Imperialism and Postcolonialism

Course Overview

In this course students will explore imperialism, colonialism, and decolonization, interlinked historical processes that have profoundly shaped the world they live in today. While the course covers a broad swath of time—the late fifteenth century to the present—we will focus especially on the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as we look at how modern empires were created, negotiated, contested, and formally dismantled. Some of our core themes include the continuities and discontinuities of imperial systems over time; the layers of economic, military, and political power that facilitated imperial expansion; the varied forms of colonial control and anti-colonial resistance; the role of culture and ideas in interactions between colonizer and colonized; and the transformation of the world order into a system of nation states. As we examine our themes in a global context, we will also pay particular attention to how indigenous and local peoples experienced and responded to colonial rule. Given the range and diversity of these experiences, we will take a case study approach, drawing on examples from regions such as Latin America, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. In the final unit of the course, we will use the lens of postcolonial studies to consider the legacies of imperialism and colonialism, as well as the ongoing struggles of decolonization, in our contemporary global society. As an advanced high school history course, this class is structured around the goals of not only helping students deepen their critical and historical thinking skills, historical knowledge, and civic engagement, but also preparing them for the types of requirements and assignments they will encounter in undergraduate history courses.