Spring 2003
I. Course Description
This course is an introduction to the world's history from approximately the year 1500 to the present. The course's main theme is the rise to world dominance of the West (Western Europe and the U.S.) over the past 500 years and its impact on the rest of the world. This is an enormous topic that cannot possibly be covered comprehensively in one semester. Consequently, our goal will be to identify major developments by studying important and illuminating case studies from history. The case studies will be drawn from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South Asia (India and Pakistan), East Asia (China and Japan), and Latin America. Comparisons of these regions will play an important role in understanding the major patterns in history. This course will also serve as an introduction to historical methodology because, like a historian, students will be expected to analyze and interpret some source materials (readings, visual materials, and videos).
The class also will concentrate on developing study skills that will help you to succeed in college and the real world. You will have the opportunity to improve your critical thinking, writing, and public speaking. All classes will mostly involve discussion, so it is imperative that students attend class regularly and do assigned reading. There will be five writing assignments during the semester that are meant to develop analytic and descriptive writing skills.
An important
study aid will be my personal web page where the syllabus for this class is
posted. Each topic on the syllabus will have a link to a web page with study
questions on the readings.
II. Grading Requirements
1. Attend class,
and participate in class discussion (20%)
2. 2 short papers (30%)
3. Take-home Midterm
(20%)
4. Take-home Final
exam (20%)
5. Group project (5%)
6. Cultural activity
paper (5%): Attend one approved
cultural activity on campus and write a two page paper describing what you
learned at the event. The list of activities is linked to the web version of
the syllabus. The paper is due by two weeks after the event.
III. Policies
1. The class participation grade will be based on attendance and contribution to discussions. You will receive a grade for each class session. Students will receive an "A" if they demonstrate mastery of readings by making thoughtful and insightful comments. To receive a "B," students will have to show that they have completed reading assignments. Students who attend class and listen to the discussion, but do not comment will receive a "C." If you have an unexcused absence, you will receive an "F."
2. Absences will not be excused unless you can document a serious illness, family emergency, varsity athletic event, or religious observance. Those who were sick must give me a doctor's note. Since Etter Health Center does not issue written excuses, those who have been to Etter should give me a note or e-mail reminding me to call the health center for confirmation of the illness. For a family emergency, I require a note or phone call from a parent or guardian. Athletes should provide a note from your coach. The university's policy on religious observances is that at the beginning of the semester students should present me with a list of dates when they will not be attending class.
3. Academic dishonesty will not be tolerated. I encourage you to study together with other students, but all papers must be written without the assistance of others. Cases of academic dishonesty, such as plagiarism, will be dealt with according to the policies described in the Undergraduate Catalog, pp. 46-48. Failure to abide by university policies on academic dishonesty may result in a grade of "F" for the course.
4. I assign
letter grades used in the Shippensburg University grading system to the following
numerical scores:
A 93-100
A- 90-92
B+ 87-89
B 83-86
B- 80-82
C+ 77-79
C 70-76
D 60-69
F Below 60
Andrea, Alfred
J., and James H. Overfield. The Human Record: Sources of Global History,
Volume II, Since 1500. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Bulliet, Richard W.,
et al. The Earth and its Peoples: A Global History, Volume II, Since 1500.
2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Kim, Richard E. Lost
Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood. Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1988.
Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir
Boy: The True Story of a Youth's Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa.
New York: Touchstone, 1998.
Pomeranz, Kenneth,
and Steven Topik. The World That Trade Created: Society, Culture, and the
World Economy 1400 to the Present. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1999.
| Date | Class Content | Readings | Assignments |
| Tue, Jan 21 | Introductions |
1. Land-based
(Gunpowder) Empires, 1500-1750
| Thu, Jan 24 | Early Ottoman Empire | Bulliet 522-30; Andrea 88-93 | |
| Tue, Jan 28 | Late Chinese Empire | Bulliet 421-3, 546-9, 554-62; Pomeranz 51-3, 55-7 |
2. The Rise
of Western Europe
| Thu, Jan 30 | European Maritime Expansion, 1492-1550 | Bulliet 418, 424-39; Andrea 44-6, 65 70; Pomeranz 16-8, 53-5 | |
| Tue, Feb 4 | Colonization of Americas, 1492-1770 | Bulliet 472-84; Andrea 19-26; Pomeranz 82-3, 143-6, 156-8 | |
| Thu, Feb 6 | Transatlantic Economy, 1550 1800 | Bulliet 497-515, 519; Andrea 205-10; Pomeranz 86-99, 116-119, 154-56 | |
| Tue, Feb 11 | Political Revolutions in America and France | Bulliet 573-91, 596; Andrea 186-90, 193-8 | Paper 1 assigned |
| Thu, Feb 13 | Industrial Revolution | Bulliet 599-615; Pomeranz 44-51, 192-4, 201-3, 237-9 | |
| Tue, Feb 18 | Snow Day: Class Cancelled |
3. The World
in an Age of Western European Dominance
| Thu, Feb 20 | Nationalism, Imperialism | Bulliet 713-18, 726-31; Andrea 295-302 | |
| Tue, Feb 25 | British India | Bulliet 648, 657-63; Andrea 336-9; Pomeranz 163-6, 228-30 | |
| Thu, Feb 27 | Colonial Africa | Bulliet 649-56, 731-9; Andrea 313-18; Mathabane ix-xii, 3-5 | |
| Tue, Mar 4 | China Confronts the West | Bulliet 683-91; Pomeranz 12-14, 84-6, 99-105 | Paper 1 due |
| Thu, Mar 6 | Japan's Reforms | Bulliet 563-7, 691-5; Andrea 361-9; Pomeranz 235-7 | Midterm Paper Assigned |
| March 10-14 | Spring Break |
4. Early
20th Century Crises
| Date | Class Content | Readings | Assignments |
| Tue, Mar 18 | World War I | Bulliet 752-64; Andrea 377-88 | |
| Thu, Mar 20 | Russian Revolution | Bulliet 765-7, 780-3; Andrea 278-83; 389-93 | |
| Tue, Mar 25 | Worldwide Depression: The U.S. | Bulliet 780, 783-5; Pomeranz 66-8, 119-24, 126-33, 136-43, 206-13 |
Midterm Paper Due; Paper 2 assigned |
| Thu, Mar 27 | Worldwide Depression: The Rise of Hitler | Bulliet 785-8; Andrea 398-404 | |
| Tue, Apr 1 | Worldwide Depression: Japan's Militarism | Bulliet 721-3, 767-9, 788-91; Kim 3-86 | |
| Thu, Apr 3 | World War II | Bulliet 792-8; Kim 87-142 | |
| Tue, Apr 8 | World War II: The Human Cost; Presentations of Papers | Bulliet 798-803; Andrea 408-14; Kim 143-95 | |
| Thu, Apr 10 | Web page design; Presentations of Papers | Paper 2 due |
5. Late
20th Century Conflicts: New Nations and Cold War
| Tue, Apr 15 | Nation Building: India and Pakistan | Bulliet 810-7, 841-4, 845-6; Andrea 422-3, 438-43, 483-7; Pomeranz 233 5 | |
| Thu, Apr 17 | Cold War in Europe | Bulliet 831-6; Andrea 472-82; Mathabane 3-119 | |
| Tue, Apr 22 | Cold War and Nation Building: China, Korea, Vietnam | Bulliet 836-9; Andrea 443-6; Mathabane 123-211 | |
| Thu, Apr 24 | Nation Building: South Africa | Bulliet 842-4, 891-2; Mathabane 215-350 | |
| Tue, Apr 29 | Nation Building: Palestinian Israeli Conflict | Bulliet 769-73, 848-50; Andrea 424-5, 430-3 | Group projects due |
| Thu, May 1 | Nation Building: Radical Islam and Iraq | Bulliet 850, 855-6, 859-60, 866-7, 882-91; Andrea 434-8 | Final Paper assigned |