Revolutions
This course seeks to provide a framework for understanding revolutions historically and comparatively. We will spend much of our time on the French Revolution before turning to the Russian Revolution. We will read a great deal, covering a range of perspectives and a host of issues along the way. We will move back and forth between analysis of historical arguments and analysis of the primary sources so that we can build our own informed historical critique. We will operate at three levels: first, we need to know “what happened” we need to have a good sense of who, what, and when. Second, we need to develop an understanding of the arguments made by historians (and political scientists, sociologists, and all manner of fellow travellers). Third, we need to develop our own critical stance about our subject.
We will do lots of reading. Lots. It behooves you to keep up. But the reading is good, often stimulating, sometimes provocative.
Department: Division of Arts and Humanities
University: Quest University Canada
Years offered: 2012-2013