Spring 2002
Classroom: Niccol 208
Time: MWF, 8:30-9:20am
Instructor: Dr. Pingchao Zhu
Office Hour: MWF, 1:00-2:00, or by appointment
Office: Rm 315 AD
Office Phone: 885-7166, or 885-6253
Email: pzhu@uidaho.edu
Course Description
Welcome to the honors program in the study of the history of world
civilizations since 1500. This course provides a global perspective in
exploring topics in human developments. Emphases will be placed on
major regions of the world, selected cultures and traditions, interrelations
and interdependence of societies and nations, experiences of peoples and
individuals. The objectives in this course are to encourage critical
thinking, to understand the past from a historical perspective, to learn,
to compare, and to reflect on various traditions and civilizations in modern
world. Students are encouraged to actively involved in critical thinking
and debating issues under discussion.
Textbook
William J. Duiker, The Essential World History, II, since 1500,
New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002.
Course Requirements
1. One mid-term examination
125 points
2. One final examination
125
3. One in-class Presentation
100
4. One case study package
100
5. Attendance
50
1) Examinations consist of identifications and short essays,
which come mainly from lectures and assigned readings from the
textbooks. They are not cumulative.
2) In-class Presentation At least two students form a group and
pick a topic from the list provided. Although format of the
presentation is up to each group, it CANNOT
be just a reading from notes. The primary purpose is to present an
issue, a
theory, an event, or a phenomenon using various
sources and layouts. Students are encouraged to be creative in
presentaiton.
**Topics for presentation can be found in the course
schedule under each week starting from the 4th week. Topics
followed by ** mean that
they can be selected for presentation. Although some weeks have more
than one topic as
choice, only one topic can
be chosen for presentation per week.
**Evaluation of the presentation will be conducted through peer review by the class.
3) Case Study Package requires students to gather information
to build on a theme/topic relating
to this course. The package should include
the following items:
a. Introduction
on the importance of your choice of the topic in the case study.
b. Primary sources
(at least Two) in the form of document or artifact with brief introduction
to each identifying the
significance, relevance to history, and special effect of the sources to
the topic in the case study;
c. Analytical
questions (at least Three questions) to indicate what you expect readers
to learn from this package and
how you want them to think of the primary sources in relation to both the
specific time period regarding the case study
topic and interactive development in world history as a whole.
Questions can serve as the starting point for readers to
establish
relations between primary sources and historical significance of certain
issues or events.
d. Images
(at least Two, pictures or photos) with proper captions;
e. Maps (at
least One map) relating to the primary sources or topic under discussion
showing progression over time;
f. Weblinks (at
least Two): relating to the primary sources or topic in this project;
g. Conclusion
on how we can use information from 1-6 to better understand certain
issues in history.
h. There is no specific
requirement on the length and format of this project. Major text
should be typed, wherever
applicable. Pictures or maps can be pasted, taped, or copied to the
text or in individual pages.
Grade Scale
A=500-450 B=449-400 C=399-350
D=349-300 F=299 & below
Course Schedule
Week 1 Jan. 14-18
Introduction to the Course
a. The setting of modern world history
b. Theory of modernity
d. Encountering the New World
Reading: Duiker, Chpt. 14, pp. 503-508
Part I: The Rise of the West, 1500-1763
Week 2 Jan. 23-25 (No Class on Jan. 21, Monday)
Early Modern Europe
a. The Renaissance
b. The Reformation
Reading: pp. 336-348
Week 3 Jan. 28- Feb. 1
State Building: Theory & Practice
a. Absolutism
b. Absolute Monarch Louis XIV
c. The English Revolution
Reading: pp. 348-359
Part II: Western Domination and Industrialization, 1763-1900
Week 4 Feb. 4-8
The Age of Revolution, I
a. The Scientific Revolution**
b. The Enlightenment**
c. The Enlightened Monarchies
Reading: Chpt. 18, pp. 437-439
Week 5 Feb. 11-15
The Age of Revolution, II
a. The Industrial Revolution**
b. Social impact & Marxism
c. The American Revolution & the Civil War
Reading: Chpt. 21, pp. 460-64
Week 6 Feb. 20- 22 (No Class on Feb. 18, Monday)
The Islamic Empires**
Reading: Chpt. 16
Week 7 Feb. 25- Mar. 1
The Age of Revolution, IV
a. The French Revolution**
b. Napoleon’s Empire
Reading: pp. 440-451
Week 8 Mar. 4-8
The 19th Century European Thoughts
a. Conservatism, Nationalism, & Liberalism
b. Unification of Germany**
c. Russia in the 19th century
Reading: pp. 466-484
Week 9 Mar. 11-15
Imperialism
a. British & India
b. Africa & Latin America**
Reading: Chpt. 22
Mid-term Exam on Monday
Week 10 Mar. 18-22, Spring Recess, No Class
Week 11 Mar. 25-29
China: Eastern Civilization in Crisis, I
a. The Opium War, 1839-1842**
b. Nationalism vs. imperialism
c. The Nationalist period, 1911-1949
Reading: pp. 532-543, 518-593
Week 12 Apr. 1-5
Japan: Eastern Civilization in Crisis, II
a. Tokugawa Japan, 1600-1868
b. Meiji Restoration**
c. Early Industrialization, 1868-1930
Reading: pp. 544-553, 594-595
Part III: New World in the 20th Century, 1900-1999
Week 13 Apr. 8-12
The Great War
a. European pre-war mentality
b. The Russian Revolution**
c. Stalin’s Russia
Reading: Chpt. 24
Week 14 Apr. 15-19
Interwar Years
a. The rise of Nazism and Fascism
b. Japanese militarism**
c. The United States
Reading: pp. 602-616
Week 15 Apr. 22-26
World War Two
a. Europe Theater
b. Pearl Harbor & Atomic bombs**
c. War Atrocities: Holocaust & Internment Camps
Reading: pp. 616-624
Week 16 Apr. 28-May 2
The Postwar World
a. Postwar Europe**
b. Reconstructing Japan**
c. Communist China, 1949-present**
Reading: Chpts. 27 –28, & 32
Case Study Package due on Monday
Week 17 May 6-10
A New World Order
a. America’s involvement in Asia
b. The end of the Cold War
c. New World Order
Reading: Chpts. 29-31
Final Examination: May 13, Monday, 7:30-9:30am
**This course schedule is subject to changes by the instructor when
necessary.