A general survey course exploring specific themes and periods from c. 1500 to the present, and problematizing them in comparative, theory-intensive ways. Runs parallel to the SPS 102 (Humanity and Society II) freshman course, which serves as the teaching practicum of HIST 502 for SU graduate students in History who also serve as SPS 102 section instructors. Topics dealt with over the second semester include : the Protestant Reformation and the subsequent relativization of religion; the European Reconnaissance and the birth of the modern world-system; the rise and political economy of the merchant empires; the "military revolution" and the genesis of the modern state; science, scientism, and the Enlightenment; modes of sovereignty and legitimacy : the birth of modern politics and political science; proto- industrialisation; the wealth of nations; revolutions and modernity; the French Revolution and its legacy of "revolutionism"; the Industrial Revolution and its legacy of the "social question" in the 19th century; varieties of nationalism : European; east-southeast European, extra-European; debating the new imperialism, 1875-1914; imperialism, war, and revolution; the new toughness of mind : socialism and communism; the new toughness of mind : fascism and national socialism; the post-1945 world order; the collapse of communism, and problems of post- communism; new issues and conflicts of capitalist modernity at the end of the 20th century.
Explorations in World History II (HIST 502)
Programs\Type | Required | Core Elective | Area Elective |
MA-Conf.Analys.&Resol-Non Thes | |||
MA-Conflict Analys.&Resolution | |||
MA-Cultural Studies | |||
MA-Cultural Studies-Non Thesis | |||
MA-European Studies | * | ||
MA-European Studies-Non Thesis | * | ||
MA-History | * | ||
MA-History-Non Thesis | * | ||
MA-Political Science | |||
MA-Political Science-Non Thes | |||
MA-Turkish Studies | |||
MA-Turkish Studies-Non Thesis | |||
MA-Visual Arts&Vis. Com Des-NT | |||
MA-Visual Arts&Visual Com Des | |||
MS-Bio. Sci. & Bioeng. LFI | |||
MS-Bio. Sci. & Bioeng. LFI-ENG | |||
MS-Industrial Eng. LFI-ENG | |||
MS-Industrial Engineering LFI | |||
MS-Materials Sci. & Eng. LFI | |||
MS-Materials Sci.&Eng. LFI-ENG | |||
MS-Mechatronics LFI | |||
MS-Mechatronics LFI-ENG | |||
MS-Psychology | |||
MS-Psychology-Non Thesis | |||
PHD-Computer Science and Eng. | * | ||
PHD-Experimental Psychology | |||
PHD-Gender Studies | |||
PHD-History | * | ||
PHD-Management | |||
PHD-Social Psychology | |||
PHDEPSY after UG | |||
PHDMAN after UG | |||
PHDMAN after UG-Finance | |||
PHDMAN after UG-Man. and Org. | |||
PHDMAN after UG-Op.&Sup. Cha. | |||
PHDMAN-Finance Area | |||
PHDMAN-Man. and Org. Area | |||
PHDMAN-Op. & Supp. Chain Area | |||
PHDSPSY after UG |
CONTENT
OBJECTIVE
This is the second of a sequence of two related courses on World History that are required of all MA students in History. It is a general survey course that explores specific themes and periods from ca. 600 to ca. 1600, and problematizes them in comparative, theory-intensive ways. The early modern age serves as the end-point of our discussion, as it was a turning point in human history, bringing about profound shifts in the economic, social, and political make-up of Eurasia and the wider world. Topics to be dealt with in the second semester include but are not limited to such theoretical problems as
? the periodization of history;
? religion and state;
? elites vs. subalterns;
? center vs. periphery;
? history and nature;
? Modernity's subsumptions and transformations of pre-modernities;
and more historical issues, such as
? the economics of peasant production;
? the rise of monotheistic religions and late Antiquity;
? nomadic pastoralism, mounted archers, steppe empires;
? the role of movement and conquest in history;
? tributary states and societies;
? the function and varieties of fief distribution;
? types of urban space and culture;
? the Italian Renaissance as the dawn of early modernity;
? the world on the eve of the ?European miracle.?
Instead of covering the entire span of human history, which is an impossible task without running the risk of superficiality, we will concentrate on major nodes of interaction and leading patterns. In addition to the substance of history, students will also be encouraged to learn and develop methods as to how to broach historical sources?be they textual, material, or any other kind?critically.
The course will proceed in a rough chronological sequence.
LEARNING OUTCOME
Upon completion of this course, students should be able: to familiarize with facts, concepts and themes of world history
discuss and interpret actors, periods, developments and transformations in world history
compare, contrast and connect various phenomena and situations in world history
develop their interpretative, analytical and critical abilities with a view to discuss historical developments in different parts of the world
carry out further independent and interdisciplinary study on whichever period, subject or geographical location they choose in the future
Update Date:
ASSESSMENT METHODS and CRITERIA
Percentage (%) | |
Final | 30 |
Midterm | 30 |
Assignment | 20 |
Participation | 20 |
RECOMENDED or REQUIRED READINGS
Textbook |
Clive Ponting, World History: A New Perspective (London: Chatto & Windus, 2000). |
Readings |
1. Introduction: 2. The Rise of Islam and the Eastern Roman Empire 3. The Great Empires: China, Inner Asia, Western Europe, 600-1000 CE 4. Eurasia, ca. 1,000 CE 5. Asia, ca. 1,000-1,250 CE 6. The Mongol Empire (1200-1350) 7. Recovery (1350-1500) 8. MIDTERM 9. The Columbian World 10. The Early World Economy 11. From pre-industrial societies to modernity 12. Modernity and Globalization 13. The Mediterranean (1500-1600) 14. Eastern Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean |