Course Catalog

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Course Catalog

HISTORY OF WESTERN CIV. FROM 1500 (HI1002)

Continues History 1001, from the Renaissance and the Reformation through commercialism, Absolutism, the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the industrial and social revolutions of the 19th century to nationalism and socialism in the contemporary Western world.

THE CONTEMPORARY WORLD (HI1003)

Beginning with the bipolar world of the Cold War, focuses on ideological struggles of the West, East, and Third World and the reactions of nations to the politics of the superpowers. Topics range from decolonization to the rise of the new Asia, African independence, the reemergence of the Muslim world, the collapse of communism, globalization and clash of world cultures.

WORLD HISTORY UP TO 1500 (HI1005)

This seminar surveys basic themes in world history from the origins of humanity until about the year 1500 AD. Major themes include the rise of civilizations in Mesopotamia, India, East Asia, Central Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, the role of technological change as a motor of historical development, the role of imperial states in the ancient world, the development of major world religions, the establishment of trade routes and other forms of contact between the main civilizations.

WORLD HISTORY FROM 1500 (HI1006)

This course provides an introduction to world history from the early modern period to the late twentieth century. Students will attain a sound grasp of the world history approach through study of the political, economic, and social connections and networks generated within and among these societies.

HISTORY OF ASIAN CIVILIZATION I (HI1008)

This course examines the major civilizational development of civilization in East Asia from prehistory to the end of the sixteenth century. We will examine the histories of China, Korea, Japan, with a focus primarily on China. You will also be asked to think comparatively, examining not only how the different countries and regions developed in East Asia, but also how East Asian developments compare with the “West.”

HISTORY OF ASIAN CIVILIZATION II (HI1009)

This course examines the major development of civilizations in East Asia from the 16th century to the present. We will examine the histories of China, Korea, Japan, focusing primarily on China. You will also be asked to think comparatively, examining not only how the different countries and regions developed in East Asia, but also how East Asian developments compare with the “West.”

WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY I: FROM THE PALEOLITHIC TO 1500 (HI1010)

Why do women have less power, make less money, and have fewer opportunities than men do? Why have women's bodies been controlled, stigmatized, and pathologized? This is the first half of a year-long investigation of the origins and impacts of gender inequality. We start with our pre-agricultural Sapiens ancestors up to the beginning of the early modern period, looking primarily but not exclusively at socio-cultural developments that shaped understandings of gender, patriarchy and the role of women in different early cultures around the world.

WOMEN IN WORLD HISTORY II: FROM 1500 TO 1950 (HI1011)

Why do women have less power, make less money, and have fewer opportunities than men do? Why have women's bodies been controlled, stigmatized, and pathologized? This is the second half of a year-long investigation of the origins and impacts of gender inequality. We start with the early modern period, looking primarily but not exclusively at socio-cultural developments that shaped Western understanding of gender and the role of women. We will analyze the political and economic roles of women the emergence of nation states, slave economies and colonial empires, and the political and social revolutions that gave birth to a certain type of liberal feminism that continues to shape contemporary societies.

THE CITY IN WORLD HISTORY (HI1013)

We have reached a critical moment in the evolution of cities. From Ur and Rome to Shanghai and the shadow cities of the 21st century, this radical shift in the way humans inhabit the planet marks a watershed moment in the history of world. This course will offer a historical perspective on this global transformation through an interdisciplinary study of city development from the ancient world to present. Students will be introduced to dominant themes of global and urban history by reading the historians, urban planners and social scientists who have traced the evolution of the built environment in context from its origins to today.

HISTORY OF THE MIDDLE EAST I (HI1015)

This course surveys major themes in the ancient (pre-Islamic) and medieval history of the Middle East. It is organized around two parts. The first surveys successive civilizations and empires that rose in the region or invaded and dominated it, from the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Hittites, the Phoenicians, the Persians, to the Greeks and the Romans/Byzantines. The birth of Judaism and Christianity is presented in this part. The Second covers the rise of Islam, its expansion and the Caliphate it established from the 7th to the late 13th century, when the Mongol seized Bagdad.