Problems in Pre-modern world history
Prof. Alexandra Cuffel
Website: http://www.macalester.edu/~acuffel/
Office: Old Main 308
Office hours: Tues: 2:00-5:00 and by appointment.
Phone: 6414
e-mail: cuffel@macalester.edu.
Description of the course:
The goals for this course are threefold: to familiarize students with trends in pre-modern world history; to introduce to the different ways in which historians approach pre-modern history; and to improve student’s writing and analytical skills. Rather than examining matters in a specifically chronological or geographical order, I have chosen a broadly comparative, thematic, global approach which concentrates on specific topics common to various societies and the contacts between them, such as environment and disease, technological developments, gender relations, religious and philosophical exchanges, trade, and colonial expansion. Historical events and processes do not occur in temporal or geographical vacuums, despite generations of historiographic traditions which have implied that they did. Nor is history about memorizing names, dates, and places. By taking an introductory course on world history, I hope that all of you will leave with a better understanding of not only of how each culture that we examine changed over time, but how each were connected to one another, and also the different kinds of questions that a historian can ask and the sources available to him/her.
I do not expect students to be able to regurgitate empirical facts. Class performance will be judged by students’ abilities to conceptualize ideas across traditional disciplinary boundaries and express their understanding both orally and in writing. Your abilities in these areas and your understanding of the readings and movies will judged based on your in-class discussions, web-based discussions, your papers and final exam. Explanations of the assignments and topics for the smaller papers (analytic and final exam) are provided either in-class or on my website under the appropriate subheading. Taking a thematic approach does have its drawbacks, however. While this class does not emphasize the memorization of chronology, students should have a basic grasp of what happened when, where, and in what order. For those students who are having strong difficulty with this issue, they are advised to purchase or check out the recommended textbook, In the Balance. When appropriate, students working on a particular area of the world for their historiographic papers (see attached explanation or my website) may be asked to add observations and clarifications based on their research in the in-class discussions.
Required books for the course:
1) Martin Lewis and Karen E. Wigen,
The Myth of Continents: A Critique of Metageography
2) Tikva Frymer-Kensky,
In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical
Transformation of Pagan Myths
3) Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Women’s Work: the First
20,000 years: Women Cloth, and Society in Early times
4) Jerry Bentley,
5) William McNeill, Plagues and Peoples
6) Myths from
7) Voices from Ancient
8) Women in World History:
9) Susan Whitfield, Life along the
10) Murasaki Shikibu,
Tale of Genji
11) Sundiata: Epic of
Old
12) Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of
13) The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African (Modern Library)
Recommended:
1) Al-Qur’an
2) The New
3) In the Balance: Themes in Global History combined edition.
Requirements for the course:
1) In-class contribution – 15%
2) Review of Myth of Continents (Due Sept. 27) - 10%
3) short analytic paper (See topics list. Due dates vary)- 15%
4) bibliography and proposal for historiographic paper (Due Oct. 21) – 10%
5) historiographic paper (See explanation. Due Nov. 23) – 30%
6) take-home final (Due Dec. 19) – 20%
Thurs. Sept. 9: Introduction to the class and types of history.
Readings for next class: Myth of Continents, Introduction and chaps. 1-4 (pp. 1-123)
Tues. Sept. 14: Discussion of Myth of Continents
Thurs. Sept 16: Continued discussion of Myth of Continents. Students should sign up to meet me to discuss region/topic of their historiographic paper.
Assignment: 1) Think about what area of the world on which you would like to do research, and what kind of history, e.g. social, religious, cultural, archeological, military, etc. 2) Book review of Myth of continents – due Tues. Sept. 27.
Tues. Sept. 20: Lecture: Goddesses, God-Kings, and Sages:
Assignment: select ONE of the following books and begin to read: Tikva Frymer-Kensky, In the Wake of the Goddesses: Women, Culture, and the Biblical Transformation of Pagan Myths and @Richard Frye, “Women in Pre-Islamic Central Asia: the Khatun of Bukhara” OR Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Women’s Work: the First 20,000 years: Women Cloth, and Society in Early times. Be prepared to summarize and analyze the thesis and content of your chosen book for your classmates who have not read the book.
Thurs. Sept. 23: Discussion of readings.
Readings for next class: Myths from Mesopotamia, “Descent of Ishtar” pp. 154-162, “Nergal and Ereshkigal” pp. 163-181; Voices from Ancient Egypt, pp. 8-34, 38-43, 46-48, 131-146.
Tues. Sept. 27: Continued
discussion of readings. Lecture:
technology, environment and daily life in the ancient world and the problems of
studying it. Gender and society. Due: Book review of Myth of
Continents
Thurs. Sept. 30: Discussion of texts. Presentation and discussion of In the Wake of the Goddesses, Frye, “Women in Pre-Islamic Central Asia and Women’s Work in the context of the primary source readings. Begin discussion/lecture on concepts of purity.
All students should have spoken to me about their chosen
research topic for the historiography paper by this point.
Readings for next class: Women in World History, pp. 53-61, 71-73, 235-238; @ Quran 2:168-176, 222-228, 5:3-11; @ Selection from the Avestas (Zoroastrian). @Selected Hindu texts. Begin reading: Bentley, Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts and Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times
Tues. Oct. 5: Lecture: Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism. Discussion of purity laws, gender, food, and community boundaries.
Due: Analytic papers 1-4.
Readings for next class: @ Selected Jataka Tales (“The Deer King ”; “Little Prince No-Father ”; “The Goat that Laughed and Wept ”).
Thurs. Oct. 7: Lecture/discussion: Transformations of the person and message of Buddha
Readings for next class: Women in World History,
pp. 80-127, 174-180
Tues. Oct. 11: Lecture/discussion: Philosophy, politics and duty to self, family, and state. Introduction to Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy; Introduction to Confucian, Neo-Confucian, and Daoist philosophy.
Due: Analytic paper #5
Thurs. Oct. 14: Lecture: Shifts in Judaism, the rise and transformations of Christianity, Manichaeism, and Islam.
Readings for next class: Selection from the Dead Sea Scrolls – War Scroll ; @ Selection from Midrashim and Talmud on Genesis @Selections from Manichean writings:1) Manichaean Creation story ; 2) End of Deficiency ; 3) Psalm to Jesus II ; @ Perpetua and Felicity.; Women in World History, pp. 130-145, 152-171
Tues. Oct. 19: Discussion of texts.
Thurs. Oct. 21: Discussion of texts: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam: The Cult of personalities?
Due: bibliography and proposal for historiographic paper.
Tues. Oct. 26: Discussion of Bently
Due: Analytic papers 6-14
Fall Mid-Term
Break – Enjoy!
Tues. Nov. 2: Discussion of texts in the contexts of
the “commercial revolution”, banking, and “world systems” and their impact on
daily lives. Lecture/discussion: Trade,
travel, economy and suspicion of outsiders:
Begin reading: Tale of Genji
Thurs. Nov. 4: Lecture: Personal loyalty, the state,
and feudalism in medieval Europe, Central Asia, and
Tues. Nov. 9: Discussion of texts. Begin lecture on Court
culture, ritual, food, and courtly love in
Due: Analytic papers 15-16.
Thurs. Nov. 11: Class cancelled – students are to come to
the showing of the movie: Harakiri instead. Time and place TBA.
Tues. Nov. 16: Discussion of movie and Tale of Genji – masculinity and warrior culture in
For next class: Review what you have studied/read of Ancient Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Chinese-Confucian, and Christian views of and roles for women.
Thurs. Nov. 18: Discussion of women’s roles in
Japanese society based on Tale of Genji. Comparison with other cultures studied.
Reading for Tues. Nov. 30: Sundiata; Women in world history, pp. 200-205. @ Stories from Ruth Whitehead on the Micmac. Suggested: Begin reading McNeill, Plagues and peoples.
Tues. Nov. 23: Lecture:
Writing, orality, and learned culture in the medieval and early modern
periods. Doing pre-modern oral history,
2 case studies: Micmac and Oral epics and the
Due: historiographic paper.
Thanksgiving Break
– Enjoy!
Tues. Nov. 30: Discussion of Sundiata, Women in World history, and “stories of the Micmac”
Thurs. Dec. 2: Discussion/lecture: conquest,
diseases, and trends in environmental history based on Plagues and Peoples.
Readings for next class: Broken Spears, @ Selection from Diaz del
Castillo; Women in World History, pp. 208-226.
Tues. Dec. 7: Discussion of texts.
Due: Analytic papers 17-24. Any papers for which you would like the opportunity to rewrite for a better grade must have been turned in by this point. This means students wishing to do analytic papers 25-29 need to either turn in their papers early, or forfeit the opportunity to rewrite the papers.
Thurs. Dec. 9: Discussion based on Equiano: African Slave Trade, Atlantic Slave trade, and the fate of the African diaspora.
Readings for next class: Equiano, pp. 101-180.
Tues. Dec. 14: Continued discussion of the text. Wrapping up: What made a society in the pre-modern world and what changes did exploration and encounters with others cause?
Due: Analytic papers 25-29 and all rewrites.
Dec. 19: Take home finals due.