HISTORY 334: The Enlightenment (DLCL 324, HISTORY 234, HISTORY 432A)
This course explores the European Enlightenment: the eighteenth-century intellectual and cultural movement that gave rise to some of the ideas that informed the American and French political revolutions at the end of the century. These included ideas of human equality and human rights, and the foundation of knowledge and authority in reason and experience rather than in religion and tradition. At the same time, Enlightenment writers also habitually ranked human beings by sex, race, and class and drew upon the European conquest and plunder of the rest of the world to frame their theories. Because of its importance and its profound contradictions, the Enlightenment has recently been the focus of much controversy. In the course, we will discuss all of this ¿ the ideas, the contradictions, and the controversy.
Terms: Win
| Units: 5
Instructors:
Riskin, J. (PI)
HISTORY 334P: The Age of Plague: Medicine and Society, 1300-1750
(Graduates, enroll in 334P. Undergraduates, enroll in 234P.) The arrival of plague in Eurasia in 1347-51 affected many late medieval and early modern societies. It transformed their understanding of disease, raised questions about the efficacy of medical knowledge, and inspired new notions of public health. This class explores the history of medicine in the medieval Islamic and European worlds. Changing ideas about the body, the roles of different healers and religion in healing, the growth of hospitals and universities, and the evolution of medical theory and practice will be discussed. How did medicine and society change in the age of plague?
Last offered: Autumn 2020
HISTORY 334R: Risk and Credit Before Modern Finance (HISTORY 234R)
In today's world, credit scores are nearly as important as citizenship. Creditworthiness is measured in numbers, but is also bound up with moral qualities. To lack credit is to be on the margins of society, and vice versa. How did we get here? How did lenders mitigate risks before credit scores were available? Where do the risk management tools of modern finance come from? How did merchants trade over long distances when information technology was extremely poor? This one-unit course will address these pressing questions from a historical perspective, starting from the modern U.S. and reaching back in time to the Middle Ages. Classroom discussions and readings include articles written by historians and social scientists, as well as primary sources in English translation.
Last offered: Spring 2022
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