Global Connections since 1450

This course explores the past history of global connections and disconnections from c. 1450 to the present day. The course builds on the foundations established in the first year history courses which explore the makings of the medieval, early modern and modern worlds. In this course, we drill down into key themes in global history to provide a foundation for honours courses in global history and in regional histories beyond Europe and North America. The course explores the global history of three themes - goods, peoples and ideas. We interrogate the new forms of power which sought to reshape global connections in the period from c. 1450 and explore the ways in which polities and societies in Asia, Africa and Latin America engaged with and resisted the rise of European power and produced alternative imagined geographies, leading to the creation both of new connections and new forms of disconnection. This enables us to engage critically with linear narratives of globalization. At the same time, the course also provides an opportunity to reflect critically on the writing of global history and to consider how we best make sense of the intersections of the local and the global in this period. Credit Level: 8 Year taken: Year 2 Undergraduate