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History
112 World Civilizations Post 1500 |
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Welcome |
Readings |
Grading and Due Dates |
Expectations |
Description of Course Elements |
Course Schedule |
NOVA
Policies
&
Resources |
Welcome to History 112 |
Course Description: Surveys the history of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas from approximately 1500 CE through the present. Lecture 3 hours per week. 3 credits. This is a Passport Transfer course.
General Course Purpose: HIS 112 surveys the general history of the world from approximately 1500 CE through the present and allows students to reach a basic understanding of the characteristic features of the world’s early historical development. Students will learn about important political, economic, social, intellectual, cultural and religious changes that shaped the world in this period of time. Connections and comparisons of human societies are made across space and time.
Course Prerequisite/Corequisite: None
Course Objectives:
Upon completion the course, the student will be able to:
Written Communication
• Express an understanding of forces that foster global connections among places, persons, groups, and/or knowledge systems through written activities.
Critical Thinking
• Explain human and social experiences and activities from multiple perspectives from 1500 CE through the present.
• Compare and contrast multiple perspectives or theories on global processes and systems throughout time.
• Describe how global relations impact individual lives and the lives of others over time.
• Develop multiple historic literacies by analyzing primary sources of various kinds (texts, images, music) and using these sources as evidence to support interpretation of historical events.
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Suggested Context Trans-Oceanic and Trans-Continental Trade (ex. the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, Indian Ocean trade, Eurasian trade), Overseas Empires and Land-based Empires (ex. Spain, the Ottoman Empire, the Qing dynasty, Muscovy), The rise of the nation-state, Columbian Exchange, European Intellectual Movement
• Identify the causes of the rise of modern states.
• Analyze the development and impact of culture, economics, politics, society, technology, and religious and philosophical ideas.
• Compare and contrast global and trans-oceanic connections.
• Analyze complex primary and secondary sources.
• Identify trans-global systems.
The Long Eighteenth Century: Suggested Context The Enlightenment, The Age of Revolutions (ex. Latin America, Haiti, USA, France), Nationalism and national identities (ex. France, Latin America, North America, the Caribbean), The Qing Dynasty,
• Identify the causes of the rise of modern states.
• Analyze the development and impact of culture, economics, politics, society, technology, and religious and philosophical ideas.
• Compare and contrast global and trans-oceanic connections.
• Analyze complex primary and secondary sources.
• Examine the origins of nationalism and national identities.
The Nineteenth Century: Suggested Context The Race to Industrialization (ex. Europe, Asia, Latin America), Imperialism and Neo-Imperialism, Nationalism and national identities (ex. Italian and German unification), Resistance to Colonialism
• Analyze the development and impact of culture, economics, politics, society, technology, and religious and philosophical ideas.
• Compare and contrast global and trans-oceanic connections.
• Analyze complex primary and secondary sources.
• Examine the causes of and impact of industrialization and imperialism.
• Examine the continuation and growth of nationalism and national identities.
The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries: Suggested Context The World Wars, The Cold War, Anti-colonial movements (ex. India, China, Pan-Africanism, Latin America), Decolonization (ex. in Africa and Asia), Globalization
• Analyze the development and impact of culture, economics, politics, society, technology, and religious and philosophical ideas.
• Compare and contrast global and trans-oceanic connections.
• Analyze complex primary and secondary sources.
• Examine movements of decolonization, liberation movements and resistance to imperialism.
Major Topics to be Included:
The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries
The Long Eighteenth Century
The Nineteenth Century
The Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Readings |
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Grading and Due Dates |
Course Element | Points | Due Date |
Attendance and Participation | 15% | Every Class
Session |
Primary Source Discussion
Leadership |
10% |
At least once during the semester |
Book Review (2 pages) | 10% | Book
Proposal due February 14 Finished Paper due March 14 |
Annotated_Bibliography,
Part 1 |
10% | April 4 |
Annotated_Bibliography,
Part 2 |
10% |
April 11 |
Research
Project |
20% | Topic
Proposal Due February 7 Finished Project Due April 25 Project Interview no later than May 9 |
Exams | 25% | Midterm
Exam: March 10 Final Exam: May 5 |
Percentage |
Final Course Grade |
Above 90% |
A |
80-89% | B |
70-79% | C |
60-69% | D |
Below 60% |
F |
Expectations |
Description of Course Elements |
1) Since this is a world history class, I would like your focus to extend beyond the history of the United States. This means no topic which solely deal with US history. You can, however, have a topic which ends up comparing US history with the history of some other region-- for example you could work on a topic which highlights the parallels between segregation in the US South with the Apartheid system in South Africa.
2) You should investigate a topic which largely falls sometime between the years 1500 and 2000. The period before 1500 is beyond the scope of the class, and the period after 2000 is too modern for us to have an appropriately historical perspective on. There’s perhaps a bit of wiggle room with these dates, but the bulk of your focus should be somewhere within this span of time.
3) There needs to be a sufficient body of written primary source documents in a language which you are able to read. Documents written by people who lived during the period you are researching and who personally experienced the events which you are investigating are indispensable to any work of historical scholarship. Unfortunately sometimes there are very interesting topic ideas for which the sources simply aren’t available. It is up to you to make sure early on in your research process that you will be able to find the minimum of 5 written primary source documents necessary for this project. Please see below for a list online primary source collections which can be a convenient starting point for your preliminary investigations.
1) What sort of topic do you want to research this semester? You should be as specific as possible about the particular time frame and/or geographic region. (Sometimes it can be helpful to phrase your topic in terms of a particular research question. For example “How did the Haitian Revolution of the 1790s change life for former slaves?” “Why did the samurai class in Japan abandon its traditional privileges during the Meiji Restoration?” or “How successful was the gay liberation movement of the 1960s in securing rights for the LGBTQ community in Britain, Germany, and the USA?”)
2) Why do you find this topic interesting? In what ways do you anticipate that your research will be relevant to things that you care about in your own life?
3) Which of the project formats have you chosen?
4) What sorts of primary sources do you expect to use? Have done any preliminary checking to see what sorts of sources are available? If so, where? (Remember, primary sources are documents written by people who lived during the period you are researching and who personally experienced the events which you are investigating. So for example, are there letters or memoirs written by people who were involved in the events? Relevant laws from the time period in question? Interviews of people who lived through the events?)
For primary sources, you might consult the following resources (some of these sites also contain secondary sources as well):
- The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy.
- Cambridge Digital Library.
- Hanover Historical Texts Collection.
- Finding World History Sources.
- The Women's Library at LSC.
- The Modern History Sourcebook.
- The African History Sourcebook.
- The East Asian History Sourcebook.
- The Indian History Sourcebook.
- The Islamic History Sourcebook.
- The Jewish History Sourcebook.
- The Women's History Sourcebook.
- The Victorian Web.
- Women in World History
- German History in Documents and Images.
- Marxists Internet Library.
- Asia For Educators (Primary Sources on China, Japan, Korea, South Asia, and South East Asia)
- 17 Moments in Soviet History.
1) A link to where your project video or website is publicly viewable.
2) The script or text for your project so it can be checked for plagiarism and A.I. use.
Part 1) Time Line (5 Paragraphs): Provide a Time Line which lists in chronological order what you think are the five most important events in the history of the world from 1500-1900. ALL OF YOUR EXAMPLES MUST BE EVENTS OR DEVELOPMENTS WE DISCUSSED IN CLASS! No more than three of your examples should be drawn from European or United States history. Each item on your Time Line should be a paragraph long and should contain the following information:
- What happened.
- When it happened (approximate dates are okay).
- Why it happened.
- The major Consequences of the event.
- How is this event significant or important?
Part 2) Primary Source Analyses: You will be given the titles of two primary sources which you have read during the first half of the semester (See the exam description in Canvas for the specific sources), and asked to briefly discuss the following elements:
- The identity and point of view of the author.
- The historical context of the document (what circumstances influenced the author?).
- The basic contents of the document.
- What does the document tell us about the specific time and place it was written?
Part 1) Time Line: Provide a Time Line which lists in chronological order what you think are the five most important events in the history of the world after 1900. ALL OF YOUR EXAMPLES MUST BE EVENTS OR DEVELOPMENTS WE DISCUSSED IN CLASS! No more than three of your examples should be drawn from European or United States history. Each item on your Time Line should be a paragraph long and should contain the following information:
- What happened.
- When it happened (approximate dates are okay).
- Why it happened.
- The major Consequences of the event.
- How is this event significant or important?
Part 2) Primary Source Analyses: You will be given the titles of two primary sources which you have read during the second half of the semester (See the exam description in Canvas for the specific sources), and asked to briefly discuss the following elements:
- The identity and point of view of the author.
- The historical context of the document (what circumstances influenced the author?).
- The basic contents of the document.
- What does the document tell us about the specific time and place it was written?
Course
Schedule |
Wednesday, January 22: Course Introduction/Why Bother Studying History? |
Read through the Course Syllabus Allosso and Williford, "Introduction" Watch "Is History B.S.?" |
Assignments to Complete: | Read through the entire syllabus, and submit the Introduction Assignment and the Syllabus Quiz by 11:59 pm on January 24 using the appropriate link under "Assignments" in the class Canvas page. Make sure to check the feedback you received to see if you need to resubmit it. |
Monday, January 27:
Sources and the Digital Age |
Discussion Sources:
Alan Turing, “Conference
on
Information
theory, 26-29 September 1950;” John
Battelle, “The
Birth
of
Google,” Wired, August 2005
Watch What's The Difference Between Primary & Secondary Sources? |
Wednesday,
January 29: Empires or People?-
"The History of Great Men" vs. "History From
Below" |
Discussion
Sources: List
of
Zheng
He’s Expeditions
(1431); Watch Is The History of Great Men B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 1: Modern World History Begins in Asia" |
Monday, February 3: Family, Gender, and Peasant Life |
Discussion
Sources: Glückel of Hameln, Excerpts
from The Memoirs of Glückel of Hameln (1719);
Johann Mortiz Schwager, “On
the
Ravensberg
Peasant” (1786) Watch Was the Scottish Highlander B.S.? |
Wednesday, February 5: Capitalism, Money, and Finance |
Discussion
Source: Evliya Çelebi, Excerpts
from
The Book of Travels
(c. 1630);
Charter
of
the
Dutch West India Company, (1629) Watch Was The English East India Company B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 2: Europe and Africa" |
This Week: | Topic Proposal for the Research Project due February 7. Make sure to check the professor's feedback on Canvas to see if your topic has been approved, or if you need to resubmit this assignment. |
Monday, February 10: Colonialism and Indigenous Genocide |
Discussion Sources: The Mayan
Account
of
the Spanish Conquest in the Chilam
Balam (1540-1546);
Excerpts
from
the
Florentine Codex on La Malinche/Doña Marina and the
Conquest of Mexico (1577) Watch Was Columbus B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 3: The Americas and Columbus" |
Wednesday, February 12: Slave Labor and Racism |
Discussion
Source: Excerpts
from
King Afonso of Congo, Letters
on
the
Slave Trade (1526) Watch Was the Atlantic Slave Trade B.S.? |
Assignments to Complete: | Book Proposal for the Book Review due February 14 |
Monday, February 17: Outsiders- Pirates and Prostitutes |
Discussion
Sources: The
Articles
of
Bartholomew Roberts, John Phillips, Edward
Low, George Lowther, John Gow, and Henry
Morgan; William Acton, Excerpts
from Prostitution, Considered (1857;
1870) Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 4: Early Globalization and Revolutions" |
Wednesday, February 19: The Enlightenment-- Freedom and Power |
Discussion Source: John Locke, Excerpts from Two Treatises on Government (1689) Watch Was The Enlightenment B.S.? |
Monday, February 24: 18th c. Revolutions |
Toussaint Louverture's Saint-Domingue Constitution of 1801 Watch Was The French Revolution B.S.? Watch Was The Haitian Revolution B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 5: Troubled Nineteenth Century" |
Wednesday, February 26: Time, Light, Energy |
Discussion Sources: Thomas Beale, Excerpts on Whaling (1839); Friedrich Engels, On Industrial Manchester (1844); Watch Was The Industrial Revolution B.S.? |
Assignments to Complete: | Make sure you have the
book for your Book Review Paper by Feb. 28. Upload a
picture of you with the book using the appropriate link in
the course Canvas page. |
Monday, March 3:
Industrial Labor |
Discussion Sources: "The Life of the Industrial Worker in Nineteenth-Century England" (1832); Women Miners in the English Coal Pits (1842). Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 6: Imperialism" |
Wednesday, March 5: Socialism |
Discussion Sources: Karl Marx and
Friedrich Engels, excerpts from The
Communist Manifesto
(1848) |
Assignments to Complete: | Upload a picture of a page of the book for your Book Review Paper with the author’s main argument highlighted or circled by March 7. |
Monday, March 10: Midterm Exam |
Midterm Exam in class |
Wednesday, March 12:
Neo-Imperialism |
Discussion
Sources:
Thomas
Babington
Macaulay, On
Empire and
Education in
India (1833-1835);
Paul
Leroy
Beaulieu,
Excerpts
from Colonialism
and Modern
Peoples
(1891) Watch Was Imperialism in Congo B.S.? |
Assignments to Complete: | Book Review due March 14 |
Monday, March 24: Resistance to Imperialism |
Discussion
Source: Aizawa
Seishisai, "Excerpts
from Shinron (New
Theses, 1825) Watch Was The Meiji Restoration B.S.? |
Wednesday, March 26: Nationalism |
Discussion
Sources:
Bahithat
al-Badiya,
Excerpts from
"A Lecture
in the Club of
the Umma Party"(1909);
Louise
Yim
on
the Japanese
Occupation of
Korea
(1951)
Watch Was The 1918 Influenza B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 7: The Great War" |
Assignments to
Complete: |
Find a scholarly
journal article related to the topic of your Research
Project and upload the full bibliographic citation of
the article using the appropriate link in Canvas by
March 28. |
Monday, March 31: 20th c. Imperial Wars |
Discussion
Sources: Ernst
Jünger, Excerpts
from Storm of
Steel
(1920);
Report on
the
Deportation of
Armenians from
Zeitun, July
21, 1915
Watch Were the Causes of World War I B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 8: Modern Crisis" |
Wednesday, April 2: 20th c. Revolutions |
Discussion Readings: V. I. Lenin, "The April Theses (1917);" Josef Stalin on the Liquidation of the Kulaks, (1929) Watch Was The Russian Revolution Of 1917 B.S.? |
Assignments to Complete: | Annotated Bibliography, Part 1 due April 4 |
Monday, April 7: Fascism | Discussion Reading:
Adolf
Hitler, Excerpts from
Several
Speeches (1923,
1930, 1932) Watch Is Fascism B.S.? Read Allosso and Williford, "Chapter 9: World War II" |
Wednesday, April 9: Holocaust |
Discussion
Reading: Excerpts
from
the
Diary of Jechiel Górny (1942--
click the "View this Diary" link) Watch Is Modern Anti-Semitism B.S.? |
Assignments to Complete: | Annotated Bibliography, Part 2 due April 11 |
Monday, April 14: The Nuclear World |
Discussion Source: Yoshito Matsushige’s Account of the Hiroshima Bombing; |