History 103: Introduction to Global History Since 1500:
Empire and Independence
Lisa Pollard Fall Semester, 2006
Office: MO 228 TR 12:30-1:45 MO 206
Office Hours: W 3-5 and by appointment email: pollardl@uncw.edu
phone: 962-3309
webpage: http://www.uncw.edu/people/pollardl
This course broadly aims to study both the histories of the so-called non-Western cultures as well as the interactions between Europeans and the peoples of those societies from roughly 1500 to the present. Our main focus will be on the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, India and China, as well as Europe and the United States.
The course is divided into three sections, based on the key stages in the expansion of Europe over the past five centuries. The first part of the course covers the initial phase of European expansion from 1500 to 1815, and deals with the creation of empires of trade linking Europe and the rest of the world. The second part of the course covers the next phase of European expansion from 1815 until World War One, during which the industrial revolution in Europe spurred a new, more intensive style of imperialism. The third section of the course covers World War One to the present, and deals with the decolonization of the European empires, the rise of new nations, and the rise of American and Soviet cold war imperialism.
The class meets twice a week and will consist of lectures, discussions, debates and writing assignments. Discussion sections are well indicated on the schedule below; you must come prepared to participate. You should also expect lectures to be complemented by unstructured discussions and structured debates. Also expect in-class quizzes and writing assignments.
Required texts: All of the following are REQUIRED and available at the campus bookstore as well as Seahawk Books in University Landing:
Bulliet et al, The Earth and Its Peoples, A Global History/Brief Edition, Vol II Since 1500.
Ngugi wa Thiongo, The River Between
Pang-Mei Natasha Chang, Bound Feet and Western Dress
Ghassan Kanafani, Palestine's Children
Course Requirements:
--Attendance of all lectures. You are allowed to miss two classes (that's one whole week of classes!) no questions asked. After the second absence, your final grade will be penalized by two (2) points for each day you miss. If you have a problem or an emergency, you must contact me to discuss it in order for your absence to be excused. If I haven’t heard from you before class starts, the absence is unexcused.
--Completion of all course reading on time.
--Active participation in discussions, both scheduled and informal (15% of final grade). Your “attendance” grade will also include your scores on in-class quizzes and writing assignments.
--Three book reviews, 5-7 pages, each worth 15% of final grade (45% total)
--Two exams, one mid-term, one final. The mid-term is worth 15% of your final grade, and the final is worth 25%. Both exams will consist of three sections: identification, short answer, and long essay. There will be no make-up exams administered without the professor’s prior, written permission.
Grading Scale: A = 96-100; A- = 90-95. B+ = 87-89; B = 83-86; B- = 80-82. C+ = 77-79; C = 73-76; C- = 70-72. D+ = 67-69; D= 63-66; D- = 60-62.
I. The World Shrinks
Week One: Thursday, August 24, 2006.
Topics:
Introduction to the course and its themes.
The World ca. 1500
Week Two: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 and Thursday, August 31, 2006
Topics:
Europe’s Expansion
The Americas, the Atlantic and Africa
Reading:
Bulliet, 14 and16.
Week Three: Tuesday, September 5, 2006 and Thursday, September 7, 2006.
Topics:
The Columbian Exchange: What does it tell us about “global” history?
Transformations in Europe: Mind, Spirit, Technology.
Reading:
Bulliet, 15. Begin reading Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between.
Week Four: Tuesday, September 12, 2006 and Thursday, September 14, 2006.
Topics:
The Islamic World
Trade Empires in the Indian Ocean
Reading:
Bulliet, 17. Continue reading Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between
Week Five: Tuesday, September 19, 2006 and Thursday, September 21, 2006.
Topics:
The Confucian World
Reading:
Bulliet, 18. Continue reading Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between.
Week Six: Tuesday, September 26, 2006 and Thursday, September 28, 2006.
Topics:
Revolutions in Europe and the New World.
Discussion: What was the world like ca. 1500? What was it like by 1800? How is the interaction between “West” and “non-West” made manifest in Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between?
Reading:
Bulliet, 19. Finish reading Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between.
II. Factories At Home, Markets in the World: The Modernization of the West and the Rise of Imperialism
Week Seven: Tuesday, October 3, 2006 and Thursday, October 5, 2006.
Topics:
The Technological Revolution
The Impact of the Early Industrial Revolution
New Economic and Political Ideas
Industrialization and the non-Industrial World.
Reading:
Bulliet, 20.
Your first book review, on Ngugi wa Thiongo’s The River Between will be due at the beginning of class Tuesday, October 3, 2006.
Week Eight: Thursday, October 12, 2006.
Topics:
Africa, India and the New British Empire.
Reading:
Bulliet, 21.
Begin reading Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress.
Week Nine: Tuesday, October 17, 2006 and Thursday, October 19, 2006.
Topics:
The Ottomans and the West
Your first exam will be administered in class on Tuesday, October 17, 2006. Please bring a blue book to class with you.
Reading:
Bulliet, 22.
Continue reading Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress.
Week Ten: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 and Thursday, October 26, 2006.
Topics:
China Faces the West
New Technologies, New Powers: Japan and the United States
Reading:
Bulliet, 23
Continue reading Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress.
Week Eleven: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 and Thursday, November 2, 2006.
Topics:
New Powers, New Technologies, New Social Orders, New Imperialism
Discussion: Bound Feet and Western Dress. Is the West a Source of Reform?
Reading:
Bulliet, 24.
III. The Crisis and Questioning of Authority
Week Twelve: Tuesday, November 7 and Thursday, November 9, 2006.
Topics:
Origins of the Crisis in Europe and the Ottoman Empire
The Great War and the Russian Revolution
China and Japan: Contrasting Destinies
The New Middle East
Reading:
Bulliet, 25.
Begin reading Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” in Palestine’s Children.
Your second book review, on Pang-Mei Natasha Chang’s Bound Feet & Western Dress will be due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, November 7, 2006.
Week Thirteen: Tuesday, November 14 and Thursday, November 16, 2006.
Topics:
The Collapse of the Old Order
Stalin, the Depression, Fascism, East Asia, WWII.
Reading:
Bulliet, 26.
Continue reading Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” in Palestine’s Children.
Week Fourteen: No Class: Professor Pollard away at a conference. Thanksgiving.
Reading: Continue reading Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” in Palestine’s Children.
Week Fifteen: Tuesday, November 28 and Thursday, November 30, 2006.
Topics:
Independence, The Cold War and Post-Colonialism: The Case of the Middle East.
The Carving up of the Middle East
The Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
Reading: Bulliet, 27 and 28.
Finish reading Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” in Palestine’s Children.
Week Sixteen: Tuesday, December 5, 2006.
Discussion: How does “Returning to Haifa” reflect the themes of History 103?
Your final book review, on Ghassan Kanafani’s “Returning to Haifa,” in Palestine’s Children will be due at the beginning of class, Tuesday, December 5, 2006.