Paul Monod
Acting Dean of Int'l Programs; A. Barton Hepburn Prof of History
Email: monod@middlebury.edu
Phone: work802.443.5041
Office Hours: Spring 2013: Mondays 11:00 am - 12:00 pm, Tuesdays 1:30 - 2:30 pm, and by appointment.
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Paul Monod has taught at Middlebury College since 1984. He grew up in Montreal and was educated at Princeton and Yale Universities. He has offered courses in British History from 1485 to the present, European History from 1500 to 1800 and the History of the Atlantic World. In addition, he has advised more than 100 senior theses on various topics. His own area of specialization is 17th -18th century Britain, and he is now working on a study of the occult (alchemy, astrology, ritual magic) in the British Enlightenment. He has been the recipient of fellowships from the NEH, the Huntington Library, the Getty Research Institute and the Leverhulme Trust.
Books:
(edited, with Murray Pittock and Daniel Szechi), Loyalty and Identity: Jacobites at Home and Abroad (Palgrave, 2009).
Imperial Island: A History of Britain and Its Empire (Wiley-Blackwell, 2008).
The Murder of Mr. Grebell: Madness and Civility in an English Town (Yale U.P., 2003).
The Power of Kings: Monarchy and Religion in Europe, 1588-1715 (Yale U.P., 1999).
Jacobitism and the English People, 1688-1788 (Cambridge U.P., 1989).
Courses
Courses offered in the past four years.
▲ indicates offered in the current term
▹ indicates offered in the upcoming term[s]
ENAM 0350 / HIST 0350 - Shakespeare and History
Shakespeare and History (Pre-1800)
In this course, students will explore a selection of Shakespeare's history plays (plus one tragedy and one comedy) alongside the chief issues of Tudor and Stuart history. The professors will employ a fully cross-disciplinary approach to literature and history laying equal stress on Shakespeare's plays and the cultural, political, and religious questions of the 16th and early 17th centuries. Topics will include the Reformation, the cult of Elizabeth, witchcraft, domestic life, urban London, and the English empire. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Spring 2011
FYSE 1021 - Love and Death
Love and Death in Western Europe, 1300-1900
History is not just names and dates; it also encompasses how ordinary people lived and felt. Emotions have a history because they have changed over time. This seminar deals with aspects of the history of desire and fear in Western Europe from the Middle Ages to the industrial era. Topics will include sex, marriage, child-rearing, disease, suicide, and the belief in immortality. In addition to works of historical analysis, we will read literary and theoretical sources, including Dante, Goethe, and Freud. Our aim is to understand how common emotions have been altered by social and cultural circumstances. 3 hrs. sem.
Fall 2011
HIST 0105 - The Atlantic World, 1492-1900
The Atlantic World, 1492-1900
Linking the Americas with Europe and Africa, the Atlantic has been a major conduit for the movement of peoples, goods, diseases, and cultures. This course will explore specific examples of transatlantic interchange, from imperialism and slave trade to religious movements, consumerism, and the rise of national consciousness. It will adopt a broad comparative perspective, ranging across regional, national ,and ethnic boundaries. We will consider the varied experiences of Native Americans, Africans, and Europeans as they struggled to establish their own identities within a rapidly changing Atlantic world. Pre-1800. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Fall 2010, Spring 2012
HIST 0244 - Early Modern Europe, 1555-1789
Society and Culture in Early Modern Europe, 1555-1789
War, famine, and disease marked the terrible "iron century" of European history, from 1550 to 1660. Out of this frightful crucible, modern society was created. We will trace this troubled genesis from the aftershocks of the Reformation to the first rumblings of the French Revolution, stressing the conflicts that gave rise to the modern world: monarchy vs. "liberty," religion vs. "enlightenment," elite vs. popular culture. Topics such as the family, witchcraft, warfare, and fashion will be given special attention. Pre-1800. 3 hr lect/disc.
Spring 2009, Spring 2011
HIST 0253 - British History: 1603-1815
British History: 1603-1815
The medieval pattern of English society disintegrated in the seventeenth century. The unity of the English Church, the relationship between Crown and Parliament, even the social hierarchy, were threatened by new developments. After generations of civil war, revolution, and party strife, the eighteenth century saw the establishment of an oligarchic but more flexible order, able to withstand the challenges of radicalism and the American and French revolutions. By 1815 Britain, at the peak of its power in Europe, was already beginning to experience tensions of industrialism. This course will concentrate on the religious, social, and political aspects of these transformations. Pre-1800. 2 hrs. lect., 1 hr. disc.
Fall 2009, Spring 2012
HIST 0254 - British History: 1815-1979
British History: 1815-1979
The spectacular rise and dramatic decline of Britain as an imperial and industrial power is the central theme of this course. The century after 1815 was an age of political and social reform and the apogee of middle class culture. But in 1914 the crucial problems of women's rights, of labor against capital, and of Irish nationalism remained unsolved. War and economic depression followed. The Labour Party tried, and failed, to create a social democracy out of post-war Britain. Today, empire gone and industry spent, Britain continues to provide both warning and example to the rest of the world.
Spring 2010
HIST 0403 - Readings in European History
Readings in Modern European History: Scottish and Irish Identities
This seminar studies the development of Scottish and Irish national identities, from 1603 to 1922. Scotland and Ireland have had complicated and often tempestuous relationships with each other and with England, the long-dominant power in the British Isles. We will examine the social, political and cultural consequences, from the union of crowns under James I, to creation of the Irish Free State after World War I. Particular attention will be paid to rebellions, civil wars, religious changes, population shifts, literary movements and mass political organizations that have helped to shape national identities on both sides of the Irish Sea. 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2013
HIST 0430 - East Asia/Japan's Long Postwar
Readings in Modern East Asian History: Post-colonial East Asia and Japan's "Long Postwar"
With the end of the Cold War and the death of Emperor Hirohito in 1989, long simmering debates reignited over the meaning of Japan's prewar empire in East Asia, Japanese wartime atrocities, and the reconfiguration of East Asia within the Cold War. In this course, students will investigate how events from over 60 years ago have continued to reproduce national identities and geopolitical relations in postwar East Asia. Through a variety of novels, films, and historical analyses, we will investigate the limits of, and tensions between, individual experience, memory, national history, and geopolitics. 3 hrs. sem.
Fall 2010
HIST 0500 - Special Research Projects
Special research projects during the junior year may be used to fulfill the research seminar requirements in some cases. Approval of department chair and project advisor is required.
Spring 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Spring 2011, Fall 2012, Spring 2013
HIST 0600 - History Research Seminar
History Research Seminar
All history majors who have not taken a writing and research seminar are required to take HIST 0600 in their junior fall or, if abroad at that time, their senior fall semester. In this course, students will conceive, research, and write a work of history based on primary source material to the degree possible. After reading and discussion on historical methods and research strategies, students will pursue a paper topic as approved by the course professors. HIST 0600 is also open to International Studies and Environmental Studies majors with a disciplinary focus in history. 3 hr. sem
Fall 2011
HIST 0700 - Senior Independent Study
The History Senior Thesis is required of all majors. It is written over two terms, with the final grade applying to both terms. The project is generally begun in the fall and completed during winter or spring. Approval is required to begin the thesis in winter or spring, and such students must still attend the Thesis Writer's Workshops that take place in fall and winter.
Spring 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Fall 2012, Spring 2013
INTL 0474 / HIST 0474 / PHIL 0474 - Political Theology
Political Theology from St. Paul to John Locke
St. Paul epitomized the idea of political theology when he wrote "the powers that be are ordained by God." Those who rule do so by divine ordinance, and obedience to them is a duty owed to God. Centuries later, political philosophers like Milton and Locke argued that power originated with the consent of the governed, but they also subscribed to St. Paul's political theology. This mixture of seemingly incompatible views is part of our political heritage. In this course we will seek to understand political theology in its historical contexts, from the ancient Middle East to the modern United States. This course is equivalent to HIST 0474 and PHIL 0474. (Approval required) 3 hrs. sem.
Spring 2010
INTL 0702 - EUS Senior Thesis
European Studies Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Fall 2009, Winter 2010, Spring 2010, Winter 2011, Winter 2012, Spring 2012