Making (and Breaking) Nations
Fred C. Frey Professor Aaron Sheehan-Dean Department of History
The last year has seenthe resurgence ofnationalist political movements around theworld. Some of these advocate new ethnocentric visions and others express longstandingdesires for sovereignty. All of them are rooted in a political order of autonomous nation-statesthat developed in the nineteenth century. Students in this course will explore this pivotal moment,when the practicesofwar-making and nationbuilding joined at aparticularly important pointin the historyof the modern world. Inparticular, it asksstudents to compare how different people (in the US, Mexico, India, Germany,and China) succeeded and failed at making sovereign nations. We willevaluate a broad range of cultural, social, economic, and political factors in each placeand identify points of similarity and contrast in this process around the world. For more information, please contact Prof. Sheehan-Dean at asd@lsu.edu.
