This course will examine the European cultural and
intellectual experience from the 1870s. Positivism, Liberalism,
Idealism, Socialism, Marxism, Fascism, and Existentialism will be
discussed, focusing on the relation between ideas and arts, politics,
and economics. We will pursue a number of themes, including the
emergence of distinct class identities, religion, and morality, new
forms of nationalism, and the changing nature of selfhood. Special
attention will be given to the "crisis of the end of the century," the
transformation of political and social thought, and the rise of
authoritarian and totalitarian idelogies.