Empire, imperialism, colonialism, neo-colonialism

-To perceive how the concepts of empire, imperialism, colonialism and neocolonialism have evolved;

- To analyse the building of paradigms: Alexander's empire and its echoes in European Renaissance and in Enlightenment;

-To ponder on the way empires were built in Europe (Roman, Carolingian, Habsburg empires…)

- To examine the case of the Ottoman empire; 

- To problematize the evolution of European seaborne empires (Portuguese, Dutch, Spanish, French and British empires);

- To synthesize how European multispatial empires designed our modern world.

This curricular unit approaches 5 topics:

- The concepts of empire, imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism;

- The making of a paradigm: Alexander's empire and its "echoes" in European Renaissance and in Enlightenment;

-The empires built in Europe: Roman, Carolingian, Habsburg empires..;

- The Ottoman Empire and Europe;

- The seaborne European empires: Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French, and British.

- Remains of different European imperial heritages in the contemporary world.

Avelar, Ana Paula. Visões do Oriente-Formas de Sentir no Portugal de Quinhentos. Lisboa, Edições Colibri, 2003.

Briant, Pierre. The first european – A History of Alexander in The Age of Empire, Cambridge, Harvard Press, 2017.

Burbank, Jane, Cooper, Frederick. Empires in World History-Power and the politics of difference. Princeton, Princeton Press, 2010.

Costa, João Paulo Oliveira e(coord.) História da Expansão e do Império Português. Lisboa, Esfera dos Livros, 2014. Costambeys,

Marios, ed. All. The Carolingian World. Cambridge, Cambridge Press, 2011.

Curtin, Philip D. The World & the West –The European Challenge and the Overseas Response in the Age of Empire, Cambridge, Cambridge Press, 2000.

Hobsbawn, Eric. A era dos Impérios-1875-1914. S. Paulo, Paz e Terra,2012.

Paquette, Gabriel. The European Seaborne Empires: From the Thirty Years' War to the Age of Revolutions,Yale, Yale Press, 2019.

Rauf, Don. The Rise and Fall of the Ottoman Empire. New York, Rosen Publishing, 2017. 

The course aims to perceive how the concepts of empire, imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism have evolved. The course is anchored in the study, understanding and individual reflection, eg, individual work (IW) and collaborative work (CW), which are developed through the participation in asynchronous forums. In each topic the first activity consists of the elaboration of individual reading summaries of previously assigned readings which were debated in the forums. The reading of theoretical summaries, short essays and debates on all the topics allow the students to reach three of the objectives previously outlined for this course: the analysis of the making of paradigms, taking as case study Alexander's empire and its echoes in the European Renaissance and in the Enlightenment; the analysis of the way the empires were built in Europe - Roman, Carolingian, and Habsburg; the analysis of the Ottoman empire and Europe. These objectives shape both the problematization around the evolution of European seaborne empires (the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the French, the British), and the traces of different European imperial heritages in the contemporary world. “Case studies” presuppose the elaboration of reports which are debated in forums, thus consolidating knowledge and research competences which will be developed in the final research report (OFRR), which was previously prepared and discussed with the teacher. During the teaching process students develop the understanding of concepts, problematization skills, innovative critical approach, and synthesis capacities. The Moodle platform IA and the CW allow them to distinguish the central from the accessory and to develop their argumentative skills. Students’ theoretical-conceptual domain will be shown in the OFRR. Students are then asked to ponder on their previous goals and point out aspects they think should be improved.

The course is anchored in the study, understanding and personal reflection, and collaborative work (CW). The final evaluation ponders on the continual evaluation (60%) and final summative (40%). Each activity instructions specify the debates and individual assignments (IAs) objectives and procedures, and evaluate the knowledge of concepts, and synthesis skills. IAs are reading summaries, commentaries, reviews, outline of the final research report (OFRR), research reports. In CW forums students are invited to interact with their colleagues and with the teacher, and debate readings, build synthesis, and clarify doubts. We evaluate the identification of main and accessory issues, and the problematization and relevance of the arguments. Eventually students work on their OFRR, and we evaluate (40%) the theme analysis and framework, the adequate use of concepts, the theoretical grounding, the research, the critical reflection and problematization.