220082 Empire(s) and Migration: The Americas and South-East Asia in Comparison (S) (SoSe 2016)

About the course:
In the seminar „Emprie(s) and Migration: The Americas and South-East Asia in Comparison“ we will examine how the Spanish, French and British Empires expanded in the Americas and to South-East Asia between 1500 and 1850, and how different kinds of colonial settings (i.e. settler or merchant colonies), in turn, treated migration and migrants from Europe. We will explore the different outcomes of the „colonial experiment“ depending on the colonizers (i.e. Spain, France or Britain) and depending on the cultural, societal and environmental conditions in the colonized countries (i.e. parts of North- and Latin America and South-East Asia, respectively). The transatlantic Salve trade as well as economic expansion will be further important aspects of this course.

In the first week, we will look at concepts and theoretical approaches to migration and empire. In the second and third weeks of the block seminar we will dive into different thematic aspects ranging from questions of gender to „Hybrid Baroque“, to „Musical Fusion“ and „the Great Divergence“, all connected with migration and the expansion of empires. In the course of these weeks we will also study different genres of primary sources dealing with migration in the early modern Americas and South-East Asia.

The seminar will be held in English, though, if needed, communication in German is always possible.

Requirements for participation, required level

Gute Englischkenntnisse in Wort und Schrift
Bereitschaft englische Texte zu lesen und in Englisch an den Diskussionen des Seminars teilzunehmen