070122 SE BA-Seminar - The Crowd in History (2019W)

This BA-Seminar examines the crowd as a historical subject, with a focus on European history. The course moves chronologically, from prehistoric hunting bands to present-day social networks, treating gladiatorial crowds in Rome, crusader armies in the Middle Ages, revolutionary crowds in France, the mass politics of twentieth-century totalitarian regimes, postwar protesters and concert-goers, and important crowd theorists (Seneca, Marx, Le Bon, Canetti, Rudé, Tilly). A major aim of the course will be to uncover the history of the premodern crowd as well as to shed light on modern crowds. In each week we will focus on a different historical setting, discussing required primary and secondary readings. The aim of the readings is to maximize exposure to different ways of perceiving and analyzing collective behavior within a historical context. The course culminates in a major research paper.
As a seminar, this course centers on the development of a term-long research paper. This can be on any subject related to collective behavior. The other assignments are designed to prepare students to research this paper.