European Studies Courses

Courses in Art History

Introduction to Art History Ancient to Medieval

This course surveys the major developments in art and architecture from the Paleolithic period through the high Middle Ages. Emphasis falls on the ancient civilizations of the Near East, Egypt, the Aegean, Greece and Rome, the early Christian world, Byzantium, Islam and the Middle Ages in Western Europe. The approach is at once historical, in that visual forms and types of images are studied in their development over time and across cultures, and anthropological, in the sense that cultures are studied at isolated moments as a way of better understanding the significant roles art and architecture play within them. May count towards European Studies minor.

Introduction to Art History Renaissance to Modern

A survey of Western Art from the early Italian Renaissance to modern and contemporary art. We will view and discuss the major works of art from this period in chronological sequence, discussing their place in the larger historical developments of the west, including the political, social, economic, philosophical and theological. We will also discuss and practice some basic modes of art historical analysis. May count towards European Studies minor. Not open to students with credit in ARTH 142.

Baroque Art: The Age of the Marvelous

The course introduces the major painters and sculptors (Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Caravaggio, Bernini, Artemisia Gentileschi, Velazquez and others) of 17th-century Europe by exploring a few major themes. Using, as an overarching concept, the Baroque as the "Age of the Marvelous" allows us to view intersections among the worlds of art, science, theater, printing, mechanical engineering, religion and the occult. The course examines the visual arts in relation to various contexts--economic, historic and domestic--as well as institutions--the Church, the monarchy and academies of art. It investigates the development of certain subjects that emerged as independent genres in the 17th century: still life, landscape and genre painting. The course also looks at how artists perceived themselves and were perceived (some would say "constructed") both by their contemporaries and by subsequent writers up to the present day. May count towards European Studies minor.

Cathedral and Court: Gothic Art

This course explores the spectacular visual culture of European society during the High and Late Middle Ages (roughly 12th-15th centuries). In this period the tremendous growth of cities and urban culture, along with economic expansion and social differentiation, created dynamic new forms of interaction between audiences and emerging genres of art.Through selected case studies of architecture, monumental sculpture, stained glass, reliquaries and altar pieces, illuminated manuscripts, luxury ivory carvings and other devotional images (including early graphic arts), students encounter medieval culture and society in all its dazzling diversity.Issues for investigation include: the rise of devotional art and lay spirituality; the impact of miracle tales, relic cults, pilgrimage and other forms of associational worship; the rise of the cult of the Virgin, Mary's role as heavenly intercessor, bridal mysticism and devotion to the Rosary; the culture of chivalry, the impact of the crusades and epic poetry; new forms of social violence, crime and punishment, as well as new models of sexuality and love. May count towards European Studies minor.

Women and Medieval Art

What was the role of images in women's experience in the Middle Ages? This course seeks to answer that question through an examination of images made of, for and by women in this dynamic period of history. The course is framed by the legalization of Christianity (in 313) and Luther's declaration of Protestantism (in 1517), thereby focusing on the entire medieval tradition and its exploration of gender and image. The course seeks to understand the construction and subversion of gender roles through images. May count towards Women's Studies and European Studies minors.

Savage and Surreal: Modernism's Wild Years in Paris

Picasso once said that he and his friend the painter Georges Braque had been like two mountain climbers in the first days of Cubism, roped together as they progressed, step by step, to the summit of modernist painting's accomplishment in Paris in the early years of the 20th century. He meant that they had worked closely together and had by turns taken the lead in their great discoveries, but also that they had challenged each other to take dizzying risks, going where none had been before, and that they had been alone up there, with nobody to rely on but themselves. In the years before and after the First World War, avant-garde artists in Paris demolished the limits of painting, first the limits of color, with the Fauves or "Wild Beasts," then the limits of perspective and the picture plane, with the Cubists, and finally the limits of painting itself, with the Surrealists, who even demolished the limits of rational thought. In this course we examine this adventure story of modern art, through artworks, original texts and recent scholarship, in the political and social context of France in the early 20th century with its conflicts about national identity, colonial empire, and cultural heritage. We also discuss how and why artists explored issues of gender and racial identity through formal innovations of color, composition, and materials.

Italian Renaissance Art

The course explores developments in the visual arts (primarily painting and sculpture) in 15th-and 16th-century Italy and includes such artists as Masaccio, Donatello, Sofonisba Anguissola, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo. It is partly a chronological survey and partly a thematic exploration of important issues--the social construction of the artist; the concept of humanism and its effect on creative developments; the problems of Renaissance historiography; the question of whether or not women had a Renaissance. The class is also concerned with the presuppositions on which art historians have based their interpretations of Renaissance art and culture and on the methods that they have applied to support these presuppositions. Emphasis is on primary readings. Class sessions will be mostly discussion. May count towards European Studies minor.

Painting, Piety and Power: Northern Renaissance Art

This course examines the major painters working in the Low Countries (present-day Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) during the dynamic era encompassing the later Middle Ages, Renaissance and Reformation. Our survey covers the early Flemish painters Robert Campin, Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden, and their brilliant line of followers, Hans Memling, Hugo van der Goes, Geertgen tot Sint Jans, Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brueghel. Through group discussions and illustrated lectures, students become engaged not only with the distinctive visual character of these marvelous works of art, but also with their cultic, devotional, social and political uses. Special topics include: the development of a northern European realist tradition, changing forms of patronage and aesthetic production, the rising social status and self-consciousness of the artist, the changing character of piety and religious experience, the impact of humanism and Reformation and evolution of secular imagery (portraiture, landscape, satire and more). May count towards European Studies minor.

Abstract vs. Figurative Painting

Explores origins and developments of abstract painting. Look at, interpret, discuss, and differentiate between different kinds of abstract painting. Is it possible to recognize or find meaning in abstract art, and do different styles of abstraction mean different things? Is it possible to distinguish between good and bad abstract art? Is abstract painting a secret code, an exploration of design ideas and painting techniques, a record of an artist's interior life, or a blank slate onto which we project our own ideas? What is the relationship between abstract painting and the political and social upheavals of the 20th century? May count towards European Studies minor.

Van Gogh, Gauguin and

This course considers how art historians have conceptualized "Post Impressionism" and explores the institutions (Academy, Salon, Ecole des Beaux Arts) and market structure (dealers, auction houses, the apparatus of art criticism) that influenced or controlled how, for whom and under what conditions art in 19th- century France was produced and how, where and by whom art was consumed (that is, used, purchased or viewed). Other issues considered are the social and financial consequences of the artists' independence from traditional institutions in 19th-century France and how women artists did or did not fit into these institutional and market structures. The "Post Impressionist" artists studied will be used as springboards to discuss some larger themes about art, artists, critics and audiences in a particular historical moment. Readings include primary sources--artists' letters, journals, excerpts from contemporary novels and art criticism from specialized and mainstream journals of the late 19th-century. May count towards European Studies minor.

Art and Literature Paris and Berlin

The Paris of the 19th century, of Zola and the Impressionist painters was the city where the large-scale development of new methods of industry, finance, merchandising, government, and culture were given their most coherent concrete form. In the 20th century Berlin was at the center of, successively, German Expressionist painting, the European film industry, Nazism, and the Cold War. These two European capitals were at the intersection of individual personal experience and titanic historical forces. Close examination of painting, novels, film, architecture and urban planning, and the context within which they were produced. May count towards European Studies minor.

History of Self-Portraiture

The self-portrait has a long and varied history: part manifesto, part self-expression, part philosophical investigation, the self-portrait invites questions of creativity and identity. How does an artist construct a self-portrait to represent both the self and the artistic project? The answers to this question provoke an examination of the changing uses and transformations of the genre. The course incorporates both original sources written by the artists themselves and scholarly sources contextualizing the artists and their self-portraits. Discussion-based course.

Courses in the Classics in English

Greek and Roman Mythology

The principal myths and legends of the ancient world, with consideration of the nature of myth, the social origin and evolution of myths, their relation to religion and philosophy and their use in literature and art.

The Ancient Mediterranean World

The Mediterranean world from the beginning of civilization to the end of the Roman Empire: Ancient Near East, Classical Greece, Hellenistic Age, Roman Republic, Roman Empire and the Emergence of Christianity. May count towards European Studies minor.

Courses in Communication and Theatre

History of the Theatre I: PreHistory to Early 18th Century

Historiographic, cultural and theoretical investigations of theatre and drama from the earliest human records to the early eighteenth century.

History of the Theatre II: Early 18th Century to Present

Historiographic, cultural and theoretical investigations of theatre and drama from the early eighteenth century to the present.

History of Theatrical Theory and Criticism

The principles of dramatic criticism from Aristotle to the present, utilizing theories of dramaturgy and techniques for the production of historical plays. Prerequisite: COMM 213 or 214 or permission of instructor.

Courses in Economics & Management

The History of Economic Thought

A treatment of some of the major figures and trends in the history of economic ideas. Topics may vary but will include an examination of the contribution of the Mercantilists, Physiocrats, Classical and Neoclassical economists to our understanding of the individual, value and the market; transactions and their mediation; economic growth and development; the distribution of output; and the roles of capital and labor. Readings may include, among others, the economic writings of Locke, Quesnay, Smith, Ricardo, Marx, Mill, Menger, Bohm-Bawerk, Marshall and Keynes. Prerequisite: ECON 100 or permission of instructor.

Comparative Economic Systems

This course analyzes the differences in economic institutions across countries. By looking at the economic incentives in corporations, financial institutions and governments in several different countries, the course will address the question of how different market systems provide incentives to encourage economic growth. By the end of the course, students will be able to analyze the economic implications of a country's institutional arrangements and evaluate the role of government in the economy. Prerequisite: ECON 100.

International Economics

The theory of international trade, the balance of payments, foreign exchange markets, international monetary systems, open economy macroeconomics. Prerequisite: ECON 294 and ECON 295 or permission of instructor.

Courses in Literature

Modern Continental Literature

European writing from about 1885, stressing new directions in fiction and poetry from Zola to contemporary writers. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

British Writers I

This course surveys works of representative British authors from Anglo-Saxon times through the Augustan period. It is designed for students wishing to acquaint themselves with this broad area of British letters. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

British Writers II

A continuation of the survey begun in ENG 281, this course begins with representative writers of the Romantic period and ends with contemporary British literature. ENG 281 is not a prerequisite for this course. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Chaucer and His World

Realism and romance in selected major poems of Chaucer and his contemporaries studied in their medieval context. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Shakespeare

A study of representative plays drawn from the histories, comedies, tragedies and late romances. Wide-ranging themes will include questions about gender relations and identity, both personal and national, and the conventions of Elizabethan performance. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Renaissance or Early Modern British Literature

A study of major developments in prose and poetry in English literature between 1500 and 1660, an age of exploration both literal and figurative. In both canonical works (by Sidney, Spenser, Donne, Jonson, Herbert and Milton) and recently rediscovered poems by Lady Mary Wroth, Aemilia Lanyer and Katherine Philips, we will analyze the intersection of influences--Classical and Biblical, native and Continental, medieval and modern. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Milton

A revolutionary who wrote against censorship and in defense of divorce, whose poetry made a mark on future generations of writers, Milton redefined heroism in his epic, Paradise Lost. We will study his major poems and selected prose, analyzing his transformation of every genre he touched: sonnet, pastoral elegy, masque, epic and tragedy. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Restoration and Eighteenth Century

An in-depth survey of literary genres (including poetry, satire, the periodical essay, the gothic, and the novel) from 1660-1800 and their relationship to nationalism, gender, empire, and the cultural and political practices of the English Enlightenment. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

The Romantic Period

Focuses on English poetry from approximately 1790-1830, along with related works of fiction, criticism and philosophy. Writers often studied include Blake, Wollstonecraft, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley and Keats. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

The Victorian Period

Focuses on writers who worked in the last 70 years of the 19th century. Writers often studied include Dickens, Carlyle, George Eliot, Tennyson, Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Modern British Literature

British novelists, poets and dramatists of the first half of the 20th century, including Conrad, Joyce, Yeats, Lawrence and Woolf. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Contemporary British Literature

British and postcolonial writers from the mid-20th century to the present. Writers may include Rushdie, Gordimer, Larkin, Amis and Heaney. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Courses in History

European Civilization I--1300-1800

A history of Europe from about 1300 to 1789, including the end of the medieval world, the Renaissance and Reformation, Scientific Revolution, the age of Enlightenment and the French Revolution. Counts toward European Studies minor.

European Civilization II--1789-Present

A history of Europe from 1789 to the present, including French Revolution and Napolean, Industrialization, the Age of the Nation States, the struggle among liberal, communist and fascist ideologies, World Wars I and II, postwar reconstruction, decolonization and European integration. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Introduction to Central Europe

In this course we examine the historical and cultural developments of Central Europe with special attention to the dramatic events of the 20th century. The course will include an analysis of the Reformation, Religious Warfare including the Thiry Years war, the legacy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the divisions of Poland etc. In the 20th century, we examine the legacy of World War II, German Occupation and the Holocaust, the emergence and experience of Communism and the influence of the Soviet Union, as well as the revolutions of 1989 and post-communist Eastern Europe. Moreover, we will pursue transnational issues such as the role of women and religious and ethnic minorities (Gypsies and Jews) in the region. Counts toward European Studies minor.

France from Charlemagne to Napoleon

The history of France from the Merovingians of Gaul to the Napoleonic era with an emphasis on intellectual, cultural and social movements of this early period. Major topics: Charlemagne and the Carolingian Empire; the Hundred Years' War; rise of absolutism; the Wars of Religion; the Fronde; the Age of Louis XIV; the Enlightenment; the French Revolution. Counts toward European Studies minor.

The Vikings

This course will examine Scandinavian and early medieval European society before, during, and after the Viking raids of the eighth through eleventh centuries in order to assess the impact of those raids on the development of European civilization. We will work to come to an understanding of this period through the close analysis of a variety of sources, including law codes, epic poems, artwork, and archaeological excavations. Counts toward European Studies minor.

European Women's History

An examination of the cultural and intellectual roles of women in Early Modern Western Europe. In addition to surveying the women's traditional place in European society, this course also considers the work of exceptional women who argued against that role. Topics include the debate on the nature of women, women in power, witchcraft, women and science, women in revolutions and the education of women. Counts toward European Studies minor.

19th and 20th Century Britain

This course surveys Britain in the 19th and 20th centuries, a period that both affirmed and questioned the "greatness" of Great Britain in political, economic and social terms. Central course themes include the transformation of Britain's economic standing, from the "workshop of the world" to perceptions of "declinism". The contrasting political fortunes of the Conservative, Liberal and Labour parties are highlighted; from "Tory paternalism" to Thatcherite Revolution, from socialist trade unionism to "Blairism". Class, immigration and Anglo-Irish affairs are explored as well as the effects of war and peace, depression and prosperity upon British society. The course also includes a consideration of the growth of the British Empire and its comparatively rapid dissolution in the post-war era. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Russian History to the 19th Century

Development of Russian state, society and culture from the ninth to the 19th centuries, with particular attention to the Kievan, Mongol, Muscovite and Imperial periods. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Modern Russia

Culture and society in the last years of the Empire; the growth of the revolutionary movement in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the establishment of the Soviet Union, its development, decline and collapse; and the beginnings of post-Soviet Russia. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Germany from Unification to Unification, 1870-1989

Germany has played a central and disruptive role in the recent history of Europe. The domestic and foreign conflicts that have dominated the country's history with such far-reaching consequences will provide the focus of the course. The course covers the political, social and cultural developments that shaped the course of German history from the creation of a unified Germany in 1871 to the reunification of Germany in 1990. It examines the Imperial period, World War I, the Weimar Republic, the Nazi experience, the division of postwar Germany and its reunification in our own times. Counts toward European Studies minor.

European Union

The seminar surveys European integration in its historic context and emphasizes the project for European unity since the Second World War. Topics for consideration include historic conceptualizations of East and West and the 'Idea of Europe', integration as a response to the World Wars experience and its evolution in a divided Cold War Europe. Theoretical assessments of integration and the comparative significance of both international and domestic factors are discussed as well as controversies over supra-nationalism, 'European identity' and the expansion of membership. Counts toward European Studies minor.

The Witchcraze in Early Modern Europe

Why did Europe suddenly erupt in a fury of witch trials in the sixteenth century? Why did these trials just as suddenly die out in the eighteenth? What was the role of religion in the pursuit of witches? Was misogyny at the heart of the witchcraze? These questions and more will be addressed in this course as we try to understand the nature of the European witchcraze. Through a close and careful analysis of primary documents, we will try to develop our own conclusions on this troubling episode of European history. Counts toward European Studies minor. Counts toward Womens Studies major.

The Age of Louis XIV

A study of life in France during the reign of the Sun King. A deeper understanding of 17th-century French life is attempted through a study of French history, politics, society, literature, philosophy and art. Counts toward European Studies minor.

The Enlightenment

This 18th-century European intellectual movement is approached through the works of the major thinkers of the period. Writers such as Voltaire, Montesquieu, Diderot, Rousseau, and de Sade are examined. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Imperial Europe

This course will look at Western Europe at its height of power and influence and in the decades leading up to and including WWI (c.1870-1918). The class will approach Imperial Europe through a series of thematic clusters, such as empire, imperialism and militarism, nations and nationalism, gender and generation, culture, technology, politics and political organization, intellectual developments, mortality, sexuality, etc. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Modern European Women's History

In this course we will use women's experiences as the key to understanding European history over the past two centuries. Some of the issues tthat shaped the 19th century, such as gender relations in modern society are still being discussed today; others that we now take for granted such a universal suffrage, were by no means normal a hundred years ago. The course will address topics concerning women's experiences and will encourage students to explore issues in women's history and the influences that women had on the development of modern Europe.

Europe of Dictators

An examination of the social, economic, political and ideological conditions and processes that led to the establishment of single-party dictatorships in Italy, Germany and the Soviet Union. Counts toward European Studies minor.

Courses in French

French Civilization

Culture and institutions before the Fifth Republic. A study of artistic movements, intellectual currents, and social development in France to 1958. Prerequisite: FREN 305. May count towards European Studies minor.

Contemporary French Civilization

Culture and institutions of the Fifth Republic. A study of artistic movements, intellectual currents and social developments in France since 1958. Prerequisite: FREN 305. May count towards European Studies minor.

Business French

This course focuses on economics and business practices in France. Its goals are to familiarize students with the basic institutions (banking, Paris Stock Market, European Union), with how French corporations are organized and how they function (administrative structure, secretarial, marketing, sales, etc.), and with certain socio-cultural aspects of the workplace (executive behavior, management-labor relations, gender issues). Required work includes readings, tests, essays and oral presentations. Prerequisite: FREN 305 or permission of instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

Introduction to Literature in French

Selection of significant texts from various periods. Prerequisite: FREN 305 and one additional 300-level course. May count towards European Studies minor.

Topics: Literatures and Cultures in the French-speaking World

Study of varied topics on the cultural, political, social, historical and literary aspects of life in the French-speaking world. Prerequisites: FREN 305 and one other 300-level French course. May be repeated for credit with different topics. May count towards European Studies minor.

French Seminar

A detailed study of an author, or a principal movement in literature and/or culture in French. Open only to senior French majors. May count towards European Studies minor.

Courses in German

Introduction to German Literature

Experience in the study of literature and German literary history through texts from the 18th century to the present. Students will gain an overview of the historical development of the German tradition. GER 212 or permission of instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

German for Business

This course is designed to introduce students to the language of business German and to give them insight into Germany's current place in the global economy. Consideration of various themes organized around major business and economic topics, along with language and skill-building activities. Prerequisite: GER 304 . Not open to first-year students. May count towards European Studies minor.

German Cultural Studies

Emphasis on aspects of popular, artistic, intellectual, religious and social tradition from selected periods. May be repeated for credit with different topics. May count towards European Studies minor.

Twentieth Century German Literature and Culture

This course focuses on one period or theme taken primarily from 20th century German literature and culture. Possible topics include: Modernism in Berlin and Vienna, the Weimar Republic, Post-1945 German literature, etc. Prerequisite: GER 307 or permission of instructor.May be repeated for credit with different topics. May count towards European Studies minor.

Courses in Italian

Introduction to Italian Literature

An introduction to short stories and excerpts from some of the masterpieces of Italian literature of the twentieth century. Literary texts will be the point of departure for a course based on discussion. Taught in Italian. Pre-requisite: Italian 371 or approval of the instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

Readings and Projects in Italian

This course is an independent studies course for advanced students of Italian who wish to pursue an independently designed program of research or inquiry in Italian.

Courses in Modern Languages in English

Twentieth-Century Russian Literature

This course examines some of the major works of 20th-century Russian literature, as well as the literary and social trends connected with them. Russian perceptions of the world and individual artistic choices in terms of message, style and ethical values for each era are discussed. Writers as diverse as the symbolist poets Blok, Sologub and Gippius; socialist realist writers Gorky and Sholokhov; futurists Mayakovsky and Khlebnikov; and dissidents Tertz and Solzhenitsyn are considered in this framework. No prerequisites. May count towards European Studies and Russian Studies minors.

Courses in Russian

Topics

Supervised study of a subject of interest chosen in consultation with the instructor. May be repeated for credit with different topics. May count toward European Studies minor.

Courses in Spanish

Spanish Civilization

A study of the history, geography, art, intellectual currents and social developments of Spain. Prerequisite: SPAN 330 or 332 or permission of instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

Business Spanish

This course focuses on economics and business practices in the Spanish-speaking world. Its goals are to familiarize students with the basis institutions (banking, stock market), with how corporations are organized and how they function (administrative structure, secretarial, marketing, sales, etc.), and with certain socio-cultural aspects of the workplace (executive behavior, management-labor relations, gender issues). Required work includes readings, tests, essays, and oral presentations. Prerequisite: SPAN 330 or 332 or permission of instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

Literature of Spain

Selections from important authors of Spain. Prerequisite: SPAN 335 or permission of instructor. May count towards European Studies minor.

Courses in Music History & Literature

History of Western Art Music

This course is a one-semester survey of European art music from the ancient Greeks to the end of the Romantic era (ca. 1900). The course is designed to provide a solid grounding in the important historical, formal, aesthetic and stylistic developments in Western art music during this time. Topics include the development of important genres and forms, biographies of major composers, various theories of history and historical change and analyses of historically important musical works.

Courses in Philosophy

History of Philosophy: Medieval (formerly PHIL 351)

This course examines the main figures and debates in Medieval Philosophy, beginning with St. Augustine of Hippo and concluding with Machiavelli. Some topics covered: the refutation of skepticism, what is truth, the City of God versus the City of Man, Natural Law, Just War and what constitutes good government. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim philosophical theories are featured. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

History of Western Philosophy: Early Modern

Major philosophers and philosophical schools of western philosophy. The course covers Descartes through Kant. Emphasis on epistemology and metaphysics. Offered only spring semester. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Existentialism (formerly PHIL 219)

Introductory course in Existentialism. Major writers from both 19th and 20th centuries, including Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Sartre and Camus. Issues to be discussed: the meaning of life, value of morality, absurdity of life, relation between being and nothingness. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Classical Political Philosophy

With an emphasis on classic texts from writers such as Plato, Aristotle, Aquinas, Hobbes, Locke, Mill and Marx, this course pursues fundamental questions in political philosophy. Why have government at all? What is the nature and extent of our obligation to obey government? What obligations does the government have toward us? What right do we have to disobey? Our first goal will be to understand our authors' answers to such questions, but our most important task will be the critical appraisal of their answers. Prerequisite: one course in philosophy of permission of instructor. Counts toward European Studies Minor.

Courses in Political Science

Elements of Political Theory

This course offers an introduction to selected topics in Political Theory. It covers a range of thinkers, from the ancient Greeks to the Enlightenment thinkers of Europe and closes on a contemporary note that asks us to reflect on the theoretical underpinnings of our time. It explores the political implications and limits of texts by Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Hobbes, Rousseau, Mill, Burke, Marx, and Arendt, reading them in chronological order with an eye toward changes in concerns and concepts across time. May count towards European Studies minor.

Government and Politics of Western Europe

Political systems of selected countries in Western Europe; their historical and cultural settings; parties and elections; decision-making; problems of foreign policy. Considerable attention to the European community, the movement toward economic and political integration and its impact on political systems of member countries. May count towards European Studies minor.

Government and Politics of Russia and the CIS

Examines the origins and nature of Bolshevik movement and the 1917 revolution; the ideological and institutional sources of the Soviet state and party structures; Stalinism as totalitarian experiment; the erosion of the Soviet system; its economic decline and crisis; the reasons for the failure of the Gorbachev reform effort; the Moscow coup and implosion of the system; subsequent Russian political and economic reforms; selected events in some CIS republics. May count towards European Studies minor.