AP/HUMA 3018 3.00

Pirates: From Past to Present

This course will begin with an exploration of the theory and practice of piracy. It will analyze the mythology of piracy, and consider this mythology in the context of historical and social realities of piracy. The course will examine what drove men and women to engage in piracy, how piracy is defined and its various forms (e.g. privateers vs. pirates). The course will also explore the politics of piracy, such as the impact on the government policy of various European nations (e.g., England, France, Holland), the United States of America, the Muslim nations of North Africa during the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth century as specifically related to piracy, as well as the internal politics of 'pirate' groups (e.g., democratic, anarchic, etc.). The course will explore the subject of piracy in its historical aspect, as well as in its literary, musical, and cinematic representations. The course will cover a wide range of historical instances of piracy from its earliest recorded instances, e.g., Julius Caesar's encounter with pirates as a youth, and the Vikings. The course also covers a wide geographical range including the pirates of the Adriatic and Mediterranean Sea, pirates of China and India, piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean world, and the current issues associated with pirates in Somalia.