UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA

IAS 45
WORLD HISTORY
Spring, 2015
Office Hours: Tu, 3-4; Th 11-12 (and by appointment)
E-mail: karras@berkeley.edu

Prof. Alan Karras

123 Stephens Hall
643-3185

This course, which is a prerequisite for the Development Studies and Political Economy
majors, begins with a very brief look at some of the themes of world history that can be
found in antiquity, especially as they relate to political economy. It explores, for example,
the ways in which states were formed, interacted with each other, and created empires.
The course then focuses extensively on the processes through which people from
diverse and conflicting backgrounds interacted with each other in the political and
economic spheres during the "modern" era (roughly beginning around 1500). At its core,
this course has several questions. Among them: "What are the relationships between
states and their citizens?" and "How do global powers emerge, what do they look like,
and how do they behave?" Can patterns be identified across time and space?
The course is organized into four parts. Roughly these are (1) World History themes (in
the pre-modern world); (2) The Emergence and Creation of a Global World; (3) The
(Long) Nineteenth Century--Industry and Empire; and (4) The (Short) Twentieth
Century--Nationalism and Globalization.
This course has two 75-minute lectures and one discussion section each week. The
discussion sections will each be led by an expert Graduate Student Instructor. Your GSI
will provide you with a set of basic guidelines for section participation.
The following THREE books are available for purchase at the usual outlets. There is also
a course reader, which can be found at University Copy, which is located in the garage
on Channing Way, just west of Telegraph. (Selections in the Reader are marked with a
sign.) In order to understand the relevance of history to the present, students must
subscribe either to the The Economist or the New York Times. Discounted subscription
information will be provided during the first weeks of the term. We will not police your
reading of the news, but you will be held responsible for being familiar with global current
events.
Pollard, Rosenberg, Tignor, Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (CONCISE
EDITION)abbreviated on syllabus as WTWA. This is new for this semester!
Gates (ed.), The Classic Slave Narratives
Ngugi, The River Between
Singh, Train to Pakistan

ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED FOR EVERY STUDENT, WHETHER ENROLLED OR

ON THE WAITLIST, FOR THE FIRST TWO WEEKS OF THE SEMESTER. STUDENTS
WHO DO NOT ATTEND WILL BE DROPPED. ONCE DROPPED, THE ONLY WAY
BACK INTO THE COURSE IS THROUGH THE WAITLIST.

SPECIAL STATEMENTS
1. Religious Creed: Requests to accommodate a student's religious creed by
scheduling examinations at alternative times should be made by the second week of the
semester.
2. Extracurricular Activities are just that: extracurricular. If you have a request to make,
make it now. We MIGHT be able to accommodate it, but please note that we will not do
anything that might provide one student any advantage over another. There will be NO
exams given on the road.
3. RRR Week. No new material can be covered between the last day of classes (1 May
2015) and the final exam.
4. DSP: Any accommodation letters should be submitted as early as possible. No
accommodation will be made without such a letter, nor will accommodation be
provided without three weeks advance notice.
5. ELECTRONIC DEVICES/LAPTOPS: These are not allowed during the lectures.
There are many reasons for this, but you all know what they are by now. Lectures
should be a distraction free environmentfor everyone.
6. Audio Recording. Lectures are my intellectual property; each is unique and
dependent on participation from students. They may not be recorded and students
should not plan on having others record the lectures in their absence. Permission will not
be granted.
7. Respect and Civility. In this class, we will operate adhering to the Berkeley
Principles of Community (found here: http://berkeley.edu/about/principles.shtml). The
instructors will treat the students with respect, and we will expect the same in return.
That means not addressing the instructor as Hey, Karras or Nice job, Karras, as this
is disrespectfuleven if that is not its intent.
8. Special note on plagiarism and cheating. We take cheating very seriously in
this course. UC Berkeley's honor code states "As a member of the UC Berkeley

community, I act with honesty, integrity, and respect for others." As a tool to
promote academic integrity in this course, written work submitted will be
submitted via bCourses and will be checked for originality using Turnitin. Turnitin
compares student work to a database of books, journal articles, websites, and
other student papers. Students found to be plagiarizing other material (as defined
by THE CENTER FOR STUDENT CONDUCT) will receive an automatic zero on the
assignment and be reported TO THE CENTER FOR STUDENT CONDUCT.
9. Section Syllabi will be provided by the GSIs.

10. Grading: Your semester grade will be calculated according to the following formula:
1. Midterm examination
2. Final examination
3. 7-10 page RESEARCH paper
4. Participation and Attendance

20%
30%
30%
20%

11. Reading. This semester, the amount of reading for this course has been dramatically
decreased. Most weeks, the reading consists of a textbook chapter; some weeks will
have a novel or some primary sources assigned. As a result, you will have less to read
but will be expected to engage carefully the reading. There is also a requirement that
you complete the on-line activities for each chapter; these activities will be made
available through B-courses.
12. Final Examination. The University has scheduled the final examination for this
course for WEDNESDAY 13 MAY 2014 (from 11:30-2:30). THERE WILL BE NO EARLY
AND NO LATE FINAL EXAMINATIONS. Nor will there be negotiations about this. If you
think you might have a conflict, drop the course now and take it another semester. Do
not buy plane tickets for this day or for any day beforehand, unless you want to fail the
examination!
The following schedule of lectures is a fair approximation of our present intentions.
Revisions are certainly possible. New schedules will be announced and/or distributed as
appropriate.
Schedule of Lectures
I. World Historical Themes (in the pre-modern world)
20 January

Course Introduction

22 January

Humans and the Environment

27-29 January
Discussion:

Citizen and State; State and Empire

Read: Selections from Gilgamesh, Hammurabi, Socrates,
Thucydides

3-5 February

Religion, Trade and the Transmission of Culture; China

and the World Order.
Read: Selections from Confucius and the Koran
WTWA, ch.11; Submit: one-page essay, as determined by
GSI.
Library Training with Lynn Jones; laptops are allowed for
this training

Discussion:

5 February

II. The Emergence and Creation of a Global World

10-12 February

Around the World in 1492; Technology, Disease and

Religion: The Encounter and Conquest of America.

Discussion:

Read: WTWA, ch. 12.

17-19 February
Discussion:

Resource Extraction: The Rise and Operation of the

Plantation Complex.
Read: WTWA, ch. 13.

19 February

PAPER TOPIC DUE

24-26 February

Labor Systems: Slavery in Africa and the Development of

the Atlantic Slave Trade.
Read: Gates, The Classic Slave Narratives (Equiano and
Mary Prince).

Discussion:

3-5 March
Discussion:
10-12 March
Discussion:

Islam and the Ottoman Alternative; The Meaning and

Application of Enlightenment Ideology.
Read: WTWA, ch.14.
The Meaning and Application of Enlightenment Ideology II;
Nationalism and Military Technology.
Read: WTWA, ch. 15; (to p. 548 ONLY). Wollstonecraft;
Documents on the French and American Revolutions.

17 March

PRIMARY SOURCE SELECTED

17 March

***MIDTERM EXAMINATION***

20 March
Discussion:

The Birth and Spread of Industrialization.

Read: WTWA, ch.15 (pp. 548-566).

24-26 March

Spring Break

III. The (Long) Nineteenth Century: Industry and Capital

31 March-2 April
Discussion:

Global Integration: Indian Colonialism and The Scramble

for Africa.
Read: WTWA, ch.16; Ngugi, The River Between.

7 April

THESIS PARAGRAPH AND BIBLIOGRAPHY DUE

7-9 April
Discussion:

The Ascendancy of Europe in Asia; Nationalism Defined

Read: WTWA, ch.17.

IV. The (Short) Twentieth Century: Nationalism and Globalization

14-16 April
Discussion:

Europes Civil War and Russias Emerging Alternative.

Read: WTWA, ch.19; Marx, The Communist Manifesto.

21-23 April
Discussion:

World War II and the Cold War.

Read: WTWA, ch. 20.

23 April

***FINAL PAPER DUE***

28-30 April
Discussion:

Decolonization and Shifts in the Nature of the World

System.
Read: WTWA, ch. 21; Singh, Train to Pakistan

6-8 May

RRR Week

13 May

FINAL EXAM, 11:30-2:30