HIST H108 (25597)                                                                            Prof. Michael Snodgrass

Spring 2006                                                                                         Cavanaugh 503S     278-7761

CA 217                                                                                                Office hours: M 10-11/W 4-5

M/W 2:30-3:45                                                                                    E-mail: misnodgr@iupui.edu

                                                                                                           

                        PERSPECTIVES ON THE WORLD TO 1800

 

 

Course objectives:

While the media recently discovered the issue of globalization, world history is in fact marked by ever more intensive stages of contact and exchange between different global communities.  This course introduces students to the political, economic, cultural and technological factors that made those encounters possible from the 1200s to the early l800s.  Lectures, readings, and exams will focus on two interrelated themes: 1) the rise and decline of regional and then global empires and 2) the patterns of interaction among and between the peoples of Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas, including military conquest, religious missions, trade, and human migrations. 

 

Perspectives on the World introduces students to the common features and key distinctions between the histories and cultures of world regions.  Consistent with IUPUI’s Principles of Undergraduate Learning (see http://www.iupui.edu/~history/ugprinciples.html), this course is also designed to develop student skills of critical and comparative analysis, improve writing proficiency, and enhance one’s capacity to organize and express his or her thoughts.  Students will sharpen these skills through a variety of assignments: analyzing historical documents, writing essays, engaging in classroom discussions, and preparing for quizzes and examinations.

 

This syllabus, class announcements, discussion questions, lecture outlines, assignments, and grades will be posted to the original Oncourse system.

 

Required readings (available at IUPUI Bookstore & Indy’s College Bookstore, 601 W. 11th St.)

1) Richard Bulliet, et. al., The Earth and Its Peoples: Vol. B, 1200 to 1870 (3nd ed.)

2) Bartolomé de las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies (original l542)

3) Olaudah Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano (original 1791)

4) Online documents: these historical documents are available online at the web addresses listed or as links through the class syllabus posted at Oncourse or at the History Department website (http://www.iupui.edu/~history/www/spring06/spring06.html).  Students should print or save these documents immediately to avoid future difficulties accessing them.

 

Course requirements and grading (based upon 1,000 total points):

Two exams = 400 points; two 4-5 page essays = 400 points; three quizzes = 75 points; one map assignment = 25 points; and, class participation = 100 points.

 

Assignments:

Exams involve multiple choice questions, matching, essays, and identification terms. 

Essays will address specific issues and questions related to the Las Casas and Equiano books.  

Four unannounced quizzes will be given during the semester - your three highest grades count

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toward final grade.  Quizzes may involve multiple choice questions, matching, and short essays and cover the online and textbook readings assigned for that day.  Be prepared.

Class participation grades are not a reward for attendance, although absenteeism obviously undermines one’s capacity to engage in discussions.  The grade of A will go to those students who eagerly participate and demonstrate consistent preparation; occasional participation and steady attendance will earn one a B; a consistent but otherwise silent presence in the classroom earns a C; and poor attendance results in a grade of D or lower.

 

Final grade scores: A+ (1,000-980), A(979-930),  A- (929-900), B+ (899-880), B (879-830), B- (829-800), C+ (799-780), C (779-730), C- (729-700), D (699-600), F (599 or less).

 

Remember...

...that all late assignments will be penalized as follows: one grade (B to C) for assignments not turned in on due date, and two full grades (B to D) for assignments turned in more than one week late.  ASSIGNMENTS MORE THAN TWO WEEKS LATE ARE NOT ACCEPTED.  

 

...the attendance policy: history tells us that persistent absenteeism results in lower grades.  That is especially the case for this class since students will take four unannounced quizzes during the semester AND since no makeup quizzes are given except in documented emergencies, in accordance with IUPUI policy. 

 

...to save all papers on your hard drive and a diskette and to retain graded assignments. 

 

...to check the Oncourse grade book to ensure your grades are recorded correctly.

 

...that all students are expected to take notes on the lectures as a means of remaining focused and preparing for the exams.  Note taking advice is available from the professor during office hours.  Students will not read newspapers, balance checkbooks, do crosswords or puzzles, use cell phones, or employ laptops for anything other than note taking.  Student who violate these rules will see their final grade penalized by 20 points. 

 

...that plagiarism and cheating will be punished in accordance with IUPUI’s Code of Student Rights, Responsibilities, and Conduct (see the IUPUI Campus Bulletin, 2004-2006, p.36).  For example, any student found to have submitted work taken from an Internet site will receive zero points for the assignment (and not just an F grade) and be subjected to full disciplinary procedures as administered by the School of Liberal Arts Dean of Student Affairs, or by officials in whichever school the student may be enrolled.  The School of Liberal Arts’ policy states that:

 

 

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Plagiarism is the use of the work of others without properly crediting the actual source of the ideas, words, sentences, paragraphs, entire articles, music or pictures.  Using other students’ work (with or without their permission) is still plagiarism if you don’t indicate who initially did the work.  Plagiarism, a form of cheating, is a serious offense and will be severely punished...The penalties for plagiarism include reprimands, being failed for a particular take-home exam, paper, project or the entire course, disciplinary probation, or dismissal.”


 

                                                       COURSE SCHEDULE

 

                                         The Rise and Fall of the Mongol Empire

 

Jan. 9               Empires in World History

 

Jan. 11 Conquest, commerce, and empire in Western Eurasia

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 336-51

 

Jan. 16 ** Martin Luther King, Jr. Day **

 

Jan. 18 Consequences and Decline of Mongol Rule in China

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 351-64

 

                        Map assignment due

 

 

                                                     The Islamic World to l500

 

Jan. 23 Conquest, commerce and the spread of Islam

 

Jan. 25 Islamic Empires in Africa and India

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, chapter 14

 

 

                                                The Atlantic World before 1492

 

Jan. 30 The Aztec and Inca Empires

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, chapter 12

 

                        A Spanish conquistador describes the Aztec capital (today’s Mexico City):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1520cortes.html

 

Feb. 1              Countryside and city in pre-industrial Europe

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, chapter 15

 

Feb. 6              The Reconquest of Iberia

                       

                        A first-hand account of the Jews’ expulsion from Spain (l492):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/jewish/1492-jews-spain1.html

 

Feb. 8              The Maritime Revolution

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, pp. 417-31

 

 

Feb. 13            Europe’s Commercial Encounters with Africa and Asia

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 431-35

 

A captain’s log of Portuguese encounters and plundering along eastern coast of Africa (c.l500):http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1505mayr.html

 

 

Feb. 15            Examination #1

 

 

 

                                                   Colonialism in the Americas

 

Feb. 20            Conquest and colonization

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, pp. 435-37, 440-41

 

 

Feb. 22            Spaniards and Indians

                        Las Casas, A Short Account of the Destruction of the Indies

 

                        Essay #1 due today

 

Feb. 27            Spanish America

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, pp. 473-88

 

                        The Black Legend reconsidered:

                        http://muweb.millersville.edu/~columbus/data/art/CERIO-01.ART

 

 

Mar. 1              ** NO CLASS **

 

 

Mar. 6 British America

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, pp. 488-98

 

 

Mar. 8              French America

 

 

Mar. 13-15      ** Spring Break Week **

 

 

Mar. 20            Colonizing the Caribbean

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, chapter 19

 

 

Mar. 22            Africa and the Slave Trade

                        Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano

 

                        Essay #2 due today

 

 

Mar. 27            Slave Life in the Americas

 

 

 

                                   Eastern Empires and Challenges from the West

 

Mar. 29            Ottoman and Persian Empires

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 526-41

 

 

Apr. 3              India’s Mughal Empire

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 541-48

 

 

Apr. 5              Missionaries, Merchants, and Cultural Exchange

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, chapter 17

 

 

Apr. 10            From Mughal to British Rule in India

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 673-88

 

                        British colonial policy on education of Indian subjects:

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1833macaulay-india.html

Indian elite discusses merits/shortcomings of British rule in India (l870s):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1871britishrule.html

 

 

Apr. 12            Imperial China and the Opium War

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 550-65

 

                        China’s Emperor rejects trade with Britain (l793):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1793qianlong.html

                        China protests against influx of British opium merchants (l839):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1839lin2.html

 

 

Apr. 17            Peter the Great’s Russian Empire

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 565-73


                                      The Age of Revolution in the Atlantic World

 

Apr. 19            Seeds of Democracy

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 580-87

 

                        The (English) Bill of Rights (1689):

                        http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1689billofrights.html

 

 

Apr. 24            The French Revolution

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 592-606

 

                        Declaration of the Rights of Man (1789):

                        http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/rightsof.htm

 

 

Apr. 26            Independence in the Americas

                        The Earth and Its Peoples, 587-91, 633-38

 

 

May 1              Examination #2