By the end of this course students should:

1. Understand several of the methodologies involved in the recovery of the past.
2. Understand several of the different ways that history can be perceived and recorded.
3. Understand many of the different criteria that might be included in defining a society, culture, nation, or “civilization.”
4. Recognize and be able to discuss key figures and events and key economic/political/architectural/artistic/legal/social/philosophical/geographical/literary/spiritual/popular issues from specific societies covered in the course.
5. Recognize and be able to discuss the value of specific primary source documents, and understand the difference between primary sources and secondary sources.
6. Recognize and be able to discuss the degree to which the many components of different civilizations might have developed independently.
7. Recognize and be able to discuss the degree to which the many components of different civilizations might have emerged from cross-cultural interactions.
8. Recognize and be able to discuss the difficulties posed in recovering histories and materials from some civilizations and from some sectors and classes of familiar civilizations.
9. Be able to identify and question some of the stereotypes that modern scholars and students impose on past eras and places.