HIST 106 - World History (Asian Perspectives) Since 1800

(3 credits)

This is world history from an Asian perspective. The last two hundred years have been dramatic for humanity in general. Nowhere has this been truer than for the peoples of Asia. In the early 1800s Asians dominated the world’s economy, and were easily amongst the wealthiest societies anywhere. They lived in the largest and most sophisticated empires the world had ever seen. Their intellectual milieu was unmatched in its richness by any other society worldwide. A hundred years later however, Asians had been relegated to the margins of world power. Their economies had collapsed in a spectacular fashion. Indeed, by the end of the nineteenth century large sections of the Asian population had become the poorest in the world. Asian empires were crumbling, and many, especially in the Indian Subcontinent had fallen to the power of expanding European empires. Their sophisticated societies were in crisis brought about by a collapse in self-confidence, and their intellectual compass had shifted decisively to Europe. This dramatic turn of affairs is matched in scale only by the equally surprising resurgence demonstrated by Asians in the twentieth century. At the dawn of the 21st century, this continent appears to be preparing for an Asian century, a return to a world order that ended in the 1800s. The collective wealth of the continent is surging, its social and intellectual elites are regaining their self-confidence, and European and American power has been on a slow but steady retreat out of Asia. This course traces out this astounding narrative by focusing on the fortunes of the three most important regions of Asia. These include East Asia, consisting of China & Japan; South Asia, consisting of India & Pakistan; and West Asia, consisting of the Arab world, Israel and Iran. This course explores the historical experiences of these three regions over the last tumultuous two centuries in order to build our understanding of the modern world. Spring.