Extremist Movements in History
This seminar examines extremist movements throughout history. We shall study both religious and secular extremists. Our inquiry includes the Bogomils, Cathars, Anabaptists, Fifth Monarchy Men, Diggers, Levellers, Jacobines, Babeufists, “Utopian” socialists, “scientific socialists,” Anarchists, Communists, National Socialists, fascists, radical nationalists, extreme feminists and homosexual revolutionaries, and, last but not least, Islamic radicals. We shall also look at some of their principal thinkers.
The objective is to familiarize themselves with their arguments and their actions, finding analogies with modern day extremists and dealing with them intellectually and politically.
After completing the general requirements, the student concentrates on the area of his or her particular interest to write the term paper. Finally, we conclude with an in-class written exam.
If a directed study: Throughout the semester the student meets with his tutor to deliver periodic (weekly) progress reports.
Required Reading:
Anthony Arthur, The Tailor-King: The Rise and Fall of the Anabaptist Kingdom of Muenster
Erik von Kuehnelt Leddihn, Leftism Revisited: From de Sade and Marx to Hitler and Pol Pot (Washington, DC: Regnery, 1991).
Paul Johnson, Intellectuals (New York: Harper Perennial, 1990).
Donald F. Busky, Communism in History and Theory: From Utopian Socialism to the Fall of the Soviet Union
Hannah Arendt, Origins of Totalitarianism (San Diego, New York, and London: A Harvest/HBJ Book, 1979).
Malise Ruthven, A Fury of God: The Islamic Attack on America (London: Granta, 2002)Principal Professor
Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Academic Dean and Professor of History, The Kościuszko Chair in Polish Studies
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