070340 KU Working Skills in Global History (2018W)

The course serves as an introduction to research work in the field of global history. We will focus on networks connecting Asia and Europe/Europe and Asia (1400-1900), so or focus is on a period before the "Asian century/centuries". A key element will be a hands-on demonstration by the instructor: the development of a conference paper (finding a topic, researching sources and secondary material, first draft, finished project).
The course focuses on Asian-European/European-Asian networks (1400-1900). We will start by mapping the field via readings of a selected papers. Students will be introduced to a broad range resources providing access to sources documenting networks in science, culture, economy and politics.
Readings will be mostly in English, however, we will work with (short) source materials in other languages (e.g. Latin, German).
Students will be expected to engage in continuous work throughout the course. This includes weekly reading and writing assignments. Writing assignments will involve short essays, abstracts, comments, reviews etc. In addition, students will write a short paper on a topic of their choice using primary sources retrieved from edited source material and/or online repositories. A draft for this paper has to be handed in in early December for peer feedback or feedback from the instructor (participant's choice). The key findings will be presented in an oral presentation in class. A revised version of the paper is due January 29.