HIST 130: Modern World History

Syllabus

Table of Contents: 

Instructors

J. Quataert

Library Tower 809 
(607) 777-4055 
profquat@binghamton.edu 
Office Hours: M 1:15 -2:30 pm, W 12:00-1:00pm and by appointment 

D. Quataert 

Library Tower 610
(607) 777-4738

Teaching Assistants

Roberto Carmack rcarmac1@binghamton.edu
David Gutman dgutman1@binghamton.edu
Fulya Ozkan fozkan1@binghamton.edu
Kristina Ferguson kfergus1@binghamton.edu
Sara Housworth shouswo1@binghamton.edu

Course Description

This course employs a global perspective to explore how societies and peoples in different locations in the period since 1500 have confronted (with various degrees of success) fundamental issues of the human condition: community, reproduction, security, inequality, notions of the "other." The time frame is one that historians have labeled the "rise of the West." This course moves beyond this assumption by showing the complexity of historical developments. It uncovers not only the adaptations to growing Western military and technological superiority but as well independent and distinct patterns of political, social, cultural and economic organization. Seen from our perspective, the track of history was not predetermined; it reflected the internal dynamics of interactions between cultures and autonomous developments within societies. The course illustrates this complexity by comparing developments in China, India, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas. The six main themes of the course are: the conquest of the new world and its consequences; industrial transformations in home, workshop and factory; subjects and citizens; revolts and revolutions; nationalisms, wars, and decolonization; and globalization. Each theme is framed within a particular historical period but our treatment of it moves back and forth in time. 

The course is organized around lectures and discussions, with slides and films. Attendance in discussion sections on Fridays is required of all students (no more than two unexcused absences are allowed). But you should also attend the lectures on Mondays and Wednesdays, and make sure you get the lecture notes from another student if you have to miss class. (Grades are based on how you integrate material from lectures, readings, and class/section discussion). Two hourly exams and a comprehensive final are given. The grade distribution is as follows: discussion section participation, including pop quizzes (20%); each hourly exam (25%); cumulative final exam (30%). 

If you end up taking this course on a pass/fail basis, you must receive a pass for all parts of the course: discussion sections, exams and participation in class.

Any student who wishes may also enroll on a voluntary basis in "Languages across the Curriculum" study groups.
 

Texts

The following books are required for the course and are available for purchase at the University Bookstore, campus.
  • Tignor, Adelman, Aron, et al., Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (identified as text): and the Norton website www.wwnorton.com/worlds 
  • Rand McNally, Historical Atlas of the World. 
  • Alfred Andrea and James Overfield, eds., The Human Record. Sources of Global History II, since 1500, Fifth Edition, 2005.
  • Janet Abu-Lughod, The World System in the Thirteenth Century. 
  • Alifa Rifaat, Distant View of a Minaret. 
  • Iris Chang, The Rape of Nanking.
  • Jean H. Quataert, The Gendering of Human Rights in the International Systems of Law in the Twentieth Century, American Historical Association, 2006.
NOTE: Please consult the Historical Atlas on a regular basis throughout the semester.
 

Course Schedule

Introduction
  • Introduction
  • "Languages Across the Curriculum" and Slide Lecture: Maps and Cultural Creativity
  • Discussion Sections
  • Slide Lectures: Inter-cultural Exchanges
  • Discussion Sections
  • Andrea, prologue P-1-l8; 119-121, Chapters 1, pp. 1-32, East and Southeast Asia, and Chapter 2, pp. 40-64, the Islamic Heartland and India and Chapter 3, Europe, pp. 69-80, 160-164.
  • text, pp. 3-41; 43-77
  • Abu-Lughod, all

Theme I: PERIOD 1500-1650
Question: Was the "discovery" of the new world a crucial turning point in World History?

  • text, pp. 79-117
  • Andrea, pp. 86-95, Chapter 4, Africa and the Americas, pp. 113-142
Lectures: 1, 2, 3, 4
Discussion Sections: 1 

Theme II: PERIOD 1650-1820 
Question: What accounted for the enormous disparity in wealth and power between Europe and the rest of the world?

  • text, pp. 119-161; 213-237
  • Andrea, pp. 37-39; 165-173; 204-224, 233-262, 339-342
  • Documents Chapter 4 (Norton Website): Chinese trading junk; voc

Lectures: 1, 2, 3
Discussion Sections: 1, 2

MAP QUIZ (10 minutes)

Review Session

FIRST HOURLY EXAM: On Themes I and II only.

Theme III: PERIOD 1820-1917. Subjects and Citizens
Question: How do people relate to the power of the "state?" Who has a voice in decision-making?

  • text, pp. 163-195; 280-85; 317-328 
  • Andrea, pp. 64-68; 95-112; 121-127, 181-203, 266-275, 285-292
  • e-reserve, chapter 4 (Norton Website): slave trade

Lectures: 1, 2, 3
Discussion Sections: 1, 2

Assignment comparing library and Internet sources due to TAs (via email). Please, click here to get to Prof. Sklar's web-site for useful information and tips on how to use and evaluate Internet sources. 

Theme IV: PERIOD 1917. Revolts, Revolutions and Re-imagining Nations
Question: Why and under what circumstances do people revolt (or not)?

  • text, pp. 197-217; 239-269; 364-366 
  • Andrea, pp. 224- 232, 275-281, 297-307, 309-336, 385-94,
    456-465, 482-494
  • Documents, chapter 7 (Norton Website): ghost dance

Lectures: 1, 2, 3, 4
Discussion Sections: 1, 2

Review Session

SECOND HOURLY EXAM: On Themes III and IV only.

Theme V: PERIOD 1918-1980. Wars, imperialisms and Decolonization
Question: How is the world map redrawn?

  • text, pp. 286-307; 309-317; 347-369; 366-383; 385-410
  • Andrea, pp. 342-368; 369-384, 394-455, 478-482
  • Chang, all
  • Quataert, all

Lectures: 1, 2, 3
Discussion Sections: 1, 2

Theme VI: GLOBALIZATION
Question: Is the Nation-State the logical organizational unit within which to write the history of the Twenty-First Century?

  • text, pp. 410-423; 425-461
  • Andrea, pp. 467-477; 494-534
  • Rifaat, all

Lectures: 1, 2, 3, 4
Discussion Sections: 1, 2, 3

Map Quiz (10 Minutes)

Review Session

Languages Across the Curriculum Presentations (to be scheduled)

Final Examination (in class, for all students) to be held during the officially scheduled final examination period
 

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HOMEPAGE URL: http://history.binghamton.edu/hist130/

This page last updated: 8/9/2005
Send Comments to: Prof. Jean H. Quataert