Society for History Education
Teaching World History: Why We Should Start!
Author(s): James Krippner-Martínez
Source: The History Teacher, Vol. 29, No. 1 (Nov., 1995), pp. 85-92
Published by: Society for History Education
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World HistoryTeachers:High School-College Collaboration 85
informative,challenging. Interestingly,they helped us see the progress
we had made; they crystallized our theoreticaldiscussions. Some were
successfully high school class tested. This year we added the idea that
each lesson shouldbe preparedfor both a high school and a college class.
The results highlighted the differences we had discussed between sec-
ondaryand universityteaching.
TeachingWorldHistory:Why We Should Start!
James Krippner-Martinez
HaverfordCollege
THOSE CHOOSINGTO TEACHWORLDHISTORYfor the firsttime
will undoubtedlyrun into some difficulties. In graduateschool, I was
trained as a specialist in Latin American history. Several years of in-
tensely focused studies had culminated in a dissertation on history,
representationand the politics of missionaryevangelizationin sixteenth
centuryMexico. Of course, duringmy job interviewsI claimed to be able
to teach all thatneededto be taught.AlthoughI was confidentthatI could
do precisely that,as my post-hiringeuphoriabeganto wane I realizedthat
as far as World historywas concerned,I had takena jump into the "great
unknown."Years of immersionin Latin Americanhistory had not pre-
pared me for the task at hand. Many high school teachers that I talk to
indicate similar feelings of insecurity, at least initially. At Haverford
College, we faced an even deeper issue, since there was no existing
Worldhistorycurriculum.Not only had I agreedto teachWorldhistory,I
had also agreed to help develop the curriculum!Basically, over the last
twenty years history departmentcourse offerings at HaverfordCollege
have grownto includeAfrican,Asian,andLatinAmericanhistorycourses.
Some members of the history departmentbelieved that a new introduc-
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86 HowardSpodek, et al.
tory course should be developed to reflect these changes. Consequently,
they gave me strong supportin joining the PhiladelphiaCollege-High
School Collaborative.
My experience so far has been both painful, and profoundlystimulat-
ing. In varying degrees, at different times, I have experienced panic,
despair and euphoria-in other words, the normal emotional states one
passes throughduring the first few years of teaching. One of the most
importantthings I learnedfrom the collaborativeprojectwas that many
college professors,as well as all the high school teacherswho workedso
hardto develop the Worldhistorycurriculumfor the Philadelphiaschools,
had struggledwith many of the issues thatI was confrontingfor the first
time. As I have discovered, most "Worldhistory"teachers at both the
high school and college levels lack specific trainingin World history.
While this is a situationthatmany of us in the Worldhistoryprojecthope
to reverse, my experience is probablyclose to the norm. Indeed, it was
refreshing to hear about the initial trials and travails of even those
participantsin the project who have recently published World history
articles, books and textbooks! For those beginning faculty who find the
prospectof teachingWorldhistorydaunting,I can offer a recognitionthat
it is difficult, at least initially,but also the encouragementto forge ahead.
At Haverford,we arenow offering,andI teach, a one year long survey
in World history that-along with our traditionalWestern civilization
course-can be taken to fulfill our introductoryrequirementfor the
historymajor.The specifics of the coursehave been tailoredto ourneeds,
with classes consisting of approximatelyfifteen to twenty first and sec-
ond year students.We teach the class seminar style, with all meetings
based on discussion and studentparticipation.We seek to develop writ-
ing and analyticalskills, and intersperseprimarysource work, introduc-
tory and advancedsecondarysources, and literatureand film in an effort
to stress that history is an interpretiveart as well as a social science.'
Students are evaluated based on class participationand their written
work. In additionto discussion we requirethreemediumrangeessays of
approximatelyfive pages, and have also developed a pr6cis writing
exercise involving six one-paragraphsummaries(not to exceed one page)
of works making especially complex arguments.These short writing
assignmentsareintendedto insurethatstudentspreparefor class, keep up
with the reading,develop their analyticalskills, and receive continuous
feedback on their writing. To indicate how this may be done, I have
includeda copy of the first semestersyllabus,which is the semesterthatI
contributedmost to developing. Chronologically,the first semestercov-
ers World history from the collapse of the classical empires to the
beginnings of Europeanexpansionuntil about 1750.
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World HistoryTeachers:High School-College Collaboration 87
As our teaching of World history moves into its third year, I can
provide some general insights based on our experience.While questions
of course content are important,it should be recognized that the content
of a successful World history course can vary substantially.It is evident
thatWorldhistoryis not simply a compilationof variousregionalstudies.
Precisely what it is, however, remainssubjectto disputeand also innova-
tion. I take this to be a good sign, because it indicates a dynamic and
maturingfield of inquiry.
Almost all scholars agree that World history involves a substantial
redefinitionof the focus and content of historicalinquiry.World history
clearly involves a movement away from European centered models,
without neglecting Europe;a focus on the experience of entire societies,
andnot simply elite, frequentlymale strata;andan opennessto interdisci-
plinary historical methods. World history classes should also recognize
that "history"itself means differentthings in differentculturaltraditions.
Examples of this latter phenomenon include oral versus written tradi-
tions, and the well-known distinctionbetween "Western"linear models
of history and more cyclical models notable in "non-Western"or indig-
enous cultures.
Effective teaching, of course, involves not only content but student
receptionandthe fashioningof a dialoguebetweeninstructorandinstructed.
Whatdoes it mean to view Europeas partof broadersocial and historical
processes,as one amongseveralworldregionsandculturaltraditions?How
are the increasinglydiversehigh school and college studentpopulationsof
the UnitedStatesgoing to respondto suchefforts?In fact,they arerespond-
ing in multipleways. In my classes, anyway, studentresponseshave not
been free of tension.The realattractionof teachingWorldhistoryfor young
college facultylies morein the processof teachingthanin specificissues of
content,althoughcoursecontentremainsfundamentaland is an issue I am
willing to discuss. The most importantpoint that I can offer beginning
college faculty is that a successful World history course will teach stu-
dents-and, possibly, even faculty!-new ways of understandingnot only
history,butalso theirworlds.
Of course, questionsof contentandpedagogyremainvitally important
to teaching at all levels. It is here that efforts such as the Philadelphia
World history projectare utterlycrucial.New faculty strugglingto teach
World history for the first or second time can only be heartenedto know
of the work that has precededtheirefforts. While the currentinnovations
and debates percolating in graduate schools across the country will
undoubtedlylead to revisions in the practiceof World history,beginning
teachers need not believe that they must start from scratch. The most
daunting aspect of teaching World history-the notion that we must
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88 HowardSpodek, et al.
somehow teach world regions and culturaltraditionsthat we are utterly
unfamiliarwith--can be made less difficult throughprofessional coop-
erationand intellectualexchange, of course accompaniedby a continual
process of self-education.
The PhiladelphiaWorld history projecthas been an extremely useful
forum for precisely this type of activity. Over the course of two years,
high school and university instructorsof World history have shared
experience, syllabi and ideas about content as well as pedagogy. A
numberof pragmaticresults-such as efforts at creatingthe institutional
links necessary to produceand successfully place studentteachers with
rigorous trainingin World history-have emerged in the dynamic give
and take of our group meetings. Most valuable for my purposes, how-
ever, has been the chance to hear from a wide array of sub-groups
evaluating and revising World history curriculumsafter considering
issues as diverse as urbanizationand empire, science and technology,
gender and the family, historiography,etc. The PhiladelphiaWorld his-
tory project has provided a useful forum in which we could share our
various experiences, be exposed to new ideas and differentapproaches,
and also begin to bridge the ratherlarge gap that most participantsagree
separatespost high school and high school teachers.
Indeed, over the course of two years we have found that high school
andcollege/universitylevel participantssharedinsightsinto all aspectsof
World history teachingand research.The neat division one might expect
whereby high school teacherswould be more attunedto pedagogy, and
college/university teachers more cognizant of recent intellectual trends
and original research,simply did not obtain.Many high school teachers
displayeda deep interestin andknowledge of recentresearch,while most
college/university level instructorshad both experience and a desire to
learn more about pedagogical issues. Nevertheless, collaborationacross
"the sheepskin divide" did bring unique strengthsto the project. In my
own experience, the advice offered by high school teachers has been
especially valuable. The type of intellectualexchange promotedby the
projectcan be enormouslyhelpful to young faculty who are seriousabout
teaching, an activity thatfranklyneeds to be stressedmore at the college
and universitylevel. In the end, many very useful discussions developed
aroundthese concerns.The entireprocess has been extremelybeneficial
for my developmentas a teacher,and as a teacherof teachers.I now have
a much clearersense of the needs andprobableexperienceof my college
students seeking careers as high school teachers. As I am pleased to
report,many seem inclined to do precisely this.
World history is now an establishedsubspecialtywithin the historical
professionin the UnitedStates,and the deepeningof the pool of graduate,
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World History Teachers:High School-College Collaboration 89
undergraduate,and high school course offerings in comparativeWorld
historyis a verifiabletrend.Youngfacultyshouldrecognizethatchoosingto
teachWorldhistorycanprovideverypositiveresults.If yourexperienceis at
all like mine has been,you will growas a teacher.Perhapssurprisingly,you
will also grow as a scholaras well. My own researchfocuses quite specifi-
cally on religionandpoliticsduringthe sixteenth-centurySpanishConquest
of Mexico. Before teachingWorld history, I recognizedthat this entire
problemwas cast withina frameworkset by indigenousculturalandhistori-
cal traditions,as well as Iberiancolonialism.However,my understanding of
theseprocesseshasbeendeepenedconsiderablyoverthe lastyearas I began
to work throughthese issues as they developedhistoricallyin the distinct
contextsof AfricaandAsia.2
Notes
1. Importanthistoriographicalessays can be found in Michael Adas, ed., Islamic
& EuropeanExpansion: The Forging of a Global Order (Philadelphia:Temple Univer-
sity Press, 1993). We rely heavily on this text in our classes, and it is suitablefor college
and advancedhigh school level work.
2. For example, JonathanD. Spence, The MemoryPalace of Matteo Ricci (New
York:Penguin, 1983); JerryH. Bentley, Old WorldEncounters:Cross-CulturalContacts
and Exchanges in Pre-ModernTimes(Oxford:Oxford University Press, 1993); JanetL.
Abu-Lughod,Before EuropeanHegemony:The WorldSystemA.D. 1250-1350 (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1989); K. N. Chaudhuri,Asia Before Europe: Economy and
Civilizationof the Indian Oceanfrom the Rise of Islam to 1750 (Cambridge:Cambridge
University Press, 1990). A provocativeand useful interrogationof many of the assump-
tions underlyingall or partof this scholarshipcan be found in Gyan Prakash,"Writing
Post-OrientalistHistoriesof the ThirdWorld:IndianHistoriographyis Good to Think,"
in Nicholas B. Dirks, ed., Colonialismand Culture(Ann Arbor:University of Michigan
Press, 1992), pp. 353-388.
Haverford College History Department
History 114A
Introduction to Global History, I: From the Collapse of the
Classical Eurasian Empires to the Beginnings of European Expansion
Description
This bi-college course, which is designed primarilyfor freshmen and sophomores,
invites students to explore history in a global perspective.Though each section varies
somewhat accordingto the interestsand historicalvision of the instructor(for there is no
one way to do or teach history),we all strive to presenthow the world we live in has been
shaped by historical forces and events played out on the global stage. In terms of
chronological scope, this first semester spans the first centuries of the Common Era
throughthe early eighteenth century, when the world was transformedby "barbarian"
diasporasand the collapse of the great classical civilizations, the spreadof evangelizing
world religions, commercialexpansion and the linkage of medieval Europeto the more
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90 HowardSpodek, et al.
advancedeconomies of the East,andthe beginningsof Europe'scolonial ventures.In this
and the second semester (which focuses on how the processes set in motion duringthis
earlier period are played out in the modem world), we rely on primaryand secondary
sources and aim to teach the skills required by historians: to read critically, think
analytically,and write clearly and precisely.
Requirements
Beyond timely readingof the assignmentsand alertparticipationin class, you will be
asked to write six shortreadingpr6cis and three five-page essays. The pr6cis, which are
meant to stimulatediscussion, should be one paragraphin length, and identify the main
points raisedby the readings.They are due in Weeks 2, 5, 8, 9, 11, and 14, andwill count
as partof your class participation,which as a whole will be wortha quarterof your grade.
The five-page papers are in lieu of examinations,and should elicit your best efforts at
synthesis (what did everybody say), analysis (what does it all mean), and writing.They
aredue in Weeks 7, 10, andthe final exam period,andthe questionswill be submittedtwo
weeks in advanceof the due date.
Required Texts
The following texts are availablefor purchaseat the HaverfordCollege Bookstore.
Bentley, JerryH. Old WorldEncounters:Cross-CulturalContactsand Exchangesin Pre-
Modern Times.New York and Oxford:OxfordUniversityPress, 1993.
Adas, Michael, ed. Islamic and EuropeanExpansion: The Forging of a Global Order.
Philadelphia:Temple UniversityPress, 1993.
Song of Roland, MacMillanLibraryof the LiberalArts.
Needham, Joseph. Science in TraditionalChina. HarvardUniversityPress, 1981.
Niane, D. T. Sundiata:An Epic of Old Mali. Longmanand Sons.
Hamdunand King, eds. Ibn Battutain Black Africa. Princeton:MarkusWiener, 1994.
Shakespeare,The Tempest.
Las Casas, Bartolome.A ShortAccount of theDestructionof theIndies. London:Penguin,
1992.
Spence, JonathanD. The Memory Palace of Matteo Ricci. London and New York:
Penguin, 1983.
In addition,readingsmarked# areon reserve,andall readingsmarkedwith an asterisk
(*) are containedin a SupplementaryReadingspacketthat will be distributedin class.
Schedule of Topics and Assignments
WeekI: Introductions
1. Orientations
2. *Gilbert Allardyce, "TowardWorld History: American Historians and the
Coming of the World History Course,"Journal of WorldHistory 1:1 (1990),
23-76.
Part One: Cultural Interaction in a Multi-Polar World
WeekII: Barbarian Vigor and Classical Sclerosis
3. Bentley, Old WorldEncounters,chaps. 1 & 2, pp. 3-66.
Pr6cis#1 due (as they will all be) at class time.
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World HistoryTeachers:High School-College Collaboration 91
4. *Tacitus, Germania, and *Ssu-ma-Ch'ien, "The account of the Hsiung-nu
(Xiongnu)."
WeekIII: Imperial Disintegration and the Rise of WorldReligions, I
5. Bentley, Old WorldEncounters,pp. 67-184.
6. Canon Formationand PopularAppeal in Early Christianity:Read: *Mark 1-6
and the apocryphalgospel "Acts of Paul and Thecia."
WeekIV: Imperial Disintegration and the Rise of WorldReligions, II
7. Eaton, "Islamic History as Global History"and Tucker, "Genderand Islamic
History,"in Adas, Islamic and EuropeanExpansion,pp. 1-74.
8. *Texts on Buddhism ("The Great MaugdalyayanaSaves his Mother from
Hell") and Islam (selection from Ibn Ishaq's Life of Muhammad.)
Week V: The Eur-Asian WorldSystem of the ThirteenthCentury?
China at the Center
9. Abu-Lughod, "The World System in the ThirteenthCentury: Dead-End or
Precursor?"in Adas, Islamic and EuropeanExpansion,pp. 75-102; Needham,
Science in TraditionalChina, pp. 1-56.
Pr6cis#2, Abu-Lughodand Needham.
10. *Selections from Marco Polo and Ma Huan.
Week VI: Africa in the Medieval World
11. Niane, Sundiatta:An Epic of Old Mali, entire.
12. Hamdunand King, Ibn Battutain Black Africa, entire.
Fall Break, Fri. 10/13 - Tue. 10/17
Part Two: Culture and Society in the Medieval World
Week VII: Culture and Society in the Medieval World,I
13. Movie: "The Seventh Seal," time and place TBA.
First Mid-Term for Both Sections Due Friday 10/20, 5:00 p.m.
Week VIII: Culture and Society in the Medieval World,II: Warriors
14. #William McNeill, The Pursuit of Power, pp. 1-23 (Arms and Society in
Antiquity).
*Tale of the Heike, selections.
15. Song of Roland, complete.
Pr6cis#3, comparisonof Heike and Roland.
WeekIX: Culture and Society in the Medieval World,III: Women
16. *MariaMies, "Social Origins of the Sexual Division of Labor,"from Patriar-
chy and Accumulationon a WorldScale, pp. 44-73.
Pr6cis#4, Mies.
17. *Sources on women in the medieval world: Selections from Bernardinode
Sahagtin,General History of the Thingsof New Spain; MargeryKempe, The
Book of MargeryKempe;"QiuHu Attemptsto seduce his own wife."
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92 HowardSpodek, et al.
WeekX. Food and Culture in the Early Modern World
18. #FernandBraudel,The Structuresof EverydayLife, "Daily Bread"and "Food
and Drink,"pp. 104-265.
19. Free discussion of 2nd mid-termpapersin progress.
Second Mid-Term for Both Sections Due Friday 11/10, 5:00 p.m.
Part Three: Early European Expansion and Its Consequences
WeekXI: The Origins of European Expansion
20. McNeill, "The Age of GunpowderEmpires, 1450-1800," and Crosby, "The
ColumbianVoyages, the ColumbianExchange,andTheirHistorians,"in Adas,
Islamic and EuropeanExpansion,pp. 103-165.
21. *Marx, "The So-Called Primitive Accumulation,"from Capital, vol. 1, pp.
713-774.
Pr6cis#5, Marx.
WeekXII: Colonialism and Culture
22. Shakespeare,The Tempest
*Peter Hulme, "Prosperoand Caliban,"in Colonial Encounters:Europe and
the Native Caribbean,1492-1797, pp. 89-134.
23. Movie: The Tempest,Tue. night.
Thanksgiving
WeekXIII: An Old "New World"
24. *Krippner-Martinez, "TheVision of the Victors:Power and Colonial Justice,"
Colonial LatinAmericanReview4.1 (1995):3-28.
25. Las Casas,A ShortAccountof the Destructionof the Indies, entire.
WeekXIV: Conversion and Counter-Conversionin the Sub-Celestial Empire
25. Spence, TheMemoryPalace of MatteoRicci, chapters1-3, pp. 1-92.
26. MemoryPalace of MatteoRicci, chapters4-7, pp. 93-200.
WeekXV: Reflections on WorldHistory As a Wayto Study History
27. MemoryPalace of MatteoRicci, chapters8-9, pp. 201-68.
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