2020-21 Academic Catalog

For the first four weeks, the course covers the comparative history of famine, and will be led by internationally renowned economic historian Cormac O’Grada, the 2020 Ott Family Lecturer in Economic History at Carleton College.  We examine causes and consequences (political, economic, demographic) and the historical memories of famines as well as case studies from Imperial Britain, Bengal and Ireland. In the second half of term, the course broadens its focus to examine the persistence of hunger and the nature of public policies related to food provision in comparative historical contexts.