HIST 020 - (HP) Why History MattersSemester Hours: 3
Fall, Spring
Contemporary issues are seen in relation to their historical contexts and origins. Themes will vary, depending on faculty member and relevant global events, and have included presidential politics, the war on terror, popular culture in Latin America, the welfare state and social inequality, Islam and the West, migration, genocide, and natural disasters.
Current Special Topics
Why History Matters: Getting Medieval
Why History Matters: Getting Medieval. In the news, we often hear about fanatical groups prone to “medieval” violence, ordinary twenty-first people subjected to appalling “medieval” justice, and lawmakers and citizens who show “medieval” levels of ignorance. But why are the Middle Ages invoked so often? What was the medieval period really like, and why is this word being used (perhaps misused) to describe events in the twenty-first century? This section of History 20 will ask how ideas about the Middle Ages inform our contemporary discussions about intolerance, torture, race, Islam, antisemitism, sex, globalization, culture, and the lives of ‘ordinary people’ in the US, Spain, Nazi Germany, Egypt, and elsewhere. We will ask what agendas are at work, find out how the past is imagined and distorted, and watch some truly bad “medieval” films.
Prerequisite(s)/Course Notes:
(Formerly Understanding Today’s World.)
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