History 103-01

Introduction to Non-Western [Global] History

Spring 2002

Class Meets: T,R 9:55-11:10 in Newton 209
Instructors: Tze-ki Hon	Bill Gohlman
Office: 312 Sturges (phone: 5749)	Office: 313 Sturges (ph: 5735)
Hours: M,W, 2-3:30; T,R, 11:30-12:30, or by appointment	Hours: M,W, 10:30-12:00, or by appointment

Required Texts: (Available at Sundance Books)

Bentley, Jerry, and Herbert Ziegler, Traditions and Encounters.

Griffiths, Robert, ed. Developing World, 01/02.

Tales from the Thousand and One Nights.

Toer, Pramoedya. This Earth of Mankind.

Wu, Ch’enh-en. Monkey.

Course Requirements:

1. Two 1 1/4 hour exams—2/28 and 4/9	40% of the final grade
2. Final Exam – 5/14, 12-3 p.m.	40% of the final grade
3. Book review, due 4/25	20% of the final grade
4. Quizzes and/or class participation	0-5% of the final grade

Course Description:

This course surveys, far too briefly, the histories of the major civilizations of Asia and Africa. It is divided into three segments, which deal with (1) pre-modern East and South Asian civilizations; (2) early cross-cultural contacts, including Islamic expansion from Southwest Asia into Africa, Asia, and Europe, followed by European expansion into Asia and Africa; and (3) Asian and African cultures in the contemporary world. The major focus of the course is on cultural interactions and their effects on particular elements of the cultures studied—primarily the issues of patriarchy, family, and elitism. As far as possible, this inquiry will be value-neutral; that is, neither the traditional values of any Asian or African culture nor the values of Western culture will be assumed to be superior. Our job will be to look as objectively as we can at the traditional cultures of Asia and Africa to see how they have developed and interacted with one another and with the culture of Western Europe.

In order for us to reach these ambitious goals, we will ask you to gain some familiarity with each major culture of Africa and Asia, starting with a basic knowledge of its geographical setting and an outline of its history before modern times. Class lectures and Bentley and Ziegler’s Tradition and Encounters will give an overview of the geographical setting and pre-modern history of these societies. The first part of the course will focus on East and South Asia, with Ch’eng-en Wu’s Monkey providing a closer look at Chinese cultural interaction with Indian religious traditions. The second part of the course will examine the traditional cultures of the Islamic world and Africa and the growing importance of contacts between the societies of Asia and Africa, and later with Western European society. In addition to the background lectures, the readings in Bentley and Ziegler, we will read a selection of stories from the Tales from the Thousand and One Nights, one of the best-known popular literary works from the traditional Muslim world. The last section of the course will survey contemporary Asian and African cultures in the colonial and post-colonial eras, asking such questions as: What are some of the problems faced by these societies today? Are they caused by a legacy of western domination? Has western domination in fact ended? What specific difficulties are posed by geography, by the world’s economy, by political rivalries (global and regional), by ethnic or religious hatreds, and by gender-based discrimination? The reading assignments for this section of the course will come from the text edited by Griffiths, The Developing World, 01/02 and Pramoedya Toer’s novel about culture conflicts in colonial Indonesia, This Earth of Mankind.

In your exams and your book review you should begin to express your own view of Asian and African history. You will not be expected to be an expert on the whole subject (in fact, no one is), but you should try to see these cultures from their own perspectives rather than from the point of view of western European culture and traditions. Of course, this will be difficult to do, but make the attempt to see the world view of other cultures and apply this to the record of historical facts. Exams will not test you on your knowledge of minute details but will instead require you to place your knowledge in the context of the larger historical questions. (You will be expected to provide your own examination booklets, which are available at the College Bookstore and Sundance Books. If you fail to bring an exam booklet, we will sell you one – at the exorbitant price of 50 cent, with all profits going to the History club.)

Your book review should be an analysis, not a summary, of Toer’s This Earth of Mankind. There will be several quizzes, two of them map quizzes and the rest on the required readings. All of them will be announced; if you are not present for a quiz, you may not make it up. The quiz grades, as well as class participation, will be figured into your final grade. You may make up a low quiz grade by attending a campus event related to the subject of this course and writing a short reaction report about your experience.

Class attendance is not required, but it will be helpful, since the class periods will be devoted to lectures about and discussions of the readings that present the main themes of the course, themes that will appear in the two hour exams and the final. You may make up an exam if you have an acceptable excuse for missing it. Your book review proposal and your book review must be handed in on time; you will lose one letter grade for each class period your review is late. If you fail to take an exam or hand in your book review, you will be assigned a failing grade in the course.

Learning Outcomes for History 103:

1. Students will demonstrate a basic knowledge of the physical and political geography of Asia and Africa demonstrated through quizzes on these topics.

2. Students will gain a basic understanding of the traditional civilizations of Asia and Africa, their interactions with each other and with European civilization in early modern times, and their development since independence in the last half of the twentieth century. The students’ attainment of this knowledge will be shown in two 75-minute exams and a three-hour final exam.

3. Students will study one example of an Asian culture during the period of Western colonial domination and will demonstrate the results of their study in an analytical book review.

The following is an outline of the topics we will be discussing, your reading assignments, the dates of examinations, and the due date of the book review.

Course Outline

Date:	Subject:	Readings:
1/25	Introduction to the main topics of the course. The impact of geography on culture.
Traditional East and South Asian society and culture
1/31	Middle Eastern Civilization	Bentley, Chap. 2
2/5	The Persian Empires	Bentley, Chap. 6
2/7	South Asia	Bentley, Chap. 8
2/12	East Asia	Bentley, Chap. 4
2/14	Chinese Unification	Bentley, Chap. 7
2/19	Later Chinese Dynasties	Bentley, Chap. 14 (to p.346)
2/21 & 26	Cultural Dialogue	Monkey
2/28	First Exam
The Islamic World, Africa, and Western expansion
3/5	Indigenous Culture of Africa	Bentley, Chap. 18
3/7	The Coming of Islam	Bentley, Chap. 13
3/12	The Nomadic Empires	Bentley, Chap. 17
3/14	The Triple Heritage of Africa	Bentley, Chap. 25
3/19	Cross-cultural Connections	Bentley, Chap. 22
3/21	The Last Islamic Empires	Bentley, Chap. 27
4/2&4	Islamic Culture	Tales from the Thousand and One Nights
4/9	Second Exam
The Modern World
4/11	Tradition and Change: China	Bentley, pp. 647-664
4/16	Tradition and Change: Japan	Bentley, pp. 346-351; 664-671
4/18	The Impact of the West	Bentley, Chap. 32
4/23	The End of Empires	Bentley, Chap. 37
4/25	Contemporary Crises	Bentley, Chap. 38
	Book Review Due	This Earth of Mankind
4/30	The developing world: Definitions, economic, and Politics	Griffiths, Units 1 & 2
5/2	The developing world: Political conflicts and changes	Griffiths, Units 3 & 4
5/7	The developing world: Population problems	Griffiths, Unit 5
5/9	Women in Asia and Africa	Griffiths, Unit 6
5/14	Final Exam, 12-3 p.m.