Course Description
This graduate colloquium introduces students to the historiography of the Pacific World, loosely defined. We will examine transnational connections among Asia and the Americas, emphasizing the modern period. Major topics include capitalism and labor, colonialism and resistance, global migration and diasporas, race and gender relations, and war and memory.
Athena Title
Pacific World History
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Student learning Outcomes
- Students will learn and practice how to analyze scholarly texts. This includes locating scholarly texts within a historiography, identifying key debates that inform their research questions, and critically analyzing the significance of their arguments and evidence.
- Students will have learned how to write book reviews and historiographical essays.
- Students will be able to give scholarly presentations and lead seminar discussions.
Topical Outline
- What is the Pacific?
- Early Encounters in the “Age of Exploration”
- Imperialism and Colonialism
- Global Migrations and Diasporas
- Commodities and Capital in Circulation
- Race, Labor, and Gender
- World War I and World War II
- The End of Empire
- Pax Americana and the Cold War
