This course explores the interactions of civilizations from the decline of Ancient Empires through the current debate about globalization.  Particular attention to the interaction of civilizations through war, trade, expansion, and other relationships will take precedence over a specific nation by nation study of the world.  The interaction of people became increasingly important through a system of societies, networks and transitions, as the world of societies modernized and becomes increasingly global. The course begins with something that continues on a global scale, the emergence of world religions. Note, we will not study all religions because this first unit will serve as our approach to world history that is studying in detail the events that have a global impact. As a class we will study the major themes, trends, and transitions, but students will become regional experts attempting to explain how global trends played out, or did not, in their region. We will conclude the first semester by examining a global phenomenon that dramatically changed the way of life, the Industrial Revolution.  Second semester picks back up with the global revolutions and concludes with a study of the current state of globalization.

Our study will allow students to employ the skills of historians, noting significance, change over time, cause and effect, and continuity and change in the attempt to resolve our historical problem. The goal of such analysis is to employ procedures to help us think like historians while uncovering and tracing the evolution of the word globalization – the closer integration of the world.

Course Question

How did societies, networks, and transitions impact globalization?

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