Course Guide
History 111: World History since 1500
In this course, you will be invited to explore the continuities, connections, trends, and ruptures in world history from the late fifteenth century to the present. We will investigate the historical processes that formed the modern world, including cross-cultural interactions, capitalism, global migration, colonization and decolonization, nationalism and imperialism, trade networks, revolutions, and war. Topics include the foundation of European empires, the spread of Islamic world powers, the establishment of the African slave trade, the rise of MIng/Qing China and Tokugawa in Japan, the two world wars, the rise of globalization and climate change. The course emphasizes the multiple perspectives and experiences that shaped world history, including the determinant role played by non-European societies in making the modern world. Course readings include a textbook, some documentaries or movies, and a set of primary sources that provide a window into the diverse human experiences in history. Course assignments include regular discussion posts, a midterm and a final examination. For more information or to request a syllabus, contact Professor Richard Chu: @email. (4 credits, DG HS GenEd)
History 121: Modern Latin America
Discussions of Latin America usually fall back upon facile generalizations that emphasize recent changes to explain "current events." This course will examine in detail the creation of modern Latin America. We will concentrate on the struggles over land and labor, the creation of nation-states, and the conflicts within those states over issues of citizenship and social justice. The course will also address the contentious role the United States has played in the region. For more information or to request a syllabus, contact Professor Wolfe: @email. (4 credits, DG HS GenEd)
History 385: Modern Boston
This course explores the history of Boston over the course of the past 225 years. As the birthplace of the United States, Boston emerged by the 19th century as the most important regional hub in New England, with international connections and tied intimately into currents of international commerce and culture. Like all cities, Boston is a living organism, always in flux, changing and evolving. Like all American cities, Boston can be examined as a laboratory of the American experiment. Topics of study include: Industrialization and labor strife; abolitionism and Boston’s role in the Civil War; contestations over public space; immigration and nativism; urban reform; urban renewal; school desegregation and more. For more information or to request a syllabus, contact Professor Matthew Barlow: @email. (4 credits, HS DU GenEd)
Learn More
For questions about course content, contact the faculty member teaching the course. For general questions about the UMass History Department's online classes, contact @email. For all other questions, including registration and records, contact University Without Walls. To register, follow the steps noted here.