HI293 - Galleons and Caravans
Lecture 1. Global Connections in the Early Modern Period
Wednesday 5 October 2016
Tutors: Maxine Berg, Julia McClure and Giorgio Riello
Galleons and Caravans introduces the global history of the early modern world. We are now living in a time of both great connects and significant divisions and misunderstandings between different parts of the world. This module addresses these by investigating the history of cultural connections between different parts of the world, especially in religion, art, science, trade and consumption habits. The module follows the circulation of people, knowledge and goods in the early modern world, and compares empires and great cities. The module will be set within the theoretical framework of global history. Topics include diasporas, material culture, the Chinese and Ottoman empires, cities, the silk route, the Manila galleons, maps and travellers.
Part A. What is this course about?
1. In what ways is ‘Galleons and Caravans’ different from other courses?
- Team-taught course
Based in the expertise of tutors
- Chronology: 1300-1800
Organised through themes
- Geography: Eurasia?
The geography of connections
2. Topics
Term 1
1. Global Connections in the Early Modern Period (GR)
2. The World in 1300 (JM)
3. The Silk Routes and other Land Routes (JM)
4. Travel and Travellers (JM)
5. Diaspora and Migration (GR)
6. Reading Week
7. The Rise and Decline of Land Empires (GR)
8. Systems of Maritime Interactions (GR)
9. From European Exploration to Maritime Empires (GMe)
10. Silver in World History (GR)
Term 2
11. Global Arts: Embassies, Gifts and Collecting (LM)
12. Religious Connections in Global History (JM)
13. MUSEUM TRIP (Global Commodities) (JM and MB)
14. Nodes, Ports and Cities (MB)
15. The European East India Companies (MB)
16. Reading Week
17. Early Science and Technology in Eurasia (JM)
18. Scientific Knowledge, Enlightenment and Religion (MB)
19. Moving Plants, Diseases and Animals (AC)
20. Slavery, War and Conflict (MB)
Term 3
21. Exploration and Knowledge of the World (MB)
22. The World in 1800 (MB)
23. Global Connections: An Overview and Review (MB and JM)
3. Warnings
-Themes must be understood in their chronologies and connected to other themes.
- The aim is not to know everything, but the ability to know what you need.
Part B. Global History
1. What is global history?
-Global history is not always related to the study of the globe as a unit
-William McNeill defines global history as ‘history in which we know what to leave out’
2. Why are we interested in Global History now?
‘Globalisation’ is often seen as a phenomenon that boomed in the 1990s through:
- new systems of communication (the internet, email etc.)
- a high degree of economic interconnectedness
- the power of large corporations
- cultural homogenisation
- etc.
We should distinguish between different definitions of globalisation:
- economic connections
- cultural connections
- people moving: migrations
- the use of ideas to create power over other people
- environmental connections,
- communication and transport
- etc.
3. World and Global History
‘World History’ (in French ‘histoire mondiale’, in Italian ‘storia mondiale’) has been used in the US since the 1960s:
-the teaching of survey courses
-the concept of civilization as central to the narratives proposed.
‘Global History’ is more used in Europe and in the UK in particular:
-it is more recent: last 10-15 years
-taught in more specialised courses
-Based on connections, comparisons, theoretical structures, etc.
The Journal of World History has been published at the University of Hawaii by the World History Association since 1990. The Journal of Global History is based in the UK and has been published since 2006 by the London School of Economics and Cambridge University Press.
Part C. Approaches to Global History
Which are the approaches adopted by global history?
1.Connetions:
- explain both economic and cultural phenomena.
- connections are not always positive (exploitation, war, slavery, etc.).
- however connections are not the only theme or only way to do global history:
2. Comparisons:
- especially used in the social sciences
- based on in-depth studies of specific localities
- problem of what to compare
3. As a whole
- the whole world as one unit (in ‘big history’ the whole ‘Universe’, as in David Christian’s Maps of Time (2004)
- use of science and biology
4. Systemic:
- analyzes how different areas (be they localities, states or empires) relate to each other.