What do we mean by the term "Victorian" and what was "Victorianism?" This course will address these questions via a detailed examination of the array of social and economic forces, institutional and political arrangements, and beliefs and cultural practices that constituted Victorian Britain. In the first part of the course we will explore the image of Queen Victoria herself, what we mean by "Victorian values," how Victorians understood their world, and how recent historians have attempted to decipher the peculiarities of the Victorians. Then we will explore how Victorians attempted to render their world orderly, transparent, and governable-how they sought to tame social and political unrest, rapid industrial change, and the problems encountered in massively expanding cities through morality and religion, the application of technology, and new practices of rational social engineering. Finally, we will turn to the last third of the century, when these schemes for order came under pressure from forces like feminism, sexual dissidence, consumerism, religious doubt, and fears of racial degeneracy. Format: discussion (and two lectures). Evaluation will be based on class participation, two 8- to 9-page interpretive essays, and a self-scheduled final exam. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 25 (expected: 15-20). Open to all. Priority to upperclass students. Group B