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CS92PROD
Re-imagining East and West: Constantinople between Rome and Istanbul

COL 128
Spring 2015
Section: 01  
Crosslisting: MDST 128
Course Cluster: Urban Studies

Constantinople was founded by a Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, in 330. From there the story gets complicated. Should we account for Constantinople from a Western point of view, and call it Roman? Or, should we label it by its Eastern religion, and call it Christian? Or, should we see Constantinople's true nature in a transnational Hellenic culture, and call it Byzantine? Then, once we've chosen a story to explain the city's nature, how should it end? With the pillaging fourth crusade in 1204, or the Ottoman sack in 1453, or is Constantinople yet alive in modern Istanbul? This course diverges from such narrative frameworks by accounting for Constantinople as, first and foremost, a city. As we explore the rich, extra-textual, and unevenly distributed relics of this medieval metropolis, students will be pushed to create accounts of past experiences that are trustworthy and analytical, even while imaginatively encompassing the diversity and paradox of life in The City.
Credit: 1 Gen Ed Area Dept: HA COL
Course Format: Lecture / DiscussionGrading Mode: Graded
Level: UGRD Prerequisites: None
Fulfills a Requirement for: (HIST-MN)(HIST)(MDST-MN)(MDST)(MDST-Art/Arch)(MDST-History)(MDST-Lang/Lit)(MDST-Phil/Reli)
Past Enrollment Probability: 90% or above

Last Updated on DEC-12-2024
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