HIST 3121: Polish History Since 1800

Course Description

This class offers students a chance to study 19th and 20th century Polish history. We look at how the most prominent ideals of what it means to be Polish – framed as a discussion between the Romantics and Positivists; the Fighters/Insurgents and Realists; the Old and New – affected the perceptions on honor, heroism, and Polish patriotism. A critical evaluation of these models leads us to evaluate the most important historical events in the last two centuries of Polish history – a country with impressive history of openness and multiculturalism as well as grim chapters of xenophobia. Centered on the role of individuals in shaping history, this class also reflects on the identity of Poles – citizens of a country located at the cross-roads of Eastern and Western Europe.