Imperialism and Cryptography

An examination of imperialism’s use of codes, acrostics, maps, diagrams, and other forms of secret communication. The seminar will focus on how the culture of secrecy that accompanied imperial expansion defined the tools of literary imagination in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While most studies of culture and imperialism examine the impact of colonial expansion on the geography of narrative forms, this seminar looks more closely at the language of indirection in English novels and traces metaphors and symbols to imperialism’s culture of secrecy. Application instructions: E-mail Professor Viswanathan (gv6@columbia.edu) with the subject heading “Imperialism seminar.” In your message, include basic information: your name, school, major, year of study, and relevant courses taken, along with a brief statement about why you are interested in taking the course. Application instructions: E-mail Professor Viswanathan (gv6@columbia.edu) by noon on april 11th with the subject heading “Imperialism and Cryptography seminar.” In your message, include basic information: your name, school, major, year of study, and relevant courses taken, along with a brief statement about why you are interested in taking the course.