The death of Queen Elizabeth and
numerous new scholarly studies are raising many questions about the nature of
the UK’s imperial actions and their multifaceted legacy. As Americans, we
generally assume that the American Revolution was justified by Britain’s
undemocratic actions. At the same time, we often accept the validity of
Britain’s “civilizing mission” in its other colonial possessions. In this
class, we will consider aspects of the legacy of the British empire in Canada,
Sierra Leone, India and Pakistan, Kenya, and Malaysia. Questions we will ask
include: How did British colonial governance structures change over time? What
were the promises of colonization and what were the actual outcomes? How do
British colonial economic, political, and social policies and practices still
affect the global community today? Participants in the class are encouraged to
read Legacy of Violence: A History of the
British Empire by Caroline Elkins, Alfred E. Knopf, 2022.
Katherine Kidd studied at Pacific
Lutheran University (BA in History and German), Harvard (AM in Soviet Studies)
and the University of Pennsylvania (PhD in International Relations). She
developed and directed majors in International Studies at Fairfield and Sacred
Heart Universities. Her academic and non-profit work has taken her to several
countries in Latin America, to Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia, to Russia and
Eastern Europe, and to Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. She has taught regularly
for OLLI since 2017.
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OLLI: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Berkshire Community College Partners in education with Williams College, Bard College at Simon's Rock and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts 1350 West Street | Pittsfield, MA 01201 | 413.236.2190 | olli@berkshirecc.edu