Sophomore History Tutorial: The Emergence of Modern Europe
CSS 240
Fall 2025
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01
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This tutorial sequence analyzes the formation of modern European society from the late 18th to the last quarter of the 20th century. Most attention will be placed on Britain, France, Germany and Russia as these countries were shaped by, and responded to, demographic, economic, social, political, and intellectual forces that led to revolutions, political and social reforms, new modes of production, changes in social hierarchies, and new forms of warfare. Much attention will be placed on the social and political consequences of the French Revolution and industrialization, but empire, the origins and consequences of the two world wars (including the Russian revolution and the rise and defeat of Nazism) will also come under extensive discussion, as will the creation of a more stable and prosperous postwar European order. Europe's links to Africa, Asia and the Americas will be discussed in the context of imperialism and the two world wars. In addition to developing knowledge of the most important processes that have shaped the modern world, this tutorial seeks to foster a critical awareness of the varieties of historical narrative, the skills needed to interpret historical primary sources, and the possibilities and limits of history as a tool of social investigation. |
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| Credit: 1.5 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
SBS HIST |
| Course Format: Discussion | Grading Mode: Credit/Unsatisfactory |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Requirement for: (College of Social Studies) |
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Past Enrollment Probability: Not Available |
| SECTION 01 - 1st Trimester |
Major Readings: Wesleyan RJ Julia Bookstore
Required texts:
1. Bayly, C. A. THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN WORLD 1780¿1914: GLOBAL CONNECTIONS AND COMPARISONS. Malden, Mass: Blackwell, 2004. ISBN-13: 978-0631236160
2. Fitzpatrick, Sheila. THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION. 4th ed. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN: 978-0199237678
3. Furet, François. THE FRENCH REVOLUTION 1770¿1814. Translated by Antonia Nevil. Oxford and Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell, 1996. ISBN: 978-0631202998
4. Hobsbawm, E.J. THE AGE OF EMPIRE, 1875¿1914. New York: Vintage, 1989. ISBN: 978- 0679721758
5. Jarausch, Konrad H. OUT OF ASHES: A NEW HISTORY OF EUROPE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2015. ISBN: 978-0691173078
6. Kershaw, Ian. HITLER. PROFILES IN POWER. London and New York: Routledge, 1991. ISBN: 978-0582437562
7. Landes, David S. THE UNBOUND PROMETHEUS: TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT IN WESTERN EUROPE FROM 1750 TO THE PRESENT, 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN: 978-0521534024
8. Sperber, Jonathan. THE EUROPEAN REVOLUTIONS, 1848¿1851. 2d ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN: 978-0521547796
9. Williamson, David G. BISMARCK AND GERMANY 1862¿1890. 3d ed. London and New York: Routledge, 2011. ISBN-13: 978-1408223185
10. A series of readings available as PDF files from the course Moodle page
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly papers due at the beginning of each class. |
Additional Requirements and/or Comments:
Course open to CSS sophomores only. |
| Instructor(s): Grimmer-Solem,Erik Times: .....F. 02:00PM-04:00PM; Location: TBA |
Permission of Instructor Required
Enrollment capacity: 11 | Permission of instructor will be granted during the drop/add period. Students must submit either a ranked or unranked drop/add request for this course. |
| Drop/Add Enrollment Requests | | | | | |
| Total Submitted Requests: 0 | 1st Ranked: 0 | 2nd Ranked: 0 | 3rd Ranked: 0 | 4th Ranked: 0 | Unranked: 0 |
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