A History of the World since 1300

Jeremy Adelman

This course will examine the ways in which the world has grown more integrated yet more divided over the past 700 years.

Dear FIX,

As many of you noticed, each lecture segment ends with a “quiz”. (I am not fond of that word but we don’t always get to choose our vocabulary). The quiz is intended to prompt you to apply a key concept or empirical fact that was discussed in the previous segment. It punctuates “passive” learning (watching me lecture) with active applications – if only for a brief moment. It helps break up what can sometimes be an otherwise long disquisition by your professor. Finally, quizzes help you store up a set of tools that you are going to find useful as the course gathers speed – and we are going to start moving more quickly and ambitiously.

Here are some tips for dealing with the quizzes. Since they are meant to “activate” you, you have to think about the question and what it is posing.

1. Don’t assume because it is “multiple choice” that there is one answer or a best answer. Go through all the possible answers and explain to yourself why each option works or does not work. The point is to reason with yourself.

2. Pay attention to the format of the question. There are two kinds of questions. The first are “radio button” questions: options are preceded by a little bubble. These questions only have ONE correct answer. The second are “checkbox questions:” options are preceded by a little box. Checkbox questions might have MORE than one possible answer and you can click on how many choices you think are correct. They may all be right! Be sure to read all of the answer choices before you submit your answers.

This dual format is to dissuade you from getting robotic. If you are like me, and always behind, you can sometimes try to solve a problem too quickly and therefore don’t “apply” knowledge. Believe me, when I first put myself through these quizzes (yes, I tried them), I got a lot wrong too because I was being too hasty! It won't take long to figure this out.

Jeremy Adelman

Announcements

Getting Started

The great experiment in global learning about the history of the globe is about to begin with the lectures. There are now well over 70,000 people enrolled from all over the world. Today we welcome the addition of graduate students as teaching assistants and undergraduates enrolled in the course at Princeton. You will see them engaging in your discussions.

The lectures will start establishing the major themes of the course and raise questions for discussion and debate in the forums. Some of you have asked if there is "work" to be done this week for the course. Yes, and no -- depending on your definition of work. Watch the lectures, think about the content, read the appropriate chapter of the text if you have access to it, and enter the discussions in the forums on any topic that you find relevant to the week. That's it. Your first assignment is 2 weeks away.

The forums are already crackling with activity, covering a wide array of fields. There is also a great deal of helpful information. Because there are so many people participating in the forum discussions, here are some tips for making the conversations accessible and meaningful.

We are working with Coursera to modify the structure of the threads to make them more efficient. I will keep you posted.
If you have a question or a point, be sure to check for existing forums on your topic before starting another one. Many questions have already been addressed in the week since the forums opened.
If you open a new forum, please title your forum usefully or it will soon be buried.
Use "tags" to identify categories for your forum so people can search the contents more easily.

Most days you will find me engaging in discussions in the forums as if they were a giant seminar. Next week, I will summarize what I consider to be some of the major themes of debate that have come up from the exchanges and highlight implications for the lectures to come.

Jeremy Adelman

Sun 16 Sep 2012 7:11:00 PM PDT

Welcome!

As I write this letter, there are nearly 70,000 of you enrolled in this course, and you come from all corners of the globe. This will be a great experiment in learning about the history of the world in a global format. So, I look forward to learning alongside you.

This course will consist of lectures, global dialogues, forum discussions and evaluated assignments. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the components, expectations, schedule and deadlines.

The lectures have now available, beginning with the Introduction. You are welcome to begin viewing. Every Sunday, we will be posting two additional lectures for the week. The postings will occur at 6:00 pm New York time.

Please visit the forum discussions for debates about the content of the course and for shared trouble-shooting. Here you will see instructors and students talking about a variety of issues; indeed, some students are actively contributing to the editing of the course's text! Check this out: https://class.coursera.org/wh1300-2012-001/forum/thread?thread_id=77

Anyone interested in discussions about environmental history, check this out: https://class.coursera.org/wh1300-2012-001/forum/thread?thread_id=75&page=1

To deepen your knowledge of world history, I encourage you to read. To that end, I am recommending that you procure a textbook co-authored especially for this course: Robert L. Tignor et al., "Worlds Together, Worlds Apart", vol. 2, 3rd edition. This text is available in a number of different formats at different prices and formats (sale or rent), including more inexpensive ebook versions. I understand that a hard copy can be restrictively expensive, particularly for international students, so I have been working with the publisher to create a more inexpensive ebook version for international students. The electronic version for international students will have, due to copyright restrictions in various jurisdictions, extensive amounts of graphic and documentary material removed; but the fundamental text written by the authors will remain.

To preview Worlds Together, Worlds Apart and to purchase a print or electronic copy of the book, please view the Suggested Reading section on the About the Course page.

There are some helpful forum discussions with suggestions about ways to get access to the text. See in particular: https://class.coursera.org/wh1300-2012-001/forum/thread?thread_id=4

So, let me reiterate my welcome to this educational experiment. This is an exciting time to me learning about the history of the world, not least because this format allows us to learn in the world. I am looking forward to joining you on an intellectual voyage.

Jeremy Adelman

Sun 16 Sep 2012 3:01:00 PM PDT

Welcome!

Thu 6 Sep 2012 2:10:00 PM PDT

All video recordings, assessments and other materials made available in connection with this course are subject to copyright protection and may be used only for private study by persons who are enrolled in this course. Any other use of these materials must be with the express, written permission of Jeremy Adelman.

No certificates, statements of accomplishment, or other credentials will be awarded in connection with this course.

Fri 1 Jun 2012 6:21:00 PM PDT

Course Schedule

All suggested readings are from Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: A History of the World: From 1000 CE to the Present (Third Edition) (Vol. 2).

Week 1: September 16

Lecture 1: Peoples and Plunderers
Lecture 2: Warfare and Motion
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 11

Week 2: September 23

Lecture 3: Clashing Worlds
Lecture 4: Atlantic Worlds
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 12
Global Dialogue: Robert L. Tignor

Week 3: September 30

Lecture 5: Indian Ocean Worlds
Lecture 6: The Worlds that Merchants Made
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 13
Global Dialogue: Molly Greene and Anthony Grafton

Week 4: October 7

Lecture 7: East Asian Dynamism and the Seventeenth-Century Global Crisis
Lecture 8: Empire and Enlightenment
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 14
Assignment 1 Due: October 7, 6 p.m. ET

Week 5: October 14

Lecture 9: The World in Revolution
Lecture 10: States and Nations
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 15
Global Dialogue: Ben Elman

Week 6: October 21

Lecture 11: Global Frontiers
Lecture 12: Empires and Nations
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 16
Assignment 2 Due: October 21, 6 p.m. ET
Global Dialogue: TBD

FALL BREAK

Week 7: November 4th

Lecture 13: Worlds in Motion
Lecture 14: Empire Redux
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 17
Assignment 3 Due: November 4, 6 p.m. ET
Global Dialogue: TBD

Week 8: November 11

Lecture 15: Retreat of the Elephants
Lecture 16: The World, 1914
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 17
Global Dialogue: TBD

Week 9: November 18th

Lecture 17: Civilization and its Discontents
Lecture 18: Worlds at War
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 18

Week 10: November 25

Lecture 19: Atrocities
Lecture 20: Aftermaths
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 19
Assignment 4 Due: November 25, 6 p.m. ET
Global Dialogue: Gyan Prakash

Week 11: December 2

Lecture 21: Recoveries
Lecture 22: Inventing the Third World
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 20
Global Dialogue: Anne McCauley

Week 12: December 9

Lecture 23: Crisis and Globalization
Lecture 24: The Cunning of History
Suggested Reading: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, chap. 21
Assignment 5 Due: December 9, 6 p.m. ET
Global Dialogue: John Ikenberry

Week 13: December 16th

Assignment 6 Due: December 16, 6 p.m. ET

Video Lectures

Doctor of Philosophy in English

Monday, September 17, 2012