Global History

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

We'll try to see the world whole - looking at genuinely global experience. Our aim will be to take the broadest and most comprehensive perspective we can imagine; we'll look not only at every kind of human culture in every part of the planet, but also, for the sake of comparison, at the societies of other, non-human cultural creatures. We'll focus on two stories: first, the mutual impact of human beings and the rest of nature; and, second, the effects human societies have had on each other. The purposes of the course will be to identify and probe the main themes of the history of the world, equip students with a historically informed awareness of global connections and inter-actions, and to ask whether (and, if so, how) global history relates to current problems in social policy, international relations, and ethical debate. Along the way, we'll try to develop scholarly habits, searching reading, critical thinking, powerful writing, attentive listening, and eloquence in speaking. We'll pay special attention to skills often overlooked in other courses: how to identify and explore historical problems; how to sustain critical listening; how to analyze language and imagery in historical documents.