HIST 412 - Lords, Peasants, and Pigs on Trial: popular and elite culture in early modern Europe

FC SSCI CD WINT

4 credits
In an era before the Kardashians, how did people participate in and understand popular culture? How did elites interact with the masses and with each other? This historiography course explores the changing meaning of culture between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, when Europeans experienced religious upheaval and political consolidation, promoted colonial expeditions, conducted scientific experiments, and burned witches at the stake. We will both examine various methodologies used to interpret texts, images, and material artifacts from the period and evaluate historians’ interpretations of the social norms, rituals, and performances that played out on streets and salons.