Jessica Hammerman

This is a survey of the development of world civilizations and alternative nomadic lifestyles. History 104 investigates cultures, politics, and lifestyles from prehistoric times through 600 C.E. Students learn about human origins, the first civilizations in the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Africa, China, and the Indian subcontinent. It also covers the establishment of early European civilizations, the world of the Greeks and Romans, and the Fall of Rome.

This course covers the world from 500 C.E. through early 1700s, focusing on the expansion of world religions, including Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. This class specifically focuses on the regions of Asia, Africa, and India, and it tells the story of Europe’s first worldwide expansion. Students will learn to look at history from political, cultural, social, and intellectual angles, and they will routinely study primary sources. Need not be taken in sequence.

This course traces the impact of industrialization upon the world. Industrialization propelled colonial expansion by European powers, and this course will trace both the colonizers and the colonized who experienced this process. The twentieth century endured two world wars, several genocides, and several wars of decolonization. This course will include a focus on the cultural and intellectual trends that went along with political turmoil, industrialization, and modern warfare. Need not be taken in sequence.