Introduction
- Contrast different forms of imperialism. Give one example for each.
- How did colonizing and colonized people adapt to imperialism?
- What do postcolonial authors contribute to our understanding of imperialism?
Chapter One
- What were the foundations of European masculinity? How were they transmitted?
- How did enslaved men reclaim their masculinity?
- Describe one form of resistance and one form of accommodation to imperialism.
- How/why did heteronormativity become entrenched?
- In what ways are modern racial constructions gendered?
Chapter Two
- Describe the evolution of Muslim feminism.
- In what ways were local women essential to the spread of imperialism?
- What opportunities were open to women during the Age of Empire? How were these limited by race and class?
- How did movements for women’s rights develop differently in two different cultures?
- Why did masculinity and femininity develop in opposition to each other?
Chapter Three
- Why did people in the colonies convert to Christianity? Give two different examples.
- How did people in the colonies adapt European institutions to their own cultures?
- Which imperial tools were the most effective at colonizing the mind?
- Which methods of racial segregation were most effective? Which were least effective?
- How did the contradictions within the institutions of empire lead to changing them or even ending them?
Chapter Four
- Were people more empowered as consumers or producers of transnational goods?
- Did the homogenizing of consumer culture advance or undermine European imperialism?
- How did “exotic” cultures inspire European artists? Did they borrow or exploit non-European cultures?
- Is modern sexuality an invention of European imperialism?
- Compare and contrast two hybrid cultural products that you might consume today?
Chapter Five
- Why did some people value and some people abhor body markings?
- Discuss the fine line between fitness movements and race purity.
- How do Western constructions of embodiment affect men and women differently?
- Describe two successful transnational reform movements to end body modification.
- Compare two hybrid forms of body management.
Chapter Six
- Compare and contrast different forms of masculine resistance to imperial rule.
- How did women in resistance movements either challenge or conform to gender norms?
- Give two examples of European support for colonial independence movements.
- How did imperial interventions in intimate life provoke resistance movements?
- Chart a spectrum of independence movements from most violent to least violent.
Conclusion
- How did interracial intimacies both enable and impede the spread of empire?
- When, how, and why did European imperialism end?
- Assess the legacies of European imperialism.