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Important
features of these online courses
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Student
participation in course discussion boards
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Documentary and feature films on
various topics from World history, including:
Course Assignments
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Short essays,
projects, and book reports; no online testing
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Discussion boards for all videos
and readings
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Social Network
site activities
How to Read
a Book
This will be your
first - and perhaps most important - reading
assignment for the course. Click
here to access this short article now.
Also watch this YouTube
video about reading.
History 4 - World History
to 1750
Fall 2011 - Ticket # 12135
Important features of these
online courses
Course Assignments
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Short essays, projects, and book
reports; no online testing
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Discussion boards for all videos and
readings
Course Texts
- READ THIS!
YES -
there are more books than in most community college
history classes, but there is a reason for this!
My
philosophy of teaching is to introduce students to a
broad variety of texts, beyond the standard survey
text.
The textbook that is assigned
is a "brief" version, or about half
the length of the average World history text.
I have selected the Strayer book because it reflects
the historical interpretation of one author, and is
well-designed to compliment the other texts that I
have selected.
The other books are historical
works that focus on different themes that compliment
the main text, such as:
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When Asia Was
the World, by Stewart Gordon
A study of Asia's golden age - 600
to 1600 - through the experiences of
travelers and merchants moving
across Asia.
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A Vanished
World, by Chris Lowney
Life in multicultural medieval
Spain, a period of intense rivalry
and collaboration between Muslims,
Christians, and Jews.
Did you know that much of of what we
have of "Spanish"/Mexican culture
and material goods here in southern
California from the period
1769-1848 - mission architecture,
grapes, oranges, horses, the Spanish
language - owes much to the
influence and effect of the Arab
invasion and occupation of Spain in
the year 711, which lasted until
1492?
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War and Peace
and War, by Peter Turchin
A challenging work that approaches
the subject of war and empire in
much the same broad strokes as Jared
Diamond uses in his approach to the
study of the European conquest of
the Americas and the developing
world.
Reading Assignments
You will not have to
read every word or even every chapter in all of
these books. My objective is to introduce you
to important themes from a variety of sources.
Your reading assignments will be selective, so that
you understand the main themes and arguments
presented in these texts. All of the details
on the assignments will be posted in the course
Blackboard site, available on Monday, August
22.
While shopping for
these books at Amazon.com
(see links below) or Barnes and Noble.com, check on the customer reviews of
the books by Gordon, Lowney, and Turchin.
COSTS
If you shop
around, you will find that these four books cost as
much or less than the complete one volume texts used
in other sections.
Click on titles for information on texts (links
to Amazon.com). Shop for the best
deal - which sometimes will include used
copies at the Saddleback College Bookstore.
FREE BOOKS
Yes - Free copies of
the Gordon, Lowney, and Turchin books are available
through your local public library!
These
include the
Orange County Public Library,
the
County of Los Angeles Public Library,
and the
Mission Viejo Public Library. If
your local branch does not have a copy, they can
obtain a copy from within their system. The
links above are to the online catalogs for these
systems.
Here is a
list at the Saddleback Library site of
local libraries. Visit a Library
- and save money!
Textbook Rentals
A new option for renting higher priced textbooks is
Chegg.com.
See for example the rental cost for
Ways of the World.
History 4 - World History
to 1750
Fall 2011
Click on
the links below to see the costs for these texts at
Amazon.com.
(The links open in a new browser - so turn-off your
pop-up blocker if nothing happens).
While shopping for these books
at Amazon.com
(see links below), check on
the customer reviews of the books by Gordon, Lowney,
and Turchin.
History 5 - World History
Since 1750
Summer 2011 - Ticket # 10660 and 11125
Course Texts
-
READ THIS
YES -
there are more books than in most community college
history classes, but there is a reason for this.
My
philosophy of teaching is to introduce students to a
broad variety of texts, beyond the standard survey
text. This will also prepare students
for the readings expected at the four-year college
level.
The textbook that is assigned
is a "brief" version, or
less than half the length of
the average World history text. I have
selected the Strayer book because it reflects the
historical interpretation of one author, and is
well-designed to compliment the other texts that I
have selected.
Reading Assignments
You will not have to
read every word or even every chapter in all of
these books. My objective is to introduce you
to important themes from a variety of sources.
Your reading assignments will be selective, so that
you understand the main themes and arguments
presented in these texts.
All of the details
on the assignments will be posted in the course
Blackboard site, available on Monday, June
20.
Costs
If you shop
around, you will find that these five books cost as
much or less than the complete one volume texts used
in other sections. Three are less than $10 at
Amazon.
Click on titles for information on texts (links
to Amazon.com). Shop for the best
deal - which sometimes will include used
copies at the Saddleback College Bookstore.
Click on the links below to
see the costs for these texts at Amazon.com.
(The links open in a new browser - so turn-off your
pop-up blocker if nothing happens).
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The Following Books Are Required |
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Robert W. Strayer.
Ways of the World: A Brief Global History.
Volume 2: Since 1500. Bedford/St. Martin's.
Paper. ISBN 978-0312452896 RENT
this book at
Chegg.com for $20.67! Prices at Chegg will
change due to demand and availability. |
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Robert D. Kaplan.
Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of
American Power. Random House.
Hardcover. ISBN 978-1400067466
There is a
Kindle edition of this book, with the
Text-to-Speech feature. |
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Mariano Azuela.
The Underdogs: With Related Texts.
Hackett Publishing. Paper. ISBN
978-0872208346
There are many editions of this classic from the
Mexican Revolution, but this edition is required for
this course due to the "related texts".
The novel is 84 pages. |
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Elleke Boehmer.
Nelson Mandela: A Very Short Introduction.
Oxford University Press. Paper. ISBN
978-0192803016. 144 pages. |
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Bhikhu Parekh.
Gandhi: A Very Short Introduction.
Oxford University Press. Paper. ISBN
978-0192854575. 152 pages. |
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The Following Are "Recommended"
A major objective of my courses is to introduce
students to good historical writing, in particular,
outstanding examples of monographs, historical works
on narrow topics.
For that reason students
will select only one book from the
following list, and read a portion of the text and
write up a report on their readings.
Some of
these are quite lengthy, so it will not be necessary
to read the entire book. But in reading only a
portion of these works you will be introduced to
some of the finest works of world history.
If students wish to select another theme or topic,
they may, but all are encouraged to select from this
list. Most are available through college and
public libraries.
It is not required to purchase one of these books.
While I have posted links to the latest paperback
editions, most can be found in the hardcover
versions in college and public libraries.
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Not Required -
"Recommended"!
This is the only book from this list
available through the Saddleback College Bookstore
as a "Recommended" book for the course:
Laurent Dubois.
Avengers of the New World: The Story of the
Haitian Revolution. Belknap Press of
Harvard University Press. Paper. ISBN
978-0674018266 There is a
Kindle edition of this book with the
Text-to-Speech feature.
Other Recommended
Selections
As mentioned above, you may select any book from
this list if you purchase your books online at
Amazon, or you may also obtain any of these titles from
college or public libraries. |
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Caleb Carr.
The Devil Soldier: The American Soldier of
Fortune Who Became a God in China.
Paper. Random House. ISBN
978-0679761280.
______.
The Alienist. Paper. Random
House. ISBN 978-0812976144. A
historical novel by the author of The Devil Soldier;
takes you into the rapid and unsettling changes of
life in the most dynamic world city of the late 19th
century: New York City. |
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Paul A. Cohen.
History in Three Keys: The Boxers as Event,
Experience, and Myth. Columbia
University Press. Paper. ISBN
978-0231106511
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Linda Colley.
The Ordeal of Elizabeth Marsh: A Woman in
World History. Anchor. Paper.
ISBN 978-0385721493 |
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Robert Conquest.
Stalin: Breaker of Nations.
Penguin. Paper. ISBN
978-0140169539 |
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William Dalrymple.
White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in
Eighteenth-Century India. Penguin.
Paper. ISBN 978-0142004128 |
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Mike Davis.
Planet of Slums. Paper. Verso.
ISBN 978-1844671601 Not exactly history,
but a stunning work by America's premier modern
"muckraker", more history with a conscience.
Get to know (for many) our urban future.
______.
Late Victorian Holocausts: El Niño Famines and the
Making of the Third World. Paper.
Verso. ISBN 978-1859843826 The
author's best historical work.
Kenneth Pomeranz of UC Irvine notes:
Davis's range is stunning.... He combines political
economy, meteorology, and ecology with vivid
narratives to create a book that is both a gripping
read and a major conceptual achievement. Lots of us
talk about writing ‘world history’ and
‘inter-disciplinary history’: here is the genuine
article. |
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Niall Ferguson.
The War of the World: Twentieth Century
Conflict and the Descent of the West.
Penguin. Paper. ISBN
978-0143112396. Students can also select from
the same author's earlier
The Pity of War: Explaining World War I.
Both are revisionist works challenging established
ideas about their topics. |
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Orlando Figes.
Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia.
Picador. Paper. ISBN
978-0312421953 You can also select the same
author's
A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution,
1891-1924. This historian has been
involved is a bizarre scandal just in the last year.
He is still a great writer and historian, but read
all about his personal troubles here at the
Times of London. |
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Sheila Fitzpatrick.
The Russian Revolution. Oxford
University Press. Paper. ISBN
978-0199237678 |
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David Fromkin.
A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the
Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle
East. Holt, 2nd edition. Paper.
ISBN 978-0805088090. Any edition of this
book is fine, with many used copies available. |
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Yasmin Khan.
The Great Partition: The Making of India and
Pakistan. Yale University Press.
Paper. ISBN 978-0300143331 |
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Mark Mazower.
Hitler's Empire: How the Nazis Ruled Europe.
Penguin. Paper. ISBN
978-0143116103 Anything by Mazower is
encouraged, as he is among the finest new historians
of Europe. You could also try his short work
The Balkans: A Short History. |
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Simon Sebag Montefiore.
Young Stalin. Vintage. Paper.
ISBN 978-1400096138 Or you can select
the author's second volume on Stalin,
Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar. |
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Mark Ravina.
The Last Samurai: The Life and Battles of
Saigo Takamori. Wiley. Paper.
ISBN 978-0471705376. Yes, the Tom Cruise
film was based upon a real historical figure. |
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Nelson Reed.
The Caste War of Yucatan. Stanford
University Press. Revised Edition.
Paper. ISBN 978-0804740012. Any
edition of this book is acceptable. |
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Simon Schama.
Citizens: A Chronicle of the French Revolution.
Vintage. Paper. ISBN
978-0679726104 |
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Robert Service.
Lenin: A Biography. Pan
Publishing. Paper. ISBN
978-0330491396. One can also select the
author's biographies of Stalin and Trotsky.
These are massive studies, so it is not necessary to
read the entire work selected. But it is
preferable to select passages from a book like this
than to read a short, condensed study of these men
and their times. |
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Jonathan D. Spence.
God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of
Hong Xiuquan. W.W. Norton.
Paper. ISBN 978-0393315561. The
Jet Li film
The Warlords takes place during this
civil war of the 1860s in China; the film is
available streaming on Netflix. Provides the
larger context to the story by Caleb Carr, The
Devil Soldier. (see above) |
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Alex von Tunzelmann.
Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End
of An Empire. Picador. Paper.
ISBN 978-0312428112 |
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John Womack.
Zapata and the Mexican Revolution.
Vintage Books. Paper. ISBN
978-0394708539 |
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Personal Choice
If there is another book that you are
interested in reading, you must send me full details
on it by no later than the end of the second week of
the course. |
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