HIS 204-53, T/Th 2:50-4:05 (5th period)
Room: 3.76NB
Prof. Kyle Francis
Fall 2012
Office: 8.65.22 NB
Office Hours: 11:00-12:30 T/Th
Office Phone: 646-781-5545
kfrancis@jjay.cuny.edu
Global History, 500-1500
This course will seek to uncover the origins of our “globalized” world. Today, people around the
globe can communicate with each other instantaneously. Internet surfers in America can easily
discover the latest news in places as far off as Afghanistan or China. Further, political and economic
decisions made in one part of the world often directly affect the lives of individuals and groups in
other parts. This is what is meant by globalization. But it was not always so. This class will focus, in
the words of our textbook, “on the cross-cultural interactions and the ways in which peoples and
culture are influenced, and are sometimes transformed by political engagement, cultural contact,
economic exchange, and social encounters with other societies.” These engagements and interactions
went a long way to shaping the world we live in today. In delineating this process we will also use
primary sources to learn about a variety of world cultures and lifestyles and to discover how
historians undertake the interpretative and analytical work that is essential to their field.
Course Objectives:
As a result of this class, students will be able to:
● Recognize and apply different historical approaches
● Formulate historical questions
● Explain the significance of different kinds of historical change
● Evaluate the reliability and usefulness of different forms of historical evidence
● Construct a historical argument grounded in evidence from primary and/or secondary sources
● Locate an event and sources in historical context
● Trace historical trajectories
● Determine the interrelationship among themes, regions, and periodization.
Course Requirements:
Attendance/Participation:
10%
Class attendance is both required by the department and necessary for you to do well on your exams
and essays. More than three absences will adversely affect your grade. In addition, daily, informed
class participation is expected, based on a close reading of the assigned texts. Failure to participate in
class will result in a zero for class participation.
Daily Quizzes:
20%
We will start each class – beginning Thursday, February 2 – with a one-question quiz based on the
assigned reading, for a total of 20 quizzes. The quizzes may be factual or interpretative – based on
either the primary or secondary readings – and if you did the reading they should not be difficult. It is
imperative that students arrive to class on time in order to take the quiz, as there will be no make-ups.
I also use the quizzes to take attendance, so if you miss the quiz you are counted absent. Students can
drop their three lowest quiz grades at the end of the semester.
Examinations:
Exam One:
Exam Two:
Exam Three:
Exam Four:
Exam Five:
Final Examination:
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
20%
Required Books (available in the John Jay College bookstore and on reserve at the John Jay Library)
- The textbook for this class is Crossroads and Cultures: A History of the World’s Peoples.
Volume B: 500-1750, edited by Smith, van de Mieroop, von Glahn, and Lane (ISBN:
978-0-312-57167-2).
-
Sources of Crossroads and Cultures. A History of the World’s Peoples. Volume I: To
1450, edited by Smith, van de Mieroop, von Glahn, and Lane (ISBN: 978-0-312-559854).
Aug 28 (T)
Aug 30 (Th)
Introduction: The Formation of Regional Societies
Discussion:
Why Study Global History? (NO QUIZ)
Readings:
Be prepared to participate in class
Discussion:
Rise of Christianity
Readings:
p. 266-280 [be sure to read Mary as Mother of God]
Source 9.2: The Pastoral Mission. Pope Gregory the Great,
Letters, p. 153-6
Sep 4 (T)
Discussion:
Social and Political Renewal in Europe
Readings:
p. 280-287 [be sure to read Constantinople’s Silk Producers]
Source 9.3: Tyrannical Rule of Justinian and Theodora.
Procopius, The Secret History, p. 156-8
Sep 6 (Th)
Discussion:
Rise and Spread of Islam
Readings:
289-293, 301 [be sure to read Women and Property in Islam]
Source 9.7: Muhammad ibn Ishaq, The Life of the Messenger
of God, p. 166-9
Sep 11 (T)
Discussion:
From Unified Caliphate to Islamic Commonwealth
2
Readings:
p. 293-298 [be sure to read The Pact of Umar]
Source 9.8: The Caliph Relieves an Honorable Jurist of his
Debts. Al-Muhassin, The Table-Talk of a Mesopotamian
Judge, p. 169-72
Sep 13 (Th)
FIRST EXAM [The development of Islam and Christianity]
Sep 18 (T)
NO CLASSES SCHEDULED
Sep 20 (Th)
Discussion:
The Northern Wei, Kazars, and Turks
Readings:
p. 304-311
Source 10.1: Travels of the Buddhist Pilgrim Xuanzang in
Sogdia and Afghanistan. Huili, The Life of Xuanzang, p. 173177
Sep 25 (T)
NO CLASSES SCHEDULED
Sep 27 (Th)
Discussion:
The Shaping of East Asia
Readings:
p. 311-321 [be sure to read Tea Drinkers in Tang China]
Source 10.4: The Reception of Buddhism in East Asia. Yan
Zhitui, A Confucian Scholar’s Dedication to Buddhism, p.
185-7
Oct 2 (T)
Discussion:
The Consolidation of Hindu Society in India
Readings:
p. 321-327 [be sure to read A Copper Plate Land Grant
Inscription]
Source 10.7: Conduct of the Well-Bred Townsman.
Vatsyayana, Kama Sutra, p. 193-7
Oct 4 (Th)
Discussion:
The Diffusion of Indian Traditions to Southeast Asia
Readings:
p. 327-335 [be sure to read Borobudur: The World’s Largest
Buddhist Monument]
Source 10.8: Scenes from Eighth-Century Java. Borobodur
Monument, Central Java, p. 197-200
Oct 9 (T)
SECOND EXAM
Oct 11 (Th)
Discussion:
Agricultural Innovation and Diffusion in Afro-Eurasia
3
Readings:
p. 372-381
Source 12.1: Guidelines for Estate Management. Robert
Grosseteste, The Rules, p. 223-227
Oct 16 (T)
Discussion:
Industrial Growth and the Money Economy
Readings:
p. 381-388 [be sure to read Imitation and Innovation in
Islamic Coinage]
Source 12.2: The Market Inspector at Seville. Ibn Abdun, the
Markets of Seville, p. 227-30
Oct 18 (Th)
Discussion:
Merchants and Trade Networks in Afro-Eurasia
Readings:
p. 388-398 [be sure to read the Commenda Partnership
Among Venetian Merchants]
Source 12.5: Business Partnerships in Florence. Gregorio
Dati, Diary, p. 238-242
Oct 23 (T)
NO CLASS – INSTRUCTOR OUT OF TOWN
Oct 25 (Th)
Discussion:
Production, Tribute, and Trade in Hawaii
Readings:
p. 398-405 [be sure to read The Mande Blacksmiths]
Oct 30 (T)
THIRD EXAM
Nov 1 (Th)
Discussion:
Church and Universities in Latin Christendom
Readings:
p. 406-416 [be sure to read Medical Professionals of Latin
Christendom]
Source 13.2: The Spiritual Quest of a Female Mystic. The
book of Marjgery Kempe, p. 247-251
Nov 6 (T)
Discussion:
Students and Scholars in Islamic Society
Readings:
p. 416-424 [be sure to read Ibn Khaldun on Study and
Learning
Source 13.4 AND 13.5: Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali,
Deliverance from Error and Ibn Rushd, On the Harmony of
Religion and Philosophy, p. 255-9.
Nov 8 (Th)
Discussion:
The Cosmopolitan and Vernacular Realm in India and
Southeast Asia
4
Readings:
p. 424-428
Source 13.6: Sharafuddin Ahmad Yahya Maneri, Letters, p.
259-61
Nov 13 (T)
Discussion:
Learning, Schools, and Print Culture in East Asia
Readings:
p. 428-434 [be sure to read Lady Murasaki on Her Peers
Among Women Writers]
Source 13.7: Fate and Fortune in China’s Civil Service
Exams. Hong Mai, Tales of the Listener, p. 261-4
Nov 15 (Th)
FOURTH EXAM
Nov 20 (T)
Discussion:
The Crusaders and the Imperial Papacy
Readings:
p. 440-450 [be sure to read A Muslim Courtier’s Encounters
with the Franks]
Source 14.2: The Crusaders in Captivity. John of Joinville,
The Life of Saint Louis, p. 274-7.
Nov 22 (Th)
NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING
Nov 27 (T)
Discussion:
The Making of Christian Europe
Readings:
p. 450-455 [be sure to read Bernard of Clairvaux’s Summons
to the Wendish Crusade]
Source 14.3: The Christian Conquest of Valencia. The
Chronicle of Jaime I of Aragon and the Charter issued by
Jamie I, p. 278-81
Nov 29 (Th)
Discussion:
The Mongol-World Empire
Readings:
p. 455-461 [be sure to read Mongol Women in the Household
Economy and Public Life]
Source 14.6: Marco Polo, The Description of the World, p.
286-9.
Dec 4 (T)
Discussion:
The Mongol Khanates and the Islamic World
Readings:
p. 461-466
Source 14.7: Mongol Rule in Russia. Medieval Russian
Chronicles, p. 289-92
5
Dec 6 (Th)
FIFTH EXAM
Dec 11 (T)
FINAL EXAM REVIEW
FINAL EXAM: Dec 18 (T), 12:30-2:30 pm (In our regular classroom)
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