HIST 362: Seminar: The Boxer Rebellion: Imperialism and Resistance in East Asia

In the summer of 1900, Beijing was overrun by foreign armies who came to rescue Western diplomats from the clutches of armed bands of Chinese rebels known to history as the “Boxers.” The gory highlights of this prolonged encounter, which eventually brought down the world’s largest empire, have been the stuff of legend, film, and political gamesmanship.  This course will examine the various causes of the Boxer Rebellion from a historian’s perspective. We shall ask: “Were Boxer atrocities an outbreak of irrational violence, or acts of local self-defense against over-bearing imperialists?”[W] [W] Prof. Barclay
Prerequisites: One of the following courses: HIST 206, 231, 243, 246, 248, 249, 250, or 261 or permission of instructor