HIST 106 Conspiracies in History
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
SEM
Throughout history, ideas of "conspiracy" have helped people explain events that otherwise seem unexplainable; have justified repressive measures against individuals or groups believed to be conspiring; and have stirred the imaginations and shaped the public agendas of communities and sometimes entire nations. Case studies will include charges of conspiracy raised against religious sects (European freemasons, Chinese secret societies, the Catholic Church), political and economic movements (Mau-Mau in colonial Kenya, communist parties, Molly Maguires), and such phenomena as the Mafia, the Broederbond of South Africa, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King and John F. Kennedy. Students will examine the historical evidence, the social significance, and the political consequences of particular "conspiracies" with the aim of comparing and generalizing over time and space.
