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Guided Pathways: World History


Clothing made in China, jobs in Saudi Arabia, immigrants from Honduras: all these phenomena are part of the globalization of the world today.  While these developments seem new, they have many precedents.  In London in the seventeenth century, Indigenous representatives from North America walked the streets of the huge metropolis.  British drug dealers harvesting opium in India peddled their wares in China in the nineteenth century.  Manila hosted Chinese merchants who sold luxury goods in exchange for silver mined in Potosi in present-day Bolivia for over two hundred years.  Ideas, religions, goods, and people crossed the planet on a regular basis.  By 1900, a global system of communication and transportation was fully operational.

The Department of History offers numerous courses addressing global exchange and encounters, from the ancient world to the present day.  Survey courses of World History both before and after 1500 are regularly available to students.  Courses such as Global Islam and  Christianity in the Modern World give students unique perspectives on major world religions.  Offerings also address exploration, empires, decolonization, and world health.  These are crucial to understanding the tensions and challenges of the contemporary world.    Well educated students with global knowledge are well prepared for the positions available in a globalized world where careers often take one overseas, from East Asia to Europe.

(HIST 1500) World History to 1500
(HIST 1510) World History Since 1500
(HIST 2200) The World Since 1945
(HIST 3210) Age of Total War
(HIST 4075) Science, Technology, and Society
(HIST 4085) History of Technology
(HIST 4200) Topics in World History
(HIST 4230) Global Islam
(HIST 4270) Empire and Exploration 1400-1750
(HIST 4271) European Exploration, Imperialism, and Decolonization 1750 to Present
(HIST 4290) The Americas After Columbus
(HIST 4765) The Vietnam War
(HIST 4770) Warfare in the Modern World
(HIST 4780) The Korean War
Last Updated: 7/13/19