HIST1114 - 01 - Creating the Atlantic World

(HI) Historical Inquiry (H) Historical Consciousness

This course explores the rise of the Atlantic World with a chronological focus centered on the Age of Exploration through the Age of Sail, ca. 1450-1820. It examines the process through which the histories of Africa, Europe, North America, and South America collided, resulting in conflict but also in the creation of a large interconnected community of diverse peoples languages, and cultures. Readings, lectures and discussion will reflect a transnational approach to the study of history moving beyond traditional national narratives in an effort to reveal the ways in which intercultural contact shaped ideas about race, ethnicity, class, and gender, and how new communities and societies were formed through imperial rivalries, economic exchange, and various acts of accommodation, resistance, and rebellion.