World History: Themes and Approaches

Catalog description

This course provides students with the thematic and theoretical foundation for the study and teaching of world history. HIST 589 World History: Themes and Approaches (3) This course will provide students with the thematic and theoretical foundation for the study and teaching of world history. Because world history is a crucial secondary field for historians, with increasing emphasis on it as a necessary "teaching field," this course seeks to equip students to teach world history at the undergraduate level. The course will be divided into five primary units, each of which will address a major theme in world history, such as the rise of civilizations, great land empires (particularly the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire), the Silk Road, the spread of world religions, the Mongol invasions, European exploration, the Industrial Revolution, the rise of the nation-state, and globalization (specific units will be determined by the instructor). Within each of these units, students will be exposed to both substantive historical literature on the topic as well as major theoretical works that have influenced historical scholarship. In this way, students will be encouraged to think about the ways historians use theory to frame and inform their scholarship and teaching. By the conclusion of the course, students will be expected to demonstrate the integration of content, theory, and pedagogy.