History 397F explores popular culture in Britain and France between 1800 and the 1930s. Students will be introduced to the theory of popular culture before exploring various forms of leisure and culture, including music, theatre, cinema, pubs, reading, sport, and consumerism. The course will also consider class, gender, and control, exploring efforts to regulate and rationalize popular leisure during the period. History 209 or History 110 are recommended.

Considering a number of cases in 20th century Europe, this course investigates numerous aspects of dictatorship, including: coercion, propaganda, consensus, and resistance. After highlighting the key factors in the collapse of the respective dictatorships, the course explores the first steps toward democratization. This examination includes: domestic and international concerns, the role of non-government organizations, initiatives to reconcile victims and perpetrators, and efforts to commemorate, and otherwise deal with, the lingering effects of state-sponsored oppression