World History (WOH)

A survey of world history from prehistory to 1500. This course examines cultures, social structures, politics, religions, and economic development throughout human societies.

A survey of world history from 1500.

History of the twentieth century. Major themes include the two world wars, nationalism and decolonization, the Cold War, globalization, and new social movements.

“Genocide” is often used imprecisely in popular and political discourse. In this course we examine the differences between the terms genocide, “democide,” ethnocide, and other forms of mass violence. We will also gain greater insight into the interaction of psychological, sociological, cultural, and political roots of genocide.

History of Western beliefs about witchcraft in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, when these ideas became regularized and accepted by the courts that defended the West from the perceived threat of witchcraft.

History of the period during which the Atlantic Ocean became part of an Atlantic world system, and how the processes of exploration, conquest, and settlement created increasing numbers of economic, political and cultural ties.

An exploration of plagues and epidemics in world history from the Plague of Athens to the twentieth century.

The course will examine the political, diplomatic, military, social, and economic background to World War I. The four years of the war and its aftermath will be studied from a global perspective.

Explores themes and trends in the scholarship of environmental history, and includes extensive primary source research.

Examines the literature of the European Age of Discovery from both earlier and newer historiographical perspectives, attempting to determine which ideas are still valid and which must be reconsidered.

A study of conflict during the twentieth century: how wars began, how they were waged, how they ended, and what their legacies were.

Covers capitalism and the emergence of the modern world system, empires and gender and postcolonial studies from 1500 to the present. The course concentrates on large-scale historical change and themes that transcend national boundaries.

Readings seminar in selected topics and problems in World history.