HIS 384SEM—Scandal, Crime, and Spectacle in 19th Century France & England

Torture! Illicit Sex! Serial Killers! Murder! What can scandals, crime, and spectacle teach us about how the participants thought about gender, race, class, and sexuality in nineteenth-century France and England? Using major scandals and discussions about crime during the time, we will see how these events or historical moments illuminate these rapidly changing categories of analysis. History is full of such events; in some cases, they happily titillated the public, in others, they shocked the nation. And sometimes, they even influenced the course of history. Why the fascination with scandals? How was a torturous crowd made up of men, characterized as “feminine creatures?” Why was something that was accepted in private inexcusable in public? Students of race, gender, sexuality, popular culture, history, Empire, and colonialism will find a plethora of answers to these questions throughout the semester.