070292 UE Reading Course Global History (2021S)

This course has two aims. First, introducing you to the basic facts about material and social life in pre-industrial societies, with a focus on the period from ca. 1500 to ca. 1850. We learn about sources of energy, means of transport, what people ate or at what age they died. While these basic facts might seem trivial, they do set 'the limits of the possible’ (Braudel). As global history students, you should have an idea about ordinary life in pre-industrial societies. This course aims to provide you with just that. Here we will rely on the recently published Atlas of Material Life (2020) by Peer and Annelieke Vries.

Second, this course also allows us to read and discuss a wide range of topics relevant to the field of global history. We begin with the two most essential concepts – time and space – and continue with some of the major issues global historians have been working on: diverging development paths, world-systems, ecology, diaspora, and inequality. I have chosen texts that are – in my opinion – both relevant and accessible. They should provide a solid foundation for a lively discussion in class. For a detailed schedule and the texts I have chosen follow this link:

http://homepage.univie.ac.at/rolf.bauer/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Schedule_UE_Reading_Course_Global_History.pdf

The focus of this course – as the title clearly suggests – lies on reading and subsequently debating the texts. I expect that you attend the classes, that you are well prepared and engage actively in the discussions. Besides that, you need to write two essays (three pages each) based on our readings and present one chapter of the Atlas of Material Life.