CHIST 1502 World History II
This course is a globally integrated survey of world history from 1500 CE to the present. Tracing world history from the early modern era to contemporary times, we will examine the geographical, political, economic, social, cultural, and intellectual developments that have taken place in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas over the past five hundred years. Historical case studies will be used to emphasize both global interconnectedness and regional divergence, and to elucidate broader topics and themes that transcend these individual civilizations, including: imperialism; global exploration and commerce; conquest and colonization; climatic and environmental change; trans-cultural diffusion; demographic transition; technological innovation; political, economic, and cultural transformation; religion and philosophy; revolution; nationalism; world war; decolonization; and globalization. In addition to these regional case studies, several trans-regional and trans-oceanic topics will be covered in the course, for example, the formation, growth, and effects of the Atlantic slave trade. Along the way, we will endeavor to integrate historical narrative within our analysis, and also to investigate the lives of ordinary people within these societies. This course is not a teleological account of world history, a master narrative about increasing globalization and the rise of the West, nor does it privilege any one part of the globe in its geographical approach. Rather, it attempts to provide an academically critical and regionally balanced survey of modern world history.