12:00 PM to 01:15 PM T
Exploratory Hall (formerly Science and Tech II) L004
Section Information for Spring 2019
In this course, we will explore the sweeping historical changes that created today's world, ending with the fairly recent ascent of "the West." We will survey major features of the principal civilizations of the world and the major types of global contacts over the last eight centuries or so, both as many were originally formed and as they have been more recently altered during the past three centuries by the "forces of modernity." We will try to define what the major traditional features of each civilization were, and how those cultures persisted and changed as the "modern world" evolved. This course will specifically trace key processes shaping and reshaping the politics, cultures, and economies of various societies throughout the world. The chief goals of this course involve the following: the ability to assess change over time on a global level; comparing different societies, highlighting both similarities and differences; and the understanding of the emergence and impact of global processes throughout the past three-quarters of a millennium.
ALL parts of the world will be discussed in this course. Each geographic region became enmeshed in a global system affected by far-reaching religious transformations, mercantile activity, industrial growth and imperialism/colonialism. We will study that process along with the influences of modern nationalism, Cold War dynamics, and anti-colonial movements. By the end of the semester, students should have a grasp of the major trends underlying the most recent millennium of world history. To accomplish all of this, we will explore primary documents from some often "unheard" voices like women, non-whites and non-Westerners (although we won’t completely forget about the so-called “Great White Men” either), secondary source scholarship in the form of a textbook tailored specifically for this course, and informative (and amusing) videos. This class will be organized as BOTH lecture classes and interactive activities during recitations such as group work and discussion.
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Credits: 3
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