INTRODUCTION

This course addresses the key events and main themes of recent world history.  In particular, we shall explore the formation of modern global society across four dimensions:  the political (the birth of 'isms,' the transition from autocracy to democracy, and the challenges of World War II), the social (public life, class formation, and modern consumer society), the economic (industrial development, European imperialism, and the Cold War), and the intellectual/cultural (ideology, philosophy, and artistic movements).  By tracing the key events of this time, you should gain a fuller understanding of the issues facing the world today, as well as in the past. 

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