Course description
This course examines major aspects of world history from 1500 to 1800. Topics include the Reformation, European expansion, the Aztec and Inca Empires, formation of the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, and British overseas empires, the city civilizations of Africa, the Russian conquest of Siberia, the four Islamic Empires (Morocco, Ottoman, Persian, and Mughal), Ming and Manchu China, the Tokugawa Shogunate, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. Although empires existed earlier and later, this period displayed a remarkable penchant for empire building. For complete and current details about this Harvard Extension course, see the description in the DCE Course Search.
