The West In Global History

To encourage students to think about larger themes which pertain to the post-1500 history of the world, comparative themes such as tradition versus modernization, confrontations of Oriental versus Occident, East versus West, urban versus rural, etc. will be discussed in conjunction with the transformations of historical processes over the past five centuries. The year 1500 is considered the turning point in which the modern global economy is said to have begun to form. Challenges to this choice of turning point, and alternative views of human and world history will be discussed in the lectures. Students who are interested in understanding how the West came to dominate this period and the present will benefit from this course. Upon completion of this course students will have a deeper appreciation of the historical basis of the present time and the links between other history topics and the modern West.