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Mar 17, 2026
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HIS 3405 - THE ENLIGHTNMNT: REVOLUTION IN 18THCENTURY EUROPE AND AMERICA
credits: 3.0
History Majors, this course can fulfill either the European OR American history requirement in your major. Will explore major European and North American thinkers whose ideas revolutionized the Western world in the eighteenth century and laid the foundations for modern society. Will include: John Locke, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau, Mary Wollstonecraft, Adam Smith, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison. Will pay particular attention to the following questions: How did Enlightenment thinkers’ views on politics, education, economics, science, and religion reshape Western civilization in the eighteenth century? What role did Enlightenment ideals play in forging the American and French Revolutions? How did these ideals challenge established views on gender, race, and slavery? In examining these questions we will explore how advocates of the Enlightenment risked imprisonment and even death to challenge the power of the church and government. We will discuss how various institutions, especially the underground press, salons, coffee houses, and clubs, evaded state censorship to publicize Enlightenment ideas. This multimedia course will use various kinds of written texts as well as documentaries depicting the art and architecture of eighteenth century Europe. Student will also listen to the music of major composers such as Mozart. Method of Evaluation: Eight-to-ten page research paper, two short essays based on assigned readings, two essay exams, and class discussion. Method of Instruction: Lectures and class discussion. Meets *WRT and *WEP Distribution Requirements.
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