Wednesdays

11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. EST

Zoom and In-Person at BCC

1/18, 1/25, 2/1,
2/8, 2/15, 2/22

Six Sessions

Limit: 30 for In-Person; No limit for Zoom

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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