A History of World Societies, 1500 to 1914

Curriculum guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course code
Hist 1102
Descriptive
A History of World Societies, 1500 to 1914
Department
History
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start date
End term
201730
PLAR
No
Semester length
15
Max class size
35
Contact hours
Lecture: 2 hrs. per week / semester Seminar: 2 hrs. per week / semester
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning activities

Class sections will be divided between lectures and seminar discussions. The seminar discussion sessions will serve as a forum for the analysis and discussion of scholarly literature and as a testing ground for student hypotheses. The instructor will encourage students to elaborate, refine and revise ideas. Discussion sessions will also include tutorials in conducting historical research, the exploration of primary source documents, and practice in oral presentations. Participation in both lectures and seminar discussions is required for the successful completion of the course.

Course description
A History of World Societies, 1500 to 1914, will cover the following themes and places: Europe’s mercantilist expansion, including African slavery and the creation of neo-Europes in the Americas; the first republican revolutions in England and the Netherlands; the Islamic Empires of the Middle East and India; the dynasties of China and feudal Japan; the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and political revolutions in America and France; national unification and nation building in Europe; imperialist expansion in Africa and Asia; the challenges of modernity in Qing China and Meiji Japan; new imperialism and settler states in North America and Asia-Pacific; and struggles to redefine modern market societies in terms of gender roles, social wages, and workers’ rights.
Course content

Week 1: Encountering the World in 1500

Week 2: Conflict, Expansion and Exploitation: New Empires, Absolute Monarchies, and Republics

Week 3: Islamic Empires and their Subjects: The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals

Week 4: Continuity and Change in China, Japan and South East Asia

Week 5: Colonialism, the Atlantic World and Slavery

Week 6: The Scientific Revolution and the Challenges of the Enlightenment

Week 7: The Industrial Revolution and its Discontents

Week 8: Ideologies of Change and Nation Building in Germany, Italy and Russia

Week 9: Varieties of Imperialism in the Middle East and East Asia

Week 10: The Challenges of Modernity in Qing China and Meiji Japan

Week 11: Imperial Rivalries in Africa, Independence in Latin America

Week 12: Radicalism, Reformist Impulses and Social Movements at the Turn of the Century

Week 13: New Imperialism and Settler States: North America and Asia-Pacific

Week 14: 1914: On the Eve of Global War

Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

  1. Examine historical sources critically and analytically (reading history). These sources include not only survey texts and scholarly articles, but also short monographs and extended primary sources.
  2. Create and communicate personal interpretations of historical problems (writing history). Forms for communication of personal interpretations include research proposals, research essays (from 3000-5000 words), annotated bibliographies, comparative book reviews, short interpretive essays, historiography analyses, primary source studies, and final examinations or final summative assignments.
  3. Analyze the ideas of other students and the instructor in both tutorials and seminars both independently and in cooperation with other students (discussing history).
Means of assessment

Assessment will be in accord with the Douglas College student evaluation policy. Specific components of evaluation will include some of the following: mid-term and final exams consisting of short answer questions and essay questions; in-class written work, quizzes, research paper; seminar presentations; short debate/position papers; participation in class discussions.

Specific evaluation criteria will be provided by the instructor at the beginning of the semester and will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.

An example of one evaluation scheme: Any combination of the following totalling 100%

  • Essays (one to four) 20%-60%
  • Tests (at least two) 20%-60%
  • Instructor's General Evaluation (participation, quizzes, etc.) 10%-20%

No single essay or test will constitute less than 10% or more than 35% of the grade

Total value of all essays will not be less than 20% or more than 60%

Textbook materials

Texts will be chosen from the following list, to be updated periodically:

An instructor’s Course Reader may be required.

Adler, Philip J., and Randall L. Pouwels. World Civilizations. Vol. 2. Since 1500. 7th ed. Stanford, CT: Wadsworth Publishing, Cengage Learning, 2015.

Andrea, Alfred J., and James H. Overfield. The Human Record: Sources of Global History. Vol. 2. 7th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Publishing, Cengage Learning, 2012.

Buillet, Richard W., Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel R. Headrick, and Steven W. Hirsch. The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History. Vol. 2. Since 1500. 6th ed.  Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Publishing, Cengage Learning, 2014.

Craig, Albert M., William A. Graham, Donald M. Kagan, Steven Ozment, and Frank M. Turner. The Heritage of World Civilizations. Vol. 2. Boston: Prentice-Hall, 2011.

Fernandez-Armesto, F. The World: A History. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Judge, Edward H. and John W. Langdon. Connections: A World History. Vol. 2. From 1650. 2nd ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012.

Lockard, Craig A. Societies, Networks and Transitions: A Global History. Vol. 2. Since 1450. Stamford, CT: Wadsworth Publishing, Cengage Learning, 2015.

McKay. John P., Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Roger B. Beck, Clare Haru Crowston, Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, and Jerry Davila. A History of World Societies. Vol. 2. Since 1450. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford Books, 2015.

Morillo, Stephen. Frameworks of World History: Networks, Hierarchies, Culture. Vol. 2. Since 1350. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Morillo, Stephen, and Lynne Miles-Morillo. Sources for Frameworks of World History. Vol. 2. Since 1400. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Pollard, Elizabeth, Clifford Rosenberg, and Robert Tignor. A History of the World: From the Beginnings of Humankind to the Present. Concise Ed. New York: WW Norton, 2015.

Pomeranz, Kenneth, James B. Given, and Laura J. Mitchell, eds. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A Companion Reader. Vol. 2. New York: WW Norton, 2010.

Reilly, Kevin. Worlds of History. Vol. 2. Since 1400: A Comparative Reader. 5th ed. Boston: Bedford Books, 2014.

Sivers, Peter von, Charles A. Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Patterns of World History. Vol. 2. Since 1400. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Sivers, Peter von, Charles A. Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Sources in Patterns of World History. Vol. 2. Since 1400. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013.

Smith, Bonnie G., Marc Van De Mieroop, Richard von Glahn, and Kris Lane. Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples. Vol. 2. Since 1300. Boston: Bedford Books, 2012.

Stearns, Peter N., Stephen S. Gosch, Erwin P. Grieshaber, and Allison Scardino-Belzer. Documents in World History. Vol. 2. The Modern Centuries, From 1500 to the Present. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012.

Strayer, Robert W. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History with Sources. 2nd ed. Boston: Bedford Books, 2013.

Related Resources:

Bentley, Jerry. H. The Oxford Handbook of World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013.

The New Oxford World History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008-. 17 vols.

Studies in Comparative World History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984-. 9 vols.

Very Short Introductions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000-. 68 vols. in History.

 

Prerequisites

none

Corequisites

none

Equivalencies

none

Which prerequisite

none