HST 496: Research Seminar/HST 744: Seminar in Nineteenth Century European History
"London, the Seminar: From the Great Fire of 1666 to the Present"
Professor James Schmiechen
Tuesdays, 7:00-9:50pm
In its heyday of the 19th century, London was not only the capital of Britain, but also the world’s largest city, the financial and cultural capital of the world, and the center of the world’s largest empire. This seminar looks at how the physical makeup of the city—including the character of its people, its spatial layout, architecture, housing, and services infrastructure—was shaped and reshaped by industrialization, new cultural/political values, population growth, and war. It is also an attempt to discover how and why “London” was a hotbed for great invention and creativity and architectural wonder.
Each student in the seminar will participate in collective reading/discussion and take on a specific research sub-topic—anything from street entertainment and food/housing for the lower classes to the building of great concert halls, new Houses of Parliament, the role of the monarchy in the history of the city, and the rebuilding of London following the Great Fire of 1666, the onset of industrialization, and the bombing ‘Blitz’ of World War Two.
For each student the outcome of the seminar will be a seminar paper. Course assessment will include, as well, seminar discussion participation and analysis of select readings.
