Topics in Twentieth Century Europe

This course will introduce graduate students to current scholarship on major issues in twentieth century European history. Topics will include (but are not limited to) the causes and consequences of the two world wars; the emergence, workings, and collapse of authoritarian societies; the spread of mass culture and consumerism; Americanization; de-colonization; the European Union, and the collapse of the bi-polar political system. In the interest of introducing students to the significant historiographical debates of the field, they will read both standard historical interpretations and newer scholarship. M