Hist 1120-05
Spring 2010
TR 9:40 -11:05 a.m.
Dr. Yüan-ling Chao
Peck Hall 265 (898-2629); e-mail: ychao@mtsu.edu
Office Hours: MW 1:30-2:15 p.m., TR 8:30-9:30 a.m. & by appointment
WORLD CIVILIZATIONS SINCE 1500
This course is designed as a general survey course. Its purpose is not only to
introduce students to the many diverse cultures that helped to shape our world today, but
also to develop critical thinking skills though discussion of primary sources and focus
issues, and foster writing skills and the ability to formulate and sustain an argument
through the use of evidence, particularly from primary sources.
We will be mainly concerned with broad patterns of human development across
cultural boundaries and emphasize the exchange of ideas, goods, and technology since
1500. Special emphasis will be given to the emergence of a global community with ties
built by a world economy. The central theme this semester will be trade and the global
community that it created. We will examine various themes within the creation of a
global economy: roles played by the elite as well as the merchants and commoners,
influence of science and technology, intellectual traditions, and colonization and
decolonization.
Class time will consist of lectures, visuals such as videos and slides, and
discussions of readings of primary documents. Students should complete the assigned
readings prior to class time and are expected to actively participate in discussions.
These goals fulfill TBR and MTSU’s General Studies Learning Outcomes:
1. Analyze significant primary text and works of art, ancient, pre-modern, and modern,
as forms of cultural and creative expression.
2. Explain the ways in which humanistic and/or artistic expression throughout the ages
expresses the culture and values of its time and place.
3. Explore global/cultural diversity.
4. Frame a comparative context through which they can critically assess the ideas,
forces, and values that have created the modern world.
5. Recognize the ways in which both change and continuity have affected human history.
6. Practice the critical and analytical methodologies of the humanities
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Course Requirements:
1. 5%
Class Attendance: Class attendance is required and roll will be taken
each class. (grades for attendance will be calculated as follows:0-1 absence: A; 2-3
absences: B; 4-5 absences C; 6-7 absences: D; 8 & over: F. Students who arrive more
than 10 minutes late or leave early will be counted as absent)
2. 5% Class Participation
3. 30% 3 tests (lowest test grade dropped)
4. 35% 2 writing assignments (15% first assignment, 20% second assignment)
5. 25% Cumulative final examination
(+/- will be used for this course)
Make-up Policy
There will be NO make-ups and missed tests and examinations will count as Fs.
Exceptions will only be made in cases of emergency and illness documented with a note
from a doctor.
Classroom Behavior
All electronic devices are to be turned off in class. No texting on cell phones is allowed.
A laptop is allowed only for taking notes. Any violation will result in deduction of
grades or failure in the course.
Statement on Cheating
Any form of cheating (including plagiarism) on any assignment or examination will
result in a grade of “F” for the course. “Plagiarize” is defined in Webster’s New
Collegiate Dictionary as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s
own,” “use (a created production) without crediting the source,” “to commit literary theft:
present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” Outright
plagiarism or any form of cheating, intentional or unintentional, will result in a failing
grade in the course and disciplinary action by the university.
Students with Disabilities
Reasonable Accommodation for Students with Disabilities: If you have a disability that
may require assistance or accommodation, or you have questions related to any
accommodations for testing, note takers, readers, etc., please speak with me as soon as
possible. Students may also contact the Office of Disabled Students Services (898-2783)
with questions about such services.
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Writing Center
Students are encouraged to use the University Writing Center for this course. The center
is in Peck Hall 325. Their web site is www.mtsu.edu/~uwcenter. They can also be
reached by phone at 904-8237 or by e-mail at uwcenter@mtsu.edu.
Lottery Scholarship
To retain Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship eligibility, you must earn a
cumulative TELS GPA of 2.75 after 24 and 48 attempted hours and a cumulative TELS
GPA of 3.0 thereafter. You may qualify with a 2.75 cumulative GPA after 72 attempted
hours (and subsequent semesters), if you are enrolled full-time and maintain
a semester GPA of at least 3.0. A grade of C, D, F, or I in this class may negatively
impact TELS eligibility. Dropping a class after 14 days may also impact eligibility; if
you withdraw from this class and it results in an enrollment status of less than full time,
you may lose eligibility for your lottery scholarship. Lottery recipients are eligible to
receive the scholarship for a maximum of five years from the date of initial enrollment, or
until a bachelor degree is earned. For additional rules, refer to your Lottery Statement of
Understanding form, review lottery requirements on the web at
http://scholarships.web.mtsu.edu/telsconteligibility.htm or contact the Financial Aid
Office at 898-2830.
Books Required for the Course:
Bentley, Jerry, Herbert F. Ziegler and Heather E. Streets-Salter. Traditions and
Encounters: A Brief Global History. 2nd edition. Vol. 2. New York: McGrawHill, 2010.
Andrea, Alfred J. and James H. Overfield. The Human Record: Sources of Global
History. 6th edition. Vol. 2. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009.
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Lecture and Reading Schedule:
Jan.
Feb.
14
Organizational Meeting
19
Emergence of a Global Economy: Explorations and Trade Networks
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 19; Andrea/Overfield, Prologue
21
The Colombian Exchange
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, Multiple Voices I: European Views of
Native Americans
26
The Transformation of Europe: Reformations, rise of sovereign states and
early capitalism
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 20; Andrea/Overfield, 1, 3, 28, 30 (Martin
Luther, Table Talk; Reformation of the Emperor Sigismund and Martin
Luther, Address to the Christian Nobility of the German Nation; Peter the
Great, Edicts and Decrees; Voltaire, Treatise on Toleration)
28
Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 7, 8 (Galileo Galilei, Letter to the Grand
Duchess Christina; Francis Bacon, New Organon)
2
The Americas
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 21; Andrea/Overfield 22, 24, 25 (Bernardino
de Sahagun, General History of the Things of New Spain; Alonso de
Zorita, The Brief and Summary Relation of the Lords of New Spain;
Antonio Vazquez de Espinosa, Compendium and Description of the West
Indies)
4
Africa: Conquest, slave trade, and African diaspora
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 22; Andrea/Overfield, 20, 21 (Nzinga
Mbemba, Letter to the King of Portugal; João dos Santos, Eastern
Ethiopia)
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Test 1
11
East Asia: Ming and Qing China : Maritime explorations in Ming and
Manchu conquest
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 23; Andrea/Overfield, 18, 42 (Yang Lien,
Memorial to Emperor Ming Xizong Concerning Eunuch Wei Zhongxian;
Kangxi, Self-Portrait)
16
East Asia: Society and Commerce in Late Imperial China
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 15, 17 (Meritorious Deeds at No Cost; Wang
Daokun, Biographies of Zhu Jifu and Gentleman Wang)
4
Mar.
18
East Asia: Unification of Japan under the Tokugawa Shogunate
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 16, 19 (Kaihara and Token Ekiken, Common
Sense Teachings for Japanese Children and Greater Learning for Women;
Edict on the Collection of Swords, Laws Governing the Military
Households, Closed Country Edict)
23
East Asia: Neo-Confucianism and Christianity
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, Multiple Voices II: Asian Views of
Christianity
Writing Assignment I
25
Islamic Empires: The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal Empires
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 24; Andrea/Overfield, 9, 10, 11 (Ogier
Ghiselin de Busbecq, Turkish Letters; Eskandar Beg Monshi, History of
Shah Abbas the Great; Jahangir, Memoirs)
2
Continuity and Change in the Islamic Empires
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 13, 14, 38 (Abul Fazl, Akbarnama; Khayr alDin Ramli, Legal Opinions; Mhmed Pasha, The Book of Counsel for
Viziers and Governors)
4
Test 2
9
Spring Break
11
Spring Break
16
Revolutions in the World: The American and French Revolutions
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 25; Andrea/Overfield, 32, 33 (Declaration of
the Rights of Man and of the Citizen; Decree for Proclaiming the Liberty
and Sovereignty of All Peoples; Proposal for the Levée en masses; Report of
the Committee of Public Safety on Drafting Poets and Citizens for the Cause of
Revolution, Report of the Committee of Public Safety on Revolutionary
Education)
18
Influences of Revolutions
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 35 (Simón Bolivar, The Jamaica Letter);
Multiple Voices III: The Slave Trade Debate
23
Industrialization
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 26; Andrea/Overfield, 47, 49, 52 (Testimony
Before Parliamentary Committees on Working Conditions; Karl Marx and
Federich Engels, The Communist Manifesto; Emmeline Pankhurst, Why
We Are Militant)
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Apr.
25
Age of Imperialism: India and Africa
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 28; Andrea/Overfield, 54, 55 (Jules Ferry,
Speech Before the French National Assembly; Advertisements and
Illustrations from British Books and Periodicals)
30
Imperialism: Asia and the Ottoman Empire
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 43, 44, 63, 65 (Sir Henry Dundas, Letter to
Lord George Maccartney; Emperor Qianlong, Edict on Trade with Great
Britain; Lin Zexu, Letter to Queen Victoria; Sakuma Shozan, Reflections
on My Errors)
Writing Assignment II
1
World War I
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 29; Andrea/Overfield, 70, 71 (Popular Art
and Poster Art from Germany, England, and Australia; Henry S.
Clapham, Mud and Khaki, Memoirs of an Incomplete Soldier)
6
The Rise of Russia and Challenges to Europe
Readings: Andrea/Overfield, 72, 73 (Lenin, What Is to Be Done?
Communist Decrees and Legislation, 1917-1918)
8
Great Depression and the Challenges to the Liberal Order
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 30; Andrea/Overfield, 74 (Adolf Hitler, Mein
Kampf)
13
Test 3
15
Nationalism in Asia and Africa
Readings: Bentley et.al. Ch. 31; Andrea/Overfield, 75, 79, 82 (The Way of
Subjects; Kabaka Daudi Chwa, Education, Civilizaiton, and
“Foreignization” in Buganda; Mohandas Gandhi, Indian Home Rule )
20
World War II: War Theaters in Europe and Asia
Reading: Bentley et.al. Ch. 32; Andrea/Overfield, 86, 87 (Deng Yingchao,
The Spirit of the May 4th Movement; Mao Zedong, Investigation of the
Peasant Movement in Hunan and Strategic Problems of China’s
Revolutionary War)
22
Decolonization
Reading: Bentley et al. Ch. 33; Andrea/Overfield, 90, 91 (Debate in the
House of Commons; Patrice Lumumba, Independence Day Speech)
27
Review
Final Examination: May 4 (Tuesday): 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
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