600 C.E.-1450

What students are expected to know:

Major Developments

1. Questions of periodization

Nature and causes of changes in the world history framework leading up to 600 c.E.-1450 as a period.

Emergence of new empires and political systems

Continuities and breaks within the period (e.g., the effects of the Mongols on international contacts and on specific societies)

2. The Islamic world

The rise and role of Dar al-Islam as a unifying cultural and economic force in Eurasia and Africa

Islamic political structures, notably the caliphate

Arts, sciences, and technologies

3.. Interregional networks and contacts

Development and shifts in interregional trade, technology, and cultural exchange

a. Trans-Sahara trade

b. Indian Ocean trade

c. Silk routes

Missionary outreach of major religions

Contacts between major religions, e.g., Islam and Buddhism, Christianity and Islam

Impact of the Mongol empires

4. China's internal and external expansion

The importance of the Tang and Song economic revolutions and the initiatives of the early Ming dynasty

Chinese influence on surrounding areas and its limits

Arts, sciences, and technologies

5. Developments in Europe

Restructuring of European economic, social, and political institutions

The division of Christendom into eastern and western Christian cultures

6. Social, cultural, economic, and political patterns in the Amerindian world

Maya

Aztec

Inca

7. Demographic and environmental changes

Impact of nomadic migrations on Afro-Eurasia and the Americas (e.g, Aztecs, Mongols, Turks, Vikings, and Arabs)

Consequences of plague pandemics in the fourteenth century

Growth and role of cities (e.g., the expansion of urban commercial centers in Song China and in the Aztec Empire)

8. Diverse interpretations

What are the issues involved in using cultural areas rather than states as units of analysis?

What are the sources of change: nomadic migrations versus urban growth?

Was there a world economic network in this period?

Were there common patterns in the new opportunities available to and constraints placed on elite women in this period?

Major Comparisons and Snapshots

Compare Japanese and European feudalism

Compare developments in political and social institutions in both eastern and western Europe Analyze the role and function of cities in major societies

Compare Islam and Christianity

Analyze gender systems and changes, such as the impact of Islam

Compare Aztec Empire and Inca Empire

Compare European and sub-Saharan African contacts with the Islamic world