HIST217

Race in Europe has seemed to be a 20th-century importation, the product of new migrations from the “outposts” of European empires in the wake of WWII. The “migrant crisis” of the present era doubles down on this sense of racial, ethnic, and religious difference as externally imposed. This account has served as a comforting narrative, just as it’s been intended to fuel reaction. In this course, we examine changing views on racial, ethnic, and religious differences in European thought and politics since the eighteenth century. In contrast to populist claims, there has been a long history of European difference-making -- of “othering” along racial, ethnic, and religious lines that has produced a seemingly white and Christian European identity. Together, we will situate our investigation of difference-making alongside primary sources and recent scholarship which highlight the experiences of the individuals who built their lives and communities in the midst.