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History 6513 Theory and Practice of Global History Fall 2006 Arkansas State University
Instructor: Erik Gilbert
Office Hours: MWF 11-12, Tue 10-12
Office: 116 Wilson Hall
Phone: 972-3046
Email: egilbert@astate.edu
Web site: www.clt.astate.edu/egilbert
This course is meant to prepare students to teach world history at the university or high school level. It will also serve as an introductory course for the proposed MA with Global History emphasis, providing students with the theoretical and methodological knowledge to do graduate level research on global history topics.
Required Books:
Ross Dunn, The New World History
Patrick Manning, Navigating World History
Recommended Books:
A world history textbook (available at no cost either from me or a book rep)
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel
Felipe Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations
These are not in the book store but can be obtained quite cheaply online or even at Books a Million.
Course Requirements:
Weekly essays: Students will be expected to write a one-page “issues and questions” paper each week. This paper can include possible discussion topics, critical responses to the issues raised in the readings, or questions raised by the readings. Students will also write three critical responses to the readings. These will be papers of 3 to 5 pages that offer a detailed critique of the week’s reading. For weeks when a response paper is written the “issues and questions” paper will not be required.
Syllabus and justification: The major project for the semester will be the creation of a syllabus and outline for a two semester World History course. This will be accompanied by a 10 to 12 page justification for the choices made in creating the syllabus.
Participation: This is a seminar. Your active and informed participation is required.
Grading:
Weekly papers 25%
Participation 25%
Syllabus and justification 50%
Course Schedule:
Week One (Aug 21): Introduction: The New World History Read: “Introduction” in Dunn, New World History (NWH)
Week Two (Aug. 28): The History of World History Read: Swinton, “Outlines of General History” (NWH) Carman, “The Columbia Course…” (NWH) Lockard, “Contributions of Phillip Curtin…” (NWH) Manning, Chapters 1-6
Week Three (Sept. 11): Big History Read: Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel, Part I Christain, “The Case for “Big History” (NWH)
Week Four (Sept. 18): Units of Analysis: Geography Read: Burke, “Hodgeson and the Hemispheric Interregional Approach to World History” (NWH) Gilbert, “Coastal East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean” (Online)Christian, “Inner Eurasia as a Unit of World History” (NWH) Manning Chapters 7-9
Week Five (Sept. 25): Units of Analysis: Periods Read: Stearns, “Periodization in World History Teaching” (NWH) Bentley, “Cross-Cultural Interaction and Periodization” (NWH) Green, “Periodizing World History (NWH) Manning, Chapters 15-16
Week Six (Oct. 2): The Search for Origins Read: Gilgamesh, excerpts Fernandez-Armesto, Civilizations, excerpts Manning, “Homo Sapiens populates the Earth” (on reserve)
Week Seven (Oct. 9): Religion in World History Read: Voll, “Islam as a Special World System” (NWH) Foltz, Religions of the Silk Road, excerpts Bentley, Old World Encounters, excerpt
Week Eight (Oct. 16): World Systems Read: Frank, “A Plea for World Systems History” (NWH) Abu-Lughod, Before European Hegemony, excerpt Manning, Chapter 10
Week Nine (Oct. 23): Environment and World History Read: Crosby, Ecological Imperialism, excerpts McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, excerpts Manning, Chapter 12
Week Ten (Oct 30): Trade and the Indian Ocean Read: Chaudhuri, Trade and Civilization in the Indian Ocean, excerpts Barendse, The Arabian Sea, excerpt
Week Eleven (Nov. 6): Trade and the Atlantic Read: Curtin, “Birth of the Atlantic Plantation Complex” Manning, “Migrations of Africans to the Americas” (NWH) Eltis, Coerced and Free Migration, excerpt.
Week Twelve (Nov. 13): Gender and World History Read: Blom, “World History as Gender History (NWH) Zinnser, “Technology and History: Women’s Perspectives” (NWH) Hughes, “Gender at the Base of World History” (NWH)
Week Thirteen (Nov. 27): Industrialization Read: Landes, Wealth and Poverty of Nations, excerpt Headrick, Tools of Empire, excerpt Pomeranz and Topik, The World that Trade Created, Chapter 7
Week Fourteen (Dec. 4): Presentations
Readings that are not in Manning or NWH are on reserve at the library. |