The Atlantic World: Africa, Europe, and the Americas, 1500-1900

Curriculum Guideline

Effective Date:
Course
Discontinued
No
Course Code
HIST 3300
Descriptive
The Atlantic World: Africa, Europe, and the Americas, 1500-1900
Department
History
Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Credits
3.00
Start Date
End Term
202120
PLAR
No
Semester Length
15
Max Class Size
25
Contact Hours
Lecture: 2 hours per week / semester Seminar: 2 hours per week / semeste
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning Activities

Classroom instruction will include both lectures and seminar discussions. Lectures will provide instruction on weekly topics with opportunities for student inquiry and discussion. Seminars will encourage active class participation in the analysis of assigned primary and secondary readings. Classroom instruction may also include student presentations on specific readings and/or topics, and other types of student-led activities. Classroom instruction may also include tutorials and workshops on transferrable skills, including research methods, academic citation practice, and presentation skills

Course Description
HIST 3300, The Atlantic World, considers the interconnected histories of encounter, conquest and exchange between Africa, Europe, North America, and South America, from the beginnings of transatlantic travel and trade to the abolition of slavery in the western hemisphere. Topics include: the rise of European empires and the responses of Indigenous populations; the transatlantic trajectories of certain plants, animals, and pathogens; race, slavery, and the development of the Atlantic economy; gender and the evolution of colonial societies; and the disintegration of imperial regimes and the emergence of colonial independence movements.
Course Content

1. What is the Atlantic World?

2. The Iberian Empires, Indigenous Peoples, and the Making of the Atlantic World

3. Imperial Rivalry I: The Origins of the Dutch, English, and French Empires

4. Christian Missionaries, Indigenous Peoples, and Cultural Exchange

5. Trade, Labour, and Slavery

6. Voluntary Migration and the Emergence of Creole Cultures

7. Ecological Transformations

8. Gender and the Development of Colonial Societies

9. Imperial Rivalry II: Warfare in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century

10. The Age of Revolution I: France, the United States, and Haiti

12. The Age of Revolution II: Latin America and Canada

13. The Abolition of Slavery and the Unmaking of the Atlantic World

14. Course Conclusion

Learning Outcomes

At the conclusion of the course, successful students will be able to demonstrate historical thinking skills, research skills, critical thinking skills and communication skills by:

1. Locating, examining, assessing, and evaluating a range of primary sources and secondary scholarly literature critically and analytically (reading history).

2. Constructing historical arguments, taking historical perspectives, and interpreting historical problems through different types of writing assignments of varying length (writing history).

3. Participating in active and informed historical debate independently and cooperatively through classroom discussion and presentation (discussing history).

4. Independently and cooperatively investigating the ways that history is created, preserved and disseminated through public memory and commemoration, oral history, community engagement, and other forms of popular visual and written expressions about the past (applying history)

Means of Assessment

Assessment will be in accordance with the Douglas College student evaluation policy. Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans. There will be at least three separate assessments, which may include a combination of midterm and final exams; research essays; primary document analysis assignments and essays; quizzes; map tests; in-class and online written assignments; seminar presentations; student assignment portfolios; group projects; creative projects; class participation.

The value of each assessment and evaluation, expressed as a percentage of the final grade, will be listed in the course outline distributed to students at the beginning of the term. Specific evaluation criteria will vary according to the instructor’s assessment of appropriate evaluation methods.

An example of one evaluation scheme:

Participation 15%
Reading Analyses 10%
Primary Document Analyses 15%
Seminar Presentation 10%
Research Proposal and Annotated Bibliography 10%
Research Essay 25%
Final Examination 15%

Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Course Readers will be chosen from the following list, to be updated periodically:
An instructor’s custom Course Reader may be required. Additional online resources may also be
assigned.

Benjamin, Thomas. The Atlantic World: Europeans, Africans, Indians and Their Shared History, 1400-1900. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Egerton, Douglas R. et al. The Atlantic World: A History, 1400-1800. Wheeling, IL: Harlan Davidson, 2007. 

Prerequisites

One 1000-level History course, or permission of the instructor

Corequisites

none

Equivalencies

none

Which Prerequisite

none