This course explores how Portugal, a small nation, played an outsized role in world history. We will examine its fifteenth-and sixteenth-century maritime expansion, its central role in the transatlantic slave trade, and its rise from a fringe region of the Roman Empire to an independent kingdom and global empire stretching from Brazil to Japan. We will also trace Portugal’s decline, its twentieth-century dictatorship, and the lasting impact of this history on Portuguese identity and culture today. Along the way, we will explore Portugal’s landscapes, art, architecture, and food, and consider why the country has become an increasingly popular destination for American travelers.

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 covers politics, finance, sports, and the arts. She has edited or contributed to a dozen guidebooks and provided online updates for Fodor’s, Time Out, and other publishers. Now based in Portugal, she is writing a history of the country and has explored it extensively from north to south.

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