted challenges to their movements from non-elites, women, and slaves.

This course explores three major moments when revolutionary leftists succeeded in winning power during Latin America’s Cold War: the Cuban revolution, the Popular Unity government in Chile, and the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua. In this course we will discuss the local, national, and particularly international contexts in which revolutionaries not only came to power, but also tried to govern amidst domestic inequalities, internal divisions, tensions between authoritarianism and democracy, and U.S. imperial power.

Caste: Histories and Theories of Exclusion, Stigma, and Exploitation -- FLEX This course offers a study of the histories, theories, and practices that are associated with caste. We begin with caste in India, from the colonial period to today, and explore key debates in the understanding of caste as a social structure and a form of identity. We focus on movements against caste inequality and injustice, centering the work of Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar in our study of anti-caste activism. We then turn to “caste” is other societies, such as the United States, and analyze the politics of comparison and translation in the application of “caste” to other contexts.

In most textbooks, documentaries, and films, social change appears as a series of dramatic moments. This course focuses on the mechanics of social change, appreciating how different historical moments have catalyzed different tactics, strategies, and discussions. Starting with labor and black freedom organizing in the 1930s, we will move through the classic civil rights era to black feminist thought in the 1970s and on to the present day.

Examines the development of technologies of the written word, from clay tablets and sheepskin scrolls to the manuscript codex, early printed book, modern printing, and digital text. Questions the way reading, writing, and preserving texts intersect with identity, memory, and history, making extensive use of primary materials in the library's Special Collections and incorporating a hands-on experience at The Press at Colorado College. .5 unit-Lawson and Randall.

Nineteenth-century Europe was the site of great creativity, progressive social thought, and great violence. Artistic movements, ranging from romanticism through realism and naturalism, justified and criticized the creation of modern industrial society, the rise of a new type of city, recurring waves of revolution, and a new understanding of human emotions. This course is designed to explore European culture in the nineteenth century through an interdisciplinary perspective. We utilize different kinds of primary-source texts, such as novels, political philosophy, and opera libretti, and we’ll also analyze several contemporary movies. The nineteenth century will not be presented as a “monolith”; rather we will focus on different European cultures in comparative context (Germanic, French, Italian, British), and we will consider differences in the female and male experience by studying composers such as Clara Schumann and Fanny Mendelssohn. The climax of the course is a prolonged study of “La Traviata.” We'll read Camille, Alexandre Dumas Fils’ novel that served as a basis for the story; we'll study the libretto; we'll learn about the musical elements; and we'll see the opera. The end of the course will focus on one of the most important fin-de-siècle composers, Richard Wagner, and his romantic imagination.

Using late medieval, Renaissance, and modern Italy as cases, the course explores the interactions of power and art. It examines how images, structures, and urban design reflect structures of power, and how the powerful deploy art and architecture as instruments of control. The course focuses on Florence, with additional trips to Siena, Rome, and Venice. On-site visits supplement reading, discussions, and writing assignments.

This course explores diverse issues pertinent to American athletes. We will study, discuss, present and contextualize issues, personalities, events, social forces, and historical moments that have and continue to shape Americans athletes. In this course chronology is circular rather than linear as we will discuss issues from a wide range of time periods. The primary focus of this course will be to examine the ways race, class, gender, politics and history concentrically impacted American athletes. Although this class requires no formal prerequisite, it is recommended that students either can grasp and/or have a theoretical and historical understanding of United States and African American History.

People around the world recognized 1960 as the Year of Africa. Seventeen African countries gained independence after years of fighting against colonial oppression. Celebrations were short-lived in the Congo (DRC, Congo-Kinshasa), as the country erupted into chaos in a fraught factionalist fight with international political and corporate entities in the background launching a new neocolonialist struggle only days after the state’s independence ceremonies. Unfortunately, the idea of independence as autonomy was flawed from the outset, as many newly independent African nations found themselves caught in the middle of a deeply troubling political, diplomatic, and economic landscape at both local and international levels after their brief celebrations of independence. This course focuses on major political, social, economic, and cultural transitions in African history from 1960 to the present. We will think through the rise and fall of apartheid in South Africa, the Cold War, environmental crises and activism, the struggle for gender equality and LGBTQIA+ rights, student movements, Arab Spring, and other contemporary issues. Ultimately, this course examines the role of African voices in some of the most pressing global discussions of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The ancient geographer Eratosthenes was not optimistic about finding Odysseus’ footsteps, saying, 'You will find the scene of Odysseus's wanderings when you find the cobbler who sewed up the bag of winds.' Classical archaeologists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, brought the mythical world into the historical realm with the discovery of pre-historic sites scattered throughout the Mediterranean world—in what is now Europe, Africa, and Asia. Occurring at the intersection of history and myth, the poem serves as a repository of cultural memory and a map of the known world. In this class we will study the three Bronze Age cultures of this region—Cycladic, Minoan, and Mycenean. Upon their fall, the Mediterranean world entered a stunning period of migrations and repopulations, as depicted in the poem. Using Homer’s Odyssey as a guide for understanding the lively and diverse worlds that shared this seascape for thousands of years, we will visit the breathtaking remains of Minoan civilizations on the islands of Crete and Santorini, as well as the Mycenean center of the Greek mainland. All-College Requirement: Historical Perspectivesor Analysis and Interpretation of Meaning

This course centers on student participation in archaeological excavations at Shikhin, an ancient Jewish village in the Galilee region of Israel. Through this field experience, students will gain training in essential methods and theories of archaeology as well as insights into the history, culture, politics and economics of the region during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. With an understanding of these contexts, students will examine the related histories of early Judaism, the ministry of Jesus, and Christian origins. In addition to their experience in the field, students will learn through assigned readings, regular evening lectures, excursions to other significant historical sites in the region, and a final weekend exploring Jerusalem. The course will be especially attentive to the benefits and challenges of correlating ancient literary sources, including biblical narratives, with the archaeological record.