Tuesdays, July 7, 14, 21, 28 August 4, 11
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

This course explores how the small nation of Portugal played an outsized role in world history. The sessions examine Portugal’s fifteenth- and sixteenth-century maritime expansion, once known as the “Discoveries,” and its central role in the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. Discussion traces how Portugal, once a fringe region of the Roman Empire, emerged as the only independent kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula as Castile grew into Spain. The course follows Portugal’s rise as a global power with outposts from Brazil to Japan, and its later decline under Europe’s longest twentieth-century dictatorship. The sessions conclude by considering how this history continues to shape Portuguese identity and culture today.

Alison Roberts is a journalist with nearly four decades of experience, reporting in her native UK and later internationally for English-language outlets including the BBC, NPR, and Bloomberg News. Her work has covered politics, finance, sports, and the arts.