History 201-206 seminars are open to history majors only during pre-registration. If the course does not reach its enrollment maximum, it will be open to all students beginning with drop/add on a first-come first-serve basis.
HIST 205 Globalization and Cultural Contact, 1450 - 1800
Stillman
Taught as schedule allows (consult the Course Directory)
CGS Course | SEM | PRE-1800
This course studies the significant process of globalization and cultural contact in the early modern period. In 1450, the Portuguese had just begun sailing down the West African coast, and Europe and the Americas were still unaware of each other. By the end of our period, networks of trade and empire linked virtually the whole world, and wars like the Seven Years War and the Napoleonic Wars were truly global conflicts. The early modern period was particularly dynamic for the dramatic way in which the peoples of the world came into contact, spreading ideas, ways of life, and forms of art. For example, the Ottoman Sultan brought Italian Renaissance artists to paint at his court, resulting in the mutual influence of painting styles between East and West. Coffee, tea, sugar, and other new products of European imperial contact with Asia and America drastically altered European diet and fashion. We will examine historical phenomena such as the Age of Discovery, the Military Revolution, global trade, and colonial empires, with an emphasis on how these phenomena brought about cultural and artistic exchange. We will analyze a broad range of sources including works by contemporary travelers, scholars, and statesmen, current scholarship on the period, and works of art, literature, and music.
