Mar 28, 2024  
2021 - 2022 Academic Catalog 
    
2021 - 2022 Academic Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

HIS 334-01 - Decolonization

4 credits (Fall)
In the decades following the Second World War, more than a quarter of the world’s land mass and population were converted from colonies into nation states with surprising speed. But did the end of empire constitute a meaningful transformation or merely the change of a flag? And was the transfer of power as orderly as the imperial powers liked to claim? In this seminar we will explore some of the debates surrounding the timing, causality, character, and consequences of decolonization and consider how historical actors impacted and were impacted by the changing relationship of metropolitan centers and colonial peripheries. Common texts and student research projects will focus on the political, social, intellectual, and cultural dimensions of decolonization in British Africa and South Asia, as well as in Britain itself; students with relevant background may also pursue a topic related to another national/geographic context.

Prerequisite: HIS 100  and HIS 236  , HIS 261 HIS 262 , or HIS 266 
Instructor: Prevost