Prerequisite
English 100/101 and History 233
Course Description
This upper-division course focuses on important issues in world history from roughly 500 B.C.E. to roughly 500 C.E., a seminal period called the Classical Age. Topics examined include Classical Greek culture and influence; the Hellenistic world ecumene; religious and philosophical innovation (Socrates, Confucius, Buddha, Zoroaster, Christ); the unification of the Mediterranean world under the Roman Empire; the unification of China under the Qin and Han dynasties; the unification of India under the Mauryan Empire; the culture of Roman, Han and Mauryan societies; the decay and fall of the Roman, Han, and Mauryan empires; and the rise of important regional states like Meroe and Aksum in northeast Africa, Angkor in Cambodia, and Teotihuacán and the classical Maya city-states in Mesoamerica. Major emphases of the course will be the seminal nature of classical civilizations and the construction of historical interpretation through the analysis of primary sources.