Admission requirements
None, but Birth of the Modern World is recommended.
Description
This course examines the relationship between science, technology, and empire from roughly 1750 through decolonization in the mid-twentieth century. In tracing the ways that networks of knowledge production manifested in the tangles of imperialism, students will explore the multiple facets of empire-making. With lectures, the course introduces key methodologies in the history of science and technology; with readings, the course explores case studies of science and empire that span a range of time periods and geographic locales, including eighteenth-century scientific ‘hitchhiking’ and collecting, nineteenth-century changes in the practice of medicine and the rise of evolutionary theory, and twentieth-century examples of fascist empire and the technologies of fascism. The course connects these particular examples, among many others, with broader themes in the history of science and empire.
In particular, students will pay attention to the role of local knowledge in the construction of—and challenge to—empire-making and "Western" knowledge, examining the dynamic relationship between the power of knowledge production and that of imperialism. The course further explores shifting conceptions of time and space over the course of the enlightenment(s), through the long nineteenth century, and into the twentieth. Along with textual sources, students will study the ways in which empire was constructed with visual and material culture, such as urban planning, architecture, advertising campaigns, infographic design, and ethnographic performance. Students will then assess the ways that these visual, material, and discursive worlds continue to constitute the afterlives of empire-making and “Western” knowledge production surrounding gender, ethnicity, disability, and non-human animals.
Course Objectives
Demonstrate knowledge of key concepts and approaches in the history of science and technology and the ability to engage these concepts with the history of empire.
Demonstrate knowledge of the multiple manifestations of empire and the role of knowledge production in imperialism, decolonization, and the afterlives of empire.
Demonstrate through reading and writing an ability to critically engage with sources, both secondary and primary.
Demonstrate an ability to develop scholarly arguments in written form.
Timetable
Timetables for courses offered at Leiden University College in 2025-2026 will be published on this page of the e-Prospectus.
Mode of instruction
Classes include lecture, reading discussions, and writing workshops.
Assessment Method
15% - Active Participation in classroom discussion and attendance
40% - Weekly "low-stakes" writing engagements with the reading
10% - Primary Source Analysis (due Week 4)
15% - Midterm exam (in-class in Week 5)
20% - Final essay (due 10 June)
Weekly writing: 4-8 sentences of critical engagement with the weekly reading(s), to be submitted to Brightspace before the class on which the reading is due. This "low-stakes" exercise is designed to stimulate class discussion, to hone critical thinking and writing skills, and to bring the reading in conversation either with the larger themes of the course or with your own particular interests. Ten opportunities will be provided; eight will count towards the final percentage.
Primary Source Analysis: Students will select one textual or visual/material primary source, situating the source in the “thick description” of time and place. Examples might include: the correspondence of Charles Darwin or Florence Nightingale, scientific atlases of the eighteenth century, colonial urban planning or other mapping techniques, infographic design displayed at world’s fairs and museum exhibitions, or technologies of empire, such as telegraph systems, railroad construction, or radioisotopes.
Final Essay: This essay should build on the primary source analysis, setting the primary source in relation to the historiography of science and empire and the broader themes of the course.
Reading list
Readings are open access or available digitally to LUC students; some primary sources will be provided by the instructor.
Registration
Courses offered at Leiden University College (LUC) are usually only open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Leiden University students who participate in one of the university’s Honours tracks or programmes may register for one LUC course, if availability permits. Registration is coordinated by the Education Coordinator, course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.
Contact
Dr. Brianne Wesolowski, b.m.wesolowski@hum.leidenuniv.nl
Remarks
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