A History of World Societies, 1500 to 1914
Curriculum guideline
Classroom instruction will include both lectures and seminar discussions. Lectures will provide instruction on weekly topics with opportunities for student inquiry and discussion. Seminars will encourage active class participation in the analysis of assigned primary and secondary readings. Classroom instruction may also include facilitation of student-led projects, student presentations on specific readings and/or topics, and other types of student-led activities. Classroom instruction may also include tutorials and workshops on transferrable skills, including research methods, academic citation practice, and presentation skills.
A sample course outline may include the following topics.
Note: Content may vary according to the instructor’s selection of topics.
- Encountering the World in 1500
- Conflict, Expansion and Exploitation: New Empires, Absolute Monarchies, and Republics
- Islamic Empires and their Subjects: The Ottomans, Safavids, and Mughals
- Continuity and Change in China, Japan and South East Asia
- Colonialism, the Atlantic World and Slavery
- The Scientific Revolution and the Challenges of the Enlightenment
- The Industrial Revolution and its Discontents
- Ideologies of Change and Nation Building in Germany, Italy and Russia
- Varieties of Imperialism in the Middle East and East Asia
- The Challenges of Modernity in the Ottoman Empire, Qing China, and Meiji Japan
- Imperial Rivalries in Africa, Independence in Latin America
- Radicalism, Reformist Impulses and Social Movements at the Turn of the Century
- New Imperialism and Settler States: North America and Asia-Pacific
- 1914: On the Eve of Global War
At the conclusion of the course, successful students will be able to demonstrate historical thinking skills, research skills, critical thinking skills and communication skills appropriate to the level of the course by:
1. Locating, examining, assessing, and evaluating a range of primary sources and secondary scholarly literature critically and analytically (reading history).
2. Constructing historical arguments, taking historical perspectives, and interpreting historical problems through different types of writing assignments of varying lengths (writing history).
3. Participating in active and informed historical debate independently and cooperatively through classroom discussion and presentation (discussing history).
4. Independently and cooperatively investigating the ways that history is created, preserved and disseminated through public memory and commemoration, oral history, community engagement, and other forms of popular visual and written expressions about the past (applying history).
Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College student evaluation policy. Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans.
Students will have opportunities to build and refine their research capacity and historical thinking skills through assessments appropriate to the level of the course. There will be at least three separate assessments, which may include a combination of midterm and final exams; research essays; primary document analysis assignments and essays; quizzes; map tests; in-class and online written assignments; seminar presentations; student assignment portfolios; group projects; creative projects; class participation.
The value of each assessment and evaluation, expressed as a percentage of the final grade, will be listed in the course outline distributed to students at the beginning of the term. Specific evaluation criteria will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.
An example of one evaluation scheme:
- Participation, In-Class Work: 15%
- Seminar Presentation: 10%
- Primary Document Analyses: 15%
- Midterm Exam: 15%
- Short Analytic Essay(s): 10%
- Research Project: 20%
- Final Exam: 15%
Textbooks and Course Readers will be chosen from the following list, to be updated periodically.
An instructor’s custom Course Reader may be required. Additional online resources may also be assigned, and links to specific resources may be provided in the course outline.
Coastsworth, John. Global Connections: Politics, Exchange, and Social Life in World History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015.
Craig, Albert M., et al. The Heritage of World Civilizations. 10th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2016.
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. The World: A History. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2016.
Judge, Edward H., and John W. Langdon. Connections: A World History. 3rd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2016.
McKay, John P., et al. A History of World Societies. 10th ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2015.
Stearns, Peter, et al. World Civilizations: The Global Experience. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson, 2015.
Strayer, Robert W., and Eric W. Nelson. Ways of the World: A Brief Global History. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2016.
Tignor, Robert, et al. Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 2013.
Von Sivers, Peter, Charles A. Desnoyers, and George B. Stow. Patterns of World History. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2015.
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