This course examines European colonial narratives and how they continue to inform current discourses of immigration, culture, and race in Europe. A comparative approach in this course allows for a deconstruction of national narratives of exceptionalism, innocence, and benevolence. These narratives have enabled European nations to marginalize and romanticize their colonial past, each in their own unique ways. Why has it taken so long for Europe to address its colonial past? What are the consequences for Europe’s postcolonial migrants and their descendants? With Denmark, Belgium, and France as our case studies, we will investigate these questions and more. In class and on our study tour to Brussels and Marseille, we will look into how colonial narratives are challenged in decolonial work by artists, writers, thinkers, filmmakers, and activists.
Related Discipline(s)
This summer course would also be of interest to the following discipline(s):Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
