HIS 510SEM - Modern Mediterranean

This graduate seminar explores concept of the Mediterranean region as a discrete unit of historical analysis. Its name means ¿inland sea,¿ and, like other similar bodies of water across our planet, it separates, connects, and environs a diverse array of peoples and polities. With its sprawling chains of islands, bays, inlets, and narrows, framed by the rugged landscapes of North Africa, Southern Europe, and the Levant, the Mediterranean has facilitated intense commercial and human exchanges for millennia. As it has drawn together the peoples gathered on its many islands and shorelines, it has also served as a link between peoples further afield, the vital link between the peoples of North Atlantic, Africa, and the Indian Ocean world. Rarely has any single imperial power been able to dominate the Mediterranean, with ancient Rome at its zenith being the salient but brief exception. The region¿s historical identity has thus mainly been characterized by intense pluralism and an international order that has generated both protracted conflict and models of coexistence. The seminar engages multiple perspectives on all of these themes in various historical periods, reviewing recent and classic historiography and examining primary sources.

Credits: 3