HIST-2011H: The Making of Modernity

Instructor: Kevin Siena

Course Code: HIST 2011H

When Taken: Winter 2022

Class Notes: History of the Enlightenment.docx

Major Assignments: Scripture Politics_ Ultimately Ineffective.docx, Power and Inclusion_ The Irish Parliament During the Enlightenment Era.docx

This class looked at the period of the European enlightenment, looking at what life was like prior to the enlightenment, how the enlightenment started and acted, as well as what the world looked like post-enlightenment. The instructor made the argument that the world post-enlightenment is one that looks very similar to the world that we live in today.

After this class, I would make a different argument. Some historians like to track historical progress through eras, or revolutions, like the technological or agricultural revolution. Looking at the world post-enlightenment makes me believe that it is possible that post-2000s we have entered into a new phase, which I have heard called a web revolution, although I think that may be a poor phase. The world in the 1800s looks similar to the world described in the 1950s, but I think it looks different to the world which I grew up in.

Despite this, I think it is hard for people to truly understand the era in which they live. People in the enlightenment certainly thought they were in something new, but did they truly understand that this was a new era? I think not. Additionally, people often think that the next new thing, like AI, or mRNA vaccinations are the next big thing that is going to either destroy society, or create a world unlike we know it, but it is hard to measure the impact of any one of these things at the moment. It is only through retrospect that people really understand the effect each small change had on society. I guess we will find out if this is the next big era in 200 years if someone has written a university course on it.