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Global History: Early Modern to Modern Transition (250-1-20)

Instructors

Amy Beth Stanley
8474676722
Harris Hall - Room 203
Professor Stanley teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Japan before the twentieth century, early modern global history, and women's/gender history.

Meeting Info

Lutkin Hall: Mon, Wed, Fri 10:00AM - 10:50AM

Overview of class

How did corn change African politics? What did indigenous silver miners in Mexico contribute to the fall of a great Chinese dynasty? Did an intense episode of "global cooling" make people all over the world more amenable to rebellion? Why did it become fashionable for women in so many places to wear striped cotton and drink hot tea out of porcelain cups? Why did Britain industrialize before Holland, China, or Japan? How many continents are there, and which one was home to Batavia? This course addresses these questions and many more as it traces the history of the world between 1500 and 1850. During this era, commonly known as the early modern period, trade, migration, ecological change, epidemics, intellectual ferment, and technological innovation connected far-flung areas of the globe. In this course, we will consider the dense web of connections that traversed the Eurasian landmass, reached across the Arctic Circle, and spanned the vast oceans connecting the Old World and the New. Using the paradigms of connection, comparison, and contact, we will "think big," in part to consider the antecedents of our own globalized era and in part to ponder the disconnections and discontinuities between the early modern world and our own.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this course, students will be able to: 1) Define global history, identify the questions it seeks to answer, and explain why it exists 2) Identify the global circuits of trade, migration, and intellectual exchange, that shaped the world in the years between 1500 and 1850 3) Explain changes in the global environment between 1500 and 1850 4) Analyze primary sources 5) Use the paradigms of comparison, connection, and contact to identify what was "global" about the early modern era

Evaluation Method

One in-class essay and map quiz (15%), first midterm (20%), second midterm (25%), final essay (20%), attendance and participation at section meetings (15%), reading quizzes in section (5%)

Class Materials (Required)

Course packet (available at Quartet Copies)

Class Notes

History Concentration Area: Global, Americas, European, Asia/Middle East, Africa/Middle East

Class Attributes

Historical Studies Distro Area

Associated Classes

DIS - Locy Hall 305: Thurs 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 305: Thurs 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - Locy Hall 110: Thurs 2:00PM - 2:50PM

DIS - University Library 4670: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 12:00PM - 12:50PM

DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 1:00PM - 1:50PM

DIS - University Library 5322: Fri 11:00AM - 11:50AM

DIS - NO DATA: NO DATA