Social Movements & Revolution

4 credits · Undergraduate

In this course, we will examine one of the most important drivers of cultural and political transformation: revolution. The French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Iranian Revolution, the revolutions of 1989, and the Arab Spring demonstrate how ordinary people can challenge political authority and transform institutions through extraordinary mobilization. This course seeks to explain why revolutions occur, how they unfold, and why they produce different outcomes by reviewing major theories and empirical research. Understanding revolutions requires both familiarity with abstract theories and detailed knowledge of specific historical cases.