Class times: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:30–10:50am
Location: 132 DePree Art Center
Professor: Aaron Van Oosterhout
E-mail: vanoosterhout@hope.edu
Twitter: @MXHisto
Office hours: 1:15–3:15pm Wednesdays, and by appointment
Office: 327 Lubbers Hall
Mailbox: 338 Lubbers Hall
Required texts:
Marks, Robert B. The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Ecological Narrative from the
Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century , 2 nd ed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007.
Toer, Pramoedya Ananta. Child of All Nations . Translated by Max Lane. New York: Penguin, 1991.
Dorfman, Ariel. Looking South, Heading North: A Bilingual Journey . New York: Penguin, 1999.
Clement, Jennifer. Prayers for the Stolen . New York: Hogarth, 2014.
Course overview:
This is a course about short-term events and long-term changes on the global scale since the fourteenth century, with a focus on those transformations that will both deepen your knowledge of and enlighten you about the current state of the world. In short, this course attempts to answer the question, “How did the world come to be like this?”
Specifically, we will follow a trajectory that begins with the spread of the Mongolian Empire, continues with the colonization of the Americas, the fall of the Chinese Empire, and industrialization in Western
Europe, and ends with 21 st -century geopolitics. I will incorporate revisionist positions throughout. For example, when we discuss the role of Hernán Cortés in the Spanish conquest of Mesoamerica, we will also discuss the indigenous rulers who aided and, in many cases, led that conquest. It is also important to understand what this course is not . It is not a “history of the world” in the broadest sense. Not every country or world region is equally represented here. Scholars of French Guiana and Sweden will be disappointed. While those countries have important histories that reveal much about global change, I and many other world historians will focus your attention elsewhere. You can decide whether or not this is just.
Regarding your participation, this course requires you to read and analyze the texts, and communicate what you learn. Reading and analyzing in this course is an active engagement with an author who professes to be an expert or eyewitness to events that have already happened. In the same way an author interrogates her sources, you will interrogate the required secondary and primary texts. Each author brings a bias to her work. One of your tasks is to ferret out this bias. And effectively communicating what you have learned is integral to this course. You will learn to critique the texts in two ways: orally and in writing. In order to achieve these goals, you will write essays, submit blog posts on the course
Web site, and participate in writing workshops. It is by these methods that you will cease to be merely a consumer of others’ histories, and become an historian.

Grade determination:
Your overall course grade will be determined by the following:
Participation (20% of course grade)
Participation includes punctually attending class, bringing the assigned reading to class, actively listening and taking notes, and contributing to in-class discussion. Such participation is integral to your success in this course and beyond. Paying attention and taking notes will help your essay scores.
Regular, (semi)public speaking will hone your ability to effectively communicate your thoughts. It also boosts your comprehension of a subject, and that of those around you. Speak much and often.
You are permitted two unexcused absences. But note: you cannot receive an A in participation with three unexcused absences, i.e., the third unexcused absence will bring your grade below a 90%. For each absence beyond the third, I will deduct another 5% from your participation grade.
Reading analyses (15% of course grade)
Reading analyses are designed to help you think about the readings in a way that will prepare you for class discussion. In addition, they will help you practice your academic writing on a regular basis. You will find the questions on Moodle, and you should respond in a well-written paragraph that refers specifically to the reading.
Blog entries (15% of course grade)
Blog entries are also designed to facilitate discussion, but in a more immediate manner. They will appear in a forum viewable by the entire class. I will pose a general question, and you are to respond both to the question and to each other. Like the reading analyses, each blog entry should be a well-written paragraph that refers specifically to the reading for that day.
Note: I will drop the two worst grades for your blog entries and reading analyses. That’s two total .
Essays (40% of course grade)
Essays require you to synthesize the information you have learned both from the readings and lectures, and present your findings in as cogent and concise a manner as possible. Essays are also the assignments most applicable to your life outside this course. In your future careers most, if not all, of you will be required to synthesize broad bases of information to make a point in written form. This could take myriad shapes: job applications, e-mails, marketing copy, instruction manuals, even expense reports.
Taking these assignments seriously and learning how best to make a point will help your voice be heard in your life after college.
The essays for this course are relatively brief. Each will be 4–5 pages, answering a question of my choosing. You will get an opportunity to revise the first essay, and I will take the average of the grades for the original and the revision. You will not get this opportunity on the second and third essays, so it benefits you to attend and pay attention during our three in-class writing workshops.
Final exam (10% of course grade)
The final exam will be relatively brief. I require it merely to make sure you have been paying attention all along. There will first be a series of short IDs of various topics. The main portion of the exam will be the essay, for which you will be given an option to answer one question out of three choices.
Extra credit
Over the course of the semester, I will give you a few opportunities to attend events of interest and write about them for extra credit.

A note on academic dishonesty
I do not tolerate plagiarism, or representing someone else’s work as your own. At a minimum, I will give you a zero for the assignment. You may find the Hope College Code for Academic Integrity here: http://www.hope.edu/student/development/policies/handbook/Code for Academic Intergrity.pdf
. (Yes, I am aware that “integrity” is misspelled in the URL. Misspelling it is the only way to access the document. Oots!)
The following scale will be used in grade determination:
A 9.3–10.0
A-
B+
B
B-
C+
C
C-
D+
D
9.0–9.2
8.7–8.9
8.3–8.6
8.0–8.2
7.7–7.9
7.3–7.6
7.0–7.2
6.7–6.9
6.3–6.6
D-
F
6.0–6.2 below 6.0
Cellphone, tablet, and computer use:
Cellphones, tablets, and computers may not be used during class periods, unless I expressly request it.
Such devices are a distraction to students who have even the best intentions coming into the lecture—it’s just impossible not to check Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Vine, Snapchat, LinkedIn,
YikYak, Tinder, Google+, Reddit, Pinterest, BuzzFeed, Vox, FiveThirtyEight, or any number of other things while you’re listening and taking notes. There are numerous studies that demonstrate the adverse effects of this on student understanding of course material, especially in a lecture format.
You should take notes the old-fashioned way—with pen and paper. If you need to use a computer for physical reasons, please consult with me.
E-mail:
While e-mail is a wonderful tool for communication, it can be surprisingly inefficient. It can take 20 minutes to write a response to your question about an essay (“I don’t understand the paper topic—could you explain it to me?”), while the same response would take 10 minutes in person. Therefore, you are to e-mail me in only the following circumstances:
 To inform me of an upcoming absence.

To schedule an appointment.

Regarding a personal matter—namely, something you’d rather not discuss in front of your classmates. This does not include questions about grades. For these inquiries, see me during my office hours or schedule an appointment.

If I specifically request an e-mail.

Otherwise, I will be available for a few minutes before and after each class period, during office hours, and by appointment.
Also, e-mailing a professor is not the same thing as e-mailing your friends. Keep in mind that I am evaluating your communication skills. In your e-mails, please identify yourself, address me by name, and specify which course you are in (I teach more than one). Please write in complete sentences, use proper capitalization and punctuation, and avoid abbreviations (“how r u?”).
Helpful Web sites:
The David J. Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing: http://www.hope.edu/lib/kc/
Resources for Students with Disabilities: http://www.hope.edu/student/development/disabled/
Academic Success Center: http://www.hope.edu/admin/acadsuccess/
Reading schedule:
The texts are to be read by the start of class for the day on which they are listed. The assignments are due by the start of class for the day on which they are listed, unless noted otherwise .
January
Tuesday Thursday
6
Introduction to the course
13
World Civilization II: The rise of the West?
Reading: Marks, introduction; and excerpt from
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel , 13–28,
53–66 (on Moodle)
Assignment: Reading analysis 2
8
What is history? Primary and secondary sources, and how to use them in this class
Reading: Excerpt from Jules Benjamin, A
Student’s Guide to History
(on Moodle)
Assignment: Reading analysis 1
Bring laptop, tablet, or smartphone to class
15
The world system before 1400
Reading: Marks, 21–36; and Janet Abu-Lughod,
“The World System in the Thirteenth Century:
Dead End or Precursor?” (on Moodle)
Assignment: Blog entry 1
20
Globalization and its consequences
Reading: Marks, 36–64
Assignment: Reading analysis 3
27
Conquest and its aftermath
Reading: Marks, 67–77; and excerpt from Miguel
22
In-class writing workshop: What’s the point?
(part 1)
Reading: William Strunk, The Elements of Style ,
18–29 (available on Hope library Web site)
Assignment: Blog entry 2, TO BE ASSIGNED
IN CLASS
29
The Atlantic Slave Trade
Reading: Marks, 77–84; and selections from

León-Portilla, ed.,
The Broken Spears (on Moodle)
Assignment: Reading analysis 4
Robert Conrad, ed.,
Children of God’s Fire
(on
Moodle)
Assignment: Blog entry 3
Tuesday
3
The Rise and Decay of the European Empires
Reading: Marks, 84–92
Assignment: Reading analysis 5
February
Thursday
5
Revolution
Reading: Franklin Knight, “The Haitian Revolution”
(on Moodle)
Assignment: ESSAY 1 DUE
10
Winter Break: no class
17
The global reactions to industrialization
Reading: Marks, 135–139; and excerpt from Karl
Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist
Manifesto (on Moodle)
Assignment: Blog entry 4
24
European nationalism
Reading: Marks, 139–142; and Toer, 13–78
Assignment: Reading analysis 7
12
European industrialization
Reading: Marks, 95–135
Assignment: Reading analysis 6
19
In-class writing workshop: What’s the point?
(part 2)
Reading: William Strunk, The Elements of Style ,
14–18 (available on Hope library Web site)
Assignment: Essay 1 revision, TO BE ASSIGNED
IN CLASS
26
The decline of the Ottoman Empire and Qing
China
Reading: Toer, 79–157; and William Geil, A Yankee on the Yangtze , 1–11
( https://archive.org/stream/yankeeonyangtzeb00geil )
Assignment: Blog entry 5
Tuesday
3
The Scramble for Africa and China
Reading: Marks, 142–151; and Toer, 158–226
Assignment: Reading analysis 8
10
Colonialism in India and Southeast Asia
March
Thursday
5
Colonialism in Africa
Reading: Toer, 227–285
Assignment: Reading analysis 9
12
Neocolonialism and revolution in Latin
America

Reading: Toer, 286–347; and Rudyard Kipling,
“The White Man’s Burden” (on Moodle)
Asignment: Blog entry 6
17
Spring Break: no class
7
The not-so-Cold War, part 1: Conflict in Asia
Reading: Dorfman, 205–277
Assignment: Reading analysis 11
14
The political economy of the post-WWII world
Reading: Marks, 170–180
Assignment: Reading analysis 12
Reading: Excerpt from Greg Grandin,
Empire’s
Workshop (on Moodle); and Pablo Neruda,
“Anaconda Mining Company” and “United Fruit
Company” (on Moodle)
Assignment: ESSAY 2 DUE
19
Spring Break: no class
24
The “Greats”: War and Depression
Reading: Marks, 155–166
Assignment: Blog entry 7
26
Mass politics and the Second World War
Reading: Dorfman, 3–59
Assignment: Reading analysis 10
April
Tuesday
March 31
Decolonization
Reading: Marks, 166–170; and Dorfman, 60–132
Assignment: Blog entry 8, on The Battle of Algiers
Thursday
2
In-class writing workshop: The outline
Reading: Dorfman, 135–204
Assignment: Outline your final paper, TO BE
ASSIGNED IN CLASS
9
The not-so-Cold War, part 2: the “dirty wars” in
Latin America
Reading: Excerpt from Peter Smith, Talons of the
Eagle (on Moodle)
Assignment: Blog entry 9
16
The collapse of the Soviet Union
Reading: Clements, 3–68
Assignment: Reading analysis 13
21
The rise of the East?
Reading: Marks, 180–194; and Clements, 69–137
Assignment: Blog entry 10
28
23
War close to home
Reading: Clements, 138–212
Assignment: ESSAY 3 DUE
30

Exam Week: no class FINAL EXAM, 3:00PM