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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, Number 1 |
September
2005 |
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U N I V E R S I T Y O F P I T T S B U R G H |
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Volume XI, Number 1 |
September
2005 |
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Introductory Global History Course
Recognizing the need for an Introductory Global History Course, Donna Gabaccia, Evelyn Rawski, and other Department of History faculty will join with TAs to plan an introductory course in global history. “We rejected the idea of a comprehensive or chronological world history course in favor of a thematic approach (e.g., Consumerism in the Modern World, Global Migrations, and Famines and Epidemics in World History) that coincides with the Global Studies Program,” explained Donna Gabaccia, Mellon Professor of History. “We intend to engage students by starting with current events and working backwards. However, today’s headlines often leave students feeling helpless as they grapple with ideas and events that seem abstract, far away and too large to comprehend. It is the goal, therefore, of Global History to bring these events (these “headlines”) down to earth, revealing them as products of human decision making—not just the decisions of leaders but of ordinary people like themselves.” Because it is intended to introduce beginning undergraduates to global thinking at a more sophisticated level than high school world history, the course will be planned and taught by teams using advanced instructional technologies such as electronic databases and the latest audio-visual materials; and, as a hybrid, it will consist of lectures, discussions, Web-based activities, readings, and assignments. Finally, Gabaccia and Rawski anticipate a valuable by-product: the course will undoubtedly stimulate interest among faculty and students and thereby could serve as a catalyst for additional upper-level, thematically oriented offerings. As a full, formal course, the first offering will be in the spring of 2007. | |||||||||||||||||
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A newsletter devoted to the support of teaching and learning at the University of Pittsburgh |
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