Some historians have argued that the “integration of global space” is a defining feature of early modernity. This course will synthesize scholarship on trade, migration, biological exchange, and cultural encounters. This synthesis will be achieved by the weekly study of literature, which will be discussed intensively in every class session. The students will also work towards such a synthesis by writing an essay of +/- 7,000 words in which they can chose their own topic, within the overarching subject matter of encounters and the chronology of the early modern period.
Knowledge of, and insight into, the process of early modern encounters, with an emphasis on the role of biological, economic, and social factors in shaping and creating these encounters.
Knowledge of, and insight into, the major historiographical debates surrounding the ways in which early moderns people encountered one another.
Use of key concepts such as globalization, institutions, networks for the development of a hypothesis to be explored in a research paper.
Perfect the skills of an historian such as searching for relevant literature, developing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, using primary and secondary source literature, and presenting this reearch in an understandable way.
Mode of instruction
Total course load for the course: 280 hours.
Hours spent on attending lectures and seminars: 28 hours.
Time for studying the compulsory literature: 135 hours.
Time for completing assignments (presentations and weekly assignments): 37 hours.
Time to write a paper: 80 hours.
Final Paper – 60%
Class participation – 20%
Class presentations and weekly assignments – 20%
Charles Parker, Global Interactions in the Early Modern Age, 1400-1800 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 210).
Other literature to be announced. A reading list will be made available well-before the class begins.
Email: Dr. J.V. Roitman.