Teaching

This course is a thematic introduction to the flows of people, goods, and ideas throughout ancient, modern, and recent world histories. The course also emphasizes interactions and connections between different cultures, religious traditions, and political practices around the globe. Through this course students will develop an understanding of the complexity of the human experience, across time and space as well an appreciation of the dynamics of economic, political, and social power. The themes of the course provide a conceptual framework with which to view the past. These themes include empire and imperialism; slavery; the unfamiliar and the “other”; systems and places.

An introductory course to some of the central themes in the history of Western Europe since 1600, including domesticity, Empire, political and industrial ‘revolution’, and more.

This course surveys the social, cultural, political, economic, and religious development of the Western world from its earliest civilizations through the sixteenth century. It examines the formation of distinctive identities among the peoples, societies, states, and empires of the West and analyzes their contributions to what would later be understood as the foundations of the West. The course also investigates the evolving interactions between Western and non-Western societies and assesses the broader global influence of Western civilization. Areas of focus include religion and philosophy, trade and commerce, technology and war, literature and the arts, and gender relations.

An exploration of the major religious, social, intellectual and political changes in Western Europe from the late Middle Ages to the close of the 16th century. Particular emphasis is given to the relationship between Italian Humanism and the Protestant Reformation and to the continuity of the movement for Ecclesiastical Reform throughout the period.

Supervised a student’s original research project on the psychological testing of convicted Nazi criminals at the Nuremberg trials.

An introduction to the major economic, social, political, diplomatic, and environmental trends in the world since 1945. Geography is emphasized in the course.

The course is designed to provide students with an in-depth understanding of the causes, course, and impacts of the World Wars, Communism, Fascism/Nazism, the Cold War, the dream of European unity, decolonization, and the emergence of an interdependent world and the collapse of Soviet hegemony in Eastern Europe on the political, social, economic, cultural, intellectual, and diplomatic development of Europe.

This course explores the origins of Western Civilization in the ancient Near East and North Africa, its development in Greece and Rome, and its adaptations in the Medieval period.

This course explores the major developments in Western Civilization from 1450 to the present. In particular, the course focuses on the connections between structural transformations and historical events in theareas of economics, politics, social institutions, and culture.

Surveys world history from early modern times to the present. The course examines themes, events, trends, institutions, and ideas with a focus on global connections and interactions.

The early modern period witnessed an increasingly connected world, with Europeans interacting with people and urban spaces from Asia, Africa, and the newly ‘discovered’ Americas. The increasing connections with other peoples contributed to the growing importance of cities during this time, as the urban spaces became more populated and specialised in different economic functions. Combined with the religious turbulence experienced by mostly Catholics and Protestants, urban spaces experienced an increase in functionality, contestation, and violence.

The seminars will challenge students to ‘imagine’ how different cities functioned during this time, and how the different religious, political, royal, and economic influences shaped the urban space of the highlighted cities. Seminars will be thematic and draw examples from a number of highlighted cities. Some examples will be royal, print, trade, Catholic, port, and Reformation cities. Examples of highlighted cities will be Lyon, Constantinople, Geneva, Venice, Goa, Edo, Manila, Cuzco, Beijing, and Benguela. Each seminar will see a discussion concerning the primary and secondary sources of each thematic city. Primary sources will include visual and written sources, whilst a possible excursion to the altstädte of Tübingen or Esslingen can emphasise the seminar discussions concerning how we can analyse and challenge our interpretation of cities on a global scale in the early modern period.

This course will consider the role and impact of religious violence in early modern Europe. The introduction and spread of Protestantism challenged the traditional Catholic culture and society of Europe. The increasing influence of Protestants resulted in numerous clashes across the continent, with France arguably witnessing the most violence. The severe escalation of violence resulted in an upheaval of religious, political, social, and cultural institutions across Europe, and resulted in different attitudes as Europeans embarked on the Age of Discovery in the Americas.

The seminars will allow students to examine the causes and results of religious violence in the early modern period. By focusing on more broad episodes, such as the French Wars of Religion and the Thirty Years War, and more localised episodes, like the 1562 Massacre of Sens, 1641 Irish Rebellion, the 1572 St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre, and the 1647 Revolt of Masaniello, the students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the different aspects of religious violence, such as iconoclasm and ‘rites of violence’. The seminar will be based on visual and written primary sources, along with the secondary sources from historians such as Benjamin Kaplan. The module would also benefit from the sources and expertise of Tübingen’s Centre for Religion, Culture, and Society. By focusing on the instigations, acts, and outcomes of violence in early modern Europe, students will gain a solid understanding on how religious violence shaped Europe during this time, and how religious violence continues to play a role in modern day conflicts.

This module explores Europe’s changing role in the globally connected world of the early modern period. The Reformations of the sixteenth century transformed ‘Western Christendom’ into a continent of rival religious confessions. Yet over the following centuries a new sense of a European culture and identity took hold. How did these changes come about, who did they affect, and how did people make sense of their changing world? The fall of Constantinople and the conquest of the New World led Europeans to represent the continent in different perspectives. Thinkers in the Renaissance and Enlightenment reconsidered fundamental ideas about the relationships between individual and society, women and men, and the past and the present. Religious reform established confessional boundaries and denounced those who did not conform to them. Escalating warfare transformed a continent of dynastic states into a new balance of powers. And expanding global trade at a time of climate crisis in the ‘little ice age’ brought European and global markets into closer contact and instituted an inter-continental slave trade. Yet most households in the era of early industrialisation continued to live and work precariously, threatened by poverty and disease. This module introduces these key developments and more, while charting the emergence of the idea of ‘Europe’ in a formative phase of the continent’s history.