This course explores cultural, familial and intimate relations of power created in and by empires, in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The readings are thematic and interdisciplinary, drawn from national and transnational contexts, primarily in the Americas. Topics include militarism, transculturation, visual cultures, the circulation of people and goods, racialization and sexual politics.Contributions of Darwinian evolutionary theory to the understanding of contemporary culture. Through seminars, essays, and group discussions, students explore ideas, research objectives, and recent discoveries in applying Darwinism to the interpretation of cultural products like art and literature, socio-cultural institutions like religion and marketing, societal problems like war and environmental conservation, and emerging designs for new models of sustainable civilization in the 21st century.