Dreaming Empire: Britain & Russia in 19C

The course falls neatly into two halves, addressing the British and Russian empires as they were in the 19th century. The purpose of the course is to become familiar with imperial thinking, the thought (pro-empire, anti-empire, and simply permeated by empire, to put it in terms familiar to a contemporary audience) implicit in various literary works of the time. For the most part, the readings assigned are primary texts. These will be heavily supplemented during course meetings: the instructor will bring in various materials that would be obscure if assigned to students outside of class, but with live explanations in-class, will enrich their understanding of the primary readings.

Most readings are literary texts, though students will also read and receive guidance in secondary academic literature about those works. A few philosophical and historical texts from the time under examination will also be assigned.