Transcript World History, Where and Why?

Taught at nearly all US
universities, many
European
2. Important NEW
research field
3. Public interest– best
selling history books
4. One of most important
developments in US
education and
scholarship in the last 20
years!
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 It is not random selection…
 There are three main approaches to World History
 The study of major civilizations
 How did each civilization develop and change?
 How does each civilization help define the experience of
many people in societies around the world?
 Allows one to compare civilizations
 What do civilizations have in common?
 How do they differ?
 The study of contact between societies and
civilizations
 Scholars study how contact occurs
 How does contact with different societies change both
parties?
 This allows scholars to see broad changes in the
experiences of peoples throughout the world
 The study of broad forces that define societies,
contacts, and experiences of individual civilizations
 New trade patterns
 Migration patterns
 New disease patterns
 Missionary efforts
 Etc
 Used in combination
 By using them key time periods are easily created
 Time periods can be defined by patterns of contact or
changes in broader forces—like the diffusion of new
technologies (cars, phones, printing etc) or new trade
patterns (capitalism etc)
1. Early Modern 1500-1800
2. Long 19th Century (1750-1914)
3. Contemporary
Teaching field (US)—not a research field
2. It developed in less prestigious universities in the
US (San Diego State)—not in the Ivy Leagues
3. It ironically has not developed around the world
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Most of the research and pedagogies have been
developed in the US
Outside of the Netherlands, few European countries
have developed significant World History programs
The UK refuses to teach World History—mostly
Why are others less interested??
Diverse US student body
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Since the 1950s the US has become increasingly
involved in the non-European world
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There is a demand for teaching which reflects the
diverse student body in US classes
Our interaction with the WHOLE world causes us to
want to understand the world better
The World History perspective can help to
understand crucial historical events and processes
better
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Around 13% of the BYU student body are ethnic
minorities
students
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Asian/Pacific Islander
1,365
Hispanic
1,261
Native American
129
Black
173
Multi ethnic/other
1,320
There over 2,000 international students from 110
countries—0ver %6 of the student body
 2006, %59 of graduate students were female
 Between 1996 and 2006 minority enrolment increased
%5 each year, white enrolment increased none.
Challenges Western Civilization teaching
approaches
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1994 national standards condemn
Western Civilization tradition traces a line of
historical development from ancient Mesopotamia
and Egypt to Greece and Rome to Western Europe
and North America
3. West Civ argues the US is a part of the Western
Tradition, therefore students should be taught
about Western institutions and values
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It is more important for American students to
understand the world as a whole and how the West
is a part of the world
It is more important for American students to
understand the world as a whole and how the West
is a part of the world
2. Students cannot understand the West without
understanding World History
3. World History avoids Euro-centrism: it is
misleading to merely look at the West. The West did
not develop autonomously!
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Historians of East Asia claim the field cannot
adequately convey the complexities of individual
traditions
How can one teach Chinese History, with all its
nuanced complexities, to American students who
have never experienced or been taught Chinese
culture, philosophy and/or religion?
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World History is simply a biased American
perspective on the world!
2. World History is another way to define American
foreign policy
 Is this Orientalism?
 “Since the time of Homer every European, in what
he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an
imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.”
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Knowledge
Literature
Art
Power
Politics
Government
Technology
Race
Environment