Culture and Revolution in Paris, 1850-1900
David Pace
History
Paris in the late 19th century was the site of a cultural and political revolution that created the world we live in today. War, bloody battles between the classes, and an on-going struggle over the role of religion in French society tore the city apart, and yet it also saw the creation of the world of fashionable department stores, elegant cafes and boulevards, and a total transformation of art, culture, and what it means to be male and female.
In this course we will plunge into this vibrant world, exploring the changes, enjoying what this fertile period produced, and contemplating the crises that it faced. Each day we will consider a different aspect of Parisian society (Impressionism, war and revolution, gender roles, consumerism, race, etc.), and student teams will explore these developments from different angles. Throughout students will be able to witness the creation of the kind of society that they themselves inhabit and, hopefully, will gain new perspectives on their own world.
In the process students will be developing many of the ways of operating in a college classroom that they will need to prosper at IU. They will be introduced to the interpretation of primary and secondary sources, the organization of evidence to support an argument and the creation of a compelling thesis. They will be given practice at working collaboratively and at developing meta-knowledge about their own learning. And, perhaps most importantly, students will be given considerable experience at recreating the perspective of people whose life experience is very different from their own. Students who have taken this course in the past have reported that it helped them write effective papers, speak in class with more confidence, and enjoy a range of cultural phenomena that they had never encouraged before.
This course is eligible for honors credit through the Hutton Honors College.
Catalog Information: COLL-S 104 FRESHMAN SEMINAR IN S&H