1. Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.
Aldous Huxley

2. What is periodization?
Periodization is the dividing or categorizing of time into separate sections
Why do historians use periodization?
To distinguish one cluster of interrelated historical events from another in order to discover a pattern for change

3. To identify significant shifts in those patterns in terms of discontinuities or turning points, which serve as the start and end of periods

4. To highlight trends or events that appear dominant or important during a particular span of time

5. But problems emerge:
All systems of periodization are more or less arbitrary
Labels are continually challenged and redefined

6. How can periodization help explain the J-curve of explosive population growth on the planet?

7. Definition of Periodization:
A conceptual tool that makes change over time manageable by identifying big changes
Implied Watersheds:
Developments or events that occurred in world history affecting the most people

8. Three Overlapping Shifts:
Three overlapping shifts across societies must occur for a new period of world history to be identified
The world map must change significantly
(Cultural, political, or economic boundaries; migrations)
New kinds of contacts must be established among different areas
(New trade patterns, outreach of religions)
New parallelisms must arise in patterns displayed by major civilizations
(Example: “The fall of the great empires meets the requirements. Cultural and political boundaries shifted in India and the Mediterranean world. Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam spread widely. The Islamic world replaced India as the most expansive civilization.”)

12. Periodization in World History 8000 BCE-600 CE (Foundations)
Neolithic Revolution
Urban Revolution
Rise of Civilizations
River Valley Civilizations and expansionist civilizations
Regional trade/conflict

13. Periodization in World History
600 BCE-600 CE (Classical Era)
P- foundations of democracy, Classical empires: Han, Rome, Gupta, Persian, Greek
I- increased irrigation, underground irrigation in Persia, expansion of road systems
R- development/spread of world religions
Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism
A- Classical art (Greece/Rome), Golden Age (India)
Sculptures, frescos, pottery, architecture, theatre
T- Iron tools, weapons
E- Roman trade routes, Silk Roads emerge, currency
S-patriarchal, expansion of slavery

14. 600 CE-1450CE (Post-classical)
P- Feudalism (Europe, Japan), new empires: Mongols, Islamic Empires
I- terraced farming, fast-ripening rice, spread of crops
R- spread of world religions, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam
A- Golden Age for China, Abbasid
T-siege weapons,
E-expansion of Silk Roads, Mongol promotion of trade, Islamic unification of trade
S-patriarchal, serfdom, military elite, civil service officials in China

15. 1450-1750 (The Early Modern Period)
P- Conquest & New Empires, absolutism
I- Exploration, plantation economies
R-Reformation, Syncretism
A- Renaissance, Scientific Revolution)
T- Exploration
Commercial Revolution)

16. (The Modern Era)
The Enlightenment, revolutions in the Americas, the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and a second round of European imperialism led to a shift in Europe and the West’s relationship to other regions

17. 1914-Present (Contemporary)
The beginning of many “modern” changes in technology and accelerated global interactions, the World Wars, the collapse of European imperialism, the Cold War and its impact on former colonial regions, American hegemony

18. Themes of World History
Interaction between humans and the environment
Demography and disease
Migration
Patterns of settlement
Technology

19. Development and interaction of cultures
Religions
Belief systems, philosophies, and ideologies
Science and technology
The arts and architecture

20. State-building, expansion, and conflict
Political structures and forms of governance
Empires
Nations and nationalism
Revolts and revolutions
Regional, transregional, and global structures and organizations

21. Creation, expansion, and interaction of economic systems
Agricultural and pastoral production
Trade and commerce
Labor systems
Industrialization
Capitalism and socialism

22. Development and transformation of social structures
Gender roles and relations
Family and kinship
Racial and ethnic constructions
Social and economic classes

23. Explain the quote: “Strictly speaking, there are no periods in history, only in historians’ analyses.”
Why is the debate on historical dating (BC versus BCE…AD versus CE) a source of concern for world historians?
What criteria can historians use to make distinctions among sections of time?
List the top ten technological developments prior to the Industrial Revolution.

24. Consider the question posed by Joan Kelly: “Did women have a Renaissance?” Why is this question significant for world historians and how does this question present a challenge to the notion of periodization?
World historians are very interested in social class structures. How can social class structures alter the telling of history?

25. Consider this: The three Cs of World History: Change, Connections, and Comparison allow for a framework for analysis for exploring the themes of World History.