HIST 138 - European Empires in Global History

FC SSCI CD

4 credits
This course examines the rise and evolution of the European empires from the fifteenth through the late nineteenth centuries, beginning with the first voyages of Portuguese sailors into the Atlantic and Indian oceans and ending with the institutional “Scramble for Africa.” Primary and secondary source readings will introduce students to the broad trajectory of European imperial expansion while also centralizing how Indigenous communities around the world resisted territorial conquest and commercial exploitation. In studying this history, students will have the opportunity to consider the definition of “empire” and how it differs from other forms of political organization.

This course is appropriate for new students.