GLOBAL HISTORY

BA Willingness to participate, work in team, share experiences and contribute ideas, and engage in class discussion

Students will: Develop key definitions Gain familiarity with the conversation that have emerged from the field of global history and develop the capacity to link historical knowledge to ongoing contemporary debates Develop sequentially key skills for graduate education and beyond: examination of sources and documents, critical thinking and reading, writing and communicating effectively for a wide range of audience

Global History—the search to understand how human societies have developed as an interactive community across the world—has come into its own as a scholarly enterprise at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Spurred by ongoing processes of globalization, it flourishes as one of the most important developments in the discipline of history today. Examining processes, networks, identities, and events that cross the boundaries of modern nation states, this venture to push the study of the past, remote and recent, beyond the compartmentalized approach most older historians grew up with has mobilized scholars in departments and research centers across the world.  This class is designed to introduce students to methods, theories, and critiques of global history. We will survey how scholars of diverse disciplinary backgrounds have attempted to both analyze global change and cull meaning from global integration. We will begin by considering the concepts through which scholars have explained and typified transnational interactions. We will also discuss earlier attempts to think history on a global scale, before the term ‘globalization’ came into common use, and consider their relevance today— showing that, while global history is a new term, it is also a new round of already existing approaches. We will then take a closer look at how certain themes have been used to narrate human history as well as the problems posed by thinking across boundaries. These include space, commodities, marginalization, empire, diaspora, environment, gender, and pandemic. We will evaluate emerging paradigms for interpreting trans-local relations and the historicity of contemporary global studies. Through readings and discussions, we will assess the methodological and theoretical contributions of each analyst and, by critically reflecting on these, we will expand our own analytical toolkits.

See the (provisional) weekly reading list below A full and more detailed list of readings (including books, articles, documentaries, films, and other sources) will be distributed on the first day of class All readings will be accessible on the Moodle course page.

This course works as a discussion seminar, and an active workshop. Its success depends on you. Please come to class (online and on campus) having done the readings and ready to engage with your peers. Don’t be shy and speak your mind. There is no ‘class point of view’ nor are there ‘preferred answers’. I believe the most interesting and engaging classes are those where people present a diversity of opinions. I actively strive to make classes open spaces of encounters and exchanges of ideas, critiques, and experiences. In addition to class participation, the main requirement for this course is a final essay or creative assignment on a topic of your choice.

Class participation (discussions, teamwork, case studies) Book Review Final research paper/ creative work

Active participation in class discussion The topic must be original