This course explores major trends in European culture in the context of political and social events. The focus will be on political events and their significance for culture (e.g. fascism, World War II and the Holocaust and their effects in the second half of the 20th century, the political reorganization of Europe, protest movements), new trends in thought (e.g. existentialism, structuralism, post-modernism feminism) and the arts and letters (e.g. neorealism epic theatre, new wave cinema).