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Europe from Antiquity to the Scientific Revolution

A collage featuring a variety of artwork ranging from Alexander the Great to the Renaissance

In this course you will learn: Why women have been blamed for everything; what Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed really did and said; what the ancient Greeks thought about happiness, virtue, and race; how Athens and Sparta formed very different empires, fought the Persians, and then destroyed each other; why you really SHOULD be thinking about the Roman (Republic and) Empire ALL THE TIME; why the Romans persecuted Christians; how Christians eventually adopted & transformed Classical culture and philosophy; how Rome’s “fall” led to new medieval cultures in Greece, Germany, and the Middle East; and how the increased knowledge and questioning of Classical authors and texts in the Italian Renaissance led to new ways of seeing politics, religion, and gender relations; inspired exploration of the world beyond Europe; gave birth to the scientific revolution; renewed prejudice and intolerance; and helped justify empire, colonialism, and misogyny. Much of the modern world, for better or worse, is built on Western Civilization. Each week we will explore as a large group in lectures and debate in small tutorials key authors, events, and problems in European history and thought.

Topics (by week) & main Authors/Writings discussed in lectures & debated in tutorials: 

  • Hebrew & Greek Creation Stories: Why women are blamed for all our problems (Genesis/Exodus; Hesiod)
  • The Greeks & Empires: Why the Persians were so powerful, the Spartans so tough, & the Athenians so culturally & politically enlightened yet such abusers of power (Herodotus; Thucydides)
  • Greek Thought: Why Socrates had to die; Plato should not have gone spelunking; & Aristotle taught us how to be happy, politically smart, & sexist racist imperialists. (Plato/ Aristotle)
  • Rome: Why you SHOULD ALWAYS be thinking about the Roman (Republic &) Empire (Cicero/ Lucretius; Tacitus/Seneca)
  • Christianity: What Jesus actually said & why the Romans hated Christians (New Testament; Augustine)
  • Civilizations after Rome: How Rome became Greek & Islam was born (The Koran; Al-Ghazzali)
  • Medieval Cultures: Why monks whipped themselves; holy people killed other holy people; & students partied in University (Benedict; Thomas Aquinas; Maimonides)
  • Late Medieval Crises: Why Popes snubbed rulers; friars danced naked & kissed lepers’ sores; women defended Eve; & Plague changed everything (Francis; Christine de Pizan; Isotta Nogarola)
  • The Renaissance: How a new knowledge of the past & approach to Classical Antiquity changed the way we think (Petrarch; Valla; Pico della Mirandola; Machiavelli)
  • The Reformation & Witch hunts: How the Renaissance reformed Christianity & re-discovered the evil in women (Erasmus; Luther; Calvin: The Hammer of Witches)
  • Exploration & Innovation: What the Ancients got wrong. Or, why the equator won’t kill you, dead bodies are fun to play with, & laxatives may not be the ONLY cure (Columbus; Amerigo Vespucci; Thomas More; Montaigne)
  • The Scientific Revolution: What the Stars and Magical Potions really taught us . . . & maybe we earthlings aren’t as important as we thought (Galileo; Francis Bacon; Newton)

Department of History, ˴Ƭ University

49 Bader Lane, Watson Hall 212
Kingston ON K7L 3N6
Canada

Phone

Please note that the Department of History phone line is not monitored at all times. Please leave a voicemail or email hist.undergrad@queensu.ca and we will contact you as soon as we can.

Undergraduate

Graduate

˴Ƭ is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory.