Syllabus
Course policies, expectations, required work, grading information, and the official course framework.
Open Syllabus PDFCourse Overview
A global survey of early human societies
HIST 151 introduces students to major patterns in world history: agriculture, cities, empires, religions, migrations, trade networks, conquest, cultural exchange, and the uneven ways human communities built order and meaning across time.
The course asks students to read closely, compare civilizations, and use evidence from primary and secondary sources to explain change over time.
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Core Course Resources
Weekly Calendar
The sixteen-week sequence with textbook chapters, major topics, and document-based assignments.
Open CalendarReview Questions
A consolidated review-question packet for checking comprehension and preparing for chapter quizzes.
Download Review QuestionsInteractive Practice
Reading Guides
These guides are designed to be completed while reading. They ask students to locate specific evidence in the textbook, type the sentence, and then explain its meaning in their own words.
Chapter 2Southwest Asia and Indo-European Migrations
Early Mesopotamia, empire, law, and migration.
Open GuideChapter 3Africa and the Bantu Migrations
Egypt, Nubia, African societies, and migration.
Open GuideChapter 4Complex Societies in South Asia
Indus civilization, Vedic culture, and religion.
Open GuideChapter 5Mainland East Asia
Early China, family, writing, and ancient thought.
Open GuideChapter 7The Empires of Persia
Imperial administration, economy, and Zoroastrianism.
Open GuideChapter 8The Unification of China
Zhou society, political thought, Qin, and Han China.
Open GuideChapter 9South Asia and Salvation Religions
Empire, social order, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
Open GuideChapter 10The Greeks
Polis culture, Alexander, Hellenism, and Greek thought.
Open GuideChapter 11The Romans
Republic, empire, Mediterranean society, and Christianity.
Open GuideChapter 12Silk Roads Exchanges
Trade, disease, culture, and postclassical transition.
Open GuideChapter 13Empire in East Asia
Sui, Tang, Song, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan.
Open GuideChapter 14The Expansive Realm of Islam
Prophethood, expansion, economy, and Islamic culture.
Open GuideChapter 15India and the Indian Ocean Basin
Indian Ocean trade, religion, politics, and Southeast Asia.
Open GuideChapter 17Nomadic Empires and Eurasian Integration
Turkish migrations, the Mongol empires, and Eurasian integration.
Open GuideChapter 18States and Societies of Sub-Saharan Africa
African migrations, Islamic kingdoms, and trans-Saharan trade.
Open GuideChapter 20Worlds Apart: The Americas and Oceania
Mesoamerica, the Inca, and the societies of Oceania.
Open GuideCourse Rhythm
Sixteen-Week Path
Reading guides are now posted for all sixteen assigned chapters of the term: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 20.
Origins of Complex Societies
Southwest Asia, Africa, South Asia, and early East Asia.
Classical Empires and Religious Traditions
Persia, China, South Asia, Greece, and Rome.
Networks, Trade, and Postclassical Worlds
Silk Roads, East Asian resurgence, Islam, and the Indian Ocean basin.
Eurasian, African, and New World Societies
Nomadic empires, sub-Saharan Africa, and the worlds of the Americas and Oceania.