Subject details

At the successful completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Understand key patterns in modern world history;
  2. Place globalisation in a long historical perspective;
  3. Trace causes and consequences in historical contexts;
  4. Know how to employ primary and secondary sources to study world history;
  5. Communicate and analyse historical arguments and information.

  • Topics

    • Polities: Tribes, Nations, States and Empires: c. 1200 - 1400
    • Trade and World History c. 1300 - 1500
    • A World of Disease c. 1350 - 1550
    • The Crucible of War c. 1500 - 1700
    • The Natural World c. 1600 - 1750
    • Global Visions or World Civilization? c. 1700 - 1800

  • Study resources

    • Instructional Methods

      • Discussion forum/Discussion Board
      • Online assignment submission

    • Online Materials

      • Online Assessment
      • Printable format materials
      • Resources and Links

No eligibility requirements

Special requirements

No special requirements

During the course of 500 years between 1300 and 1800 (CE), the peoples of the world came into ever closer contact with one another. Contact led to sustained engagements in commerce, war, empire, and colonisation. The effects of these complex patterns of interaction across the globe in this period gave rise to new ways of seeing the world, new ways of interpreting nature, and new ways of understanding its human inhabitants. This course will introduce you to the study of world history by focussing on salient themes in the emergence of the some of the modern world. Themes on which we will focus include: (1) Polities: tribes, nations, states and empires; (2) Trade and world history; (3) The crucible of war; (4) A world of disease; (5) The natural world; (6) Global Visions or World civilization?

  • Discussion Board (20%)
  • Historical Interpretation (30%)
  • Historical Argument (50%)

Textbooks are subject to change within the academic year. Students are advised to purchase their books no earlier than one to two months before the start of a subject.

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