500words essay

These short 25 pages are the foundation of our course. Regardless of you ideology, I hope that you can appreciate the importance of what we are trying to accomplish. The fact that we share the planet with a multitude of nations, cultures, species etc. makes understanding the world in a holistic context important. There will always be more questions than answers

Read the Introduction to Rise of the West. It is a critic of how history is written and why we need World History. Why is this such a difficult subject? How do you understand Marks' proposal. How does it differ from your understanding of history? As I was re-reading this introduction, it struck me how much it followed President-Elect Trump's ideas, except the US does have a "great again" narrative that most developing countries do not. For example, pulling out of WTO, IMF or WHO. Re-evaluating NATO and investing in world military affairs. I often hear about how parts of the country have been left behind by globalization so it makes me see parts of the U.S. mid-west and south as a "developing world". Again, these are just my thoughts.

Because I have adjusted the work schedule and eliminated a book students enjoy and is usually the topic of the exam, I have made Marks' introduction the topic of the exam. For years, this has been the first reading of History 2B and establishes the conceptual foundation of the course. Most importantly, it introduces you to Eurocentrism and the potholes of a historians work, contingency, conjuncture and accident. Narratives are so seductive, our minds work in stories and when those stories are tied to any type of ideology or belief, discussion becomes impossible. Further, if you do not understand the role contingency, conjuncture and accident play in our perspectives, it is very hard to accept that "our stories" are not founded in verifiable evidence or data. They are just that, stories meant to give meaning or justify a belief. It is a tough thing to understand, it is even harder to teach.

That is why I trust your ideas and opinions so much. It is the great equalizer between students. Most students and teachers for that matter, claim an A student is somehow "better" than an "F" student. Because we measure this by some type of assessment that is geared to measure what an A student does best. But what if an F student has great insights but can't write well? How is that measured? This is the power of a system of thought, eurocentrism is just one type of bias. We all have them. World history undermines all types of bias because the world itself is a unit of study. It tries to take way the advantage any centrism has to dominate the argument. Whatever you are looking at in the past it must be analyzed from a point of view that contingency, conjuncture and accident are factored in. The motivation of your conclusion cannot be what you want the story to mean to you in the present.

Initial post is due on Thursday July 9th

For this exam, I want you to write a 500 word (minimum) essay answering the following two questions:

1. How does Marks' argument on the role of contingency, conjuncture and accident influence your understanding of world history?

2. Apply this understanding to one example from the course. Demonstrate how what you learned from the Marks' introduction, helps you understand a particular topic, event or person by utilizing a world historical perspective.