Course Syllabus

JOHN CABOT UNIVERSITY

COURSE CODE: "HS 201"
COURSE NAME: "Long-Term History of Globalization"
SEMESTER & YEAR: Spring 2026

SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Gene Ogle
EMAIL: [email protected]
HOURS: TTH 8:30 AM 9:45 AM
TOTAL NO. OF CONTACT HOURS: 45
CREDITS:
PREREQUISITES:
OFFICE HOURS: By appointment.

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Contemporary discussions of globalization often suffer from a certain short-sightedness. It is all-too-frequently treated as a recent creation of twentieth- and twenty-first-century world economies and information networks. Both its advocates and its critics too often assume that the history of globalization has been the history of the “westernization” of economic and cultural practices. This course provides a deeper and longer term introduction to the complex forces and far-from-one-sided cross-cultural interactions that have been “globalizing” our planet since the development of settled agriculture. Among the aspects of globalization’s history that are covered are the development of market conventions, the spread of religious and cultural traditions, ecological exchanges, transport technologies and networks, migration, the role of violence, and industrialization and deindustrialization.

SUMMARY OF COURSE CONTENT:

This course will be composed of a mixture of in-class discussion and, if the occasion warrants, some lecture. For an overview of topics to be discussed and readings, see the course schedule. Please note that all updates to that course schedule will be made directly to the course Moodle page--you should access it on a regular basis.

A Note on How We Should Approach this Semester

Most generally, I am committed to the principle that my aims as an undergraduate history instructor should be to push (and to help) you to develop the skills, capacities, and modes of interpretation and understanding that will allow you to engage critically with the human past, the traces it has left, the ever-renewing knowledge we have of it, and its meanings for our present. My role is that of a ‘coach,’ not a performer playing a show or a talking head telling you what’s what (although sometimes I will suggest my understandings of that too). With this approach, you will without doubt learn more and develop abilities that are useful in other settings more fully than if I simply lectured and asked you to repeat that material on exams, and you will likely find what we do more interesting too. However, for this approach to work, we all need to commit ourselves to meeting the following expectations:

1. Do the course reading (and especially the discussion reading) on a timely basis. You absolutely must complete it before the class in which we are discussing it. At times this course will involve a significant amount of out-of-class reading. I know that this may be a challenge for some of you, but we collectively need an ample amount of solid material to work with to make our discussions meaningful. Also, do know that with practice you will develop your abilities to deal with larger amounts of reading in limited time frames. If you wish, we can talk more about how to do the reading and the kinds of things you should be looking for in doing it in class.

2. When you are present, be present. We should make the most of the 2 ½ hours we meet each week to engage with the course materials and learn together. During that time, we should all be focused on that effort and not other things such as checking social media, catching up on e-mail, studying for other courses or whatever else may distract us from the matters at hand. Doing otherwise is disrespectful to the other members of the class, including me. As such, if you really, really need to be doing something else, just don’t come to class.

3. Maintain a respectful, professional tone in your responses, but don’t be afraid to experiment with ideas and interpretations out of fear that they may be controversial (just work on clearly expressing your reasoning). On this note, I think our discussions will function best if we all work on the assumption that each of us is openly and forthrightly attempting to grapple with the complexities and ambiguities of our shared human past and its relationship to our present (and as such that the things we say and write are never intended to harm or to insult). Engaging with that past often forces us to look at the many horrid and ugly things that humans have done to and thought about (and continue to do to and think about) one another, which can be a difficult and painful experience. Frank and open discussion is the best way both to seek to understand that past and to forge civil and tolerant ways of interacting and living with it and one another in the present.

4. Give credit where credit is due and be sure that all work you hand in is your own. Not only does plagiarism, unauthorized use of generative artificial intelligence, or any other form of cheating defeat the whole purpose of going to university to learn and to improve one’s abilities, it undermines the basic trust any community needs to learn and work together.

5. Try not to be too nervous about grades. We learn through practice, we all fall short of our aims sometimes, and we sometimes learn more from falling short than anything else. I purposefully keep many assignments fairly open in terms of the types of topics and arguments you may develop to give you the freedom to present your ideas and sharpen your abilities, and such freedom always entails risks. Know that I put mechanisms in place to weigh the improvement that you make over the course into the calculation of your final course grade.

6. Keep lines of communication open. Please know that the ways in which I structure classroom sessions and on-line discussion activities in this syllabus remain experimental and may change. Please share your thoughts on them and feel free to suggest approaches, ways of organizing discussions (in-person or on-line), or other activities that you believe may help you and your classmates to better engage with the course material. I cannot neglect my responsibility to set the rules for the game that is our course in ways that I believe best assure both academic rigor and fairness across the class, but you can be assured that I will value and carefully consider any suggestions you may make. More generally, if you have questions or concerns regarding any matters relating to the course, please do feel free to share them with me.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

You should develop an understanding of key developments and phenomena in the complex, long-term history of globalization. You should also cultivate an awareness of the varied forces and actors that have played a role in that process as well as the approaches historians and other scholars have developed to analyze and reconstruct this history. You should develop your capacity to critically analyze a range of source materials in an interdisciplinary manner. You should also improve your ability to effectively communicate your ideas orally and in writing.

TEXTBOOK:

Book Title	Author	Publisher	ISBN number	Local Bookstore
The Origins of the Modern World	Robert Marks	Rowman & Littlefield	978-1538182772	Almost Corner Bookshop
The World That Trade Created 4th Edition	Kenneth Pomeranz and Steven Topik	Routledge	978-1138680746	Almost Corner Bookshop
In an Antique Land: History in the Guise of a Traveler's Tale	Amitav Ghosh	Vintage	978-0679727835	Almost Corner Bookshop

REQUIRED RESERVED READING:

NONE

RECOMMENDED RESERVED READING:

NONE

GRADING POLICY
-ASSESSMENT METHODS:

Assignment	Guidelines	Weight
In-Class Discussion Reading Essays (2-3) and Out-of-Class Reaction Papers (2)	In the in-class discussion reading essays (c. 30 minutes for writing), you will respond to a prompt based on the discussion readings for the day of class in question. These in-class essays will not be announced in advance. In the reaction papers (1 1/2 to 2 double-spaced pages/350-500 words each), you will develop a brief but coherent and well-supported argument regarding the discussion readings for the day on which you hand in the paper. In these papers, you should not summarize the reading but rather develop a main thought of your own building on those readings. Ways of developing such arguments include, but are not limited to: critiquing some part of the argument of a secondary source, testing some part of the argument of a secondary source through the analysis of a primary source, comparing and contrasting different readings, or developing a point made by one of the authors more fully and in doing so explaining more of what it may tell us about the subject under discussion. For further guidance, see the guidelines posted on the course Moodle page. Your grade for these essays will be determined by the strength and focus of your analysis, the persuasiveness of your argument (including quality of writing), and the originality of your thought. In determining the grade for this portion of your overall course grade, I will drop the lowest grade from among these assignments.	20%
Participation	Your regular participation in our class discussions will be key to making this course work, and by actively participating not only will you learn more, you’ll develop useful communicative skills and likely find course material to be more interesting. Participation also counts for a significant portion of your final course grade, and it is the only component of that final course grade in which simple effort and regular activity translate directly into a high grade. What do you need to do for this? Simply do the discussion readings on time, be prepared to talk about them, and engage regularly and actively in our in-class discussions. In addition, you should bring a question or observation to each class session about the day’s readings that you believe would provide a good starting point for a discussion of those readings. Frequently, I will begin the discussion portion of class by asking you to share these questions/observations with the rest of class. Please note that behaving in ways that create distractions for other members of the class (including the professor) may lower your participation grade. Such behavior includes, but is not limited to: messaging, checking social media, catching up on e-mail, watching on-line videos, reading non-class related materials, studying for other courses, shopping on-line, and generally any activity that detracts from your or any other classmate's full participation in what we are doing in the classroom.	15%
Midterm Exam	In the midterm exam, you will respond to one of two essay prompts that asks you to present an argument of your own building on a broad range of the course material covered to date. We will discuss the potential broader themes/problems on which I will draw in preparing the questions approximately one week before the exam. The exam will be written in class on a bluebook which I will provide. When writing the exam, you may make use of one double-sided page of notes, provided that you submit it for my review before starting the exam. Your grade on the exam will depend upon the analytical strength and persuasiveness of your arguments, your ability to discuss the material we have covered in the course to date (including level of mastery of course readings), and the factual accuracy of your answers. Remember that what you are being tested on is your ability to develop and present a strong, well-supported argument building on the course materials, not simply provide a 'correct' answer to the question you choose.	25%
Final Exam	In the final exam, you will respond to one of two essay prompts that asks you to present an argument of your own building on a broad range of the material we have discussed over the course of the semester. We will discuss the potential broader themes/problems on which I will draw in preparing the questions approximately one week before the exam. The exam will be written in class on a bluebook which I will provide. When writing the exam, you may make use of one double-sided page of notes, provided that you submit it for my review before starting the exam. Your grade on the exam will depend upon the analytical strength and persuasiveness of your arguments, your ability to discuss the material we have covered in the course (including level of mastery of course readings), and the factual accuracy of your answers. Remember that what you are being tested on is your ability to develop and present a strong, well-supported argument building on the course materials, not simply provide a 'correct' answer to the question you choose.	30%
Article/Book Chapter Review and Presentation (2-3 double-spaced pages/500-750 words)	In the article/book chapter review you will prepare an analytical review of an academic journal article or book chapter of your choice from a list of possibilities provided by me. In addition, you will make a brief presentation (c. 10-15 minutes) to the rest of the class on the day in which we are discussing readings that are related to the subject of your chapter/article. This presentation should include a brief summary of the article/chapter, your analysis of it, and reflections on how it relates to the other readings for the day in question. The written review will be due by no later than one week after your presentation. Your grade will be determined by the strength of your analysis, the persuasiveness of your argument (including quality of writing), and the originality of your thought. For further guidance, see the guidelines posted on the course Moodle page.	10%

-ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
AWork of this quality directly addresses the question or problem raised and provides a coherent argument displaying an extensive knowledge of relevant information or content. This type of work demonstrates the ability to critically evaluate concepts and theory and has an element of novelty and originality. There is clear evidence of a significant, thorough, and insightful engagement with the course reading and other materials.
BThis is a highly competent level of performance and directly addresses the question or problem raised. There is a demonstration of some ability to critically evaluate theory and concepts and relate them to practice. Discussions reflect the student’s own arguments and are not simply a repetition of standard lecture and reference material. The work does not suffer from any major errors or omissions and provides evidence of significant engagement with the course reading and other materials.
CThis is an acceptable level of performance and provides answers that are clear but limited, reflecting the information offered in the lectures and reference readings.
DThis level of performance demonstrates that the student lacks a coherent grasp of the material. Important information is omitted and irrelevant points included. In effect, the student has barely done enough to persuade the instructor that s/he should not fail.
FThis work fails to show any knowledge or understanding of the issues raised in the question. Most of the material in the answer is irrelevant.

-ATTENDANCE REQUIREMENTS:
See above on participation. To participate regularly, you have to be present regularly.

ACADEMIC HONESTY
As stated in the university catalog, any student who commits an act of academic dishonesty will receive a failing grade on the work in which the dishonesty occurred. In addition, acts of academic dishonesty, irrespective of the weight of the assignment, may result in the student receiving a failing grade in the course. Instances of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Academic Affairs. A student who is reported twice for academic dishonesty is subject to summary dismissal from the University. In such a case, the Academic Council will then make a recommendation to the President, who will make the final decision.

STUDENTS WITH LEARNING OR OTHER DISABILITIES
John Cabot University does not discriminate on the basis of disability or handicap. Students with approved accommodations must inform their professors at the beginning of the term. Please see the website for the complete policy.

SCHEDULE

Course Readings

The books should be available at the Almost Corner Bookshop (Via del Moro, 45) or directly from the publishers' website in eBook form. All course readings provide the basis for our classroom discussions. You must read and think about those assigned for a particular class period. Otherwise, you will be unable to participate adequately, your participation grade may suffer, and you risk being unprepared for the in-class essays. You should also bring this material to class on the days that we are discussing it.

Important Course Policies

All assignments should be handed in as hard copies in class and electronically through the Moodle portal for the assignment--I encourage you to double-check on the Moodle to be sure that work has been submitted after you believe you have done so. If for some reason it is not working, send them to me as e-mail attachments.

All late work will suffer a grade penalty. No late work will be accepted following the final examination.

Any documented case of academic dishonesty on any assignment will result in a failing grade for the assignment in question and may also result in a failing grade for the course as a whole, regardless of the assignment's weight in terms of the final course grade. Please remember that, as the University's policy states, "Plagiarism can be deliberate or negligent; students are responsible for ensuring that any work submitted with their name on it is properly referenced." If you have questions about how to cite material properly, refer to the appropriate sections of the MLA Style Manual or Chicago Manual of Style--if you have questions as to whether particular pieces of material should be cited, ask me. Note that submitting work that you have previously submitted (or plan to submit) for credit in another course is also a form of academic dishonesty, unless you obtain explicit approval from both instructors to do so. For this course, no such double submission is allowed. Please note that your papers are to be submitted to turnitin.com to check their content for plagiarism. I am setting up the turintin submission options so that you can see the similarity reports the service generates and resubmit your papers up until the due date.

Academic Honesty Policy—Generative Artificial Intelligence Update (Spring 2026)

The University’s Academic Integrity policies were recently updated to include “[t]he unauthorized use of generative AI” as one of the forms that academic dishonesty can take. In light of this change, here are the policies for this course regarding generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Grok, etc.). The use of generative AI for the direct composition of course assignments (e.g., papers and exam essays) is not permitted. Simply put, your papers and essays should not include text generated by Artificial Intelligence unless that text is placed in quotation marks and identified as such. Nor should they contain paraphrased material derived from the use of generative AI without appropriate citation indicating that you have done so.

Any papers handed in that appear to contain unauthorized AI generated text or paraphrased material (as detected by detection software or otherwise) will not receive a grade and cannot be used to fulfill course requirements. As the detection software can produce 'false positives,' in such cases you will be allowed to write an additional paper or revised draft to fulfill those requirements. Depending on the specifics of the individual cases, a late penalty may be applied to additional papers handed in for these reasons.

Please note that in cases in which there is particularly strong internal evidence in the essay itself that unauthorized use of AI took place (e.g., when the essay contains AI “hallucinations” such as confusing the author and piece under discussion with another one that is not assigned or makes up content based on its reading of names and titles), the regular course policy on Academic Honesty applies. In such cases the paper will receive a failing grade and cannot be replaced. It may also result in a failing grade for the course as a whole.

Other uses of AI (e.g., as “idea generators,” bibliographic or source-finding assistants, etc.) are strongly discouraged as they will likely limit the fuller development of the skills, capacities, and habits of mind that constitute some of the primary aims and benefits of university education, but do not necessarily fall into the category of “unauthorized use.” If you do use generative AI in any of these or other manners, however, you must identify that you have done so explicitly in the paper or exam essay in question.

Similarly, I strongly discourage you from using advanced grammar and style correctors (e.g., Grammarly). While I will regularly note errors in terms of style, grammar, and so forth in your writing, my doing so does not significantly affect the grade you receive for assignments so long as your thought, the general arrangement of your argument, and your points are clear (and you push yourself to improve over time). Using AI-based correction software can prevent you from receiving such feedback and as such keep you from being able to develop your writing skills. In the case that you do still make use of such software, you must explicitly identify that you did so and hand in a copy of what you wrote before having the software "fix" it. If you do not do this and either the University's detection software or my reading of the piece suggests a likelihood that it was produced by generative AI, the work will not be counted towards completing course requirements (see above).

Office Hours, Scheduling Appointments, E-mail Guidance, and So Forth

My office hours are by appointment--to set one up, simply e-mail me or ask me just after class. My office is on the Frohring/ex-Tiber Roof.

Please know that I do not normally respond to e-mails during the weekend or after 6:30 p.m. (but feel free to write me whenever you wish--I'll respond as soon as I can the next week or the next day). We all need to set aside time to work on other things, disconnect, recharge, and 'stay human.' I encourage you to do the same in ways that work with your schedule and try to do what I can to provide you with as much flexibility as possible in structuring out-of-class activities.

Topic and Reading Schedules Spring 2026

Part 1. The Big Picture: A Quick Overview of Globalization and Its History

1/20 First Impressions: What is Globalization? What is its history?

1/22 Conceptualizing the History of Globalization (Chanda, Bound Together, 245-269; and Osterhammel and Petersson, Globalization: A Short History, 1-11)

Part 2. Beginnings, or Deglobalizations and Globalizations to c. 1400 CE

1/27 Conceptualizing "Old World" Globalization: Processes and Periods (Bentley, Old World Encounters, Preface and Ch. 1, vii-viii, 3-28)

1/29 Culture and Trade on the Ancient Silk Roads (Bentley, Ch. 2, 29-66)

2/3 The Spread of World Religions (Bentley, Ch. 3, 67-110)

2/5 The Rise and Fall of Nomadic Empires (Bentley, Ch. 4, 111-164; Recommended: Bentley, Ch. 5,165-184)

Part 3. The Modern World, or Deglobalizations and Globalizations from c. 1400 CE

2/10 Conceptualizing Globalization's History Revisited (Marks, Introduction, 1-18; and Osterhammel and Petersson, Globalization: A Short History, 13-29)

2/12 First Globalizations?: Conquerors, Merchants, and Missionaries to c. 1500 (Marks, Chs. 1-2, 19-68)

2/17 The Birth of a Modern World Order, Pt. 1: Ships, Germs, and Empires, c. 1500-c. 1800 (Marks, Ch.3, 69-100)

2/19 The Birth of a Modern World Order, Pt. II: Industrialization, c. 1750-c. 1850 (Marks, Ch. 4, 101-130)

2/24 The Opening of the "Gap": Industry, Imperialism, and Inequality, c. 1800-1900
Marks, Ch. 5, 135-173

2/26 A "New" World?: The Twentieth Century (Marks, Introduction, Part I and Part II of Ch. 6, 169-205)

3/3 Contemporary Globalization and its Opponents in Long-Term Perspective (Marks, Part III and Part IV of Ch. 6, and Conclusion, 205-251)

3/5 Midterm Exam

Spring Break 3/9-3/13

Part 3. Closer Looks: Forging Local Links c. 1400 to the Present

3/17 The Rules of the Game: Making Market Conventions (Pomeranz and Topik, Introduction and Ch. 1, 1-52)

3/19 No Class—Makeup TBA

3/24 From Here to There and Back Again: Transportation (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 2, 53-80)

3/26 Chocolate, Opium, Coffee and Cocaine: Drug Trades and Drug Wars (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 3, 81-118)

3/31 Production, Consumption, and Meaning: The Lives of Commodities (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 4, 119-161)

4/2 “Now we see the violence inherent in the system!”: Force and Fortunes (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 5, 162-202), Start Reading Ghosh, In an Antique Land

4/7 Setting Standards: Making Modern Markets (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 6, 203-257), Continue Reading Ghosh, In an Antique Land

4/9 Uneven Growth: Industrialization and Deinsdustrialization Revisited (Pomeranz and Topik, Ch. 7, 258-306), Continue Reading Ghosh, In an Antique Land

Part 4. Another Look, or a Meditation on Premodern and Modern Globalization

4/14 Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Another Look, Pt I (Ghosh, Prologue and Lataifa, 13-105)

4/16 Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Another Look, Pt II (Ghosh, Nashawy, 109-237)

4/21 Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Another Look, Pt III (Ghosh, Mangalore, Going Back, Epilogue, 241-353)

4/23 and 4/28 Global Cultures?: Music (Reading and Film Screening TBA)

4/30 Globalization: Where, when, how, why, and so what? (Pomeranz and Topik, Epilogue, 307-322, and Review Marks, 241-251)

Exams Week 5/4-5/8