HIST 338: Steam Power and Globalization (GS)

Course Description

This course explores the emergence of modern globalization by taking students on a simulated journey around the world in 1866-1867, when scheduled, commercial transportation systems linked up, all the way around the planet, for the first time. Based on the instructor’s original research, the class introduces students to a wide variety of historical problems and methods, and the use of primary sources, while showcasing a number of places and key historical events in Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas. Students will learn about how different individuals, social classes, and entire cultures adapted to, rejected, or grudgingly learned to live with mid-19th century globalization; and will study the inter-class and cross-cultural interactions, interdependence, and inequities that underlay the new global economy at the local and global levels. Prerequisites: Junior standing or any 100-level History course or instructor consent.