HIST 232 - Early Modern Europe and the World, 1450-1750

2020-2021 Catalog Year

Credit(s): 4
Lecture: 4
Non-Lecture: 0
From the middle of the 15th century through the end of the 18th century, European explorers, adventurers, traders, and settlers swarmed into the Americas, Indian Ocean, Asia and Africa. This course proceeds roughly chronologically, focusing on characteristic moments of contact, exchange, conflict, and transformation. Topics that we will explore include: transformations in early modern European society and culture; the motives for European exploration and expansion; attempts (both successful and failed) at cross-cultural communication and negotiation in various contexts; the legacies of European conquest, colonization, trade, and exploitation; and the long-term significance of global political and economic structures that emerged from this period. Because so many of these issues are of continued relevance, when appropriate we will discuss how the contemporary world community continues to grapple with the legacies of early modern global history.

Offered: Not on a regular basis
Program Attribute: HEUR, HLAC