HIS 315 Britain and the Modern World

This course traces the evolution of the British Empire from its origins in eastern trade rivalries and North American settlement to its post-WWII decline and Commonwealth expansion. The core themes of this course are colonial cultures and resistance; the centrality of empire to British identity and national life, forms of imperial administration and policy, the combined commercial, military, and political functions of the joint stock company, the shifting rationale and ideologies of empire and its relation to domestic politics and economy. An important aim of this course is to collapse the assumed boundaries between nation and empire and consider them in a common frame. Fulfills writing-intensive requirement.Prerequisite: HIS 218, HIS 219, or HIS/POS 300.