Contents
Catalog Links

HIS-112 EarlyWorld Civilizations

A survey of the political, economic, intellectual, and cultural development of major early global civilizations, from the Agricultural Revolution (c. 10,000 B.C.E) to the sixteenth century C.E., and their frequent interactions. The course also examines the origins of many of the world’s foremost religions (Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam), and considers the myriad ways the ancient, medieval and pre-modern eras have shaped the contemporary world. This course carries SUNY General Education World History and Global Awareness credit.

Credits

3

Department

  • Social Science

Course Rotation Schedule

  • Fall: In Person, Online
  • Spring: In Person, Online
For more detailed course information view the Course Outline

HIS 112: EarlyWorld Civilizations

Department

Social Science

Course Description

A survey of the political, economic, intellectual, and cultural development of major early global civilizations, from the Agricultural Revolution (c. 10,000 B.C.E) to the sixteenth century C.E., and their frequent interactions. The course also examines the origins of many of the world’s foremost religions (Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam), and considers the myriad ways the ancient, medieval and pre-modern eras have shaped the contemporary world. This course carries SUNY General Education World History and Global Awareness credit.

Credit Hours

3

Contact Hours

Lecture3
Lab0
Other0

Grading Scheme

Letter

SUNY General Education Course

  • World Languages

Course Learning Outcomes

  1. Students will identify some of the major events, issues and themes of ancient, medieval and early modern world history.
  2. Students will describe the distinctive features, and historical development, of at least one ancient, medieval or early modern civilization or culture in relation to other regions of the world.
  3. Students will describe the structures, systems, and interrelationships among civilizations and cultures prior to 1500, and their impact on well-being and sustainability during the ancient, medieval and early modern eras.

Topic Outline

  1. 1. Early humans and first civilizations
  2.     a. The first humans
  3.     b. Emergence of Homo sapiens
  4.     c. Paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies
  5.     d. The Neolithic (agricultural) revolution
  6.     e. Birth of civilization: Mesopotamia, Babylonia, and Sumer
  7.     f. Egyptian civilization: Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms
  8.     g. Impact of the Indo-Europeans
  9. 2. Ancient Hebrew civilization and early Judaism
  10. 3. Ancient India
  11.     a. Harappan civilization
  12.     b. The Aryan invasion and the Iron Age
  13.     c. The Mauryan Empire and Brahmanism
  14.     d. Origins of Buddhism
  15. 4. Ancient China
  16.     a. The Shang dynasty
  17.     b. The Zhou dynasty: Confucianism, Daoism, Legalism, and the Mandate of Heaven
  18.     c. The first Chinese empire: the Qin dynasty
  19.     d. The Han dynasty
  20.     e. The Tang dynasty
  21. 5. The civilization of the Greeks
  22.     a. Minoan and Mycenaean Greece
  23.     b. Classical Greece
  24.         i. Contrasting poleis: Athens and Sparta
  25.         ii. The Golden Age: intellectual and cultural developments
  26.         iii. Birth of democracy
  27.         iv. The Persian and Peloponnesian Wars
  28.     c. Alexander the Great and the Hellenistic era
  29. 6. Rome's world empire
  30.     a. The Roman Republic
  31.     b. Imperial era
  32.     c. Fall of Rome
  33. 7. Origins and early history of Christianity
  34. 8. The Byzantine Empire: crisis and recovery
  35.     a. From Eastern Roman to Byzantine Empire
  36.     b. Justinian and the zenith of the Byzantine Empire
  37.     c. The decline and fall of the Byzantine Empire
  38. 9. The Americas
  39.     a. Early civilizations in Central America
  40.         i. The Olmecs
  41.         ii. The Mayans
  42.         iii. The Aztecs
  43.     b. The first civilizations in South America: Caral, Moche, and Inca
  44.     c. Pre-Columbian North America
  45.     d. The Columbian Exchange, colonization, and the slave trade
  46. 10. The Middle East, Persia, and Arab civilization
  47.     a. Achaemenid era
  48.     b. Seleucid period
  49.     c. Parthian and Sassanian Empires
  50.     d. The rise of Islam
  51.         i. Role of Muhammad
  52.         ii. The Koran and Islamic doctrine
  53.     e. The Arab Empire and its successors
  54.         i. The Umayyad Caliphate
  55.         ii. The Abbasid Caliphate
  56.         iii. The Seljuk Turks
  57.         iv. The Crusades
  58.         v. The Mongols
  59.         vi. Rise of the Ottomans
  60. 11. Early civilizations in Africa
  61.     a. The coming of Islam
  62.     b. The Arabs of North Africa
  63.     c. The Christian kingdom of Ethiopia
  64. 12. Expansion of civilization in Southeast Asia
  65.     a. Japan
  66.         i. Early Japan
  67.         ii. Nara and Heian periods
  68.         iii. Kamakura and Muromachi periods
  69.         iv. The rise of the Japanese state
  70.     b. Korea
  71.         i. The Three Kingdoms
  72.         ii. The rise of the Koryo dynasty
  73.     c. Vietnam
  74.         i. The rise of Great Viet
  75. 13. The making of Europe, Middle Ages to the Renaissance
  76.     a. Europe in the Dark Ages and High Middle Ages
  77.     b. Renaissance, Reformation, and discovery