F0811 Europe and its Strangers: Christian Encounters with Jews and Muslims

After beginning this course with Venetian encounters with the East (Marco Polo’s travels, the Black Death, the Crusades, and wars against the Ottoman Empire), we will expand beyond Venice to explore Western Europeans’ voyages of discovery to Asia, Africa, and the Americas, Napoleon’s conquest of Venice and Egypt, two world wars and the recent arrival of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East in Europe. A combination of lectures, film excerpts, and class discussion will give students a chance to improve their oral skills. Essays, quizzes and exams will challenge students to think about the significance of the material we cover.