Your task will be, first, to create a collection of historical resources on a topic of your own
choosing regarding revolutions and social movements in world history. So, for example,
a topic could include any of the following topics listed below. (The American Revolution is
deliberately NOT to be discussed. You can do that in more specific courses in American
history.)
The French Revolution Itself (Recommended)
This approach has the advantage that there are abundant materials on this subject in
particular, not to mention that the website for the course has hundreds of resources,
and you can dig intensely into a given subject. Go into specifics about a specific
phase or social group within the French Revolution. Among social groups, you could
choose women, the aristocracy, peasants, artisans, urban workers, or professionals.
You could discuss politics or culture. Possible phases include the Reign of Terror, the
Directory, the Napoleonic Period, or the initial phases of the revolution.
Other Political Revolutions
Apply the types of interpretations of the French Revolution from Hunt, DeTocqueville
or others, to these revolutions, and see if they fit!
The French Revolution of 1830
The Paris Commune of 1870 The European “Springtime of Nations”, 1848 (any nation within that year)
The Russian Revolutions, 1905, 1917, 1989-91
The Chinese Revolution, 1911 or 1949
Eastern Europe in 1989
Latin American Revolutions, 19th century
Mexico, 1911
The Haitian Revolution
The “Arab Spring”, 2012
Gandhi’s Movement for India
Iran, 1978-1979
Turkey, 1919-1922
Philippines, 1986
Social Movements and Social Transformations
Working-Class Movements and Revolution
Peasants and Revolution
Religion and Social Transformation
The Role of Women in Revolution
The Role of Minorities in Revolution
Revolutionary Ideologies (Socialism, Nationalism, Religion)
Revolutions and Cultural Change
Revolutions Interpreted through Art, Music, or Literature
Revolutionary Movements’ Use of Art, Music, or Literature
Revolutionary Movements’ Impact of Art, Music, or Literature
As noted, your tasks, for which you will be evaluated will be
(1) Formulation of a topic. This could be an evaluation of some subtopic within
the French Revolution based on the website’s documents, or a comparison of another
revolution with the French Revolution, or an evaluation of another revolution on its
own. (Note: a mere summary/recital of that other revolution won’t get you far.)
(2) Gathering of library and online materials. Your creativity in finding potential
library and internet resources will be put to the test here. YOU MUST GO BEYOND
USING JUST A FEW TOKEN WEBSITES. I AM EXPECTING AT LEAST A PAGE OF
SOURCES, listed by the resource searched, and by the search terms used.
(3) Compilation of your findings into a good research paper on your topic.
This could be also be a comparison of your revolution with the trends and themes
discussed in the French Revolutionary years.
