HIST 125: Introduction to Global History

HIST 125-001: Introduction to World History
(Spring 2015)

12:00 PM to 01:15 PM T

Section Information for Spring 2015

In this class we will examine what events have transformed the world between about 1400 CE to the twenty-first century. Our focus will be on global interactions, balanced with a careful consideration of local developments and influences. Topics will include the development of political and economic systems (e.g., democracy, liberalism, nationalism, fascism, colonialism, capitalism, socialism), changing conceptions of culture and identity (e.g., race, gender, ethnicity), and the conflicts and opportunities born of this transformation (e.g., anti-colonial movements, social revolutions, world wars, international organizations, globalization, religious and cultural conflicts). By the end of the semester, students will be able to provide thoughtful answers to the following questions: Why is economic and military power largely concentrated in the hands of Western leaders and countries? What separates a “developing” country from a “developed” one? Why are some areas of the world resource-rich but their communities poor? Why is warfare seemingly endemic in some parts of the world? What do we mean by the term “modern world”? While we cannot come up with simple answers to these questions, we can use history to understand how modern systems of political, economic, and social meaning, including the emergence of Western economic dominance, developed.

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Course Information from the University Catalog

Credits: 3

By focusing on historical experiences that reflect the diversity of Mason’s student body, students will be able to see how their families and communities fit within, and contribute to, global history from the pre-modern period to our present day. This course offers a long-term historical perspective on structural issues challenging our world today, including demographic and environmental changes, national and global inequalities, and the underrepresentation of marginalized groups. Students will gain an understanding of how interconnections and inter-dependencies have been forged through the global movement of people, pathogens, goods, and ideas. Limited to three attempts.
Mason Core: Global History
Schedule Type: Lecture, Recitation
Grading:
This course is graded on the Undergraduate Regular scale.

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