AP/HIST 4375 6.00

TOPICS IN MODERN GREEK HISTORY

The seminar focuses on the Greek war of independence in the 1820sto train history students in the study and research of liberal revolutions of the nineteenth century. The course firstly provides an introduction to the methodology of global history and its implications for the study of the age of revolutions. Second, it offers a thematic and comparative analysis of the shared features of the revolutions around the world and especially in the Mediterranean, by looking at uprisings in Portugal, Spain, the Italian peninsula,Sicily and Greece in the 1820s:the role of the army in revolutionary wars,the relationship between religion and revolutionary ideologies, counter-revolutionary culture, secret societies),the interconnections and exchanges during the revolutions, the mobility of volunteers, travelers, information and ideas between the revolutions, and from Northern Europe and other continents in the Mediterranean and from there to North Europe and the Americas.The course will discuss a macro-historical approach to the history of revolutions, such as the causes and impact of the revolutions, and a micro-historical approach, namely, the mobility of individuals and the circulation of political ideas in the age of revolutions. Much more than a history of nationalism and revolution the course will familiarize students to various approaches,and train them in the study of primary sources and the writing of research-based papers.We will also discuss and reflect on the Greek revolution in the 1820s as an opportunity to examine the emergence of nationalism, national independence movements during the age of revolutions (1770s-1830s)and the commemoration of such events;2021 marks the 200-year anniversary of the Greek Revolution of 1821 and the course will reflect on how the commemoration of the event has changed over time among Greeks around the world,in Greece but also among Greek communities abroad, such as in Canada.