History

This course helps students make sense of globalization by treating it as an historical phenomenon. They consider what has and what hasn't changed in how societies, economies, and politics are organized across the world. Students trace the emergence of technologies and practices which facilitate global interaction, from the container ship to the world wide web. They understand how globalization has been debated, examining the emergence of the idea of globalization, and the history of arguments about what it is and whether it is a good thing or not. Finally, students study its political consequences, charting debates about the effects of global interaction on the choices available to publics and their leaders, and asking how far institutions and individuals are able to shape phenomena which occurs on such a large scale.

This course deals with premodern, modern, and contemporary Korean history from a global and historical perspective. 

The course provides a survey of U.S. history and culture from the country's origins through the end of the 18th century. It examines concepts of diversity in culture, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality in the United States using a critical approach. Topics include: Indigenous American cultures; the meeting of cultures with the arrival of Europeans and African slave population; the Enlightenment and Great Awakening; the American Revolution and declaration of independence; formation of the national government (US democracy and the constitution).  

This course comprises a thematic and comparative approach to French civilization. It focuses on issues relating to local geography (Bordeaux and it's region), secularism in France, the educational system, and French institutions. Students produce written and oral descriptions of French cultural and economic aspects, explain the cultural differences between their own country and France, and improve their French speaking and writing levels through document analysis.

This course provides an overview pre-modern Chinese history up to the Opium War. Lectures will cover such topics as the Golden Age of Chinese Classics; the Han Unification; the arrival of Buddhism; the new empires under the Tang and Sung dynasties; the takeover by the Mongols; the rise and decline of the Ming dynasty, and the eastern encounter with the West.