| This section is currently under construction |
| Introduction |
| |
| Paradox of World History |
Carol Gluck, in her article 'Asia in World History,' was able to articulate the paradox of world history:
Teaching world history is both necessary and impossible. It is necessary because we know that the conventional boundaries of historical knowledge are too narrow for the world today. It is impossible because the expanse of world history across space and time is too broad for the classroom. |
|
| Historical Writing |
|
| World Historical Questions |
Eric Martin stated that what makes World History unique is the types of questions that are asked.
World History as a Way of Thinking
Read carefully the following sections: "Questions Asked," "Models Developed," and "Wider Applications of World History as a Way of Thinking"
Answer the following questions:
What distinguishes world history from other disciplines? (How do world historians think differently?)
What is unique about the types of questions that world historians ask?
What is world history? Write a collaborative definition.
What makes 'world history' different from other history that you have studied in school before?
What are the benefits of studying history? (Why is taught in schools?)
Navigating World History: A Synposis
Pay special attention to the section titled: "Method in World History"
Answer the Following Questions:
What are some of the different methods used to study world history?
Create a collage or matrix that outlines at least 4 methods used to study world history. Please use pictures or graphic representations to illustrate each approach.
Which methods or methods do you believe has/have the most significant implications for studying world history?
What are some of the main factors that need to be considered when studying world history?
How will literature fit into this course? What other 'subjects' will be integrated into our world study?
|
| Issues and Considerations |
| |
| World History Defined |
New World History is a new and exciting field of study in which scholars, students, and historians search for patterns and processes of historical events in order to better explain the existence of our complex, highly-developed, interconnected globalized world. New World Historians often examine smaller (and seemingly isolated) events to see how they fit into the Big Picture of History (Macro-Historical) . It is not simply a branch of history, but a multi-disciplined endeavor which combines:
- Social Studies: history, anthropology, archaeology, geography, linguistics, etc.
- Earth Science: climatology, geology, ecology, oceanography, etc.
- Biological Science: botany, genetics, DNA studies, etc.
- Humanities: literary studies, philosophy, theology, art history, etc.
in order to paint a more accurate and detailed picture of The Human Past.
New World History reaches beyond studying individual societies and cultures to studying, researching, analyzing and discovering complex patterns and processes that have shaped our world.
We will examine the interconnections of groups and cultures as they encountered, interacted, and exchanged with other cultural traditions during the Pre-Modern Era. The Pre-Modern Ear will be defined as the period before the long-tern reconnections of the New and Old Worlds Systems following Columbus' voyages in 1492. |
| Analytical Frameworks |
| |
| Historiography |
World History is a story of interactions. These tales of interactions range in time, from the earliest humans to the present, and in space, from single individuals to the entire planet. In order to make this more manageable, we will divide these interactions into three broad categories that will be refered to at the Typologies of Interactions: |
- Interactions with the Natural World [exploting the landscape (such as acquiring food from plants and animals, or cutting down trees to create more land for farming or to be used in construction projects); managing water (such as irrigating farmland or building dams and canals); diseases (epidemics); climate change (such as adjusting to cold periods or prolonged drought); exceding a land's carrying capacity (through degrading the environment or maintain too high of a population level).]
- Interactions with the Intellectual World [science and technology; innovations and inventions; worldviews generated through religious and philosophical movements; ideas and information networks.]
- Interactions with the Social World [networks based on social, cultural, political, military, and/or economic encounters.]
|
| Various approaches, methods, and models, have been generated to to study world history are diverse and wide-ranging. In this site, we will analyze and utilize many of these approaches. Also, we This site is my attempt to explain to the pre-modern roots of our globalized world. |
| |
| |
|
