About This Class

You will learn a lot of “stuff” in this course—the names, dates, events, and processes that make up world history. From the 1200 to present, we will take a look at varied societies in world history not as individual civilizations or nation-states, but as part of a larger global community–exploring sites of contact, mutual interaction, codependence, and conflict. Focusing on Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, the course will examine the cultural, technological, political, economic, religious and social transformations that shaped the societies of these geographic regions, as they became part of an interworking global system.

You’ll also learn a bunch of skills—like claim testing and contextualization. This course is all about helping you bring together that information and those skills to make meaning of the world you’re living in. Historians write all sorts of narratives about the past. How can we use those narratives to create usable history that you find relevant to your own lives?

Since world history by its nature involves going over enormous amounts of information, I do not expect you to retain a detailed knowledge of everything. We will focus instead on developing an overall framework of what has happened in the world and what broad patterns and trends we can use to make sense of it (such as Communities, Networks, Production and Distribution, etc.) and then fitting the details into that framework. In doing so, we will pay attention both to interactions and encounters among the various societies, and to what sorts of useful comparisons we can draw between them. Finally, we will pay particular attention to sources and interpretations — so that you can see where the generalizations in your textbooks come from, and what they are based upon.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completing this course, you will be able to:

  1. Identify major chronological developments in global history from the pre-modern period (before 1400 CE) to the present.
  2. Communicate a historical argument through writing, speech, and/or digital media using a variety of primary and secondary sources.
  3. Apply historical knowledge and historical thinking to contemporary global issues.

Academic Integrity and Course Conduct

I am committed to a class dynamic that supports diversity in race, ethnicity, national origin, gender identity, sexuality, class, disability, age, and religion. All communication in this course must be done with respect and civility toward others who have different ideas, perspectives, and traditions than your own. This also applies to newer forms of digital disrespect: Zoom bombing, trolling, cyberbullying, or other inappropriate behavior will not be tolerated. If anything is said or done in our classroom spaces that makes you uncomfortable, by me or a fellow student, please schedule a time to talk with me as soon as possible and we will find a solution.

In addition, there are some guidelines that I expect to be applied to our class spaces at all times.

1. Be empathetic. We’re all adjusting to new situations and workflows, and I want us to stay sensitive to that as we move through the semester. If you need something, please ask for it and I will do my best to help or find someone who can.

2. Be flexible. A cardinal rule of any class is that the tech rarely works as expected. Please stay flexible as we work through any technical issues and figure out which workflows make sense for our group. Also, as we move through the course, I challenge you to approach the messiness and technical failures as moments to reflect on how to adjust and adapt. These can also be moments to identify the boundaries or limitations of technology and imagine creative solutions.

I reserve the right to shuffle, remove, or swap out readings and assignments at any point throughout the semester. This is meant to anticipate the anxieties and unknowns that might come with living through, well, life. I will never increase your workload but will do my best to respond to events as they unfold. You will be informed of any changes ASAP, and I will make changes directly in our course website and via email and Slack.

3. Practice good calendar management. This will be key to keeping on track this semester. Establish a calendar early on to keep track of due dates. Make sure to incorporate the rule of thumb that for a 3-credit class, you can expect 6 to 8 hours/week for “homework”.

4. Communicate! This is crucial. Falling behind or need some extra help? Schedule a meeting with me. Have a tech issue or don’t fully understand an assignment? Pose your questions in our discussion spaces. Have ideas for how to improve our workflow? Let me know!