Time Schedule:
Elizabeth Sundermann
TSMIN 101
Tacoma Campus
Surveys the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the world from the end of the 15th century to the present.
Class description
Course philosophy: “Reading history is good for all of us . . . If you know history, you know that there is no such thing as a self-made man or self-made woman. We are shaped by people we have never met. Yes, reading history will make you a better citizen and more appreciative of the law, and of freedom, and of how the economy works or doesn't work, but it is also an immense pleasure—the way art is, or music is, or poetry is. And it's never stale.” -- David McCullough
Course description: World History II: Surveys the social, political, economic, and cultural history of the world from 1500 to present using interdisciplinary, world, and “big” history trends and themes. Emphases on new analyses of the "rise of the West," imperialism/colonialism in a global context, and the progress and violence of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Course materials: Come largely from an on-line multi-media curriculum called Bridging World History available at http://www.learner.org/resources/series197.html. Many supplemental readings come from the Internet History Sourcebooks http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/. We will also read Patrick Chamoiseau's _Texaco_ described as "a novel [that] expands the traditional notions of the genre. . . Fact and fiction intertwine to weave a narrative wherein myth and history complement each other . . . evok[ing] an ethos and also a vision which, though localized, reaches out far beyond the region.” Finally, in the spirit of interdisciplinary history, students will visit the Tacoma Art Museum, watch in-class films and documentaries, and conduct independent scholarly research.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
