This team-taught course, required for the History major, introduces students to a range of problems, approaches, and methodologies in the contemporary discipline of history. We explore the ethical and public dimension of history; sample a variety of schools of historical thought; examine the problem of historical interpretation; and consider different Read more…
This course visits some of the groundbreaking TV series that presented humanities and sciences to global mass audiences in the 1960s and 1970s, when color television emerged as a cultural presence. We study the role of television as a still new and potentially disruptive medium, and examine works of art Read more…
Drawing on a wide range of primary and selected secondary sources, this course surveys major developments in modern British history and empire from 1688 to the recent past.
This course provides a theoretical and historical overview of gender, class, and race relations in modern Europe. We explore changing political practices, employment, health, education, ideologies of sex differences, social movements, feminism and socialism, and much more.
This tutorial sequence analyzes the formation of modern European nations, empires, and societies from the late 18th to the last quarter of the 20th century. Students use primary and secondary sources to explore the social and political consequences of the French Revolution and industrialization, the dynamics of empire, the origins Read more…
This course offers students the opportunity to explore aspects of the social and cultural history of London across the 19th century, including the city as a global capital, a center of immigration and ethnic politics, empire, political reform, capitalism and consumption, sexual politics, social criticism, and mass social movements.
It is not every day that an academic history book inspires a film by one of the world’s leading directors, especially when its author is our former Wesleyan History Department colleague & former provost, Judith Brown! During the last week of our classes, in early December, Wesleyan University hosted a Read more…
In the opening scene of “The Last Duel,” the new film set in 14th-century France, a herald announces the rules for conduct at a tournament to the death. He declares that no members of the public – whatever their social background – are allowed to bring weapons to the event. Read more…
Wax figures have been around for centuries and were very popular around the western world prior to mass media. I was interviewed on the Jobsolete podcast (iHeartRadio) about the wax sculptors who brought celebrities and others to life. “Wax was used over the centuries… for death masks, for making wax Read more…
In the 18th century, “balloon mania” swept across Europe, encouraged by the circulation of writings, lithographs, balloon fashion, and memorabilia. I spoke on the Jobsolete podcast about aeronauts—the adventurers, entertainers, and self-trained scientists who built and flew balloons.
