This seminar explores the origins and paradoxes of European celebrity culture from the eighteenth to twentieth centuries. This new form of renown was a product of the consumer and media revolutions and of democratization. It depended on the public’s ability to consume, appropriate, and remake the celebrity’s image on its own authority and for its own purposes. The course examines not only how celebrities were produced over time, but also how the meaning of this culture was contested and redefined by fans, the media and famous individuals. It highlights the racial, gendered and class-based dynamics of historical celebrity culture. Prerequisite: One course in history with attribute G4 including AP or IB credit.