Fall
4
This course examines the Cold War -- the ideological, economic, and geopolitical struggle between capitalism and communism after World War II -- by exploring how it shaped the daily lives, perceptions, attitudes, and artistic expression of people across the European continent. Rather than focusing on the US and USSR, we will think about the lived experience of a range of Europeans on both sides of the “iron curtain” who found themselves caught in the middle of the twentieth century’s great power struggle. We will use the story of the Berlin Wall as a touchstone woven throughout the course as a way to understand what the Cold War meant to people in concrete terms.
Prerequisite: Sophomore standing.