Readings:
Please check this page often for reading updates.
The reading assignments come from the following six books and some material that is on reserve:
➢ Robert Tignor et. al., Worlds Together Worlds Apart, Second Edition, Vol II.
➢ Janet Abu-Lughod, Before European Hegemony
➢ Ronald Findlay and Kevin O’Rourke, Power and Plenty
➢ Timothy Brook, Vermeer’s Hat
➢ Stephanie Smallwood, Saltwater Slavery
➢ Clare Pettitt, Dr. Livingstone, I presume?
These books are available for purchase at the University Bookstore and are on reserve at the Odegaard Undergraduate Library. All the readings that are assigned for this class are considered to be outstanding analyses of the modern world.
Worlds Together Worlds Apart contains information about some of the key events and developments in world history between the thirteenth and the twentieth centuries. The other five books present different arguments about why certain changes took place in world history and what their implications and consequences were. As you will realize, not all of these scholars agree with each other, and I will be disagreeing with some of the arguments raised in their books.
You are expected to acquire a general knowledge of world history and understand, compare and evaluate the arguments and analyses presented by these authors and in my lectures.