First-Year Seminar: Pirates, Explorers and the Frontiers of Empire

3 units

Shrouded in myth and legend, piracy and exploration are often misunderstood and romanticized. This course places pirates and conquistadores, explorers and colonists, willing participants and victims within their proper social context and, in doing so, introduces students to early modern imperial and Atlantic history. Topics will include: patterns and transpositions of conquest; slavery and the colonial economy; colonial frontiers; scientific exploration; piracy and empire; gender and social control.