HI 432 - 1 Fall of Rome & the Collapse of Complex Societies

A seminar course examining historical and anthropological scholarship on how and why some societies collapse. The course focuses on the collapse of political and economic complexity in the Western Roman Empire-the so-called "Fall of Rome" (4th-6th centuries A.D.)-but also compares other collapses across history, from the cities of the Maya to the shores of Rapa Nui/Easter Island.