Europe and the World, ca. 1500 to 1914

The course aims to introduce the audience to global history from the European discovery of the Americas to the coming of the First World War. These transformative four centuries of the human experience traditionally called Modern history saw the growing economic, military, and political ascendancy of the European states which. thus, lie at the heart of this course. We are going to delve into the interplay of the large and long regional and global trends (longue durée) in the development of human societies, such as the agricultural and the industrial revolutions, and the political landmarks (some would claim, born out of contingency), such as the French Revolution of 1789. After completing this course students would acquire an understanding of the major problems and themes as the main political events and milestones of the European and world modern history. This course might serve a good introduction to the history major. The home assignments include peer assessment essays on the problematic topics from the lectures and simple multiple choice tests.