HIST 108 - History of the Modern World

Credit Hours: 4
From the mid-15th century onwards, European seamen launched maritime expeditions to Africa, Asia, and the Americas. In the process, societies and peoples almost completely unaware of each other were brought into sustained contact with profound consequences for all. By 1945, the existence of a global community was an accepted fact. This course examines the making of this global community between 1430 and 1950. It seeks to make sense of the ways in which events and processes arising in one part of the world migrated to other places and intersected with local realities to produce new, and often unexpected, historical trajectories. The course is attentive to the unequal power relations which often underpinned the interactions between different societies. The course equally focuses attention on these interactions as key mechanisms in the creation of a modern global community.

Course Satisfies: Core Curriculum requirement in Humanities.