LIST OF SEMINAR TOPICS
Chap 1-7
What is Civilization?/Compare and Contrast the Classical civilizations
Chap 8
How did Muhammad raise the status of women and why did the position of women decline
within a century of Muhammad’s death?
Chap 13
How did the arrival of Islam affect Africa?/How did religion and trade
connect Africa to a larger world; with what results?
Chap 9/14
Compare and contrast the development of civilization in eastern and
western Europe
Chap 10
What major advances were made in China during the Sui, Tang and Song dynasties?
Chap 10
What Chinese cultural features did Japan take, how/when were they
transmitted and what remained uniquely Japanese?
Chap 11
Discuss the unique political, social, and economic accomplishments of the
Aztecs and Incas. In what ways were these two civilizations similar to and different from the
Amerindian of North America?
Chap 12
What were the positive and negative effects of the Mongol conquests on
Eurasia?
Chap 15
What were the transitions taking place in the world circa 1550?
Chap 16
What were the political, economic, and cultural transformations occurring in Europe from 15001750?
Chap 17
What was the impact of the discovery of the New World on Europe?
Chap 18
What was the demographic effect of the African slave trade on the sub-Saharan region?/How did
the slave trade affect African state formation?
Chap 19
Compare the Mughals, Safavids, and the Ottomans
Chap 20
What was the extent of westernization of Russia under Peter the Great and
Catherine the Great?
Chap 20
Compare the Chinese and Japanese response to interaction with Europe.
Chap 21
Compare and contrast the causes of the American and French Revolutions.
Chap 22/26
What were the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution?
Chap 22/26
Discussion on how Victorians conceived the roles of men, women, and the family, and to what
extent are Victorian ideals influential in contemporary western society?
Chap 23
In what ways did the United States enter the political and economic affairs of Latin America?
Chap 24
Compare and contrast the causes of the decline of the Qing dynasty and the Ottoman Empire.
Chap 25/27
What were the economic, political, and cultural causes of the New Imperialism? What were the
effects on colonial peoples?
Chap 28
Evaluate the effects of WWI on various regions
Chap 28
Discuss evidence of political and social change for women in the West in the1920s.
Chap 29
Compare totalitarianism in the U.S.S.R., Germany, and Italy.
Chap 30
To what extent does Latin America in the post-WWII period show continuity and change?
Chap 31
Discuss the Cold War and its impact on developing nations.
Chap 32
Why did the Soviet Union fall and what were the steps in this process? What are the continuities
and change over time with Russian political systems?
Chap 33
What does “globalization” mean and what are the effects of globalization in the 21st century?
What continuities exist due to interdependence between nations and civilizations?