Eighteenth-Century Europe

Peter W. Petschauer

Office: WH 216

petschauerpw@appstate.edu

262-6023

COURSE OUTLINE

One of my great joys in life is to be able to discuss with eighteenth-century Europe. It is my favorite topic, and I read in it as much as I can both, as they say, professionally and as a hobby. The purpose of the course is to enter the period with you from about the 1690s to about the 1780s. The reason for these parameters is that most people who work in the eighteenth century perceive it to have begun in the sixteen nineties because one of the principal rulers of it, Peter I, started his reign in 1692. The 1690s were transition periods for other reasons as well; for example, John Locke wrote several of his major tracts. The end of the eighteenth century is marked by the French Revolution and Napoleon and many people working on the period say that it was a completely different and call it The French Revolution and Napoleon. But of course there are others who talk about the long eighteenth century.

I have chosen one set of brilliant letters, several splendid autobiographies, and one innovative monograph, for our reading pleasure. You may want to consider Nicholas Henshall, The Myth of Absolutism (Addison-Wesley, 1992), our text. Other readings include Voltaire, Letters Concerning the English Nation (Oxford, 1994); Louis A. de Bougainville, Adventures in the Wilderness. The Journal of .... (University of Oklahoma Press, 1990); Vigee Lebrun, Memoirs of Madame Vigee Lebrun, transl. Lionel Strachey, intro. John Russell (reprint org.); and Elizabeth Kowaleski-Wallace, Consuming Subjects; Women, Shopping, and Business in the Eighteenth Century (Columbia U.P. ,1997).

Each of these readings highlights a certain topic of eighteenth-century Europe. Henshall, the text, if it is that, highlights the on-going debate about absolutism, its content and its limits. The exceptional Lebrun draws us into court life and asks us to enter one of the most known ways in which to present kings, courts and aristocrats of the eighteenth century: the work of the artist. Today we also have the internet to help us get a feel for court architecture and some basic descriptions of personalities and art, for example, at such sites as www.ChateauVersailles.Fr. But what would the eighteenth century be without a look at one its leading intellectuals, its emerging trade, and its wars and limits of its outreach. Here we will use Philosophical Letters, Consuming Subjects and the account of the warrior Bougainville's war account in the colonies.

Indeed, because this is a graduate course, we will engage in discussion and dialogue rather than me serving as the "talking head," although you may rest assured that our discourse will be informed. I am asking that you come prepared every day ready to contribute, ask questions, and just in general let all of us know that you have imbibed of the topic of the day. For this purpose, I am asking that you bring to each class a note that describes the reading you have done for that particular class and the reading that you have done for other classes. And because we have entered the last year of this century, we will also do considerable work with the internet and email; let's talk about that part when we first get together. At the very least, I am hoping that each will very soon bring to class the address of a web site or sites that relate to your topic to class so that we can all explore what neat stuff is available "out there." If you are up to it, we will use the chat room to see what we can do to explode the traditional class environment. And if we should decide to engage in that form of discourse, we will have design new ways of participating in class.

Aside from contributing in these ways, I am asking that you write a twenty page paper (PC generated, double spaced, end- or footnoted with traditional and internet sources) and that you present this paper to class. You think this is all. It is not! Each person will additionally read another person's paper and give that other person feedback in a two page summary for which a grade will be the reward. I am also asking that both of these be done relatively early in the semester so that we may spend less time on these toward the end of it and more on discussion. I will gladly help you with your topics and read your drafts as often as you like.

Your grade will thus be determined by your attendance and participation, your admit cards, your presentation, your paper, your comments, and your final.

You will find me in my office, 216 WH, on TT usually from 9:30 to 5 and MWF usually from 8:00-17:00. Call me at 6023, 2282 or 264.5514, or email at the above address, before you come by all the same to make sure I am in the office.

Syllabus

Week 1, Jan. 12 Introduction, etc.

Week 2, Jan. 19 Music of the Period/Topics for papers due

Week 3, Jan. 26 Art of the period, including issues of patronage

Week 4, Feb. 2 Court Life, women and children

Week 5, Feb. 9 The middle levels of society, presentations begin

Week 6, Feb. 16 The lower levels of society, food

Week 7, Feb. 23 Families and their structure, housing/ Paper drafts due

Week 8, March 2 Economic conditions/ Consuming Subjects

Week 9, March 9 Absolutism/ Absolutisms Questioned

Early Absolutists: Louis XIV, Peter I, Leopold of Austria,

George I

Week 10, March 16 Early Enlightened Absolutists: Charles III, Frederick II,

Week 11, March 22 Late Enlightened Absolutists: Joseph II, Leopold of Tuscany

Week 12, March 30 Bureaucratic reforms, like Cameralism, and their implications

Week 13, April 6 Diplomacy Second drafts of papers due

Week 14, April13 Warfare/ Bougainville

Week 15, April 20 The Cultural Landscape/Voltaire

Week 16, April 27 Governmental Initiatives, like Religious Tolerance and

Educational Reforms

Week 17, May 4 Review

Final

I hope this will be your best semester ever; not just in your classes.